Israel in These Final Days - PART TWO
(CONTINUATION)
Why did the Canaanites have to be expelled from the Promised Land?
Because that territory did not belong to them, They were what we would call squatters today. About four hundred years earlier, God had promised that land to his servant Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 15:18). He fulfilled his promise by allowing Abraham's descendants—the nation of Israel—to occupy the region. Some may object that the Canaanites had rights to the land because they lived there before the Israelites. But who has the final say when deciding who owns a territory? It is clear that God is the Sovereign of the universe (Acts 17:26; "From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands." And in 1 Corinthians 10:26). -
Why didn't God allow both nations to share the land? Regarding the Canaanites, God warned Israel: “They must not dwell in your land, lest they cause you to sin against me. If you served their gods, that would become a snare for you” (Exodus 23:33). And sometime later, Moses reminded the people: “It is because of the iniquity of these nations that the Lord your God is going to drive them out from before you” (Deuteronomy 9:5).
But were they really that evil?
Why didn't God allow both nations to share the land?
Regarding the Canaanites, God warned Israel: “They must not dwell in your land, lest they cause you to sin against me. If you served their gods, that would become a snare for you” (Exodus 23:33). And sometime later, Moses reminded the people: “It is because of the iniquity of these nations that the Lord your God is going to drive them out from before you” (Deuteronomy 9:5). But were they really that evil?
Biblical historians have confirmed that sexual immorality, paganism, and child sacrifice were common in Canaan. Henry H. Halley, for example, indicates that archaeologists found “a large number of urns containing the remains of children who had been sacrificed to Baal,” an important Canaanite god. And he adds: “The entire compound turned out to be a cemetery of newborn children. [...] The Canaanites, then, worshiped by committing immoral excesses in the presence of their gods, and then murdering their firstborn sons as a sacrifice to these same gods. It seems that in large part, the land of Canaan had become a kind of Sodom and Gomorrah on a national scale. […]
Weren't there other evil nations at that time? Why destroy the Canaanites in particular? That was not the only time God carried out a selective execution. When “the earth was filled with violence” in the days of Noah, God decided to wipe out all human beings through the Flood. But it was not an indiscriminate execution, for he saved one family: Noah's (Genesis 6:11; 2 Peter 2:5). He also destroyed the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah when their wickedness became “very grave” (Genesis 18:20; 2 Peter 2:6). Another city he condemned was Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, known as “the city of bloodshed,” although he eventually forgave it when its inhabitants repented (Nahum 3:1; Jonah 1:1, 2; 3:2, 5-10). In the case of the Canaanites, God destroyed them to protect Israel, the nation from which the Messiah would come centuries later (Psalm 132:11, 12).
4. Can Jehovah be a loving God and annihilate a nation at the same time? At first glance, it may seem not (1 John 4:8). However, if you look closely at the situation, you realize how loving God was.
Although the Canaanites lived in a fertile land, God had long seen that the Canaanites were going astray. But instead of exterminating them immediately, as in the case of the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, he waited patiently for four hundred years until his wickedness had 'become complete' (Genesis 15:16).
In other words, Jehovah destroyed them when they reached the height of evil, and there was no possibility of their changing. Even so, he did not indiscriminately exterminate all the Canaanites. Because? Because not everyone was incorrigible. He spared the lives of those willing to change, like Rahab and the Gibeonites (Hebrews 11:31) - "By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
5. How can a God of love take someone's life? The question is understandable since the idea of killing someone is not pleasant. However, God took such drastic measures precisely out of love. Imagine a person suffering from gangrene in one leg. Surely, the doctor is not attracted to the idea of amputating it, but if he does not want the infection to spread, he has no other alternative. For the patient's sake, he has to cut off his leg.
Something similar happened with the Canaanites. Jehovah did not want to destroy them, for he himself acknowledged: “I do not rejoice in the death of the wicked” (Ezekiel 33:11, New International Version). But God had ordained that the Messiah—on whom the salvation of all who had faith depended—would come out of the nation of Israel (John 3:16). And since he could not allow the disgusting practices of the Canaanites to “infect” Israel, he had to “cut them off” from the land. He performed that unpleasant task for the sake of his faithful servants. What a great display of love!
Lessons for us
Does what happened to the Canaanites have any practical value for us? Of course. Romans 15:4 says, “All things written in the past were written for our instruction, so that through our endurance and the comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Well, what does this story teach us? And how does it give us hope?
To begin with, we saw that God spared the lives of Rahab and the Gibeonites when they showed faith in her. This teaches us that God accepts people who truly want to do his will, regardless of his past.
(Acts 17:30) says: "In the past, God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent."
This story also gives us hope, illustrating what God will do soon. He will not allow evil people to destroy good people. In the Bible, he promises that he will soon destroy all evildoers and, from then on, those who truly love him will live in a righteous new world (2 Peter 2:9 - "the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment." Revelation 21:3, 4) - "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God will be with them and their God." These words will be fulfilled on that day: “Wait in the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to take possession of the land. When the wicked are cut off, you will see it” (Psalm 37:34).
