OLD TESTAMENT MASS KILLINGS
Old Testament Mass Killings
Can God Commit Genocide?
Wrong. Let’s consider what makes murder wrong in the first place. Murder is wrong because humans have inherent worth and value, and because nobody is in moral authority over another person. I don’t have the right to kill someone because I do not have the authority to judge or determine whether somebody else deserves to die. This is precisely why there is debate over whether the death penalty is murder. Do those in charge of our legal system have the moral authority to decide whether someone deserves to live? I don’t know, but I do know that if God exists, He
does. God
does have the moral authority to determine whether I deserve to live or die because God created me and thus what is morally right or wrong, what is true and what is just in my reality depend on who He is. God is not capable of murder because He is the only one justified in taking a human life.
Imagine that I lent you my iPod (if I could find it). I asked you to take good care of it and to use it to listen to great music. Two weeks later, I check in with you about how my iPod is doing, and to my horror, I discover that you’ve been using it as a chew toy for your dog! I am not impressed. I lent you my iPod trusting that you would look after it and use it for good, but instead you abused my gift! Do I have the right to take back my iPod? Of course I do. You’ve abused it.
If God created and gave us the gift of life, which ultimately is
His property, not ours, and He entrusts us with it to use for good and not for evil, does He not also have the right to reclaim that life when it is abused? Of course He does. In this case, God simply chose to use Israel to carry out His moral judgment on evil and rebellious people. Let’s remember that these people were sacrificing their own children to their gods. Doesn’t that make you angry? Let’s remember that sexually transmitted diseases have been linked to these ancient cultures. They were far from innocent. If the killing of these people was initiated by Israel, then absolutely, it is genocide. If God simply reclaimed the lives of those who abused His gift, then it is not. As the only one possessing the moral authority to take a human life, God cannot commit genocide. It’s impossible.
Can God Commit Genocide? | Power to Change - Students