How Could a Merciful God Destroy Entire Populations

The Bible records instances where God destroyed entire groups of people Himself by sending a global flood (Genesis 6-8), burning Sodom / Gomorrah (Genesis 18-19), and killing the Egyptian firstborn (Exodus 11-12); as well as instances where God commanded His people to eliminate specific inhabitants in the land of Canaan (Deuteronomy 20, 1 Samuel 15). Such actions seem to be in direct conflict with the existence of a loving, merciful God and even appears to violate His sixth commandment that states, “you shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13). It’s only when the totality of scripture is examined that the revealed nature of God can be harmonized with the written historical events. The Hebrew word retzach that is rendered as kill in some translations should more appropriately be interpreted as murder and only applies to illegal killing. The commandment is not applicable to any death that results from the administration of justice, self-defense, or war. Some would argue that God committed murder and ordered His people to do likewise because innocent lives were executed, but that position cannot be proven. According to Romans 3:23, “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” and Romans 6:23 says, “the wages of sin is death”, but human beings are not left hopeless because “the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord”. Compared to God’s holiness there is no such thing as an innocent person and there is just cause for us all to suffer destruction. It’s precisely because of His great love and mercy that we are able to continue. Although sin must be judged accordingly, the amazing truth of the cross where Jesus endured the penalty for our sin has paved the way for each person to receive the wonder of God’s grace and forgiveness. The events recorded in the Old Testament transpired during a time prior to the cross and the age of grace, so when groups became exceedingly depraved judgement was necessary. A brief overview of the details surrounding each event shows that God was sufficiently patient “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Near the time of the flood, “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts in his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). He “looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted it's way on the earth” (Genesis 6:12), which was in sharp contrast to the time of creation when He “saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). A warning was pronounced when “the Lord said, my spirit will not always strive with man, for he is flesh, yet his days will be 120 years” (Genesis 6:3). Human beings were given 120 more years to turn from their extremely wicked ways, yet only “Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). Judgement was needed to give humanity a chance at survival because it’s likely that mankind would have eventually destroyed itself if that level of evil was left unrestrained. Genesis 6:6 records that God saw the evil of mankind and “it grieved Him to His heart”. His disposition was similar to that of an abandoned parent or a friend betrayed instead of a ruthless sovereign, and out of His grief a flood was sent upon the earth where the waters prevailed for 150 days “and every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground” (Genesis 7:23). When the waters receded, only Noah and his family, as well as the animals in the ark were left alive. Undoubtedly sorrowful from what was required, God then vowed never “will I again smite every living thing as I have done” (Genesis 8:21).

Abraham was a descendent of Noah through the lineage of his son Shem. The Lord visited Abraham prior to the downfall of Sodom and Gomorrah and spoke of the plans for destruction. He told Abraham the reason was that “the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is very grievous” (Genesis 18:20), which indicated a certain amount of time had taken place while the judgement built up against the cities. Knowing that his nephew Lot lived in the area with his family, Abraham humbly interceded by asking, “Will you also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” (Genesis 18:23) and asked further, “Will not the judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25). Abraham correctly understood that the key issue in judgement is the character of God and his questions expressed confidence in God’s righteousness. A continued exchange then took place and the number of righteous people gradually decreased from fifty until the Lord finally stated, “I will not destroy it for ten’s sake” (Genesis 18:32). God would have mercifully spared the wicked to save the righteous, but not even ten good people could be found in the cities as they were later described to even “strengthen the hands of evildoers so that none returned from their wickedness” (Jeremiah 23:14). Two angels of the Lord made their way into Sodom and Lot convinced them to stay at his house, “but before they laid down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both old and young, all the people from every quarter” (Genesis 19:4). Their purpose was to wickedly and orgiastically rape the two men that had entered into Lot’s house and they had to be smitten with blindness by the angels so that they could not find the door. Lot was given more time that night to warn his sons-in-law who were married to his daughters, but they did not take him seriously. Lot, his wife, and his two remaining daughters were eventually led out of the city to escape and “the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire” (Genesis 19:24) completely annihilating what once stood. The way of escape was once again made available to those who believed in the offer of salvation.

