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["Pomp and Circumstance"] Good evening, tonight we're in Deuteronomy chapter 7, and the Bible reads, When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land, whether thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou. When the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them. Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them, thy daughter shall not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they will serve other gods. So will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall you deal with them, you shall utterly destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graved images with fire. Thou art an holy people, unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people, for you were the fewest of all people. But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them, that love him, and keep his commandments to a thousand generations, and repayeth them that hate him to their face to destroy them. He will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day to do them. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy, which he sware unto thy fathers. And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee. He will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, and increase of thy kind, and the flocks of thy sheep, and the land, which he swear unto thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all people. There shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest upon thee, but will lay them upon all them that hate thee. And thou shalt consume all the people, which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee, and thine eyes shall have no pity upon them, neither shalt thou serve their gods, for that will be a snare unto thee. Thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are none more than I, how can I dispossess them? Thou shalt not be afraid of them, but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh and unto Egypt, the great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the Lord thy God brought thee out, so shall the Lord thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid. Moreover the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left and hide themselves from thee be destroyed. Thou shalt not be affrighted at them, for the Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible. And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee, by little and little, thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. But the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed. And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven, there shall no man be able to stand before thee until thou have destroyed them. The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire, thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein. For it is an abomination to the Lord thy God, neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it, but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it, for it is a cursed thing. Let's pray, dear Lord God, thank you for this church you've given us, Lord, thank you for the King James Bible, Lord. And Father, we just pray right now that you bless Pastor as he preaches unto us, Lord, and that us and the congregation are edified by the preaching. So just bless this time, we pray this all in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Okay, we're in Deuteronomy chapter number 7, and look down in your Bibles at verse number 1. It says, When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land, whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites and the Girgashites, and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou. And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them. Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them. And the title of my sermon this evening is the genocide of the Canaanites. The genocide of the Canaanites. And this is a subject that a lot of people who are in opposition to the Bible, atheists and critics of God's Word, this is a subject that they'll commonly bring up. And they'll always talk about the fact that in the Old Testament, God saw fit to essentially eradicate entire nations off the face of the planet. And somehow that improves their argument against Christianity because in their minds, they think, well, God is only a God of mercy, God is only a God of love, then how do you explain the genocides that are taking place in the Old Testament? Well, here's the explanation is that God is not only a God of mercy, he's not only a God of love, but he's also a God of justice and judgment. And it's important that we understand why God chose to eradicate the Canaanites, to eradicate these seven particular nations, because we need to understand biblical history and the reasoning behind it. You see, God didn't just eradicate these nations at a whim. It's not like he just looked at seven nations and said, I don't like these names. Who are these people? Parasites? Who calls themselves parasites? Or Canaanites? What's up with that name? Let's just get rid of these. Yeah, I picked that one too. No, these nations were nations for whom Christ died for. These were nations who God showed a lot of mercy to. He showed a lot of long-suffering towards, but yet according to the Bible were nations that throughout their generations, listen to this, hated God. And in fact, look at verse number nine here. In context of what he's referring to you about regarding the genocide, he says, So what's the Bible saying here? You know, the nations that love the Lord and keep his commandments, God will show their mercy for thousands of generations. You know, he is very much long-suffering. He will love them. He will be gracious towards them. However, look at verse number 10, So obviously in its context, we see based upon these verses that these seven nations that God wants to eradicate are obviously nations who hate the Lord. And they've hated the Lord for generations on end. And we're going to see why they hated God. What is the reasoning behind it? What are some of the actions that they partook of that caused them to really hate the Lord? And so God destroying these seven nations is God repaying these nations to their face for their vitriol and animosity and hatred towards the Lord. Now, let's talk about the Canaanites, okay? Because we see here in Deuteronomy 7 that God specifically says that he wants to rid them of these seven nations, right? And when you look at these seven nations, collectively they can be referred to as the Canaanites. Why? Because these are all nations that dwelt in the land of Canaan. However, the Canaanites individually are a specific tribe, a specific nation. And then the other six, of course, you have the Hittites, Gergashites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. But collectively, they can be referred to as the Canaanites because in general, they lived in the land of Canaan, okay? Now, hold your place there in Deuteronomy. We're going to come back to this in just a bit. Go to Genesis chapter 9, if you will. Genesis chapter number 9. And let me just start off by saying that we should never stand in judgment of the Bible. And too many times, Christians, because they hear all these