By: Gen. James Green – 2017
AUTHORS PAUL Copan and Matthew Flannagan asked, “Did God really Command Genocide?” (Actually that is the title of their book, 2014). Their subject matter is “coming to terms with the justice of God.” Prof. Clay Jones (Christian Apologetics Program, Biola Univ. La Mirada, CA) disagrees with the term that Copan and Flannagan used: “Hyperbole.” Clay writes (posted Dec. 14, 2015): “In my last post, I suggested that appealing to hyperbole doesn’t offset the charge of divine genocide as there are two other Biblical events where GOD DID KILL EVERY MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD–Noah’s flood and the destruction of the Canaanite cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.” He went on to say, “…I want to examine what I think is a serious problem with Canaanite hyperbole interpretation: Scripture reveals that God meted out precisely and literally the punishment He said He would inflict on Israel when Israel committed the same Canaanite sins. I call this the non-parallel problem.”
In this writing–which will be lengthy!–I want to examine their (Copan, Flannagan, and Jones’) interpretation. I have always believed that God was (is) a God of both “love” and “wrath.” He is not just “love,” as we are taught today by all these left/liberal “non-judgmental” professors and Bible teachers/preachers etc. What is being taught is not “Biblical Correctness,” but “Political Correctness.”
The contemporary “Christian” would have us to believe that God-Christ-Holy Spirit are now PC! Better SNAP OUT OF YOUR DELUSION…and fast! (I have dozens of articles dealing with this BASTARD Church, look them up.)
A counterpart to “Did God Really Command Genocide?,” is “Is God a Moral Monster?” (By Paul Copan, Ph.D. Marquette University). Prof. Clay Jones (also close friend to both said authors), believes that the BIGGEST problem with calling the command to DESTROY EVERYTHING that breathes among the Canaanites’ “warfare hyperbole” is that Scripture makes it plain that it wasn’t always “hyperbolic,” it was “literal.” I have said this many times. I have also stated that when the word “all” is used in Scripture, it can be taken in a hyperbolic/limited sense or in an absolute/literal sense; it depends upon the context/content of Scripture itself.
Deuteronomy 20 – (read vv.1-15)
IN VERSES 1-15 we read of Israel going to war against certain pagan cities—If they, “refuse to make peace with you and fight against you, then you shall besiege it… you shall smite (or kill!) every male there with the edge of the sword (cutting off the “seed”), but the women, the little ones, the beasts, and all that is in the city…you shall take for yourselves…So shall you treat all the cities which are very far off from you, that do not belong to the cities of these nations” (vv.12-15).
Now, vv. 16-17 tell another story, namely, “divine genocide.” “But of the cities of these people, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive NOTHING THAT BREATHES” (v. 16). Verse 17 says, “But you shall UTTERLY EXTERMINATE THEM, the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD your God has commanded you.”
So, there is a contrast: KILL SOME, as opposed to KILL ALL! There is just no way to interpret vv. 16, 17 in a hyperbolic way.
Now, if you’re one of those “liberals” who think God is a “moral monster,” or as Richard Dawkins writes: “One cannot help, yet again, marveling at the extraordinarily draconian view taken of the sin of flirting with rival gods…the tragic-force of God’s maniacal jealousy against alternative gods…” (The God Delusion, 2006, p.246), then you will side with the hyperbolic, not with the literal.
Two Distinct Commands Are Made in Cpt 20:
1) If a pagan city (far from Israel) refuses to surrender, all males are to be killed; the women and children are to be spared (see Deut 21: 10-14 for a law affording a measure of consideration to a woman captured in war. An exception to this law is the (special) case of Amalek, the reason for the exception being in 25:17-19);
2) A second type of warfare (vv. 16-18) is provided for the cities of the land in which Israel is to dwell (i.e., in Palestine). In this instance EVERY living thing is to be DESTROYED—no spoil taken, no children or women spared. This is literal! The reason is, “That they teach you not to do after all their ABOMINATIONS, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God” (v.18).
