作者: Justin
Taylor 譯者/校對者:Maria Marta/誠之：
這是個很好、也很難的問題。我們如何回答，會同時反映並指導我們對公平和憐憫的理解。
在約書亞記中，上帝吩咐以色列屠殺迦南人，好佔領應許之地。這是一場完全滅絕的血腥戰爭，上帝使用祂的百姓來執行祂道德的審判，攻擊祂邪惡的仇敵。在我們得出答案之前，先仔細思考建造基督信仰有關上帝的公平和憐憫的世界觀的一些基石，會很有幫助。
1. 作為萬物的造物者以及萬民的統治者，上帝對萬民和萬有擁有絕對的主權
「起初，上帝創造天地」（創一1），「海，和其中萬物」（徒十四15）。這意味著「地，和其中所充滿的；世界，和住在其間的，都屬耶和華」（詩廿四1）。所以上帝說，「全地都是我的」（出十九5）和「樹林中的百獸是我的」（詩五十10）。上帝對萬有的擁有權意味著，祂也自由地做祂想做的所有事情。「我們的上帝在天上，都隨自己的意旨行事。」（詩一一五3）。在這自由的主權下，上帝「預先定準他們的年限和所住的疆界」（徒十七26）。上帝擁有創造者的權利，沒有人可以對祂說「你作什麼？」（伯九12）。
2. 上帝不僅是終極的造物者，統治者和擁有者，在祂所行的一切事上也是公正和公義的。
亞伯拉罕和我們都在問上帝同樣的問題，「審判全地的主，豈不行公義嗎？」（創十八25）。隱含的答案是：「當然！」這是保羅在羅馬書九章14節的問題的反面：「上帝不公平嗎？」保羅的回答是：「絕對不會！」（羅九14；新譯本）摩西曾宣布，「祂是磐石，祂的作為完全，祂所行的無不公平，是誠實無偽的上帝；又公義，又正直。」（申三十二4）。
在我們的文化裡，問上帝所行的這事或那事是否公正或公義是司空見慣的事情。但是，如果你停下來仔細想想，這問題本身其實是不合法的（illegitimate）。我們預先假設我們是審判官，把上帝「置於被告席上」進行審查，上帝必須符合我們公平、正義和公正的觀念——如果上帝通過審查，固然很好，如果通不過，我們會很沮喪而變成控告者。要放棄這種念頭！申命記三十二章4節說道，「上帝所行的無不公平」——就定義來看。上帝如此行便是公義的。（既然三位一體的上帝與我們有內在關係，聖經說，上帝是愛，所以祂所有的公義行動最終是出於愛，為了愛。）把自己的想法、意見和構想當作宇宙的終極標準，是極為傲慢的行為。
但是，這不排除為了獲得更多的認識，可以謙卑求問和尋求。儘管責問上帝保障應許之地的方式是否公義， 最終是不合法的，但尋求明白上帝的道路如何是公義的，是完全適當和有教育意義的問題——不論是關於滅絕迦南人還是任何其他的行動。弄清上帝的真理和啟示的各個方面是如何協調一致、前後連貫，是神學的任務。
3. 我們所有的人都配得上帝公正的審判。沒有人配得上帝的憐憫。
如上所述，上帝在祂所行的一切事上絕對公正。我們任何人唯一配得到的是上帝公正的審判。我們違犯法律，背叛悖逆，上帝的公義要求我們按悖逆程度接受上帝的懲罰。上帝施憐憫完全是祂的權利，祂不必憐憫所有或任何人。瞭解聖經歷史也可以幫助我們明白，對某人的審判往往是對另一個人的憐憫（例如，洪水是對世界的審判，但也是拯救挪亞的手段；十災是對法老的審判，但也是解救以色列的一種手段）。同樣地，滅絕迦南是憐憫以色列的行動。
4. 迦南人是上帝的仇敵，配得到上帝的懲罰。
「因為世人都犯了罪，虧缺了上帝的榮耀」——「沒有義人，連一個也沒有」以及——「罪的工價乃是死」（羅三23；三10；六23）。因此，在亞當和夏娃墮落後，如果上帝毀滅他們，上帝仍然是完全公義的。在挪亞時代，如果上帝毀滅99.99％的人類，上帝仍然是公義的。
有時候，我們可能會錯誤地認為上帝只是為了給予祂的百姓土地，便驅逐原本居住在那裡的無辜民族。但實際上是迦南人罪惡滔天，惡貫滿盈，上帝說那地也要因為這個原因吐出它的居民（參創十五6；利十八24-30；申九5）。所有這一切都與上帝「要伸祂僕人流血的冤，祂要向祂的仇人報復，祂要救贖祂的地和祂的子民」的事實前後一致（申三十二43）。
注意到申命記第九章5節也非常重要。這節經文說到，以色列人進去得到應許之地，並不是因他們的義，也不是因他們心裡正直，而是因這些國民的惡，上帝才把迦南人趕出去。上帝嚴厲地告訴以色列人，如果他們不聽從上帝，遵守祂的律法，那麼他們也要遭受同樣的命運，地就把他們吐出，像吐出在他們以先的國民一樣（利十八28；申廿八25-68；出廿二20；書七11-12；瑪四6）。上帝賜予以色列人特別揀選的愛（申七6-9），但祂也警告會懲罰以色列人的不忠，以彰顯祂的公義和公正。