arguments and criticisms of the word of God from these atheists and agnostics and people who just criticize the Bible, they feel like they have to make apologies for the Bible or make excuses as to why these controversial passages are there when really what we should be doing as Christians is saying, Yeah, that's what it says. If you've got a problem with it, take it up with God. Because we didn't write the Bible. We're not God. We're simply proclaiming what God's word says. And I'm not going to say that something that God did is wrong because obviously the judge of all the earth will do right. He is the ultimate judge. And so what he did here was 100% correct, was 100% right to eradicate the Canaanites. That was a righteous thing for him to do. And it's interesting. Well, I don't want to get ahead of myself, but let's go to Genesis chapter 9. And let me just talk about who the Canaanites were, okay? Well, first of all, this name comes up first and foremost with Canaan, which is the son of Ham, the son of Noah. Look at Genesis 9 verse 17, just to look at some of the origins here of the Canaanites. It says, And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. And the sons of Noah that went forth of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Ham is the father of Canaan. So that particular detail is given for a specific reason, obviously, right? He says in verse 19, These are the three sons of Noah, and of them was the whole earth overspread. Essentially, all of mankind can find their origins with these three particular sons, right? Shem, Ham, and Japheth is where all of the earth came from. He said, Oh, man, that's so stupid. That's why the Bible is such a fairy tale. You expect me to believe that the entire world was populated by these three? Well, what is the alternative? Evolution? That we all came from a rock? I rather believe that we actually came from people, whereas the whole world apparently believes that we came from primordial soup. Coming from people is far more believable, my friends, okay? And it's biblical. It's what the Bible says. Verse 20 says, And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine and was drunken, and he was uncovered within his tent. So Noah, even though he's a man of God, someone who loves the Lord, he committed a grievous sin here by getting drunk, intoxicated, became inebriated with the alcohol that he got from planting a vineyard. It says in verse 22, And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brethren without. So we see here that verse 22 divulges that the son Ham sees the nakedness of his father, but it doesn't give any more details other than that, right? Well, look at verse number 25. This is Noah speaking after he awoke from his wine. He says, And he said, Cursed be Canaan. I'm sorry, verse 24. And Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done unto him, implying that Ham obviously must have raped his father. This is the first case of incest and homosexuality in the Word of God. How do you know that? Because it says what he did unto him. Looking upon his nakedness is not something that he would do unto him if he were to commit some sort of form of act of rape, incest, and sodomy, that verse would make perfect sense, which I believe is referring to here. And he says in verse 25, And he said, Cursed be Canaan. A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be a servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servants. Now go to chapter 10, if you would, chapter 10. So we see here that Noah curses the descendants of Ham, which is Canaan, and then here in chapter 10 we're going to see who the descendants of Canaan are and how that applies to the story that we just read. Look at verse 15, And Canaan begat Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, and the Girgashites, and the Hivite, and the Archite, and the Sinai, and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite, and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. But I want you to notice verse 19, And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar unto Gaza, as thou goest unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha. So these are obviously the nations that were produced from Canaan, who was cursed because of his father's abominable acts towards his father. So these are the origins of Canaan. So Canaan came from Noah, but he came from his father who committed to this abominable act and then ended up producing these areas and nations who we know obviously are guilty of sodomy, perversion, things of that nature, Sodom and Gomorrah being mentioned in this list. Now go back to Deuteronomy 20, hold your place there in Genesis. If you have a piece of paper or a pen, put it there in Genesis and go to Deuteronomy chapter 20. Now when the children of Israel are promised by God, God tells the children of Israel, Hey, I'm going to give you the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. He's referring to Canaan land. It was a very fruitful land, a very lush place to live in, and God wants to bless the children of Israel for it. But this is obviously the land, the geographical location of these nations who are guilty of committing heinous crimes. And he promises them these lands. However, his promise is not just because he wants to bless God's people, but it's also because he wants to punish the wicked. So he has a dual purpose in the children of Israel inheriting that land. It's not like he just wants to give them that land because, you know, you got nothing better else to do, or just because they're his people. He has a dual purpose for it, and that is he's blessing them, but he's also killing two birds with one stone, I mean literally, right? By getting rid of the people of the land as well because of their sin. And so you're in Deuteronomy 20, let me read to you from Exodus chapter 13 and verse 4. It says, This day came ye out in the month Abib, and it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites, and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shall keep this service in this month. So let me start off by saying this regarding the destruction of the Canaanites, is that it's only seven nations that God really wants to get rid of. Because people often give this narrative that God just wanted to do this to all nations. You know, and people will point this out like, oh the God of the Old Testament, all he was doing was just killing a bunch of people, and all he was doing was just killing nations, and getting rid of people, but that's actually not the case. It was the case with these seven nations. However, God's intention for all nations was for them to believe God. Essentially, to be converted to the religion of the Bible so that God can bless them. And in fact, in Acts chapter 13 verse 47 it says, For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. So God's intention for his nation, that chosen nation, was for them to be a witness of God, and essentially win the foreigners and the Gentiles over to the biblical religion. You understand? You're like, well that's not fair, you know what I mean? What if they want to just continue in the life that they're living? Oh, you mean like with child sacrifices, and bestiality, and sodomy, or just having laws that are