Passage: Hebrews 4:11-12
Author Archives: John Samson
Genocide and the Bible
Visitor’s Question to monergism.com: Why does the Bible condone genocide? Was that just the Old Testament “god” who demanded that? It is clear that in the book of Joshua, God commanded the Jews to utterly wipe out people groups that inhabited Canaan. If this is so, why didn’t Jesus denounce him? Christians often try to avoid this question, it seems to me.
Response: Actually, I am surprised that this question should be avoided, as it provides one of the clearest illustrations of a most significant truth in the Bible: Not only did God take the lives of those He ordered the Israelites to kill (the Canaanites) – He also takes the life of everyone on earth. The peoples of Canaan may have faced the death penalty earlier than expected, but in essence, their fate was no different than ours. We are all subject to death. Death, as the Bible reveals, is the just penalty imposed for Adam’s disobedience in the garden (Genesis 2:16-17; Rom. 5:12-14). Thus, not only may God take life as He sees fit – He does take the life of every last human on earth (see Heb. 9:27). We should not lose sight of this alarming truth: death is not natural, it is not a normal process of time and chance, nor is it a necessary mechanism of evolution. Humans were created to live, and the fact that they do not speaks to a terrifying reality – we are all born under divine wrath and judgment.
Indeed, we must therefore submit to the fact that God is God and we are not. He alone is the Creator, the Giver of Life – and so He, too, is the Taker of Life. He takes life from whomever He wills, whenever He wills, and however He desires (1 Samuel 2:6; Job 1:21; Deut 9:4-6, 10:14; Isaiah 45:5-7). Even if we consider nothing else, that alone is more than sufficient reason for us to “lay our hands upon our mouths” (see Job 38-42, esp. 40:4). Doesn’t the potter have the right to create one vessel for honorable use and another vessel for dishonorable use from the same lump of clay (Isaiah 45:9-10; Rom. 9:19-24)? Then, so does God, who fashioned humans from the dust, have the right to do with them as He sees fit.
In Deuteronomy 9:4-6, God Himself explains the reason for His command to slaughter the Canaanites. However, it is crucial to note that in the same passage, God declares the Israelites no less wicked than the Canaanites, deserving the same fate:
4 “Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. 5 Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that He may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 6 “Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.
Deut 7:7: “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
This passage connects Israel’s mission to conquer Canaan with God’s earlier intervention on their behalf in Egypt. To understand the significance of this, we must remember how God redeemed Israel from slavery. The pivotal event of Israel’s exodus was the Passover. During this event, the Israelites had to mark their doorposts with lamb’s blood so that the angel of death would spare their homes (Exodus 11-15). Without the lamb’s blood, their firstborn would have suffered the same fate as the Egyptians. Thus, Israel escaped judgment only through the protective power of the lamb’s blood.
In a similar vein, God warned the Israelites that they were not essentially immune from the Canaanites’ judgment of slaughter: “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them” (Numbers 33:55-56). The Israelites deserved judgment just like the others, whether Egyptian or Canaanite. This should serve to remind us that we may not assume that those who suffer unique or catastrophic calamities in this life are any worse than we ourselves since it is only the grace of God in Jesus Christ which makes us differ from anyone (see Luke 13:1-5; 1 Cor. 4:7).
A couple more points may be helpful to keep the slaughter of the Canaanites in perspective: first, at that time in the Old Testament, God had given the nation of Israel clear civil authority and responsibilities; and as a lawfully-ordained civil government, functioning directly under His control, He commanded them to carry out His just judgment against the idolaters of Canaan. Although He gave Israel the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” (better, “murder”), it is clear that this is a prohibition against unlawful killing of any kind or taking vengeance into one’s own hands. In the same document in which we find this commandment, we may also find many places where God commanded the Israelites to put their own people to death for certain types of disobedience (like idolatry). When it is a judicial act of a properly instituted civil government, taking a life may sometimes be warranted. Apparently, the slaughter of the Canaanites was one such judicial act, carried out by the magistrates of Israel. This means God did not command some arbitrary genocide but gave a judicially sanctioned capital punishment to evil people.
There are a few additional points to consider:
1) The wickedness of the Canaanites: The extent of the Canaanites’ evil practices, such as child sacrifice and other abominable acts (Leviticus 18:24-30, Deuteronomy 12:31), which led to God’s judgment upon them. This helps to explain why God deemed it necessary to eliminate them from the land.
2) God’s patience and mercy: It is essential to note that God gave the Canaanites ample time to repent before executing judgment (Genesis 15:16). Their destruction was not a hasty decision but rather a measured response after centuries of persistent wickedness.
