Why does God command the Israelites to "kill," when the 6th Commandment says, "Thou Shalt Not Kill"?

We received a question in the doubter’s mailbox this week that required some serious study and research. It is honest, raw, and well written. It was given to us by a 16-year-old. I had to take a long while to come up with an intelligent response that matched the intelligent inquiry. I hope this generates more questions and hopefully some insight.

The Question:
 
‘I am 16 years old and a junior in high school. I am currently embarking on my personal spiritual journey and reading the bible. I asked my mom a question that she did not have the answer to, and she told me to submit it here. My question is: Why does God command the Israelites to kill the Canaanites, purposely drown people in floods, and much else, when the sixth commandment states, "Thou shalt not kill." My main concern is why God commands the Israelites to kill the Canaanites when they were innocent people of God who simply resided on part of the promised land. While the promised land was promised to the Israelites (hence the name), why did it need to be so violent and contradict God's OWN commandment? In addition, the story of Rahab, who was a prostitute and Canaanite woman, is told, seemingly, to almost cover up the fact that they killed everyone else. The Israelites promised not to kill Rahab and her family because she aided the spies. It just seems like they were trying to send a message that the Israelites and God did not judge her for her sinful occupation, and that everyone is made new in God. God's universal grace and love for his people, except he proceeds to convict the Israelites to kill everyone else. Why couldn't they simply coexist or force them to a different area? Every answer I've come across is that the translation in Hebrew for the sixth commandment says murder, not kill. To me, this seems like a bit of a cop-out, no offense. To conclude, I have been wrestling with various different versions of this question relating to the violence and contradiction of the Old Testament for multiple weeks and still am struggling to find peace. Hopefully you can give me some sort of perspective, if not a direct answer to my admittedly annoying and overwhelming question. Another question I just came up with: When thousands of cultural groups and ethnicities have been displaced or forced out of their homeland, why did god pick the Israelites to center around? I guess I'm saying that the Israelites are not exactly at the core of the world's issues, especially back then. Did god just randomly choose the Israelites to help? Is this only the answer because the Old Testament is told from the perspective of the Israelites? Isn't everyone Gods chosen one?’

The Answer(s):

Hello, these are really good questions, and they aren't annoying or overwhelming. In fact, you are asking questions that Christians, Jewish thinkers, historians, and biblical scholars have wrestled with for a very long time. You also don't have to force yourself to feel satisfied with an answer just because someone tells you, "That's what the Bible says."

I would like to approach your questions in a few pieces.

1. "Why does God command killing if the commandment says not to kill?"

The Hebrew word in the sixth commandment is often translated as "murder" rather than simply "kill." That distinction is important, but I agree with you that it doesn't solve the whole problem.

The Bible itself contains different kinds of killing. Some are described as murder, some as warfare, some as punishment, and some as acts of God. So, the commandment isn't really saying that every taking of human life is forbidden. But that creates the harder question you are asking:

Even if the Israelites weren't technically violating the commandment, why would a loving God command them to kill people at all?

There isn't a simple answer to that. A traditional Christian answer is that the Canaanites were being judged for serious evil and that God was using Israel as an instrument of judgment. Some biblical passages describe the Canaanites as practicing things such as child sacrifice and other forms of violence. From that perspective, the story isn't supposed to be "Israel wanted their land, so God gave them permission to kill innocent people." It is presented as God's judgment.

And again, there is a problem with that explanation.

The people who died weren't just the people committing those practices. The stories sometimes describe entire populations being destroyed, including women and children. That's why your question doesn't disappear simply by saying "they were wicked."
Something else is worth noticing. The Bible itself doesn't always portray Israel as completely comfortable with this idea. Later biblical writers repeatedly criticize Israel for its own violence, injustice, and failure to live differently from the nations around it.

So, I I am not saying at all, "Don't worry about it. The answer is simply that God commanded it." It's more honest to say that Christians disagree about how literally and historically we should understand these accounts, what the biblical authors meant by "destroy everyone," and how God's character should be understood in light of Jesus.

2. Rahab actually makes your question more interesting.

I don't think Rahab is included to "cover up" what happened. In fact, Rahab creates an interesting complication. She is a Canaanite. She is also a woman with, by Jewish culture at that time, a socially disreputable occupation. Yet she becomes one of the people Israel protects.