just against God, and just kind of living a life that's of higher quality? You know, it's better for them to just be converted to the religion of the Bible, so they can have the true God of the Bible, and be blessed of God, and then generations thereafter are converted, one to the Lord, given eternal life, etc. That's a better outcome for the surrounding nations. And you've got to keep in mind that this was God's original intent because he told Abraham, In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So it's not like he just wants to subjugate all nations and just destroy them completely. He wants to win them over so they can be a part of the nation of Israel, and have the God of the Bible as their God. But look at Deuteronomy 20 just to further prove this. It says in verse number 10 of Deuteronomy 20, When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. What does that say? You know, when they come there, they want peace. Israelites are like, they don't want people to die. They don't want people to be destroyed. They want peace with these people, and they want to reconcile with these people because God wants to win them over. And it shall be, if it make the answer of peace and open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. You're like, see, I don't agree with that. I think they should have just been left alone. But folks, the statutes and judgments of the Lord are superior than any other nation that was on the face of the planet to this day. So then being tributaries to Israel and subject to Israel is a far greater outcome than whatever false religion they had. An inferior system that was implemented in their day, this is far better. Verse 12 says, And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it. And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword. But the women and the little ones and the cattle and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, thou shalt take unto thyself, and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Now, what is it saying here? Men die, but the women and the children are saved alive. And people have beef with this. They're just like, oh, see, this isn't right. You know what I mean? But they're viewing it through the lens of what other nations have done when they take women and children. They view it as, oh, the children of Israel must have raped them and killed them and just kind of subjugate them. No, we're dealing with the nation that's a God-fearing nation who's not going to oppress the stranger, the Bible says. Because God told them, don't oppress the stranger. Don't do wrong to the stranger or the foreigner. Treat them kindly. Treat them as though they were born in your land. Love the stranger, right? So it's not like they're taking them and just kind of making their lives miserable with rigor. They obviously get to get integrated into the nation of Israel. And with that, essentially enjoy the blessings of being God's people. He says in verse number 15, Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities that are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. The point that I'm trying to make here is the fact that God didn't do this to every single nation. His intention was first and foremost to spread the word of God, be a light into the nations so that they can be converted, be saved and have the God of the Bible as their God. Look at verse 16. But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth. He's like, I don't want anything to be alive. Everything must go. Straight liquidation, right? But thou shalt utterly destroy them, namely the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. Now, why is that? Look at verse 18. That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods. So should ye sin against the Lord your God. Now go back to Genesis 15, if you would. Go to Genesis chapter 15. So the first point that I want to make here is the fact that when people try to point to the Bible and try to make God seem as though he's just this angry God and vengeful God, and he's not loving, he's not kind, he's not merciful, that's completely wrong because he obviously saved a lot of nations. There's instances when Israel would besiege a city and they did subjugate themselves to the Israelites and guess what? They lived happily ever after. Because once they integrated into the nation of Israel, they were required to obey those laws and guess what happens when you obey the laws of God? You become blessed because of it. And I guarantee you, there's individuals who were part of the different nations, who were conquered by Israel, were integrated into Israel, and stayed there for generations on end and they were thankful for it. It's like my life has just been better ever since I was integrated into the nation of Israel. And you know what? I'll give you an example of this. And I talked a little bit about this last week. But ethnically, I guess I'm like a Mexican or Guatemalan. Most people look at me and say I'm a Mexican. I'm cool with that. But you know what? I'm thankful to live here though. And I was born here. My parents were not and my grandparents were not. They ended up coming to this nation and there's not a single fiber in my body that thinks, oh man, I wish my parents would have just stayed in Guatemala. I wish we would just stay there and just live there. No way. Because it was here where I found the God of the Bible. It was here where I found Christianity, I got eternal life, and I got to learn about the laws of God through which I've been blessed greatly. There's not a single ounce of regret in my body. It's not like I can't believe these Israelites just came and taught us about the God of the Bible. Everyone who was conquered and subjugated themselves to Israel, generations after, I guarantee you there's people who are thankful for it. There's not an ounce of regret or I can't believe it. Let's go back. No, because Israel was a superior nation because they had a superior God with superior laws. And you know what? They reaped the benefits of it. I'm sure they saw the laws and were like, wow, we didn't do this back home. After seven years, you forgive all the debt? Sign me up. I mean, that's a great law. You know, it's just like, oh man, people make full restitution after they steal from you? You know, they cut my hands off over here. They look at the laws of God and they're just like, wow, this is way better. This is not grievous. This is, these laws are far superior. It's a lot better here than it was back wherever they came from. You understand? And so, and look, that's why when people are just like always complaining about the United States of America for whatever reason, it's just like, you know, and people think it's racist to say, it's like, well, go back where you're from then if you don't like it here. That's not racist because they're literally saying that where they came from is better than here. So logically you would think, so why would you be here then? Don't you want to go back? If it's far superior over there than it is here, you know, whether that's Mexico or Africa, the motherland or whatever you want to call it, if it's far better over there, then you should go back. But you know why you're here? It's because you know that it's better