If you don’t grasp this “sin”/”abomination” thing, go to Lev. Cpt. 18. Read the entire Chapter. What you’ll read deals mostly with perversions (sex-sins) that anger God. These same sex-sins are today being celebrated by the U.S. government, practiced by the perverts themselves, and being accepted/tolerated (and practiced by too many) by the Church!
Hypocrites!
ALL THESE anti-Christ haters of God’s authority are maximum hypocrites! They are the very “Bleeding Hearts” who supposedly care for humanity—and how DARE that Genocidal God disrupt cultures—are the very ones who crafted the “extermination” agenda of BILLIONS (with a BIG “B”) of humans:
On one of the highest hilltops in Elbert County, Georgia stands a huge granite monument. Engraved in eight different languages on the four giant stones that support the common capstone are 10 Guides, or commandments. That monument is alternately referred to as The Georgia Guidestones or the American Stonehenge (opened 1980). Though relatively unknown to most people, it is an important link to the Occult Hierarchy that dominates the world in which we live.
The origin of that strange monument is shrouded in mystery because no one knows the true identity of the man, or men, who commissioned its construction. All that is known for certain is that in June 1979, a well-dressed, articulate stranger visited the office of the Elberton Granite Finishing Company and announced that he wanted to build an edifice to transmit a message to humankind.
He identified himself as R. C. Christian, but it soon became apparent that was not his real name. He said that he represented a group of men who wanted to offer direction to humanity, but to date, decades later, no one knows who R. C. Christian really was, or the names of those he represented.
These contain 10 inscriptions consist of a set of ten guidelines, or principles in eight different languages, one language on each face of the four large upright stones. Moving clockwise around the structure from due north, these languages are: English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian:
1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely—improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion—faith—tradition—and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal right with social duties.
9. Prize truth—beauty—love—seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth—Leave room for nature—Leave room for nature.
Limiting the population of the earth to 500 million will require the extermination of nine-tenths of the world’s people. The “American Stonehenge’s” (the Georgia Guidestones’) reference to establishing a world court foreshadows the current move to create an International Criminal Court and a world government. The Guidestones’ emphasis on preserving nature anticipates the environmental movement of the 1990s, and the reference to “seeking harmony with the infinite” reflects the current effort to replace Judeo-Christian beliefs with a new spirituality.
The message of the American Stonehenge also foreshadowed the current drive for Sustainable Development. Any time you hear the phrase “SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT” used, you should substitute the term “SOCIALISM” to be able to understand what is intended. Later in this syllabus you will read the full text of the Earth Charter which was compiled under the direction of Mikhail Gorbachev and Maurice Strong. In that document you will find an emphasis on the basic issues: control of reproduction, world governance, the importance of nature and the environment, and a new spirituality. The similarity between the ideas engraved on the Georgia Guidestones, and those espoused in the Earth Charter reflect the common origins of both.
Certainly the group that commissioned the Georgia Guidestones is one of many similar groups working together toward a New World Order, a new world economic system, and a new world spirituality. Behind those groups, however, are dark spiritual forces. Without understanding the nature of those dark forces, it is impossible to understand the unfolding of world events.
What is the true significance of the American Stonehenge, and why is its covert message important? Because it confirms the fact that there was a covert group intent on…
(1) Dramatically reducing the population of the world.
(2) Promoting environmentalism.
(3) Establishing a world government.
(4) Promoting a new spirituality.
Utterly Destroy!
THAT IS a powerful word: “UTTERLY.” The first time we hear of it is in Exodus 17:14: “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, that I will UTTERLY blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens’” (see 1 Sam. 15:2-8 where it says, “Now go and smite Amalek, and UTTERLY destroy…do not spare them…Kill both man and woman, infant, and suckling, and all beasts.” But King Saul disobeyed and saved King Agag alive, which displeased the LORD. Samuel the Prophet told Saul, “and the LORD sent you on a mission…Go, UTTERLY destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed” (v. 18, Amp. Bible). There is NO WAY we can read “hyperbole” into that!