3) The importance of holiness: God commanded the Israelites to be holy and separate from the sinful practices of the surrounding nations (Leviticus 20:22-26). The removal of the Canaanites was part of God’s plan to ensure that Israel remained faithful to Him and not be corrupted by the idolatrous practices of the Canaanites.
4) God’s sovereignty and wisdom: God’s ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). While we may not fully understand God’s rationale behind certain actions, as believers, we trust in His infinite goodness wisdom, love, and justice.
5) Christ’s fulfillment of the Old Testament: To address the question about Jesus not denouncing the events in the Old Testament, it is crucial to mention that Christ came to fulfill the Old Testament (Matthew 5:17) and that the Old Testament is not separate from the New Testament but serves as a foundation for understanding Christ’s redemptive work.
Sola Fide & Sola Gratia
Dr. R. C. Sproul, from the book, ‘Willing to Believe’, pages 24-26:
“Evangelicals are so called because of their commitment to the biblical and historical doctrine of justification by faith alone. Because the Reformers saw SOLA FIDE as central and essential to the biblical gospel, the term evangelical was applied to them. Modern evangelicals in great numbers embrace the SOLA FIDE of the Reformation, but have jettisoned the SOLA GRATIA that undergirded it. Packer and Johnston assert:
‘Justification by faith only’ is a truth that needs interpretation. The principle of SOLA FIDE is not rightly understood till it is seen as anchored in the broader principle of SOLA GRATIA. What is the source and status of faith? Is it the God-given means whereby the God-given justification is received, or is it a condition of justification which is left to man to fulfill? Is it a part of God’s gift of salvation, or is it man’s own contribution to salvation? Is our salvation wholly of God, or does it ultimately depend on something that we do for ourselves? Those who say the latter (as the Arminians later did) thereby deny man’s utter helplessness in sin, and affirm that a form of semi-Pelagianism is true after all. It is no wonder, then, that later Reformed theology condemned Arminianism as being in principle a return to Rome (because in effect it turned faith into a meritorious work) and a betrayal of the Reformation (because it denied the sovereignty of God in saving sinners, which was the deepest religious and theological principle of the Reformers’ thought). Arminianism was, indeed, in Reformed eyes a renunciation of New Testament Christianity in favour of New Testament Judaism; for to rely on oneself for faith is no different in principle from relying on oneself for works, and the one is as un-Christian and anti-Christian as the other. In the light of what Luther says to Erasmus, there is no doubt that he would have endorsed this judgment.
I must confess that the first time I read this paragraph, I blinked. On the surface it seems to be a severe indictment of Arminianism. Indeed it could hardly be more severe than to speak of it as ‘un-Christian’ or ‘anti-Christian.’
Does this mean that Packer and Johnston believe Arminians are not Christians?
Not necessarily. Every Christian has errors of some sort in his thinking. Our theological views are fallible. Any distortion in our thought, any deviation from pure, biblical categories may be loosely deemed ‘un-Christian’ or ‘anti-Christian.’ The fact that our thought contains un-Christian elements does not demand the inference that we are therefore not Christians at all. I agree with Packer and Johnston that Arminianism contains un-Christian elements in it and that their view of the relationship between faith and regeneration is fundamentally un-Christian.
Is this error so egregious that it is fatal to salvation? People often ask if I believe Arminians are Christians? I usually answer, ‘Yes, barely.’ They are Christians by what we call A FELICITOUS INCONSISTENCY. What is this inconsistency? Arminians affirm the doctrine of justification by faith alone. They agree that we have no meritorious work that counts toward our justification, that our justification rests solely on the righteousness and merit of Christ, that sola fide means justification is by Christ alone, and that we must trust not in our own works, but in Christ’s work for our salvation. In all this they differ from Rome on crucial points. Packer and Johnston note that later Reformed theology, however, condemned Arminianism as a betrayal of the Reformation and in principle as a return to Rome. They point out that Arminianism ‘in effect turned faith into a meritorious work.’ We notice that this charge is qualified by the words ‘in effect.’
Usually Arminians deny that their faith is a meritorious work. If they were to insist that faith is a meritorious work, they would be explicitly denying justification by faith alone. The Arminian acknowledges that faith is something a person does. It is a work, though not a meritorious one. Is it a good work? Certainly it is not a bad work. It is good for a person to trust in Christ and in Christ alone for his or her salvation. Since God commands us to trust in Christ, when we do so we are obeying this command.