here. It's far superior to be here. Well, you know what? That's a raw example of what we're talking about here. And obviously Israel right now is not that. Israel right now is obviously a very inferior nation, okay? And they are the Canaanites, okay? But you know, in these days where it was a theocracy, where God was their king, man, those are great times to live in, okay? So why did God want to wipe them out? You know, considering the fact that he won other nations, he wanted to be a light unto those nations, he's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, why specifically pick these seven nations to be destroyed? Well, first and foremost, because the fullness of their iniquity was overflowing, okay? Look at Genesis 15 and verse 13. Now who, he's talking to Israel, but what is he talking about? He's obviously referring to Egypt. Because they would be taken into captivity in Egypt, not captivity, but they would essentially be captive in Egypt for 400 years, right? Before they would go into the promised land. So he's prophesying of this. Verse 14. So this is referring to the Exodus, right? Because God did judge Egypt with the ten plagues. And of course, when the children of Israel left Egypt, known as the Exodus, they did go out with a lot of substance. I mean, their neighbors are giving them all types of resources and monetary wealth to let them be going on their way because Egypt was just essentially destroyed by God, okay? Verse 15. So what is the point that I'm trying to make here? What he's saying here is that God is going to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt, but he's going to bring them in because the dual purpose of bringing them in is not just to bless them, but he's going to punish the Amorites as well. And he says there that the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. That's a very important phrase there. Why? Because it's showing us that God has been very merciful and long-suffering towards the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Jebusites, the Girgashites. And in fact, if we're to quantify it for how long, we could say at least for 400 years. So that means the seven nations that God wants to destroy, they hated God for at least 400 years. They practiced abominable acts for at least 400 years, probably more than that. And they had a chance, listen to this, to repent for at least 400 years. And in fact, if you add the 40 years where the children of Israel are in the desert, you know, 440 years or so, I mean, that's a long time to start thinking about, you know what, maybe this isn't the way we should be acting here. Because there's a God who can destroy us if we don't get our act together. Now, that's important because of the fact that people think that God just destroyed them at a whim. He didn't destroy them at a whim. He was literally long-suffering towards them for years on end. And let me say this, the seven nations that he's referring to, it's not like they were ignorant of God. They knew about him. Did you know that those seven nations knew all about God? They knew all about Israel. They knew all about what God had done. Because 40 years afterwards, when they go to Jericho, Rahab is like, we've heard about you guys. And in fact, 40 years ago, when you guys destroyed Egypt, our hearts melted. Because we're like, oh no, they're coming this way. So let's say 400 years pass by, they don't repent, they still had 40 years. From the time they were in the wilderness to the time they came to the Promised Land, and they still didn't get right. And it's not like they were ignorant of the Bible, they were ignorant of God. They knew what God was capable of because news spreads fast. No Instagram, no social media, no Facebook, no TikTok, yet the news spread fast. This is what God did to Egypt. Everyone knew about it. And in light of that, their hearts melted. What does that mean? They were fearful and afraid of God's judgment, yet they didn't change. Isn't that interesting? We could say that they knew God, but they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, and they became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. You see, God's judgment comes upon a nation or an individual, not because they're ignorant of the Bible, but because they know the Bible. Not because they're ignorant of God, but because they know God, and they glorified Him not as God. So it can never be said of these seven nations, oh, these poor people, they didn't know anything about the Bible, they didn't know anything about God, no, they knew all about the God of the Bible, they knew about His judgments, and they persisted in abominable acts in spite of that. They knew that He was a God who judges nations. And in fact, I would even go as far as to say that Canaanland not only knew about the judgments of Egypt, they probably also knew about Sodom and Gomorrah. So they know about all these supernatural occurrences, and in light of that, there's not a single person there who would say, you know what, let's convert to the religion of Israel, the God of the Bible, because He is the one true God. No, they persisted in serving their false gods. And killing, and committing abominable acts, and so on and so forth. And so it makes me think of the fact that when Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees in Matthew 23, He says, fill ye then up the measure of your fathers. You know why God judged Israel so harshly when Jesus came? Because the iniquity was filled all the way to the top. That was like the last straw, that was the straw that broke the camel's back for the Israelites. You understand? And so by the time that they were going into Canaanland to conquer it, all the iniquity had just overflowed. God's patience had run out. They were not going to survive that because they were just going to be punished for it, because you have 400 years of just being unrepentant, that's what happens. And here's the thing, the times of this ignorance God will wink at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. And you think of the fact that those in Canaanland knew about the judgments of God and still didn't get right. Well think about today, where the entire world has heard about God. They've heard about Jesus Christ. They hear about Jesus Christ through false religion. I mean there is no lack of the knowledge of Jesus in this world today. I don't care where you are, everyone's heard about Jesus Christ. He commands everyone to repent. And so go to Joshua chapter 2, if you would. Now let me explain something else here. God tells them in Deuteronomy chapter 20 that he wants everyone to be destroyed. He's like anything that breathes should no longer breathe by the time you're done. And when you read that you think to yourself, like, nothing? Because it says utterly. But let me say this, is that when you compare that to the way God distributes judgment as well as mercy throughout the Bible, you see that God still leaves room for people to get right if they wanted to. Because think about Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham's like, what if there's 50 righteous people? He's like, if there's 50 righteous, I won't destroy it. He's like 40, 45, 40, 30, 20, and to a point in 2010, and then Abraham just kind of gave