Question: Pastor, if God is Good, why did He command the Israelites to kill the Canaanites?
Answer: This is a great question. Let's talk about it.

Few biblical questions are as emotionally difficult as this one: Why would a good and loving God command Israel to kill the Canaanites in the book of Joshua?

The question becomes especially troubling when we read passages such as Joshua 6:21, which says that Israel “devoted” the inhabitants of Jericho to destruction, or Joshua 10:40, which summarizes Joshua’s victories by saying that he “left no survivors.” How can these commands be reconciled with the goodness of God, the command to love our enemies, and the revelation of God’s love in Jesus Christ?

We should not minimize the difficulty of these passages. The Bible does not ask us to celebrate violence or treat human life casually. At the same time, we must understand these events within the Bible’s larger story of creation, sin, divine patience, judgment, mercy, and redemption.

No single explanation resolves every emotional difficulty. However, several biblical truths—or theodicies—help us understand why God’s commands in Joshua do not contradict His goodness.

1. God Is the Creator and Giver of Life

The first truth is also the most foundational: God is the Creator, owner, and giver of every human life. Human beings do not possess ultimate authority over life and death. God does.

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
—Psalm 24:1

God gave life to humanity in Genesis 2:7, and every person continues to depend upon Him for every breath. Job recognized this when he said:

“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
—Job 1:21

Deuteronomy 32:39 records God saying that He gives life and brings death. First Samuel 2:6 similarly says that the Lord brings death and gives life. Acts 17:25 teaches that God gives everyone “life and breath and everything else.”

This does not mean that human beings have the right to kill whenever they believe someone deserves judgment. Murder is explicitly forbidden in Exodus 20:13. Human beings are not sovereign judges. But God is not another human being. He is the righteous Creator before whom every person is accountable.

If God allows a person to die at age ninety, He has not robbed that person of something God owed him. If God brings judgment at age forty, twenty, or ten, He has not violated another authority above Himself. Every human life already belongs to Him. The moral question, therefore, is not whether God has authority over life. The question is whether He exercises that authority justly. Scripture consistently answers that He does.

“Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
—Genesis 18:25

2. The Conquest Was Divine Judgment, Not Ethnic Hatred

The conquest of Canaan was not presented as Israel deciding that it was superior to another ethnic group. It was an act of divine judgment against deeply entrenched wickedness. God specifically warned Israel not to believe that it received the land because of its own goodness:

“It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations.”
—Deuteronomy 9:5

Deuteronomy 9:4–6 repeats this point several times. Israel was not morally superior. In fact, God called Israel “a stiff-necked people.” The Canaanite judgment was based on persistent sin, not race. Leviticus 18 describes practices that had corrupted the land, including:

• Incestuous sexual relationships
• Adultery
• Child sacrifice
• Same-sex sexual behavior
• Bestiality
• Idolatrous worship

After listing these practices, God said:

“Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled.”
—Leviticus 18:24

Leviticus 18:25 says that the land had become defiled and was “vomiting out its inhabitants.” Leviticus 20:22–23 gives a similar warning. Deuteronomy 12:31 says that the Canaanites performed detestable acts in worship, including burning their sons and daughters in the fire. Deuteronomy 18:9–12 also mentions child sacrifice, sorcery, divination, witchcraft, mediums, spiritists, and attempts to communicate with the dead. The biblical presentation is not that peaceful; morally innocent nations were attacked merely because Israel wanted more territory. The conquest is described as a judicial response to centuries of severe and unrepentant evil.

3. God Waited Centuries Before Bringing Judgment

The conquest was not an impulsive act of divine anger. God delayed judgment for generations. In Genesis 15, God promised the land to Abraham but explained that Abraham’s descendants would not possess it immediately:

“In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
—Genesis 15:16

This statement was made approximately four centuries before the conquest. God waited because the wickedness of the Amorites had not yet reached its full measure. This shows that God’s judgment was measured, patient, and connected to accumulated moral guilt. God’s patience is an important theme throughout Scripture:

• Exodus 34:6–7 describes God as compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in faithful love, while also refusing to leave the guilty unpunished.
• Nehemiah 9:17 says that God is forgiving, gracious, compassionate, and slow to anger.
• Ezekiel 18:23 says that God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked but desires that they turn and live.
• Ezekiel 33:11 repeats that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
• Romans 2:4 says that God’s kindness is intended to lead people to repentance.
• 2 Peter 3:9 says that God is patient, not wanting people to perish but to come to repentance.