The descendants of Abraham would eventually grow into the nation of Israel, but first they were forced to sojourn in Egypt due to a famine in the land and stayed for approximately 400 years. As they flourished and multiplied in the land of Goshen the Egyptians began to fear their numbers, so they oppressed the people. “The Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor and made their lives bitter with hard bondage” (Exodus 1:13-14). The Pharaoh also commanded the midwives saying, “when you do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them upon the stools, if it be a son then you will kill him” (Exodus 1:16). However, “the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them” (Exodus 1:17). The evil finally reached the point where God chose to deliver His people through Moses telling him “I have seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows” (Exodus 3:1). Nine plagues were sent upon Egypt and before each plague God commissioned Moses and his brother Aaron to warn the Pharaoh of every impending judgement, but the children of Israel were not allowed to leave. The time of the tenth plague arrived and Moses said to the Pharaoh, “all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die” (Exodus 11:5) and only the firstborn of the Israelites would be left alive, but the warning was not heeded. It was only after the Egyptians suffered such a great loss that they were told, “rise up and get you forth from among my people, both you and the children of Israel, and go serve the Lord as you have said” (Exodus 12:31). A period of grace was offered to the Egyptians before each hardship and subsequently rejected without exception, but freedom and deliverance for the Israelites would be realized.

The inhabitants in the land of Canaan before and after the time of exodus from Egypt included nations that were exceedingly sinful. The idolatry of worshipping various pagan deities resulted in behavior that imitated the attributes and conduct they believed their gods exhibited which included extreme violence, all forms of sexual impurity, and worst of all was child sacrifice (Leviticus 18). God was patient with the nations as He prophesied to Abraham “in the fourth generation they (Israelites) will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Genesis 15:16). The Amorites referred to the whole population in the land of Canaan and when the proper time for judgement arrived, the children of Israel were directed to “utterly destroy them, namely the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord your God has commanded” (Deuteronomy 20:17). The conquest was not for the purpose of ethnic cleansing or land acquisition, nor can it be considered unwarranted genocide. It was the discharge of capital punishment on a national scale for centuries of abominations to be carried out by the Israelites as an instrument of divine justice. Ironically, the children of Israel would also experience numerous periods of judgement throughout their history in the land for following in the ways of the nations that were expelled and eventually suffer their own expulsions from the land.

The death of an entire population would have inevitably included children which appears to be unjust on the surface. It would seem that children who do not have the chance to mature lose the opportunity to either accept or reject Canaanite sin. Nevertheless, God’s “understanding is infinite” (Psalm 147:5) and He knows exactly who would or would not repent of their sin. The children would have assuredly been corrupted in a similar way to the adults if given enough time, only to suffer the eternal consequences for their actions. Allowing the deaths of children could actually be considered an act of mercy because the Scriptures indicate that children have “no knowledge between good and evil” (Deuteronomy 1:39) and are welcomed into God’s kingdom. Jesus said, “allow the little children, and do not forbid them to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14). A certain age of accountability when a child becomes aware of their spiritual condition and the requirement of faith in Jesus Christ for salvation has not been communicated. It’s likely that there is no specific age when children become accountable because every individual develops differently. God is the only one who can determine when a person truly understands the consequences of the choices they make because only He can “search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways” (Jeremiah 17:10).

Although no culture has been entirely righteous and no society completely sinful, it’s possible to distinguish between those that reflected more of God’s intention for humanity and those that were more distant. It can be difficult to comprehend how an entire population can be removed without a proper understanding of the deep sin in every human heart and a correct appreciation for God’s perfect holiness. The ultimate judgement of God is reserved for a future day when “He will judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31), but the wrath of God and the sin of man came together at the cross of Jesus Christ. Grace and mercy remains extended to all those who choose to place their trust in His sacrifice. The fact the God is patient with each of us as He endures the pain of our rebellion and gave His Son to pay the price for that rebellion is a mystery that can only find an answer in His love.

“But God who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved”

Ephesians 2:4-5