up. But it's like, even if there was one righteous person, God would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah. He would have spared it. Why? Because he is merciful. Because even though he wants to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah from off the face of the planet, if there's one righteous person, he's willing to save that person. And that is the common narrative when God judges the nation is that he's willing to spare those who actually want to be spared. So if an entire nation is destroyed, it shows you nobody there wanted to be spared. So how do you know that? Well, because of the fact that we have Rahab the harlot, who, guess what, is a Canaanite. So even though God said, utterly destroy them, Rahab was saved. Not only her, but even her household was saved. And I want you to notice that it was Rahab the harlot, not Rahab the Sodomite, not Rahab the whatever. It was Rahab the harlot who got saved. And by the way, there's Sodomites in Canaan at that time. There's definitely a lot of Sodomites in Canaan land during that time. Because that's exactly what they were guilty of. Not a single one actually wanted to be saved. Surprise, surprise. But you know Rahab did. And in fact, she got saved, is mentioned in the New Testament, and is even in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Beautiful, right? It's a wonderful thing. Look what it says here in verse 8 of Joshua chapter 2. And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof, and she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt, and what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites, and were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon, and Og, whom he utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt. Neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. Okay, so, you know, Joshua's not like, sorry, he said utterly. Save it, he said utterly. No, obviously God was very much pleased with saving Rahab. Because Rahab actually believed. And you know what the purpose of those judgments on Egypt and on the Amorites was? So that people may fear, and in light of that, get right with God. You understand what I'm saying? And so, the United States of America, which is kind of like Canaanland too, it's a land of Canaanites and Amorites and Jebusites, it's not like they're ignorant. Because they, I mean, we have churches here, the Bible's constantly being preached, and even then, the person who's the most ignorant of the Bible has at least heard of one of the judgments of the Bible. Everyone here has heard of Noah and the flood. They've heard of Sodom and Gomorrah. You say, well, have you ever heard of hell? Like, I've heard of hell. Well, that should be enough to motivate you to get saved and to want to be spared from the judgment of God. Because Rahab did. And I think the story of Rahab is just a wonderful story. Because there's a reason the Bible refers to as Rahab the harlot. A harlot is a prostitute. And yet, we see that the harlots and publicans go into the kingdom of God before these abominable Canaanites. So even though God wanted to utterly destroy the Canaanites, He was obviously willing to make an exception for those who were willing to believe on Him and wanted to be spared from the judgment, from the wrath of God to come. Now, I will say this, though, is that they're the only ones in Jericho who were spared the judgment of God because narrow is the way that leadeth them to life and few there be that find it. And I want you to notice that her testimony is that we all know about that. Isn't that interesting? She said, we're all scared. We've all heard about it. We not only heard about what you did in Egypt, we also heard about what you did to the Amorites. And guess what? We're all scared. But in light of that, she's like, but I know he's the true God of heaven and earth and she wanted to be spared and so she was spared along with her family because of it. Look what it goes on to say in verse 12. Now therefore I pray you swear unto me by the Lord since I have showed you kindness and that ye will also show kindness into my father's house and give me a true token and that ye will save alive my father and mother and my brethren and my sisters and all that they have and deliver our lives from death. Joshua is just like, no, he said utterly, utterly is utterly. No, he's just like, yeah, if you guys are willing to integrate into the children of Israel, you know, that's all good, right? If they believe in the Lord and they want to integrate, it's OK. Why? Because if there was one righteous person in Canaan land, God is willing to save that person. Which shows us that in Sodom and Gomorrah there's no righteous people except for law and he did save law. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 9 if you would, Deuteronomy chapter 9. Deuteronomy chapter 9. And the main point that I want to get across tonight is the fact that God deals with nations kind of the way he deals with people. Because in general, God wants all people to be saved. Just like he wants all nations to be saved, the way we see in the Old Testament. You know, there's like seven nations out there who he's just like, you guys are done for. You guys are through. He's been merciful to them. They have the knowledge of God. They know what the Bible says, and yet they refuse it, so they become reprobate nations. Just like these Canaanites, OK? And so God deals with nations the way he would deal with an individual. And at the end of the, well, we'll get into that in just a little bit, but look at Deuteronomy 9 and verse 1. He says, Hear, O Israel, thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go into possessed nations greater and mightier than thyself. Cities great and fenced up to heaven, a people great and tall, the children of the Anakims whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak? Understand therefore this day that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee. As a consuming fire, he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face. So shalt thou drive them out and destroy them quickly as the Lord had set unto thee. Speak not thou in thine heart after that the Lord God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land. But for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee. So the due purpose of destroying the Canaanites was, number one, because he wanted to bless his people, but number two, he wanted to get rid of these people as well. He says, For their wickedness. Now, let's take a look at a list of the things that they were guilty of. Go to Leviticus chapter 18. Leviticus chapter 18. Let me just finish reading in Deuteronomy 9 for good measure. It says in verse 5, Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land? But for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, that he may perform the word which the Lord swore unto thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Understand, therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness, for thou art a stiff-necked people. He's like, don't try to take too much credit for why you're inheriting this land because you guys are stubborn. Stubborn people, right? So obviously there's two reasons why. Look at Leviticus 18, verse 1, the Lord