Look up how many times this word is used in Scripture. The last time is found in Rev. 18:8 where the “Great Harlot” (17:1) is to be “UTTERLY consumed—burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.” This “Great Whore/Harlot”—Mighty Babylon—is still in earth today, but she will be (eventually) UTTERLY DESTROYED!!
Read her profile (Cpt. 17) “mother of prostitutes,” “idolatress,” of the FILTH and ATROCITIES and ABOMINATIONS of the earth. She rules in Religion and in Politics, etc. The Spirit of the Lord has identified her (to us) as Queen Jezebel. The Hebrew word “utterly” (kalah—kaw-law’) has several meanings; the prim. root = “to END”, to “PERISH” “DESTROY UTTERLY”; the Greek word is katakaio—kat-ak-ah’ee-o, which means, “CONSUME WHOLLY,” “BURN (up, utterly).”
“Ites” In The Land
BACK TO Deut. 20:17. We see the word “utterly,” “…thou shalt utterly destroy them (—the “ites”).” The words “utterly destroy” translate the Hebrew verb “hrm”—a special term used in the institution of “holy war.” It means that any object or person under the ban of this type of war is invested with a holy taboo and must be UTTERLY CONSUMED as a holocaust to God. The conception is one which a Christian has great difficulty in accepting, to say the least, about the world in general.
You see, God is very serious about His possession—His people. He did not (does not) want them to be polluted/demonized by paganism (Deut. 20:18). Today’s Church pays little attention to this. But we find God’s anger against sex-sins/idolatries in both the Old and New Testaments (read Deut 9:1-6 where the word “dispossess” is used in v. 1. In v. 2 we run across the words “Anakim”/”Anak,” which were enemies of God. These people were to be destroyed because of their gross sins).
Again, most “Christians” today have little if no insight or knowledge of spiritual warfare (Old Testament=physical; New Testament=spiritual). But one of the important characteristics of Deut. is its preservation of a portion of the ideology and the law of “Holy War”—a special institution of early Israel. GOD HAD A STANDARD FOR HIS PEOPLE TO LIVE BY AND IT DID NOT INCLUDE WHAT THE PAGAN CULTURES HAD. Nothing has changed! We have the same God as ancient Israel. If one reads the New Testament, they will discover that God expect His people to live holy lives—not like the pagans all about; but this is not so by most.
When Israel was in right standing with their God, they BOLDLY asserted God’s righteousness. They KNEW of the severity in His righteousness, of His wrath, anger, and holy jealousy (not the kind that mocker Richard Dawkins writes about, e.g., “maniacal”). You see, wars exist because of human SIN; even so today. In these “holy wars” (America believes she is on God’s side; Islam believe they are on Allah’s side)—the ruthless, militaristic expansion—each side searches for meaning, justification. Each side thinks they are doing a “special work” for God/Allah (see our magazines on WAR, plus many DVDs).
Anakim. True, they had perished from Moab and Bashan, (King) Og was the sole survivor (some of the mythical people were preserved, namely, Avvim, Rephaim, Emim, and Zamzummim). May I say that counterpart of the mythical Anakim lie across the path of every Christian. The Hebrew meaning for Anak is “to choke,” “strangle.” Open your eyes brothers and sisters, can’t you see this “spirit” (of the devil) “strangling” the whole body of Christ—choking off/out God’s life?
Why would we find God’s command to “utterly destroy” such demon-possessed people so offensive? It was (to Israel) as it is to us!
Lest We Forget
NUMBERS 33:56 says, “And as I thought to do to them (enemies), so will I do to you (Israel).” This was in reference to v. 55: “But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those you let remain of them shall be as pricks in your eyes, and as thorns in your sides, and they shall vex you in the land in which you dwell.”
