When the people of God conquered Israel under Joshua, one of the groups they conquered were the Canaanites.

So what does Bible say about the conquest. First, God commanded them to attack the city.

The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent.

Joshua 6:17

Also, the bible says that the Israelites followed through.

They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

Joshua 6:21

Why do we sing on and on about how God loves everyone, while he calls for the death of the Canaanites? Because God is not just a God of love, but also a God of justice. God loved the Israelites enough to save them from the despicable culture of the Canaanites.

How bad were the Canaanites? I want to warn you, I got sick when I learned the atrocities they committed. For example:

The Canaanites sacrificed babies to one of their Gods, Moloch. To do this they would heat up a metal sculpture and put the live baby on the arms of this God, this would be the equivalent of slowly burning a baby alive. Then while the baby was screaming in pain, they would have their drummers drum very loudly to try to hide the sounds of the screams from the parents. This was absolutely brutal, and our God, a God of justice put an end to their brutality.

What about the innocent? Joshua 6:21 states that the Israelites slaughtered all of the living beings, but in Ancient Near-East culture, hyperbole was common in literature to emphasize a victory. So perhaps they didn’t kill everyone, but had a huge victory.

Either way, God is the life giver, and when we die, our souls do not cease, but transfer from one realm to the next.

The supposed “brutality” of God not only could but SHOULD be seen as Him bringing about justice to one of the most diabolical groups of people to walk the earth.

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