The question of why God commanded the Israelites to completely destroy the Canaanite people groups is a difficult one that has troubled both believers and critics of the Bible. At first glance, it seems contrary to God’s character of love and mercy. However, a closer examination of Scripture reveals several reasons that help explain this command:
1. Judgment for Sin
The primary reason God ordered the destruction of the Canaanites was as judgment for their grievous sin. The Bible indicates that the sin of the Canaanites had reached extraordinary depths of depravity:
And the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave” (Genesis 18:20 ESV).
The Canaanite religion incorporated despicable practices like child sacrifice, cult prostitution, and bestiality. God had been mercifully postponing his judgment for centuries, but the time had come for their wickedness to be punished:
But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full (Genesis 15:16 ESV).
God had purposefully delayed the conquest of Canaan until their sin had reached a point beyond recovery or reprieve. The command to eliminate them served as the instrument through which God executed His moral judgment.
2. Protect Israel’s Purity
A second reason God ordered the destruction of Canaan was to protect Israel from being corrupted by their evil practices. God knew the Cannanites’ abhorrent behaviors would infect the Israelites if they co-existed together:
so that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 20:18 ESV).
The Israelites had an unfortunate track record of turning to idolatry and evil whenever they intermingled with pagan nations. God recognized that completely removing the Canaanites was the only sure way to safeguard Israel from their vile influences.
3. Fulfill God’s Promise
A third purpose in the conquest was to fulfill God’s promise to Abraham centuries earlier:
To your offspring I will give this land (Genesis 12:7 ESV).
God had pledged to give Abraham’s descendants the land of Canaan as their inheritance. Now the time had come for this promise to be realized. But Canaan still being occupied by pagan tribes prevented its fulfillment. God ordered the Canaanites’ elimination so the land could be turned over to Israel as He had covenanted with Abraham.
4. Act of God’s Righteous Judgment
A fourth factor was that God was using Israel as an instrument of His divine judgment to punish the Canaanites for their extreme wickedness. Israel was acting as God’s agent to carry out His righteous sentence against the Canaanite’s heavy guilt:
For the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence…Therefore I will bring the worst of the nations against her and they shall possess her houses…because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant (Ezekiel 7:23-24 ESV).
The conquest represented God’s holy intervention to impose justice in place of the Canaanites’ rampant injustice and immorality.
5. Act of Merciful Judgment for Future Generations
A fifth consideration is that God’s judgment of the Canaanites was actually merciful compared to the alternative of allowing their depravity to multiply for future generations. God knows all possible futures and timelines. He saw that if the Canaanites persisted, their future offspring would suffer even more under the weight of their parents’ sins:
You shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. But if you should serve their gods, it would surely be a snare to you (Exodus 23:24-25 ESV).
Out of mercy, God decreed their destruction before generations of Canaanite children would be born into a culture where child sacrifice and religious prostitution were normalized.
6. Demonstrate God’s Sovereignty
A sixth factor in the conquest was to clearly establish God’s absolute sovereignty. God orchestrated the conquest to leave no doubt that He is the one true God, not the imaginary gods of the Canaanites:
This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you on the peoples everywhere under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you (Deuteronomy 2:25 ESV).
God’s unprecedented intervention demonstrated His supremacy over all powers and authorities that set themselves against Him. It served as a warning to surrounding nations to abandon their false gods and recognize Him alone as Lord.
7. Establish Fear of God in the Land
A seventh purpose God had in commanding the conquest was to establish an ongoing fear of God in the land of Canaan. God wanted the devastating conquest to produce a lasting dread of going against God’s ways:
And now we bring the firstfruits of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me. And having set it down before the Lord your God, you shall bow down before the Lord your God and worship. And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you…You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this (Deuteronomy 26:10-11, 5 ESV).
The shocking scale of destruction was meant to instill an enduring respect for God in all who would dwell in the land in the centuries that followed.
8. Prepare a Dwelling for God’s Presence
An eighth purpose in the conquest was to prepare the land of Canaan as a dwelling place for God’s presence. God desired to establish His central earthly sanctuary among His people in the land. But this required completely purging it from all traces of pagan worship:
You will bring them and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance, The place, O Lord, which You have made for Your dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have prepared (Exodus 15:17 ESV).
The pervasive evil that permeated Canaan made it an unsuitable dwelling for God’s holy presence. Only by thoroughly eliminating every vestige of it could the land become a place for God’s sanctuary.
9. Display God’s Holiness
A ninth factor was that God sought to vividly display His holiness through the conquest. The absolute eradication of all that was unholy served as a graphic demonstration of God’s moral purity:
For I will go through the land to strike it, so that I may keep My wrath against it, that My fury may turn away from it, and that they may know My displeasure (Exodus 32:20 ESV).
God’s uncompromising judgment against evil revealed the intensity of His holy character. He commanded Israel as His instrument of justice to reflect His resolute abhorrence of depravity.
10. Justice for Victims of Oppression
A final consideration is that God intended the conquest to bring justice for the victims who had suffered under the Canaanites’ cruel oppression and violence. God heard their cries and desired to punish their oppressors:
And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings.” (Exodus 3:7 ESV)
The Canaanites’ history of brutality against other nations provoked God’s divine vengeance. The conquest provided just retribution for the centuries of misery they inflicted.
Conclusion
In summary, God had compelling spiritual and moral reasons for commanding the elimination of the Canaanites. Their extreme wickedness had reached its final limits. God’s purposes to protect Israel, fulfill His promises, establish His presence, demonstrate His sovereignty, and enact proper judgment all required their removal. Of course, God takes no pleasure in judgment. But the Canaanites’ incorrigible depravity left God with no morally justifiable alternative. While difficult to fully comprehend, we can trust God’s ways are always right and good.