That means the story doesn't simply say, Israel good. Canaanites bad.
Rahab is a Canaanite who recognises what God is doing and acts courageously. And the Bible later gives Rahab an even bigger role. She appears in Jesus' genealogy in Matthew 1. The message seems to be that being a Canaanite wasn't automatically a sentence of condemnation. Rahab could become part of God's story. And that connects directly to your question about whether God's grace is universal.

3. "Why couldn't Israel just coexist with the Canaanites?"

This is probably one of the most difficult questions. The Old Testament includes passages where Israel does coexist with Canaanite peoples. The conquest stories are not as simple as "Israel entered the land and every Canaanite disappeared." For example, Judges begins by describing Canaanite peoples who remained in the land. Different biblical accounts don't always fit neatly together. Some passages describe complete destruction, while others describe Israel living among the remaining peoples. Because of that, some biblical scholars argue that the language of "destroy everyone" should be understood partly as ancient warfare language, where victory was described in exaggerated or absolute terms. Others believe the accounts describe actual divinely commanded destruction. Christians and scholars don't agree on this. And honestly, I think that's important for you to know. I don't pretend there is a perfect answer when there isn't one.

4. Your question about the Israelites is even bigger

You asked "Why did God pick the Israelites?"

I think the Bible gives a surprisingly different answer than "Israel was better than everybody else." Deuteronomy actually says something pretty important about this.
Israel isn't chosen because they are the biggest, strongest, smartest, or most deserving nation. God's relationship with Israel is presented as something God initiates.

But here's the part I think is easy to miss. Israel isn't chosen simply for Israel's sake.
From the beginning, God's promise to Abraham includes: "In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." The biblical story doesn’t end with God loving Israel.
It moves toward God choosing Israel to bless the nations.
That's a very different idea.

5. "Isn't everyone God's chosen one?"

This is where the Bible becomes really interesting. In the Old Testament, Israel has a particular role. But that doesn't necessarily mean God loves Israelites more than everyone else. The Old Testament also hints that God's concern is much bigger than Israel. There is Jonah who doesn't want God to forgive Nineveh because Nineveh is Israel's enemy. And God's response is essentially, "Why wouldn't I care about these people too?"

Then we get to Jesus, who continually crosses boundaries between Jews and outsiders. Samaritans. Romans. Women. Lepers. Gentiles. People considered sinners.

And eventually the apostle Paul says something that completely changes the way Christians understand God's people: "There is neither Jew nor Greek... for you are all one in Christ Jesus." If we're asking whether Christianity ultimately teaches that God's love is limited to one ethnic group, the answer is no. The biblical story moves toward God's blessing extending beyond Israel to everyone.

6. And finally, we get to Jesus

This is where I think your question becomes especially important if you're exploring Christianity. Jesus doesn't say violence is good in certain situations. Instead, he says things like "love your enemies And Bless those who persecute you." When one of his disciples uses violence against someone coming to arrest Jesus, Jesus stops him. I believe Christians must wrestle with a significant question. How should we understand the violent passages of the Old Testament considering Jesus' person and teaching?

There are different Christian answers. Some say God's judgment in the Old Testament was real and necessary, while Jesus reveals God's character more fully.  I am comfortable saying, "I don't know." I actually think that last answer can be the most faithful one.

7. You don't have to "solve" this before you can have faith

This might be the most important thing I'd say to you as a 16-year-old who is beginning to explore faith. You don't owe God intellectual certainty before you're allowed to believe. You can say: "I believe in God, but I don't understand this." You can say, "I believe Jesus is worth following, but some things in the Bible disturb me."
You can say, "I'm not sure what I believe yet."

Those are honest and truthful. The Bible itself contains people arguing with God, questioning God, complaining to God, and asking God why terrible things happen.

So questioning isn't necessarily the opposite of faith. Sometimes questioning is part of faith. And honestly, I wouldn't want you to find "peace" by convincing yourself that a difficult passage isn't difficult.

A better goal might be to become comfortable saying "I don't know yet, but I'm going to keep asking." That's a pretty good place to begin a spiritual journey. 

I hope this gives another lens through which to read the story of God.