The conquest came only after centuries of patience. God’s delay should not be mistaken for indifference. His patience gave time for repentance, but His justice meant that evil would not be permitted forever.

4. The Commands Were Limited to a Particular Time and Purpose

The conquest of Canaan was not a general command for God’s people to conquer anyone who believed differently. The commands concerned particular nations, in a particular land, during a particular period of redemptive history.

Deuteronomy 7:1 identifies specific nations connected to the land of Canaan. Deuteronomy 20:10–18 distinguishes between cities outside the land and the specific Canaanite nations placed under judgment.

Israel could not simply declare another nation sinful and attack it. The command required direct divine authorization. This distinction is especially important for Christians. The church is not the nation of Israel under the Old Covenant. Christians have not been given a geographical land to conquer or a divine command to execute unbelievers. Jesus commanded His followers:

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
—Matthew 5:44

The New Testament teaches Christians to overcome evil with good, bless persecutors, serve enemies, make disciples, and proclaim the gospel.

• Matthew 28:18–20 commands disciple-making, not military conquest.
• Romans 12:14 tells Christians to bless those who persecute them.
• Romans 12:17–21 forbids personal vengeance.
• 2 Corinthians 10:3–5 says that the weapons of Christian warfare are not worldly.
• Ephesians 6:12 says that the church’s struggle is not against flesh and blood.
• 1 Peter 3:9 commands believers not to repay evil with evil.

Joshua cannot legitimately be used to justify religious wars, racism, genocide, terrorism, or violence against unbelievers.

5. The Conquest Was Not Based Strictly on Ethnicity

If the judgment had been racial, no Canaanite could have been spared and no Israelite could have fallen under the same judgment. Yet Scripture shows both things happening.

Rahab Was Spared

Rahab was a Canaanite woman living in Jericho. She acknowledged the God of Israel, protected the Israelite spies, and asked for mercy.

Joshua 2:9–11 records her confession that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
Joshua 6:22–25 says that Rahab and her family were spared.

Rahab was later incorporated into Israel and appears in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:5. Hebrews 11:31 praises her faith, and James 2:25 points to her actions as evidence of genuine faith.

Her story demonstrates that the dividing line was not simply ethnicity. A Canaanite who turned to the Lord received mercy.

The Gibeonites Were Spared

Joshua 9 records that the Gibeonites sought a treaty with Israel. Although they used deception, they were not destroyed. They were incorporated into Israel’s life and placed under Israel’s protection.

In 2 Samuel 21:1–2, God later held Israel accountable when King Saul violated the covenant made with the Gibeonites. God defended these former Canaanites against mistreatment by the Israelites.

Achan Was Judged

Joshua 7 records that Achan, an Israelite, violated God’s command by taking items that had been devoted to destruction. As a result, he came under the same kind of judgment associated with Jericho. This is crucial. Being ethnically Israelite did not place someone beyond God’s justice. The pattern is:

God judges persistent rebellion and shows mercy to those who turn to Him.

6. Israel Was Held to the Same Moral Standard

God repeatedly warned Israel that if it adopted the sins of the Canaanites, the land would remove Israel as well. Leviticus 18:28 warned Israel:

“If you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.”

Deuteronomy 8:19–20 warned that if Israel followed other gods, it would perish like the nations before it.

Joshua 23:15–16 warned that God would bring disaster upon Israel if the people abandoned His covenant. This eventually happened. Because of Israel’s idolatry, injustice, violence, and refusal to repent, God sent Assyria against the northern kingdom and Babylon against Judah.

