1 Samuel 15:2-3: Explained

[Chad]

Why did God command the extermination / genocide of the Canaanites, women and children included?

In 1 Samuel 15:2-3, God commanded Saul and the Israelites, “This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'" God ordered similar things when the Israelites were invading the promised land (Deuteronomy 2:34; 3:6; 20:16-18). Why would God have the Israelites exterminate an entire group of people, women and children included?

This is honestly a very difficult issue. We do not fully understand why God would command such a thing, but at the same time we trust God that He is just – and recognize that we are incapable of fully understanding a sovereign, infinite, and eternal God. As we look at difficult issues such as this one, we have to remember that God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9; Romans 11:33-36). We have to be willing to trust God and have faith in Him even when we do not understand His ways.

Unlike us, God knows the future. God knew what the results would be if Israel did not completely eradicate the Amalekites. If Israel did not carry out God’s orders, the Amalekites would come back to “haunt” the Israelites again and again. Saul claimed to have killed everyone but the Amalekite king Agag (1 Samuel 15:20). Obviously Saul was lying…just a couple of decades later there were enough Amalekites to take David and his men’s families captive (1 Samuel 30:1-2). After David and his men attacked the Amalekites and rescued their families, 400 Amalekites escaped. If Saul had fulfilled what God had commanded him, this never would have occurred. Several hundred years later, a descendant of Agag, Haman, tried to have the entire Jewish people exterminated (see the book of Esther). So, Saul’s incomplete obedience almost resulted in Israel’s destruction. God knew this would occur, so He ordered the extermination of the Amalekites ahead of time.

In regard to the Canaanites, God commanded, “However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them — the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites — as the LORD your God has commanded you. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 20:16-18). The Israelites failed in this mission as well, and exactly what God said would happen occurred (Judges 2:1-3; 1 Kings 11:5; 14:24; 2 Kings 16:3-4). God did not order the extermination of these people to be cruel, but rather to prevent even greater evil from occurring in the future.

Probably the most difficult part of these commands from God is that God ordered the death of children and infants as well. Why would God order the death of innocent children?

1. Children are not innocent (Psalm 51:5; 58:3).
2. These children would have likely grown up as adherents to the evil religions and practices of their parents.
3. By ending their lives as children, God enabled them to have entrance into Heaven. We strongly believe that all children who die are accepted into Heaven by the grace and mercy of God (2 Samuel 12:22-23; Mark 10:14-15; Matthew 18:2-4).

Again, this answer does not completely deal with all the issues. Our focus should be on trusting God even when we do not understand His ways. We also have to remember that God looks at things from an eternal perspective, and that His ways are higher than our ways. God is just, righteous, holy, loving, merciful, and gracious. How His attributes work together can be a mystery to us – but that does not mean that He is not who the Bible proclaims Him to be.

source: http://www.gotquestions.org/Canaanites-extermination.htm

 

[RJ]

I shutter to think about my own ineptitude and utter unimportance with regard to any judgement of the Almighty.

 

[clark thompson]

Because they served other things than God and this left a temptation that Israel would later fall into because of them not listening to God's instruction.

 

[B-A-C]

Another possibility I have heard.

These races may have been (at least partly) a race of Giants (Nephilim). Offspring between humans and angels.
Something God never intended to happen, so he wanted to make sure the race didn't carry on.

Some will scoff, and that's OK, because I'm not 100% sure, but we do know there were Giants in the Bible, and there really aren't any around today.

1 Chron 20:4; Now it came about after this, that war broke out at Gezer with the Philistines; then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the giants, and they were subdued.
1 Chron 20:5; And there was war with the Philistines again, and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
1 Chron 20:6; Again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot; and he also was descended from the giants.
1 Chron 20:7; When he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David's brother, killed him.
1 Chron 20:8; These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

In particular the Canaanites

Num 13:33; "There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

Some believe the story in Enoch (not part of the Bible) (which may also be in Genesis 6) to be the origin of Giants.

Gen 6:2; that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.
Gen 6:3; Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years."
Gen 6:4; The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Some believe this is the sin of the angels mentioned in Jude.

Jude 1:6; And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,
Jude 1:7; just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

Do I know this for a fact? No I wasn't there (I'm old, but not that old). However it is another possibility.

 

[Travis]

Another possibility I have heard.

These races may have been (at least partly) a race of Giants (Nephilim). Offspring between humans and angels.
Something God never intended to happen, so he wanted to make sure the race didn't carry on.

I wouldn't scoff at this because I believe there is truth in it. I'm not sure if the Amalekites fell directly into this category. This could play a part of it though.

I think sometimes God just does things just because he is God, without giving us an explanation. We all deserve to spend eternity in the lake of fire. If it brings Glory to God for him to raise a people group up, only to later crush him, then so be it. I take comfort in the fact that there is always a purpose in this though, even if I don't know it.

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. Exodus 33:19​

We serve a God who is Good, who is Just, is Love, but is not tame. He does what he does, how he does it, whenever he does it, as he pleases. And I don't know about everyone else, but I don't often get explanations. I can live with that (I don't really have much choice I guess).

Travis