5. 上帝的行動不能作為種族清洗的榜樣。
摩西五經（創世記至申命記）對兩類型戰爭提供了法律依據：（1）攻打應許地以外城市的戰役（申命記廿10-15），（2）攻打應許地之內城市的戰役（申廿16-18）。第一類戰役允許以色列放過戰敗的人民；第二類型戰役允許以色列滅絕敵人。這種「稱聖滅絕」（herem）的做法（第二類戰役）的意思是「獻身/以滅絕的方式供獻」。將戰爭中所俘虜的人，以滅絕的方式獻給上帝，以此來執行上帝的審判，這種敬拜方式在我們的思考範疇之外。（譯注：以色列人敬拜概念包含在戰爭前、戰爭中、戰爭後。進入神聖的戰爭中是一種等同於進入聖殿的聖事）。儘管上帝命令全面毀滅，但對於那些願意悔改，回轉歸向又真又活的上帝的人似乎是例外（如喇合與她的家人[書二9]和基遍人[書十一19]）。這裡的意思是，上帝要滅絕邪惡的仇敵，正是因為他們的叛逆，而且是按照上帝的特殊目的，不是因為仇敵的種族淵源。「種族清洗」和種族滅絕是指因種族的緣故而遭到毀滅，因此滅絕迦南人不屬於這個類別。
6. 為何有必要將迦南人從應許地全部趕出去？
在美國我們談論「教會」與「國家」的分離，但以色列是教會與國家密不可分、無法分辨的「神治政體」，因此，上帝的子民同時有政治和宗教的義務。作為以色列公民需要忠於上帝的約，反之亦然。
立約群體必須聖潔，嚴重違犯律法者會被除掉（例如，申七4；十二29-31）。居住著上帝百姓的土地也必需維持聖潔，存留不悔改者，意味著整個民族會被悖逆、偶像崇拜、不公平、邪惡等拖垮（例如，申七4；十二29-31）——從舊約頻頻發生的可悲事例可得到證明。
今天，基督徒不是生活在「神治政體」之下。我們是「客旅，是寄居的」（彼前二11），在這個世代中，沒有神聖的土地。我們生活在過去的世代和來世的重疊時期——「在兩地之間」（在這個嘆息勞苦的受造界；已經離開「聖潔卻暫時」的應許地，正在等候「聖潔且永恆」的新天新地）。在這個世代和地方，我們要尊重並順服上帝放置在我們之上的執政當局（羅十三1-5），但他們不是，也不應該是教會的一部分。此外，現在上帝已經停止賜予整個教會特殊啟示和特殊恩賜（例如，希伯來書第一章1至2 節說道，在這末後的日子，卻藉著祂的兒子向我們說話。上帝已經立祂作萬有的承受者，並且藉著祂創造了宇宙[「宇宙」或譯：「諸世界」或「眾世代」；新譯本）。這些因素的結合確保了今天不會再有類似滅絕迦南人的情事（這是以色列神治政體要想占有這地所必要採取的行動）。上帝今天不會吩咐或容許祂子民這樣做。
7. 迦南人的滅絕是最後審判的一幅寫照
在末期，基督將要再來審判活人死人（徒十42；提後四1；彼前四5），並把不信福音者逐出這地（整個地球）。審判將是公義的、完全的。那一天「主耶穌[將]和祂有能力的天使從天上顯現在火焰中的時候，要報應那不認識上帝和那不聽從我主耶穌福音的人。他們要受刑罰，就是永遠沉淪，離開主的面和祂權能的榮光」（帖後一8-9）。令人吃驚的是，保羅問到哥林多人曾經知道、卻似乎忘記了的事情：「豈不知聖徒要審判世界嗎？」（林前六2）。
審判將如何進行？它將會是什麼樣子？我們確實不知道。但上帝的話語告訴我們，上帝的子民將參與上帝對仇敵的審判。因此，上帝命令以色列人執行對迦南人的道德審斷是最後審判的伏筆——預演（preview），這麼說也可以。
在這樣的亮光下閱讀這個恐怖毀滅（記載在約書亞記書頁上的上帝聖言），就不是一個「有待解決的問題」，而是給我們所有人的警訊——要保持「在上帝我們的父面前，那清潔沒有玷污的虔誠」（雅一27），要用祂的方式尋求祂，並忠心地與我們不信的鄰居和福音未達到的國家分享福音。最終我們必像約伯用手捂住嘴（伯四十4），免得對上帝的善良和公義提出疑問，相反，我們驚嘆上帝既有的豐富、奧秘、不可思議的憐憫（弗二4）。在末日我們將與摩西和羔羊一齊頌讚：
「主啊！全能的上帝，你的作為又偉大又奇妙！
萬國的王啊，你的道路又公義又真實！
主啊！誰敢不敬畏你，不榮耀你的名呢？
因為只有你是神聖的，
萬國都要來，
在你面前下拜，
因為你公義的作為已經顯明出來了。」
（啟 15:3-4新譯本）