But all Christians agree that faith is something we do. God does not do the believing for us. We also agree that our justification is by faith insofar as faith is the instrumental cause of our justification. All the Arminian wants and intends to assert is that man has the ability to exercise the instrumental cause of faith without first being regenerated. This position clearly negates SOLA GRATIA, but not necessarily SOLA FIDE.
Then why say that Arminianism ‘in effect’ makes faith a meritorious work? Because the good response people make to the gospel becomes the ultimate determining factor in salvation. I often ask my Arminian friends why they are Christians and other people are not. They say it is because they believe in Christ while others do not. Then I inquire why they believe and others do not? ‘Is it because you are more righteous than the person who abides in unbelief?’
They are quick to say no.
‘Is it because you are more intelligent?’
Again the reply is negative.
They say that God is gracious enough to offer salvation to all who believe and that one cannot be saved without that grace. But this grace is cooperative grace. Man in his fallen state must reach out and grasp this grace by an act of the will, which is free to accept or reject this grace. Some exercise the will rightly (or righteously), while others do not. When pressed on this point, the Arminian finds it difficult to escape the conclusion that ultimately his salvation rests on some righteous act of the will he has performed. He has ‘in effect’ merited the merit of Christ, which differs only slightly from the view of Rome.”
Messianic Prophecies
Messianic Prophecies
Around 80% of the Bible’s predictions have already been fulfilled. That does not mean that the Bible is only 80% accurate. Far from it in fact. I venture to say that the Bible is 100% accurate and will be proven to be so as time transpires. The remaining 20% of Bible prophecy are yet to be realized, simply because they relate to events immediately before, during and after the second coming of Messiah (which hasn’t happened yet but will happen).
As Christians, we believe our Savior’s name is the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s important to understand that “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name, but rather a title. The word “Christ” comes from the Greek word “Christos” which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for Messiah. When we say, “Jesus Christ” we are literally saying, “Jesus the Christ” or “Jesus the Messiah.” But are these claims valid? Can we be sure that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah?
Through what we call Messianic Prophecies, God provided a sure and certain way to recognize Messiah when He came. These are events written in the Bible, hundreds and even thousands of years before they would take place in time. Think about that. Only God could reveal such amazing detail to His prophets, millennia in advance of the historical events.
God had declared that His Messiah would be a descendant of Abraham (Gen. 22:18), from the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10), and a son of David (Jer. 23:5,6; 1 Chron. 17:10b-14). God had also said that the Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14), in the surroundings of poverty (Isa. 11:1-2), in Bethlehem, the city of David (Micah 5:2). He would be proceeded by a herald (Isa. 40:3-5, Mal. 3:1), be seen riding on a donkey (Zech. 9:9, 10) and would be present 483 years after the decree was made to rebuild Jerusalem, after the Babylonian captivity (Dan. 9:24-27). He would be a prophet (Deut. 18:15-19; Isa. 61:1, 2), a priest (Psalm 110:1-7) and a king (Gen 49:10; Isa. 9:6,7).
But there’s more. He would be legally tried and condemned to death and would suffer and die (Isa. 50;4-9; 52:13-53:12, Psalm 22), by means of piercing his hands and feet (Zech. 12:10; 13:7; Psalm 22), his death would be substitutionary (in the place of others), he would be buried in a rich man’s tomb and he would be resurrected from the dead (Isa. 52:13-53:12; Psalm 16:1-11; Psalm 22).
All in all, around 330 prophecies such as these were fulfilled by Jesus in His first coming, and as I have indicated above, many more will be fulfilled when He comes back to earth.
Amazingly, more than 30 prophecies were fulfilled in just one day – the day Jesus Christ died!