spake it to Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and saying to them, I am the Lord your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwell, ye shall not do. And after the doings of the land of Canaan, whether I bring you, shall ye not do, neither shall you walk in their ordinances. So let me just explain something. These seven nations that are being destroyed, it's not like they're just thieves. It's not like they're just blasphemers or thieves or they're just a bunch of fornicators or something. The Canaanites were perverse. I'm talking about things they did against nature. Let me go through the list here. Verses 6 through 19, incest. So they were all about incest in the land of Canaan. And we're just highlighting 400 years here. It's probably taking place before that. But is it any coincidence that Canaan, who's the son of Ham, was into incest? And that kind of just traveled through the generations in Canaan? Well, that's what they were into. So he's destroying the seven nations who were in the land of Canaan because they were into incest. Well, you know, if that's what they wanted to do, that's their prerogative, that's their business. That's how diseases are born. That's how deformities come about. And there's incest that takes place even in the United States, unfortunately. It's called the South. Not everyone in the South, but it does take place in the South. West Virginia. And you say, oh man, you're being... No, I've got a pastor friend who's in West Virginia. He even says that that's something that happens. It's wicked. Incest. Verse 20. Adultery, which is wicked. Something that's punishable by death according to the Bible. How about this? Infanticide. Verse 21. And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall thou profane in the name of thy God, I am the Lord. So what were the Canaanites guilty of? Literally offering children sacrifices, burning them, killing children. Now, here's what's so ironic about people who argue about the God of the Old Testament. They're like, well, can you explain all the genocide in the Old Testament? Yeah, I'll explain as soon as you explain to me why you justify abortion. Right? Because here's the thing. It's like, oh, I can't believe the God of the Bible would go and just destroy these nations and destroy the children of these nations. Right? Because that's what they'll say. What do you mean the Canaanites were doing that before the children of Israel got there? The Canaanites were killing children way before Israel ever got there. In fact, that was a common practice was to offer their seed, their seed means their children, unto Molech. And let me say this is that, you know, Egypt was obviously far less wicked than Canaan, but Egypt also practiced birth control. So I think it's safe to assume that the Canaanites probably practiced it as well. So aborting and children's sacrifices, they had no issue with killing children in the land of Canaan. And you're trying to tell me that nation doesn't deserve to be destroyed? Folks, they're destroying themselves. Nations who practice birth control and don't want to have children, that nation is self-destructing. Because they're not going to have any people to inhabit that nation for very long if they're not having children. They're aborting all their babies. That nation's not going to exist. So why are you getting on God for destroying a nation that's already destroying itself from the inside by destroying their children? And here's the thing is just that the Bible doesn't explicitly say that God said to destroy the children that were in Canaan land. He does say it about the Amalekites. And I'm not saying that it didn't happen because it might have. But you also got to keep in mind that maybe there wasn't even a whole lot of children in the first place since they're practicing infanticide anyways. You ever think about that? You're like, I can't believe it. You're killing all these children. Well, first of all, you're for abortion, so why do you care? But secondly, how do you lose even any children there anymore since they just offered them to Moloch and burned them? I mean, think about that, folks. The logic is wild with these people. So you think they should just allow this nation to just murder innocent children by burning them in a fire and just let them persist in that wicked abomination without any interference of any outside nation or righteous nation that can correct that? Come on. It's ridiculous. And I guarantee you Rahab was very thankful, right? I'm sure she was thankful that they came and destroyed that nation and she integrated into Israel because guess what? Now her family lives. Now she could actually have children without someone trying to coax her into sacrificing her baby and committing abortions. And you know what? Here's the thing is that obviously the children of Israel didn't do a good job eradicating the Canaanites because they stayed in the land, which is why thereafter they became pricks in their sides and in their eyes and you see later on during the time of Isaiah and even the time of Jeremiah where the children of Israel are offering their children unto Moloch as well, passing them through the fire, practicing infanticide. Why? Because the generations prior didn't fight that battle. And you don't have to turn to Leviticus 20 verse 1 and 5, he also says don't aid those who are practicing infanticide either. Look at verse 22. What else were they guilty of? They were guilty of incest, adultery, infanticide, and sodomy. Verse 22, thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind, it is abomination. So how do you know that these were sins and abominable things that the Canaanites were doing? Because this is why he's expelling them out of the land. He's saying don't do the things that they would do and some of the things that they would do is practice sodomy. In other words, they were perverts. Man with man working that which is unseemly, as Roman once puts it. So think about this, if adultery is rampant, if you have incest, and you have sodomy, you have a land of deformed people just full of diseases. So not only are they destroying themselves because they're not having children, they're also destroying themselves by just mere sheer numbers of just diseases as well. Now AIDS didn't exist back then but I'm sure there was some form of a disease like AIDS. They probably infected the communities there and were killing a lot of people. Venereal diseases have existed throughout the ages my friends. It's not just AIDS but I'm sure there might have been something even worse than AIDS back then. So are you saying that you would want a child to grow up in that society where they can potentially be subject to incest? Where they can potentially be subject to sodomy and infanticide? That's not a good life for a child to live. So let's just say that God had the children of Israel just wipe out the entire community including the children. Well guess what? All the children at least go to heaven because I believe, according to the Bible, that children go to heaven if they die. Because they haven't reached the age of accountability. Well I just don't think that's right. Oh that's right, let's just leave them living in Canaan land and they have all these things working against them. And we're not even done with the list yet. So just keep in mind, these sins are not just like a couple people did these days, it's like the whole nation was just guilty of this. That's why Rahab the harlot was the only one who was a God fearing person who actually wanted to get saved and no one else did. She's the exception to the rule. Sodomy, producing diseases, and if they're committing sodomy they're molesting children as well. You say, oh you can't really say that based off of the description. Folks, if they're killing children and offering them as sacrifices, they're probably doing other stuff to them as well. You research any society who's involved in any type of perversion, there's no limit to their violations of children. Verse 23, what else were they guilty of? Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith. Neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto, it is confusion. Now thankfully the Bible's not very so explicit that it perverts the mind, but it lets you know what it's talking about. It's referring to lying carnally with an animal. You're like, come on, why would you put that in there? Because that's what the Canaanites did! They committed the acts of bestiality with animals. Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things, for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you, and the land is defiled, therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomited out her inhabitants. It's like you're making the land sick! So do you see now why God's like, get rid of these nations? They're self-destructing anyways. They're committing incest, producing all types of deformities, they are committing adultery, they are killing their children, they are sodomizing people, and they're also committing the filthy act of bestiality. Now unfortunately our nation is like right before this. I'm talking about our nation now. Because we pretty much have seen all this in our nation, all the way to sodomy, the next thing though is bestiality. So because sodomy is just being promoted and accepted in our nation, and people don't seem to have a problem with homosexuality and AIDS and those filthy acts, you know what the next thing they're going to introduce is bestiality. In fact you have the Turks, the Young Turks for example. That guy, I don't know what his name is, but he's over here trying to justify bestiality. And even his libtard friends are just like woah, and he's like woah, woah, woah, because that's the next step my friends. And I heard this even before I got saved. I remember working at a company, and I wasn't saved at the time, and I remember in that job they were talking something about sodomy and legalizing marriage between homos or whatever. And there's this one guy who's just like that's disgusting. I looked over and I just started laughing because it was so funny. He's like let me tell you something, the next thing they're going to want to marry a dolphin. And everyone's just like dude you're being extreme, I'm just being honest, that's the next thing. And I'm like what? They're going to marry a dolphin? He's like yeah man they're going to get into bestiality after this, I'm just telling you. And you know what? The guy was right. I don't even think the guy was a Christian. I just think he had common sense, but it could be backed up by the Bible that bestiality comes after sodomy. And it makes the land sick. What's another thing is witchcraft. You don't have to turn to Leviticus 20 verse 6, it talks about that. Now look at verse 30, it says, What is a custom? Things that people are accustomed to do. It's not like it's something they do once in a blue moon. This is customary for them. Which were committed before you, that you defile not yourselves therein. I am the Lord your God. Let me read to you from Leviticus 20 verse 23, And he shall not walk in the manners of the nations which I cast out before you. For they committed all these things, and therefore, listen to this, I abhorred them. So you got to keep in mind, God isn't just destroying these seven nations at a whim. It's not like, oh man, you know, I got to choose someone to destroy to keep my reputation of being a judging God. He was very long suffering with them. They had the truth, he waited and waited and waited and waited for years on end. He allowed his people to be in captivity for at least 400 years under the reign of the Egyptians, hoping that these nations would repent. Because God is not willing that any man should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That was his will for these nations. But they're filling that cup up, just filling it up, filling it up. And you know what, by the time they got into Canaan land, the cup was overflowing with iniquity and perversion, to the point where God says, since you are destroying yourself, I'm just going to go ahead and help you. And just kind of finish the job. You know when the Bible says that they didn't want to retain God and their knowledge, so God gives them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient, they were giving themselves over to those things already. God just kind of finishes them off, removes their moral conscience, and does what they were already doing. Folks, the Canaanites didn't want to live, right? The Canaanites didn't love life, they didn't want to live. How do you know that? Because they're killing each other. Because they're killing the kids. The Canaanites didn't even want a good quality of life. How do you know that? Because they're committing incest? Because they're committing sodomy? And diseases are rampant? So don't try to put a nice little bow on the Canaanites as though they're just like the victims of God's genocide. God did for them what they were already doing to themselves for 400 years, my friend. That's exactly what happened. And you know what's funny is that when people bring this up, they never talk about Leviticus 18. They never want to address the fact that they were giving their children over to Moloch and burning their kids. I mean, how wicked is that? And so just like with an individual who's a reprobate, God does for the reprobate what he was already doing for himself. He didn't want to believe on God, he hates the Lord, he abhors the Lord, he revels in perversion. So God's just like, alright, I'll just remove the moral compass and just kind of aid you in your rejection of me. Because they don't want God in the first place. He said, what if there's someone who, you know, was coaxed into sodomy or something like that, or they're molested but they actually want the Lord, well then you've got a rehab. Because God's not going to reject anybody who actually comes to him and wants the truth. We're talking about haters of God. Well, you don't know that the Canaanites really hated God. It says in Deuteronomy 7 that they hated him. And so what took place in the land of Canaan at Jericho and thereafter is God repaying them to their face. Kind of shows you that he is slow to anger, huh? Because if they're committing those things for 400 years, he could have dropped the bomb on them long ago. I mean, he didn't need the nation of Israel to judge those nations. He could have done that a long time ago. He has a plethora of