God commanded the complete destruction of the Canaanite nations to keep Israel separate from their idolatry and immorality, so Israel would not be drawn away from following Him.
God gave the Canaanites 400 years to repent, but they only degenerated deeper into wickedness. By the time Israel entered the land, God's justice required their removal. Sparing any Canaanite would be like putting a rotten apple in a barrel—it would corrupt the whole nation of Israel, turning them from Jehovah to idols.
Deuteronomy 7:1-2 — This passage records God's explicit command to destroy the seven nations and make no covenant or show mercy.
Deuteronomy 7:1-2 states that when the LORD brings Israel into the land, He would cast out seven nations greater and mightier than Israel. The command is explicit: 'thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them.' The stated reason is given in verse 4: 'they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods.' Genesis 15:16 shows that God waited until the iniquity of the Amorites was full. In 2 Kings 17, the tragic result of Israel's failure to fully obey is recorded: Israel walked in the statutes of the heathen, set up images and groves, and even caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire.
Les teaches that God's command was perfectly just because the Canaanites had 400 years to clean up their act. Instead, they degenerated down, down, down into deeper sin. God was fair in telling Joshua to kill them all—not sparing even an infant or an old person—because if one remained, they would be like a rotten apple in the barrel, corrupting the entire nation of Israel. Les explains that Israel got soft-hearted, spared the Canaanites, and made servants of them. Within a couple of generations, Israel had turned its back on Jehovah and was headlong after the gods of the Canaanites. The Canaanites took Israel straight into idolatry, exactly as God warned, leading to the dark history of the Judges and the eventual child sacrifice to Molech.
Les answers this directly: 'Unfair? Unjust? No.' The Canaanites had 400 years from the time of Abraham to clean up their act. Instead of cleaning up, they degenerated deeper and deeper into sin and wickedness. God, in His justice, could therefore tell Israel, 'don't spare a one.' The land had to be cleansed because if Israel spared them, they would become just like them.
Les uses the 'rotten apple in the barrel' analogy. If you spare even one Canaanite, that one will be like a rotten apple, and the rest of the barrel—the nation of Israel—will all go bad. Israel disobeyed, got soft-hearted, made the Canaanites servants, and incorporated them into their lifestyle. Within a couple of generations, Israel had turned away from Jehovah and was serving the gods of the Canaanites.
Exactly as God warned, the Canaanite people took Israel right into idolatry. The children of Israel walked in the statutes of the heathen, set up images and groves on every high hill, burned incense, served idols, and even caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire to Molech. This is recorded in 2 Kings 17 and affirmed by Les's teaching on the history of the Judges.
Deuteronomy 7:1 names seven nations that were greater and mightier than Israel: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. God promised to cast them out before Israel, and Israel was to utterly destroy them, making no covenant and showing no mercy.
Israel's Separation and the Moabite Seduction
Les explains that Israel lost its separated position by being seduced by Moabite women, and God had to 'ethnic cleanse' those who joined in. This illustrates why separation was so critical.
The Canaanites' 400 Years of Grace
Les teaches that God gave the Canaanites 400 years to clean up their act, but they degenerated instead. God was just in commanding their total destruction, and Israel's failure to obey led them into the same sins.
The Rotten Apple Principle
Les uses the 'rotten apple in the barrel' analogy to show that sparing even one Canaanite would corrupt the whole nation of Israel.
Canaanite Immorality and God's Justice
Les shows that the Canaanites started on an immoral plane and kept going down, so God, in all justice, told Israel to clean them out and take the land.
The Canaanite Effect on Israel
Les points out that the Canaanites took Israel directly into idolatry, fulfilling God's warning and causing the roller-coaster history of the Judges.
Israel Following Heathen Statutes
Les describes how Israel walked in the statutes of the heathen, set up images and groves, and became like the nations God had cast out.
Idolatry Leads to Immorality
Les teaches that idolatry always goes hand-in-hand with abject immorality, and Israel indulged in all the sins of the heathen.
Israel's Worst Fall: Child Sacrifice
Les details how Israel sunk so low as to offer their own children in fire to Molech, showing why God's harsh command was actually protective.
Deuteronomy 7:1-2: 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 shew mercy unto them:
This is the central command to utterly destroy the seven Canaanite nations.
Deuteronomy 7:3-4: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt 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 may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
The stated reason: the Canaanites would turn Israel's sons away from God.
Genesis 15:16: But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
This shows God's patience: He waited 400 years until the Canaanites' iniquity was full before commanding destruction.
2 Kings 17:8-17: And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing. Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them. And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and of their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
This passage records the tragic fulfillment of God's warning when Israel adopted the heathen practices, including child sacrifice.
God commanded it because those seven nations were deeply wicked and would turn Israel away from following Him (Deut 7:4). They had 400 years to repent but degenerated further. The total destruction was necessary to keep Israel separate and prevent them from becoming like the Canaanites.
Les Feldick says it was perfectly fair and just. The Canaanites had 400 years from the time of Abraham to clean up their act, but they only sank deeper into sin. God's justice allowed Him to command their complete removal, and it was actually protective for Israel.
Israel got soft-hearted, made the Canaanites servants, and incorporated them into their lifestyle. Within a couple of generations, Israel turned its back on Jehovah and pursued the gods of the Canaanites, including child sacrifice to Molech.
Les explains that even one spared Canaanite would be like a rotten apple in the barrel, corrupting the whole nation of Israel. God's command was absolute—spare no one—to prevent Israel from being drawn into the same abominations.
Watch the Teaching: Why God Commanded Israel to Destroy Entire Nations — Deuteronomy 7