Why would God command for total destruction of these nations?
Joshua 10:40
NLT - 40 So Joshua conquered the whole region - the kings and people of the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills, and the mountain slopes. He completely destroyed everyone in the land, leaving no survivors, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded.
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Chris Eleam
The Canaanites were, in a sense, squatters in a land that did not belong to them. How so? Some 400 years earlier, God had promised the faithful man Abraham that his descendants would possess the land of Canaan. (Genesis 15:18) God kept that promise when he caused the nation of Israel, which descended from Abraham, to occupy the region. Of course, some might protest that the Canaanites already lived there and therefore had a right to the land. But surely, as the Sovereign of the universe, God has the ultimate right to determine who will live where.—Acts 17:26; 1 Corinthians 10:26. . Why did God not allow the Canaanites to coexist with the Israelites? “They should not dwell in your land,” God warned regarding the Canaanites, “that they may not cause you to sin against me. In case you should serve their gods, it would become a snare to you.” (Exodus 23:33) The prophet Moses later told Israel: “It is for the wickedness of these nations that Jehovah your God is driving them away.” (Deuteronomy 9:5) Just how wicked were those nations? Immorality, pagan worship, and child sacrifice were widespread in Canaan. Bible historian Henry H. Halley notes that archaeologists excavating the area “found great numbers of jars containing the remains of children who had been sacrificed to Baal [a prominent god of the Canaanites].” He adds: “The whole area proved to be a cemetery for new-born babes. . . . Canaanites worshipped, by immoral indulgence, as a religious rite, in the presence of their gods; and then, by murdering their first-born children, as a sacrifice to these same gods. It seems that, in large measure, the land of Canaan had become a sort of Sodom and Gomorrah on a national scale. . . . Archaeologists who dig in the ruins of Canaanite cities wonder that God did not destroy them sooner than he did
Tim Scott
Like every nation on the planet, god keeps a record of their sin. When that nation reaches that limit, destruction comes. America has not reached its number, but as sure as The Lord reigns in the sky, we will and God will destroy this once and prosperous nation. Have we destroyed our newborns? Is there murder in our streets? Is the rich sitting at ease, while the poorest of men and women are just outside their door? Is there food enough that no child in America should go to bed starving? Is the sexual immorality running rampant from our homes and the government? Is there a lot of things that keeps us idle, like sports, movies, tv, video games, while our souls hang in the balances and the souls of of neighbors? So like Sodom, America has become. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. (Ezekiel 16:49) America 2013. Destruction is coming.
Stephanie Brooks
Isaiah 60:12-For the nation and kingdom that will not serve(God) you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste. Zephaniah3:8-Therefore wait for me,” declares the Lord, “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed. We are to love God with all our hearts and soul. He are to be His children not the children of the world, or the devil. The devil is real! God is tired of all our wickedness and disobedience. Jesus died as a sacrifice for our sins. He sent us the Holy Spirit! Lets us be a living sacrifice to God, instead of rebellion.
Elder Lionel Grant
Simply put, "These nations were in total denial of God, and they refused to obey Him and follow his instructions. Elder Lionel Grant
Emo Tenorio
The Lord our God is slow to anger as their cup of iniquity continues to fill. With no humbling repentance or the stopping of their evil transgressions and sin the cup overflowed. (Ezra 9:11; Psalms 106:38; Psalms 137:8-9) This moves God to His judgment nature and He knows all that was done when they had the power of life and death in the land.(1 Samuel 15:18; 2 Samuel 12:14) Scripture is very clear on the shedding innocent blood on His land and our own cup continues to fill with no repentance! (Psalms 5:6; 2 Kings 24:3-4) I believe our continued support for the state of Israel, is one of the bands what is holding or slowing the coming judgment on our land.(Psalms 110:6) Israel is God's prophetic time piece on earth. (Psalms 149:9) In the Lord's freedom.....warrior on.
Kenneth Heck
The iniquity of these nations had reached its peak. This is when God's judgment falls - when the cup of iniquity has become full and overflowing. The Israelites came to conquer the land some four hundred years after the promise to Abraham in Gen 15:13-16: "And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shall be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." Only the Amorites were mentioned because they may have been the leading nation in the region from a political and military viewpoint.
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