Free Choice
Read Deuteronomy 20:10, 15-18; Deuteronomy 13:12-18; and Joshua 10:40. How does the law of warfare and the procedure against an idolatrous town in Israel, expressed in Deuteronomy, help us understand the limitations of total destruction in the war that the Israelites were engaged in?
The Hebrew text uses a unique term to describe the destruction of people in war: cḥerem. This term refers to what is “banned,” “damned,” or “dedicated to annihilation.” Most of the time, it designates complete and irrevocable placement of people, animals, or inanimate objects in God’s exclusive domain, which in warfare involved, in most cases, their destruction. The concept and practice of cḥerem as a total eradication of a people in war needs to be understood in the light of Yahweh’s conflict with the cosmic forces of evil, where His character and reputation are at stake.
Again, since the emergence of sin in the world, there is no neutrality: one is either on God’s side or against Him. One side leads to life, eternal life, and the other to death, eternal death.
The practice of total destruction describes God’s righteous judgment against sin and evil. God uniquely delegated the execution of part of His judgment to His chosen nation, ancient Israel. The devotion to destruction was under His tight theocratic control, limited to a certain period of history, the conquest, and to a well-defined geographical area, ancient Canaan. As we saw in yesterday’s study, those who came under the ban of destruction consistently rebelled against God’s purposes and defied them, never repenting either. Therefore, God’s decision to destroy them was neither arbitrary nor nationalistic.
Moreover, Israel would expect the same treatment if they decided to adopt the same lifestyle as the Canaanites (compare with Deuteronomy 13). Even if it seems as though the groups situated on either side of the divine war are pre-defined (the Israelites are to inherit the land and the Canaanites are to be destroyed), there is the possibility to move from one side to the other, as we will see in the cases of Rahab, Achan, and the Gibeonites.
People were not arbitrarily given protection or placed under a ban. Those who benefited from a relationship with Yahweh could lose their privileged status through rebellion, and those under the ban could submit to the authority of Yahweh and live.
What are the spiritual implications of the Canaanites’ defiance of God for our context today? That is, what are the consequences of our free choices for us personally?