earlier message on this theme. Sure ly there was no man in all of human history who was better prepared for the work to which he was called than Moses. As believers, we can take comfort in the fact that God’s judgment is consistent with His love. His love and His holiness work together in keeping the corruption of sin con fined until that day when His re demption, through Jesus Christ, is complete. There are some who doubt the Bible and do not believe that the loving God of the New Testament could command the Israelites to kill their enemies. Somehow these unbe lievers feel that such a concept justi fies them for rejecting the Bible’s claims upon their lives. How do we explain this situation? We read the commandment in Deuteronomy 5:17, “Thou shalt not kill.” On the other hand, in the same book (20:16, 17) we have God telling Israel to “save alive nothing that breatheth but thou shalt utterly destroy them all.” Is this a contradiction? The first ref erence has the warning against mur der, while the second refers to war fare. What our troops do in battle is not considered murder. One key passage concerning the judgment of the heathen is found in Leviticus 18:1-5, 24-30. God made a sacred promise to Abraham (Gen. 15:18) concerning the land which would be the inheri tance of him and his seed. Yet there were wicked people who came into the area, such as the inquitous Am- morites. Leviticus 18:1-25 gives us a list of the sins of those who lived in the land before the Jews entered it. The complete list of the peoples is given in Deuteronomy 7:1. When God looked down upon these wicked people, He warned His people about the dangers (Lev. 18:3). From verse 6 to 25 there follows a list of grossly disgusting sins. A preacher can hard ly read them in public. The Canaan- ites were steeped in gross immoral
ity. Frequently they offered their children as living burnt offerings to their blood-thirsty gods (vs. 21). Modem archeology brings home to us the reality of the Old Testament charges against these apostate tribes. Never forget the fact that God’s judgment is always consistent with His love, and His love demands man’s highest welfare. This is one more of the evidences that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. C hapter E ight G od ’ s judgment upon the heathen tribes of Canaan didn’t descend overnight, as it was with Sodom and Gomorrah. God waited until the in iquity of the people was full. Notice the words, “the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants” (Lev. 18:25). They heaped iniquity upon iniquity, and sin upon sin. They invited the greater condemnation of God’s judg ment. Israel was not completely obedient to God’s command in destroying the Canaanites. This didn’t do away with God’s judgment, but only delayed it for another thousand years when the great armies of Rome swept into the land. Archeological discoveries in re cent years throw much light on Old Testament customs. The Jewish peo ple certainly didn’t borrow their laws, rituals and festivals from the Canaanites. The passover began in the land of Egypt, not Canaan. It celebrates Israel’s deliverance by the hand of God. In character and intent, the laws and rituals are vastly dif ferent from those of the Jews. As an example, the thrice-repeated com mandments in Exodus 23:19; 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21 reminded them, “Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.” This refers to the origin of the Jews in keeping meat and milk so separate that they are cooked and eaten in separate sets of dishes. In well-to-do Jew ish homes, the items were even prepared 23
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online