Ps. 41:9 – Mark 14:10 – Betrayed by a friend
Zech. 11:12 – Matt. 26:15 – Price: 30 pieces of silver
Zech. 11:12 – Matt. 27:3-7 – Money used to buy a field
Zech. 13:7 – Mark 14:50 – Shepherd killed, Sheep flee
Ps. 69:19 – Matt. 27:28-31 – Shame and dishonor
Ps. 35:11 – Mark 14:56 – False witnesses
Ps. 22:1 – Matt. 27:46 – He cries out to God
Ps. 22:8 – Matt. 27:43 – Challenge for God to save Him
Ps. 22:14 – Jn. 19:34 – Water flows out of wound
Ps. 22:16 – Matt. 27:35 – They crucify Him
Ps. 22:17 – Matt. 27:36 – They stare at Jesus on the cross
Ps. 22:18 – Jn. 19:24 – Gambled for His clothes
Ps. 22:31 – Luke 23:4 – Jesus declared faultless
Isa. 50:6 – Matt. 27:26-30 – Spat on and mocked
Isa. 52:14 – Jn. 19:5,14 – A broken man, yet King
Isa. 53:4, 5 – Matt. 8:17; 1 Pet 2:24 – He bears our sins & sicknesses
Isa. 53:7 – Matt. 27:13, 14 – He opened not His mouth
Isa. 53:7 – Jn. 1:29 – Jesus the Lamb of God
Isa. 53:8 – Jn. 11:50-52 – Jesus died not for Himself but for His people
Isa. 53:9 – Matt. 27:57-60 – Laid in a rich man’s tomb
Isa. 53:12 – Luke 22:37 – Numbered with the transgressors
Isa. 53:12 – Luke 23:34 – Jesus prays for His killers
Ps. 109:24 – Matt. 27:32 – Too weak to carry cross
Ps. 69:3 – Jn. 19:28 – Jesus thirsty
Ps. 69:21 – Jn. 19:29 – Given vinegar to drink
Ps. 38:11 – Luke 23:49 – Friends stand afar off
Ps. 109:25 – Matt. 27:39, 40 – Mocking heads
Ps. 31:5 – Luke 23:46 – He gives up His spirit
Exo 12:46 – Jn. 19:36 – His bones not broken
Gen. 3:15 – Jn. 19:18 – Satan bruises Jesus’ heel on cross
Amos 8:9 – Matt. 27:45 – Darkness at crucifixion
17 Dates – The Old Testament Storyline
Article: “17 Dates Along the Old Testament Storyline” by Mitch Chase – original source: https://mitchchase.substack.com/p/17-dates-along-the-old-testament
The Old Testament storyline is important for Bible readers to grasp, even though it consists of many books. Over the years, I have found that a series of dates can help position key characters and events for readers to learn (and re-learn).
Rather than trying to date anything specifically in Genesis 1-11, I’m going to start listing dates that begin with Genesis 12 and the story of Abraham. The following 17 dates will take Bible readers from the days of Abraham to the days of Malachi.
2000 BC – We can associate this date with Abraham’s life. We first meet Abraham when he is 75 years old (at the end of Gen. 11 and the beginning of Gen. 12), and he dies 100 years later in Genesis 25. The Lord makes a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15, and the sign of circumcision is established in Genesis 17. Abraham is a patriarch along with his son Isaac and Isaac’s son Jacob. The descendants of Abraham (through Jacob) are the Israelites.
1446 BC – This is the date of the Israelites’ exodus out of Egypt (see Exod. 12). Using a calculation with information provided by 1 Kings 6:1, we arrive at the date of the exodus being 1446. This is when Moses leads the Israelites from Egypt and through the Red Sea (Exod. 12 and 14). The year 1446 would also be when the Israelites arrive at Mount Sinai and form a covenant with the Lord (Exod. 24). The Israelites stay at Mount Sinai for approximately 11 months.
1406 BC – This is when the conquest of Canaan began, led by Joshua (Moses’s successor). The reason this event is 40 years after the exodus is because the exodus generation rebelled against the Lord (in Num. 13–14). The Lord pronounced a 40-year period of wandering in the wilderness until a new generation of Israelites grew up and were prepared to take the promised land. After Moses died (in approximately 1406 BC), Joshua led the Israelites to subdue the Canaanites.
1010 BC – This is the rise of David as king of Israel. He is the first king of Israel from the tribe of Judah. His predecessor, Saul, was from the tribe of Benjamin. David is king for 40 years, reigning from 1010 to 970 BC. David called for the ark of the covenant to be brought to the city of Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6). During his reign, the Lord made a covenant that promised a future son who would rule on the throne forever (2 Sam. 7). This “son of David” would be the Messiah.
970 BC – This is when David’s son Solomon began to reign, and Solomon reigned for 40 years (from 970 to 930 BC). During Solomon’s reign the temple was constructed over a seven-year period. He presided over a peaceful time in Israel’s history, unlike his warring father David. Solomon was incredibly wise and ambitious. He wrote many songs and proverbs, some of which we have in the Old Testament canon.
930 BC – Solomon’s son Rehoboam provoked a rebellion that divided the united kingdom of Israel (see 1 Kings 12). A man named Jeroboam led the Northern Kingdom, which retained the name Israel. Rehoboam presided over the Southern Kingdom, which was called Judah. The division of the land into a Northern Kingdom and Southern Kingdom was a crucial historical development that impacted all the subsequent years until the respective times of destruction.
