Q: What can I say to someone who asks, ‘How can you believe in a God who sent His people into battle and told them to kill every man, woman, and child? How can you say He is a God of love?’’
A: Twice in Scripture we find a people group are cursed by God for the sin of their ‘father’ (Genesis 9:25 on Canaan, Genesis 16:12 on Ishmael). Throughout Scripture, individuals are given the opportunity to be saved by God. Ecclesiastes 3:4 tells us that there is ‘a time for war and a time for peace.’ Since God is patient and loves all of mankind, what constitutes a time for war? I believe the answer lies in the truth of national rebellion against God. In the New Testament, that rebellion is quenched by the presence of the Holy Spirit through the Church worldwide (Matthew 5), but will come to a head in the Tribulation (battle of Armageddon) when once again the Holy Spirit has less prominence, as it was in the Old Testament, and the Church is removed from the earth for a time. In the Old Testament, rebellion against God is unchecked, resulting in a major presence of evil, and terrible atrocities. Before the Flood, it got so bad that Noah was the only person on earth that was considered righteous! Thus the Flood wiped out all humans, and most land animals, starting fresh. Shortly afterward, God started a new covenant with a new people called Israel, meant to put a check on evil in the world. Their first task was to eliminate the evil nations occupying Canaan. God, in an act of love told Israel to first offer terms of peace (Deut. 20:10). In most cases, the women, children and livestock were to be spared (Deut. 20:14). The reasons for completely eliminating certain nations was (1) ‘that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices’ (Deut. 20:17), and (2) the people of Canaan had been given 400+ years to repent of their evil ways and were ripe for punishment, as was promised to Abraham (Leviticus 18:24-27 and Genesis 15:12-16). Even so, individuals were given the opportunity to be saved (such as Rahab – Joshua 2). A second occasion of command to completely eliminate a nation is found in 1 Samuel 15 (Saul and the Amalekites), which was disobeyed, with dire results.
We can say that God is a God of love for several reasons:
- God is love throughout the Bible (Psalm 36:7; Zephaniah 3:17; 1 John 4:16)
- God’s love is demonstrated through His other characteristics, such as
justice, grace, and mercy. (Psalm 86:15)
- God’s love does not allow evil to go unpunished, but gives many opportunities
for repentance and heart change (Genesis 15; Jonah)