Was it Okay for God to Kill All Those People?
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This question was recently asked in one of our Bible classes in regard to God’s command to kill all of the Canaanites in Deuteronomy 20:16. How does one explain God’s goodness in light of his command for Israel to kill the Canaanites? What about the flood? First, no one has any moral ground to stand upon to criticize God, because without God, there is no right or wrong. Nevertheless, here are a few reasons why it is not immoral for God to command the death of another human by human hands.
First, there is the principle of personal punishment of moral wrong. If an individual has committed a moral wrong, such as murder, justice demands that he also be put to death. Death as a punishment for moral failure is not immoral. The fault lies upon the individual who has morally failed, not the one’s handing out the punishment for such moral failure. This is at least part of the reason why it was not wrong for God to command the death of the Amorites: their iniquity merited their punishment at the hands of the nation of Israel (Genesis 15:16). Moreover, national sins merit national punishment, and when national sins are committed, it is the nation that is punished for such sins (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). So called “innocents” are included, but their punishment is limited to the physical world. Innocents are not punished spiritually.
Second, the God who holds the power of physical life also holds the power of physical death. God is in a morally different position in relationship to man than is man to man. God is the Creator of all. He can create a man’s physical body out of nothing. He could also bring it back to life, if He wished. It is immoral for a human to kill an innocent, partly because he does not have the power to undo such an action. God, however, is not in such a position. He stands outside the human condition.
Third, God’s ending one’s physical life does not entail the ending of spiritual life. God made man both a physical creature and a spiritual. One’s physical death does not necessarily imply one’s spiritual death. God is in position to care for those innocents after their deaths. The physical death of an individual is not the end of existence. The amount of physical suffering an innocent goes through is irrelevant because ultimately God can bring it to pass that such temporal suffering becomes meaningless in the face of eternity (Romans 8:18).
Finally, the Bible does not give us all the information. We can trust that a morally good God would do the right thing. We do not know all the reasons that God commanded this, but He must have had good reasons. What are God’s options for dealing with evil in the world? He could 1) bring the whole into judgment 2) act prejudicially, or 3) directly punish some for their wickedness. That God chooses the third option speaks to His longsuffering and mercy “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God’s love for His creation motivates Him to so act. We do not serve a God who delights in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:32). If anyone is eternally lost, it will be due to their own moral choices (Romans 6:23). Jonah learned this lesson from the belly of a great fish for he wrote, “They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy” (Jonah 2:8).