722 BC – The Northern Kingdom (Israel) fell to the Assyrians. This event was prophesied by multiple prophets (like Hosea and Isaiah and Amos). When the Assyrians came against the Northern Kingdom, they did so by the decree of God who was bringing judgment upon the Israelites (see 2 Kings 17).
605 BC – The first deportation of people from the Southern Kingdom (Judah) began, with Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon leading the effort. People were taken into Babylonian captivity. Exiles included Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (see Dan. 1).
597 BC – A second deportation of exiles from Judah took place, and this time Ezekiel was among them (see Ezek. 1).
586 BC – The destruction of Jerusalem happened. The walls of the city were destroyed, the king was deposed, and his palace was burned. The Babylonians brought the temple to ruins, just as the prophets had foretold. This event in 586 was the capital-E “Exile,” even though some earlier deportations had taken place. The Southern Kingdom had fallen to Babylon (see Jer. 52).
539 BC – The Persians conquered the Babylonians (see Dan. 5). The prophets had foretold Babylon’s impending demise, and the Lord raised up Cyrus the Persian to accomplish it (see Isa. 45:1-7). Not long after the Persians conquered Babylon, they permitted the Israelites to return to the promised land to rebuild their lives and their temple (2 Chron. 36).
536 BC – A wave of returnees went to the land of Israel, led by a man named Zerubbabel. They returned and began rebuilding the temple, specifically its foundation and altar. But the progress stalled (see Haggai 1; Ezra 1-3).
520 BC – The prophets Haggai and Zechariah conducted their ministries and reinvigorated the people who had returned to the land. Work on the temple resumed.
516 BC – The rebuilt temple was completed.
483-473 BC – Not all Jews had returned to the promised land. During this span of years, the story in the book of Esther took place, a story which unfolded in the heart of the Persian Empire. Despite her initial hesitancies, Esther intervened in a situation that would have ensured the deaths of Jews throughout the Persian kingdom. But because of Esther’s plan, the lives of the Jews were spared, and the malicious goals of the wicked (such as Haman) were thwarted (Esth. 4–7).
458 BC – Ezra traveled to the promised land to rebuild the people, teaching and instructing them (Ezra 7). He faced the spiritual lethargy of the land’s returnees. Part of what Ezra also confronted was the situation of intermarriage between Jews and idolaters (Ezra 9–10).
444 BC – Nehemiah came from Persia to the promised land in 445 BC, and in the following year (444) he completed a 52-day campaign to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem (Neh. 6:15). The ministries of Nehemiah and Ezra overlapped. Furthermore, Ezra and Nehemiah were contemporaries of Malachi, who was the final Old Testament prophet.
The Job of the Pastor
Paul Washer in his interview entitled “The Preeminent Christ” Transcript excerpt from the 30:44 mark (slightly edited):
In Job 28, there’s a story about the miner who goes down into these dangerous pits and swings on a rope in darkness. He turns over mountains, he dams up rivers, everything he does to get this precious jewel and bring it to the surface. That’s the pastor’s study.
You see, one of the reasons I wrote this book, I write for the mechanic and the homeschool mom.
Why?
Whenever I don’t want to go to my study because I’m tired. I’m not just studying for me, I’m studying for that mechanic who works 12 hours a day and doesn’t have the library and doesn’t have the time. So I can go into that mine, I can study and study and study to bring out this jewel and hand it to him, the mechanic, hand it to the housewife. Do you see?
So that’s why pastors need to stop running around so much.
And they need to go into their study, but they go in there to find jewels, to find gold, to find things that that people who love Jesus very much, but they’re having to work all day in the world. He needs to go in there and bring that out for them.
You can call it food, you can bring, you can, you can call it another bracelet on the arm. When the servant was bringing back the wife for Isaac, you know, every, I believe that probably every time as they were going day after day, making that journey, he looked back and see the doubt in her eyes. He put another bracelet on her arms, says, no, no, no, He’s gonna be worth it, or maybe they stop at a well, and all of a sudden she looks over and there’s a young man drawing water and he’s a very attractive young man. And that servant brings out another bracelet and says, no, no, no, no, no, wait. He’s worth it. That to me is the job of the pastor. And that’s why I write the way I do in this book – it’s going into that well and bringing out this and say, look at Him. Look at Him. Mechanic housewife, homeschool mom, look at Him. Keep going. He’s worth it. He’s worth it.