Question: Why is the Law of God so harch?

“But the LORDyour God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed. And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven. No one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire.” Deuteronomy 7.23-25

In ancient Israel, warfare against certain peoples and nations was total.

This was only true with respect to the peoples and nations that occupied the land of Canaan, and it was only true during the period in which Israel was taking back the land God had given to her (Deut. 20.16-18). If it was necessary for Israel to go to war against nations beyond the borders of Canaan, every effort was to be made to achieve a peaceful settlement of disagreements. That failing, and war being successful concluded, the people of nations beyond Israel’s borders were to be put to forced labor – for which, you can be sure, those peoples would have breathed a great sigh of relief (Deut. 20.10-15; cf. Josh. 9).

The pagan peoples who occupied the land of Canaan worshiped gods that led them into all manner of corrupt, evil, and violent practices. Sexual license, selling children for prostitution, abortion, and the sacrificing of children were routine practices among the pagan peoples of Canaan. Moreover, in war they could be especially brutal and unmerciful, as is seen by the testimonies in Scripture of their ripping open the wombs of pregnant women, dashing children to death on rocks, and sawing survivors asunder. These practices derived from their religious beliefs, and, given the frail and vulnerable condition of Israel’s heart toward God, God would not allow these peoples or their religious practices any room within the land He was giving to His people.

Contrary to some popular beliefs, Israel in the Old Testament was not a warlike people. The majority of the conquest of Canaan took less than a generation. After that, with but a few exceptions, the people were content to dwell in the land peaceably, only going to war in order to secure their rightful properties, defend themselves against outside invaders, or to redress some ill. The Law of God is harsh toward the pagan peoples of Canaan, but those laws were only for a brief period of Israel’s history, and were specially designed to meet a particular historical and cultural situation.

And in the temporary and specific nature of these few laws is a clue to understanding other aspects of the Law of God which strike even God-fearing people today as overly harsh.

T. M. Moore

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