• 2 Kings 17 explains the fall of Israel.
• 2 Kings 21 describes Judah’s corruption under Manasseh.
• 2 Kings 24–25 records the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem.
• 2 Chronicles 36:15–21 says that God repeatedly sent messengers because He had compassion, but the people mocked His warnings until judgment came.
• Jeremiah 7 condemns Judah for oppression, idolatry, violence, and child sacrifice.
• Lamentations mourns the devastation of Jerusalem under divine judgment.

God did not operate with one moral standard for Canaan and another for Israel. The same God who used Israel to judge Canaan later used foreign nations to judge Israel. This reinforces the point that Joshua concerns divine judgment, not racial superiority.

7. Ancient Warfare Accounts Often Used Rhetorical Hyperbole

Some of the strongest language in Joshua may reflect conventional ancient warfare rhetoric. Military accounts often described victories in total terms, even when survivors clearly remained. Phrases such as “destroyed everything,” “left no survivors,” and “all the land” could function as descriptions of decisive victory rather than mathematical claims that every person had been killed. We see possible examples of this within Joshua itself.

Joshua 10:20 says that Joshua and the Israelites completed a great slaughter until the enemy was destroyed. Yet the same verse immediately mentions survivors who escaped into fortified cities.

Joshua 10:40 says that Joshua subdued the whole region and left no survivors. However, Joshua 13:1 says that much land remained to be possessed.

Joshua 11:21–22 says that Joshua eliminated the Anakim from the hill country and that none remained in Israelite territory except in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. Yet Joshua 15:13–14 later describes Caleb driving the Anakites out of Hebron.

Judges 1 also identifies numerous Canaanite populations that remained in the land after the events described in Joshua.

This does not mean that no one died or that the conquest was peaceful. Real battles and real judgment occurred. It does suggest, however, that universal-sounding language may sometimes describe comprehensive military defeat rather than the death of every individual inhabitant. This interpretation is strengthened by another biblical pattern. Deuteronomy sometimes places the commands to “destroy” the Canaanites alongside instructions not to intermarry with them.

For example, Deuteronomy 7:2–3 says to destroy the nations and then warns Israel not to intermarry with them. A prohibition against intermarriage would make little sense if every individual had already been killed.

Similarly, Joshua 23:7 and 12 warn Israel not to associate or intermarry with the nations that remained among them. Therefore, some interpreters believe the conquest language was partly hyperbolic and focused primarily on defeating Canaanite political, military, and religious strongholds.

8. The Word “All” Does Not Always Mean Every Individual Without Exception

The Bible frequently uses comprehensive language in a natural rather than an absolute sense.

Genesis 41:57 says that “all the world” came to Egypt to buy grain. The meaning is not that every human being on the planet personally traveled to Egypt.

1 Kings 10:24 says that “the whole world” sought an audience with Solomon. This describes his international fame, not every individual person alive.

Matthew 3:5 says that Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region went out to John the Baptist. This does not require us to believe that no one remained at home.

Mark 1:5 uses similar language when describing those who came to hear John.

In the same way, statements about destroying “all” the inhabitants may emphasize the completeness of Israel’s victory over a city, army, ruling structure, or regional power rather than requiring the death of every noncombatant.

Context must determine how a universal language is being used.

9. Some Conquest Sites May Have Been Primarily Military Strongholds

Some biblical interpreters argue that cities such as Jericho and Ai may have functioned primarily as fortified military or administrative centers rather than large civilian population centers. The biblical text repeatedly emphasizes kings, fighting men, fortified cities, armies, and military campaigns. The purpose of the conquest was to dismantle Canaanite power and religious influence.

Joshua 5:1 describes the kings of the Amorites and Canaanites reacting to Israel’s arrival. Joshua 8 focuses on the king, army, and military strategy at Ai. Joshua 10 and 11 describe coalitions of kings assembling armies against Israel.

This view does not eliminate the moral difficulty, and it should not be overstated. Joshua 6:21 still uses broad language concerning Jericho’s population. Nevertheless, the military context may reduce the assumption that Israel was moving through peaceful suburban communities, killing every person it encountered. The conquest narratives are primarily accounts of warfare against organized kingdoms and military resistance.