fire and brimstone to work with. He could have just been like, scoop, and just like, you're done. But obviously there was a purpose behind the conquest of Canaan. It's not only to rid the earth of these seven nations who were already killing themselves, destroying themselves, filling themselves with disease and deformities, but also because two birds with one stone, the children of Israel could also inherit that land. And by the way, because what is the spiritual application? The spiritual application is that Canaan land can almost be figurative of our members. And how God wants us to mortify, therefore, the deeds of the body. And you can view the conquest of Canaan as almost a lifelong process of sanctification for ourselves. Not that we're guilty of abominable acts, but just that our members are subject to sin. And how God wants us to mortify, therefore, the deeds of our body, the members of our body, so we can please Christ and do that which is pleasing in His sight. Go to Deuteronomy 7. So He told them, hey, destroy them because they're really perverse and they're already kind of dying anyways. And so let's go ahead and spare some more children from the fate of being a Canaanite, a sacrifice of the Canaanites, and just wipe out the entire nation. And no one can ever argue, oh, they should have just left them alone. Why, so they could just die at some pervert's hand? I mean, that's not a good argument. But also He said, I want you to destroy them because they're promoting paganism. Okay, look what it says in verse three of Deuteronomy 7. Holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth. Look at verse 23. I do not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein, for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God. Now He's basically saying, look, you should utterly destroy them because what's going to happen is if you allow them to live, you show mercy unto them as you told them not to. Generations thereafter will become tolerant towards the Canaanites. And tolerance often leads to integration as well. When you tolerate, you eventually embrace what they're doing. And if you embrace what they're doing, you're going to partake of what they're doing. So God says, because obviously God can see the future. So He's saying, look, if you tolerate this now and you don't destroy them, what's going to happen is it's going to become normalized in Israel and then you have a Judges 19 situation. Which is exactly what happened. Because they weren't thorough in the obedience to God, what happened? You have a Judges 19. Because they didn't take care of it, what He told them to do when they first went into Canaan, you have a Judges 19 and now you have Benjamin being wiped out. You understand what I'm saying? Go to Psalm 9 and we'll finish here. Go to Psalm chapter 9 if you wouldn't. So don't let people tell you, oh God's racist. God, He's just such a racist. He was just committing genocide because He didn't love anybody outside of Israel. No, He's not a racist. What He hates is paganism because paganism leads to perversion. Polytheism and paganism all leads to perversion, my friends. So He didn't want the children of Israel to intermingle with these people because they were guilty of abominable acts that was a result of their type of worship. So it's not like, by the way, there's fundamental Baptist pastors who preach this and it's stupid. People are like, this is why we shouldn't do interracial marriages. Black people need to stay with the blacks, Mexicans with the Mexicans and the Watts with the Watts, amen. Amen, amen, amen. And they'll try to use passages of the Old Testament to justify that. But folks, nowhere in the Bible does it teach that. Now if you have a preference, that's on you. If you're like, well I just rather, I'm white and I would just rather marry, you know, what we got going on here, you know. That's perfectly fine, you know what I mean. But you can't use the Bible and say, you know, I'm sticking with the white because I'm right, you know what I mean. That's what the Bible says, amen. Because God is not against interracial marriages. What he's against is to be unequally yoked together with an unbeliever. That's what he's against. And the reason why you would tell them not to intermingle with the four nations is not because of their ethnicity but because of the religious culture of that nation. Now if that person wanted to come to Israel and become a believer, come on in. Nothing wrong with that because Jesus Christ died for everyone. And God doesn't really care what skin color you are, what he cares about is what's your belief though. What is it that you believe, what's your doctrine? Do you worship false gods? You're like, well I only want to marry a Mexican. Well what if that Mexican is some staunch Catholic who worships the Virgin Mary? What got an issue then? Because that's not my God. That's completely against what the Bible says. And so that is the reason why the genocide of the Canaanites was justified. Because they were already destroying themselves for 400 years. They hated the Lord and God was repaying them to their face. What about all the children? Stupid argument because they're already killing their children. Okay, for 400 years. But let me say this, look at Psalm 9 verse 17. The wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations that forget God. Just remember this is that every nation is subject to the judgment of God no matter what they believe. So every nation can, oh yeah but I believe in Islam, I'm a Muslim, I'm a Hindu. You can say whatever you want, you're still subject to God's judgment because all nations will be turned into hell. Nations that forsake God and hate the God of the Bible, they will be turned into hell because at the end of the day there is only one God. Who judges not only individuals but he will even judge nations. As proven right here by the fact that he destroyed seven nations. Obviously the Israelites did a half hazard job destroying them because they didn't destroy them all. But his will was for these nations to be destroyed for the benefit of Israel and the benefit of the planet. And so we need to recognize that God is righteous and he's just in what he did. And don't try to make excuses for these controversial passages. You know God did genocide on the Canaanites? Yep. And thank God. Praise God that he did. Because if not, you know, there's a lot of children that would have died thereafter. A lot of incest would have taken place. You know AIDS part two would have came out. You know, there would have been sequels to AIDS, the AIDS virus and all this other nonsense. So thank God that he just did that with one swipe and that was his will. Never say, well you know the God of the Old Testament is a different dispensation than the God of the New Testament. You know Jesus is a lot nicer than God the Father or something. Well you might want to read the book of Revelation. Because you know God the Father, or we just say God in general, did that to seven nations. Whereas in Revelation he does that to the entire world. He just burns the entire world. And he uses locusts and, you know, beasts of the field. He just uses everything. He just brings out everything. Let's pray. Father we thank you so much.