Not because you belong to a specific race, nation, or religion, you will be safe when God comes to judge the world. Matthew 7:21,23 says: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’" He can be American, Jewish, or any other gender, race or color. It is all a question of your relationship with your Creator at that moment when the trumpet sounds, because the trumpet will sound and the dead in Christ will rise first, then those of us who are alive will be transformed (awakened?) and will receive Him... (1 Corinthian 15: 51-53).
Both, Israel and the Palestian Hammas are
expecting "the One" who will rule the world and bring peace to the
whole world. The Mahdi is a prominent figure in Islamic
eschatology who is believed to appear at the End of Time to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to
be a descendant of Prophet Muhammad, who will appear shortly before the Prophet ʿĪsā (Jesus Christ) and
will lead the Muslims to rule the entire world.
In the Quran, Jesus is described as the Messiah (al-Masīḥ), miraculously born of a virgin, performing miracles, accompanied by his disciples, rejected by the Jewish religious establishment, but not as crucified or dying on the cross (nor resurrected), rather as miraculously saved by God and ascending into heaven.
Both, Israel and the Palestian Hammas are
expecting "the One" who will rule the world and bring peace to the
whole world. The Mahdi is a promShe was safe from death and became an Israelite.inent figure in Islamic
eschatology who is believed to appear at the End of Time to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to
be a descendant of Prophet Muhammad, who will appear shortly before the Prophet ʿĪsā (Jesus Christ) and
will lead the Muslims to rule the entire world. “
In the Quran, Jesus
is described as the Messiah (al-Masīḥ), miraculously born of a virgin, performing miracles, accompanied by his
disciples, rejected by the Jewish religious establishment, but not as crucified
or dying on the cross (nor resurrected), rather as miraculously saved by God
and ascending into heaven.
1-Jesus was rejected by the
Jewish religious establishment – (John 1:11), “He came to his own,
and his own people did not receive him.”
2-Jesus was crucified
– (Matthew 27:32).“When they had crucified him, they divided up
his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept
watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the
written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.”
3-Jesus died in the cross – (Luke 23:46)
– “And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, Father, into
Your hands I commit My spirit! And with these words, He expired.”
4-Jesus Resurrected from the dead – (Luke 24:1-6)
– “But on the first day of the week, at
early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone
rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did
not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about
this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed
their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living
among the dead? 6 He is not here but has risen.”
5- Jesus Ascended to Heavean and will
come for the second time soon – Acts 1:11 – “Men of
Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up
from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into
heaven.”
6- Jesus will reign over the nations – Luke 1:33 – “And he
will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
7- Jesus regira a las naciones con vara de hierro –
Revelation 2:26,27 – “To him who
overcomes and keeps my works to the end, I will give authority over the
nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, and they will be broken like
a potter's
vessel; as I also have received it from my Father.”
JESUS
CAME THE FIRST TIME HUMBLE LIKE A LAMB, NOW HE WILL COME ROARING LIKE THE THE LYON
OF JUDAH.
WHEN
JOHN WAS EXILED IN THE ISLAND OF PATMOS, HE STARTED TO CRY BECAUS NOBODY WAS WORTHY
TO OPEN THE SEALED BOOK. AND IN A VISION, HE SAW AN ANGEL THAT SAID TO HIM: “Weep no more;
behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the
scroll and its seven seals.” (Revelation 5:5).
The
Bible says that all nations will come against Israel and God will miraculously
defeat them. It is possible that the great earthquake that the Bible speaks of
in Revelation 16:18:21 is the weapon to destroy the enemies that come against
Israel: "Then there were lightnings and voices and thunder, and a great
shaking of the earth, an earthquake so great , such as never was since men were
on the earth. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities
of the nations fell; and the great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to
give her the cup of came from the fierceness of his anger. And every island
fled, and the mountains were not found. And a huge hail fell on men from
heaven, about the weight of a talent; and men blasphemed God because of the
plague of the hail; because his plague was exceedingly great."
Does any war have divine approval?
If God commanded the Israelites to declare war on the Canaanites, is it possible for him to justify any current war? The Bible shows no. Below, we present some of the reasons it offers:
God does not favor any particular nation today. By rejecting Jesus as Messiah, the nation of Israel ceased to act as God's representative and, therefore, to carry out judgments in his name (Matthew 21:42, 43). From then oendern, Israel became a nation like any other (Leviticus 18:24-28). Since then, no nation can claim divine support in a war.
▪ Jehovah's servants no longer belong to a single country or geographic region. They belong to “all the nations and tribes” of the Earth (Revelation 7:9; Acts 10:34, 35).
Jesus clearly indicated that his followers would not participate in any war. In fact, when he warned his disciples that Jerusalem would be attacked, he did not command them to fight, but to flee, and they obeyed (Matthew 24:15, 16). True Christians do not take up arms, because they are convinced that the Kingdom of God will soon eradicate evil from the Earth (Daniel 2:44; John 18:36).
Rahab's case, the harlot who hide the spies of Israel and saved them from death, confirms that God accepts everyone who truly wants to serve him.
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