10. The Judgment Protected Israel From Destructive Religious Practices

God explained that the Canaanite nations were to be removed so that they would not teach Israel to imitate their practices.

“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 20:18

This warning proved tragically accurate. When Israel failed to remove Canaanite religious influence, the people repeatedly adopted Canaanite gods and practices.

Judges 2:11–13 says that Israel served the Baals and Ashtoreths. Judges 2:19 says that the people returned to corrupt practices whenever a judge died.

Psalm 106:34–38 says that Israel failed to destroy the nations, mingled with them, learned their practices, served their idols, and even sacrificed sons and daughters.

2 Kings 16:3 says that King Ahaz sacrificed his son in the fire, following the detestable practices of the nations. 2 Kings 21:6 says that Manasseh sacrificed his son, practiced sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists.

The concern was not that Canaanites had a different cultural style. The concern was that Israel would adopt a system involving idolatry, exploitation, ritual immorality, sorcery, and child sacrifice. The conquest was connected to God’s plan to establish a covenant people through whom blessing and ultimately the Messiah would come.

11. God’s Plan Through Israel Was Ultimately Redemptive

God’s calling of Abraham was never merely about giving one ethnic group land. God promised:

“All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
—Genesis 12:3

The nation of Israel became the people through whom God gave the Scriptures, the prophets, the covenant promises, and ultimately Jesus Christ.

Romans 9:4–5 says that Israel received the covenants, the law, the temple worship, and the promises, and that the Messiah came from Israel according to the flesh. The preservation of Israel served a redemptive purpose extending far beyond Israel. Through Israel came Jesus, the Savior of the world:

• Matthew 1 traces Jesus’ ancestry through Abraham and David.
• Luke 2:32 calls Jesus a light for revelation to the Gentiles.
• John 3:16 declares God’s love for the world.
• Galatians 3:8 says that the gospel was announced in advance to Abraham through the promise that all nations would be blessed through him.
• Revelation 7:9 pictures redeemed people from every nation, tribe, people, and language.

The conquest must therefore be placed within the larger biblical story. It was a limited act of judgment within a plan that would ultimately offer salvation to every nation.

12. God Often Uses Human Agents to Carry Out Judgment

Some people may accept that God has the authority to bring death, but struggle with the fact that He commanded Israel to act as His instrument. However, Scripture frequently teaches that God uses human governments and nations to administer judgment.

Romans 13:1–4 teaches that governing authorities can function as servants of God in restraining evil and administering justice. God used Assyria to judge Israel in Isaiah 10:5–6, although Assyria was later judged for its own arrogance and cruelty. God used Babylon to judge Judah. Jeremiah 25:8–11 describes Babylon as an instrument of divine judgment, while Jeremiah 50–51 declares that Babylon would also be held accountable for its evil.

Habakkuk wrestled with this very issue. He could not understand how God could use the Babylonians, a nation more wicked than Judah, as an instrument of judgment. God’s answer was not that Babylon was righteous. God said that Babylon would also face judgment. The use of a human agent does not mean the agent is morally perfect. Israel itself remained accountable to God for how it obeyed His commands.

13. The Story of Joshua Anticipates Final Judgment

The Bible teaches that God will not permit evil to continue forever. Joshua is one historical example of divine judgment, but it is not the final judgment. Scripture points toward a day when God will judge every human being with perfect justice.

• Ecclesiastes 12:14 says that God will bring every deed into judgment.
• Daniel 12:2 speaks of resurrection to everlasting life or shame.
• Matthew 12:36 says that people will give an account for their words.
• John 5:28–29 speaks of resurrection to life and resurrection to judgment.
• Acts 17:30–31 says that God has appointed a day to judge the world through Christ.
• Romans 2:5–8 describes God’s righteous judgment.
• Hebrews 9:27 says that people die once and then face judgment.
• Revelation 20:11–15 describes the final judgment before God’s throne.

