Why a Good God Commanded Destruction in the Old Testament

One of the most difficult questions that both non-Christians and believers wrestle with when reading the Bible is this:

"If God is good and loving, why did He command the destruction of entire nations in the Old Testament, including men, women, and even children?"

At first glance, passages like these can seem harsh or even cruel. But a closer look shows that God’s actions were never random or impulsive. They reveal His justice, patience, mercy, and point toward eternal realities that transcend human understanding.

1. God’s Judgment Is Never Random or Rushed

When God instructed the Israelites to destroy the Canaanites, it was not sudden or arbitrary. To understand this, we need to look back to God’s covenant with Abraham centuries earlier.

In Genesis 15, God promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. He also told Abraham:

"But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." — Genesis 15:16

This reveals several important truths:

1. God’s timing is perfect and patient. He did not immediately command the conquest of Canaan because the inhabitants still had the opportunity to turn from their evil ways. For hundreds of years, the Amorites and other Canaanite nations continued in idolatry, immorality, and violence.

2. Sin has consequences, but God gives opportunity for repentance. The phrase “the iniquity… is not yet full”shows that God allowed time for their wrongdoing to reach its natural conclusion. Judgment was not impulsive.

3. God’s plan is connected to history and covenant. The promise to Abraham included a future inheritance of the land, but it would only be realized after the moral conditions were fulfilled.

In other words, the command to Israel centuries later was the culmination of human choice and moral decline, not an act of arbitrary cruelty. God acted with justice, patience, and a purposeful plan.

2. Old Testament Judgments Were Shadows of Eternal Realities

The apostle Paul reminds us that these events were not just history, but examples for instruction:

"Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted… Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." — 1 Corinthians 10:6, 11

The destruction of the Canaanites serves as a foreshadowing of the final judgment at the end of the age. John describes Jesus’ return:

"From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty." — Revelation 19:15

In this sense, the total destruction of the Canaanites was a temporal picture of the finality of hell and the lake of fire.

3. The Ark of Noah — A Shadow of Salvation in Christ

This pattern of divine warning, judgment, and salvation appears again in Noah’s story. God commanded Noah to build the ark and then shut the door Himself (Genesis 7:16). There was no other ark; only those inside were saved.

Similarly, Scripture says:

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." — Acts 4:12

The ark was a shadow, pointing to Christ, the ultimate reality. Just as only one ark saved Noah’s family, only Jesus saves today. Truth and salvation are not determined by human desire, tradition, or culture.

4. Why Were Children Included?

One of the hardest questions is why children were included in judgment. Scripture shows that children do not yet discern good from evil. God’s actions were aimed at eternal preservation rather than cruelty.

"For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings." — Isaiah 7:16

In another example, during King Jeroboam’s reign, his son became sick. His wife asked the prophet Ahijah about the boy. The prophet answered:

"And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam." — 1 Kings 14:13

God allowed the child to die, sparing him from growing up in the wickedness of his father’s house. Isaiah adds:

"The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." — Isaiah 57:1

Children who cannot yet discern between good and evil are not condemned, because one is only judged after having the knowledge of good and evil. Those taken early return to the heavenly Father and grow up in His presence, safe from the corruption of the world. The fullness of this mystery—how God treats children who die before knowing good and evil—remains a profound topic for further study.

Important clarification: This does not give humans the right to take life. Only God, the giver of life, can decide whom He wishes to spare. No human has the authority to kill children or anyone under the guise of “protection from sin.”

5. God Is Impartial — He Judges All Nations

God did not single out the Canaanites. He is impartial, and His justice applies to all nations. When Israel turned to idolatry, God used Assyria and Babylon as instruments of judgment:

"O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets." — Isaiah 10:5–6

No nation or people is above God’s justice. His goodness requires that sin and evil be addressed.

Conclusion

When we step back, we see that the Old Testament commands of destruction reveal a just and merciful God, not a cruel one:

• Patience: God waited centuries before judgment.

• Justice: Sin must be addressed; evil cannot remain unchallenged.

• Mercy: Children and the righteous may be spared from growing into sin.

• Foreshadowing: These events point toward the final judgment and ultimate salvation through Jesus Christ.

The good news is this: the same God who once judged sin with the sword has now judged sin at the Cross:

"For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." — 2 Corinthians 5:21

Just as there was only one ark in Noah’s day, there is only one Savior today. The choice remains: will we stand under judgment, or will we accept the mercy freely offered through Jesus?