Verse 55 is a classic “conditional syllogism,” e.g., it begins with an “if -then” statement. The “if” clause = the “antecedent;” the “then” clause = the “consequent.” We ought to ask ourselves “what happened to Israel when they committed Canaanite sins?” It is obvious: they LOST His protection.
Back to Prof. Clay Jones
HYPERBOLE INTERPRETATION Not Helpful for Canaanite Conquest (Deut. 20)
Posted on Dec. 8, 2015 by Clay Jones:
Arguably the most difficult story in the Old Testament is the killing of the Canaanites. Some have attempted to soften this hard story by saying that certain passages are hyperbole. Perhaps the most prolific purveyors of this theory are Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan in their book, “Did God Really Command Genocide? : Coming to Terms with the Justice of God.” In that work, Copan and Flannagan write that some of the more difficult passages should not be read in a “straightforward, literal way.” Instead, the “commands to ‘utterly destroy’ and ‘leave nothing alive that breathes,’ are hyperbolic (using exaggerated language).” Now, I greatly respect Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan, I consider them friends, and I find their work extremely helpful. In fact, I employed their arguments in my last post. But, I see problems with the hyperbolic interpretation.
First, the biggest problem with the hyperbole interpretation is that I don’t think Scripture allows for it. Rather, the unforced reading of the text is that God did intend that Israel should kill every man, woman, and child who didn’t flee the land that God had given Israel. (Deut. 20: 10-15)
Second, I don’t think the hyperbole interpretation accomplishes much because we are still left with two other examples of God killing every man, woman and child.
When I first began to (really) research/study this “holy war” thing, I was disturbed as well. We’ve all been taught that God is love and love leaves no room for hate. BUT, as my two “Wrath of God” magazines point out, within His “love” is found “wrath” as well. But we can’t just waive away the KILLING of the Canaanite non-combatants as “hyperbolic” or “non-literal.”
Our two authors, Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan, do have to admit that Scripture (at times) does order the killing of non-combatants (more on this when I quote from their book).
William L. Craig
W.L.C. (who wrote Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity [1999]) is quoted by Copan and Flannagan:
“In very unusual circumstances is the part, God commanded people to kill the innocent for the sake of some greater good.”
But let’s remember, what we human beings call “innocent” is not what God calls them. Don’t forget that their very culture was extremely pagan.
Our two authors write, “…in Chapters 15-17, we will defend the thesis that in very unusual circumstances, God commanded people to kill the innocent for the sake of some greater good,” as quoted by Craig.
While they adhere to the “hyperbolic” position, they must admit, “we can conclude then that one can coherently and defensibly attribute to God’s commands to kill innocent human beings under certain conditions.”
Why Be Concerned?
IT IS ASKED, “Why are we so concerned about the killing of Canaanite non-combatants anyway?” Well, all one has to do is research these pagan nations and see what kind of sins/abominations they were into. We certainly could not compare them to Western standards of conduct (well, now we could, but not, say, 75 plus years ago when the U.S. honored godly principles.)
I’ve done plenty of research and I am convinced that WHAT GOD HAS DONE TO CERTAIN NATIONS, THEY DESERVED. Sadly, as I write, (sicko / pedo / homo / bisexual) Obama is still in power. This places America in the same sinful category as many pagan nations in times past. This culture today commits the same Canaanite sins / abominations. So, how could a heart and mind perceive “divine genocide?”
God HATES sin (and some places in Scripture, He HATES the sinners as well: see my “Wrath of God” mags.), but most Americans DO NOT!! How can the Church or State challenge God’s fairness for “divine genocide?” It is all too evident that most of the Church embraces (at least, does not refute) Canaanite sins. So tell me, How can Americans have moral outrage? (See our “Gay Way” series for example.)
Sick of It!
I HAVE GROWN SICK of all the accusations thrown at us for being “Harsh, Unloving, Judgmental, and Intolerant.” Sorry, I will not apologize for what God says and for the standard we have to live by.