Modern readers may be disturbed by Joshua partly because we often assume that divine judgment should never happen. The Bible’s perspective is different. The greater mystery is not that God judges sin, but that He patiently offers mercy to sinners who deserve judgment.

What About the Women and Children?

This is the most painful part of the question, and it deserves an honest response. Several considerations have been offered by Christian thinkers.

1- The Warfare Language May Not Describe the Death of Every Individual

As already discussed, phrases such as “men and women, young and old” may function as stock expressions of total victory. The continued presence of Canaanite populations after Joshua suggests that the language should not always be read as a modern statistical report. This explanation may significantly reduce the assumed number of noncombatants involved, but it does not prove that no children died.

2- Families Were Often Identified With Their Corporate Communities

The ancient world understood identity more corporately than modern Western societies typically do. Families, clans, kings, cities, and nations were deeply connected. The decisions of rulers and communities often brought consequences upon everyone within them. This remains true even in modern warfare. The actions of governments and armies can create suffering for those who did not personally make those decisions.

The Bible regularly recognizes this tragic corporate dimension of human life while still affirming individual moral responsibility. Ezekiel 18, for example, insists that individuals are accountable for their own sin, even though they may live with the consequences produced by previous generations.

3- Physical Death Is Not the Same as Eternal Condemnation

The Bible does not teach that everyone who died in the conquest was automatically condemned to hell. God’s judgment over earthly life and His judgment concerning eternal destiny are related but not identical. God knows every heart and judges each person perfectly.

Genesis 18:25 assures us that the Judge of all the earth will do what is right. Psalm 89:14 says that righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne. Many Christians believe that young children who die are received by God’s mercy. 2 Samuel 12:23 is sometimes cited because David, after the death of his infant son, expressed hope that he would one day go to him. Although Scripture does not answer every question about the eternal state of children, Christians can trust that no child will be treated unjustly by God.

4- We Should Feel the Tragedy of Judgment

The appropriate response is not emotional indifference. Jesus wept over Jerusalem even while warning that judgment was coming in Luke 19:41–44. God lamented Israel’s rebellion in Hosea 11:8. Ezekiel 18:32 records God saying that He takes no pleasure in anyone’s death. Divine judgment is sometimes necessary, but it is never presented as evidence that human suffering is meaningless. The difficulty we feel is not necessarily a sign of unbelief. It may reflect the biblical conviction that human life is precious and that sin produces devastating consequences.

Was This Genocide?

The term genocide normally refers to an attempt to eliminate a people because of their nationality, ethnicity, race, or identity. That is not how the Bible presents the conquest.

The Canaanites were judged for persistent wickedness, not merely for being Canaanites. Canaanites such as Rahab and the Gibeonites were spared and incorporated into Israel. Israelites such as Achan were judged when they rebelled. Israel, as a nation, was eventually removed from the land when it adopted similar sins.

Furthermore, the purpose of the conquest was connected to the land, the dismantling of corrupt religious structures, and the establishment of Israel’s covenant life. Israel was not commanded to travel throughout the world, exterminating Canaanite ethnic groups. “Divine judgment” is therefore a more accurate biblical category than “racial genocide.” That does not make the events emotionally easy, but it identifies their stated reason more accurately.

Does the God of Joshua Contradict Jesus?

Some people contrast an angry Old Testament God with a loving New Testament Jesus. The Bible does not permit that division. The Old Testament repeatedly emphasizes God’s love, compassion, patience, and mercy:

• Exodus 34:6–7
• Psalm 86:5
• Psalm 103:8–13
• Psalm 145:8–9
• Isaiah 54:10
• Lamentations 3:22–23
• Micah 7:18–19

The New Testament also teaches divine holiness, wrath, and judgment:

• Matthew 10:28
• Matthew 25:31–46
• John 3:36
• John 5:22–29
• Romans 1:18
• Second Thessalonians 1:6–10
• Hebrews 10:26–31
• Revelation 19–20

Jesus is loving and merciful, but He also speaks more clearly than anyone else in Scripture about final judgment. The God revealed in Jesus is not less holy than the God revealed in Joshua. Rather, Jesus reveals how far God is willing to go to save sinners from judgment.

The Cross Is the Ultimate Answer to the Problem of Divine Judgment

At the cross, God did not ignore evil. He judged it. But instead of requiring sinners to bear the full weight of judgment, God the Son willingly took judgment upon Himself.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
—2 Corinthians 5:21

Isaiah 53:5 says that the suffering servant was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.

Romans 3:25–26 explains that the cross demonstrates God’s justice while allowing Him to justify those who trust in Jesus.

1 Peter 2:24 says that Christ bore our sins in His body on the cross.

The cross demonstrates two truths simultaneously:

1. God is so holy that sin cannot simply be ignored.
2. God is so loving that He willingly bears the judgment sinners deserve.

The God who commanded judgment in Joshua is the same God who entered human history and received judgment at Calvary. Joshua shows that God takes evil seriously. The cross shows that God’s answer to evil is not merely punishment but self-giving redemption.

Could God Have Accomplished His Purpose Another Way?

Perhaps God could have chosen a method that appears less troubling to modern readers. However, our inability to imagine all of God’s reasons does not prove that He lacks morally sufficient reasons. Job never received a detailed explanation for every aspect of his suffering. Instead, he was confronted with the vast difference between God’s complete knowledge and human limitations.

Isaiah 55:8–9 reminds us that God’s thoughts and ways are higher than ours.

Romans 11:33 speaks of the depth of God’s wisdom and the unsearchable nature of His judgments. This should not be used to avoid careful thinking. The Bible gives substantial reasons for the conquest: entrenched wickedness, centuries of patience, protection from corrupt practices, judgment of specific nations, establishment of the covenant community, and the unfolding of God’s redemptive plan.

Nevertheless, Christians should also possess intellectual humility. We do not know every historical circumstance, every heart, every opportunity for repentance, or every eternal outcome. God does.

What Joshua Does Not Permit Christians to Do

The book of Joshua does not authorize Christians to:

• Kill people who reject Christianity
• Force conversions
• Conquer territory in God’s name
• Treat another ethnicity as inferior
• Seek personal revenge
• Celebrate human suffering
• Assume that political enemies are God’s enemies
• Claim divine authorization for violence

Jesus told Peter to put away his sword in Matthew 26:52. He told Pilate that His kingdom was not advanced through worldly fighting in John 18:36. The church advances through truth, sacrificial love, prayer, service, gospel proclamation, discipleship, and faithfulness—even when Christians are persecuted.

Bottom Line.

Why would a good God command killing in the book of Joshua? The biblical answer includes several truths:

God is the Creator and rightful Judge of every human life. The Canaanite conquest was a limited act of divine judgment against generations of entrenched wickedness. God waited centuries before bringing that judgment. The command was not based on racial hatred and was never intended as a universal pattern for God’s people. Canaanites who turned toward God could receive mercy, while Israelites who rebelled could face judgment.

The warfare descriptions may also contain conventional ancient hyperbole, meaning that statements about destroying everyone may describe decisive military victory rather than the literal death of every individual. The continued presence of Canaanites after Joshua supports this possibility.

Even so, the text remains sobering. Divine judgment is supposed to be sobering.

Joshua reminds us that evil is real, sin has consequences, and God’s patience will not continue forever. Yet it also reminds us that mercy is available. Rahab was rescued. The Gibeonites were spared. Outsiders were welcomed into God’s covenant community.

The larger biblical story ultimately leads us to Jesus.

At the cross, the Judge entered the world of the judged. The One who had every right to condemn sinners instead took their condemnation upon Himself. God did not compromise His justice, and He did not abandon His love.

Therefore, the message of Joshua is not that God delights in killing. It is that God is holy, evil is serious, judgment is real, mercy is available, and God is working through history to bring redemption to the nations.

The most surprising truth in Scripture is not that a holy God judges sinful humanity.

The most surprising truth is that this holy God loved sinful humanity enough to bear judgment Himself.