The “WRATH OF GOD” seems like an out-dated barbarous doctrine, puritanical even. Loving what God HATES has greatly diminished this nation’s culture. It is now in the PITS! When American politicians (and some preachers) promote LGBTQ sins, feel compassion for sick/evil pedophiles, push bestiality, drugs, prostitution, abortion… this nation needs a REPENTANCE REVOLUTION!… and we’re going to have one!!
These “ancient Canaanite evils” are very much part of America. The problem is that the Church has fallen asleep on guard duty decades ago, hence, the enemies are within the gates—sitting in prominent position in Church and State. The sheer horror and depths of DEPRAVITY in the U.S. at this time (“P.C.” puke! Etc.) is enough to sicken the worst of the worst. It goes all the way into the (Prez.) Oval Office. “There is Biblical precedence,” writes Jones, “for using language that frankly talks about sin.” He cites Ezek. 23:20, 21, where God condemns JerUSAlem who prostituted herself and lusted after the pagans in sexual matters. Is America any different?
Well, according to the Politically Correct Church and State, all is well at home! Well, for the record, all is not well—America has gone to Hell as far as SIN is concerned. There is something more disturbing about our lack of being disturbed, and that is that we sleep with our eyes wide open.
The Canaanite sins include bestiality, homosexuality, child sacrifice, adultery, incest, idolatry, and etc. (see our “Gay Way” series).
Judith Levine
LEVINE, in her book, “Harmful to Minors: the Perils of Protecting Children from Sex (2003),” advocates “even incest between siblings… is not ipso facto traumatic” (p. 57). On page 225, she writes, “Sex is not harmful to children… There are many ways even the smallest children can partake of it.” This reflects sicko/pedophile Alfred C. Kinsey (see The Kinsey Corruption: An Expose’ on the Most Influential “Scientist” of our Time), who advocates child sex without restraint. Washington D.C. (District of Corruption) has literally became an “occult-spirit-cooking” nation within a nation. It is full of pedophiles and every other kind of sex freak. AND THE HATRED THIS DISTRICT HAS FOR GOD, HIS WORD, AND HIS (TRUE) PEOPLE IS PARAMOUNT. And the liberal homo-loving Church characterizes anyone who has his/her head screwed on right as crazy. They view the Apostle Paul’s writings (against forbidden sex) as sinful in themselves. Sex is meant to be good but within marriage between a man and a woman, ONLY.
I see why God had certain nations/tribes marked for destruction… the cancer of sex-sins (or any other forbidden thing) would spread even into Israel’s camp. And it did. And God judged her as He did the pagans. And how can America justify the MURDER of MILLIONS of unborn children? Where is the outrage from the liberal camp? The Intrinsic evil of this kind of MURDER falls on deaf ears in the government, and in too many churches.
Homunculus Cadavaus
HC, i.e., “little person,” is said to be “the real you.” Whatever. I call this the “little demon inside.” Most people listen to demons rather than God (He can and does speak to men’s and women’s consciences). Isaiah states, “The acts of the hypocrite’s worship are as abominable to God as if they were offered to idols” (66:3, Amp. Bible). When the people of this land offer up some kind of worship to (their) god, including much of the Church folk, they are as Isaiah declared. He goes on to say, “…Such people have chosen their own ways, and they delight in their abominations!” The Canaanites were guilty of having “their own way” —refusing the LORD’S way. So, as Isaiah went on to say (as God spoke through him), “I also will choose their delusions, and mockings, their calamities and afflictions, and I will bring their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they did not listen or obey; but they did what was evil in My sight, and chose that in which I did not delight,” (v. 4). This could easily describe today’s America.
DO YOU FOLKS OUT THERE REALLY BELIEVE GOD WILL NOT BRING DOWN HIS WRATH UPON THE UNRIGHTEOUS? – Cont.