HOW COULD GOD COMMAND GENOCIDE
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT?
Contributors
/Justin Taylor
This
is a good, hard question. The way we answer it will both reflect and inform our
understanding of justice and mercy.
In
the book of Joshua God commands Israel to slaughter the Canaanites in order to
occupy the Promised Land. It was a bloody war of total destruction where God
used his people to execute his moral judgment against his wicked enemies. In
moving toward an answer it will be helpful to think carefully about the
building blocks of a Christian worldview related to God’s justice and mercy.
1. As
the maker of all things and the ruler of all people, God has absolute rights of
ownership over all people and places.
“In
the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1) “and the sea
and all that is in them” (Act 14:15). This means that “The earth is the LORD’s
and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Ps. 24:1). As
God says, “All the earth is mine” (Ex. 19:5) and “every beast of the forest is
mine” (Ps. 50:10). God’s ownership of all means that he is also free to do as
he wishes over all things. “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he
pleases” (Ps. 115:3). Within this free sovereignty God “determined allotted
periods and the boundaries of [each nation’s] dwelling place” (Acts 17:26). God
has Creator rights, and no one can say to him, “What are you doing?” (Job
9:12).
2.
God is not only the ultimate maker, ruler, and owner, but he is just and
righteous in all that he does.
Abraham
asks God the same question that we are asking, “Shall not the Judge of all the
earth do what is just?” (Gen. 18:25). The implied answer is, “By all means!”
This is the flip side of Paul’s question in Romans 9:14: “Is there injustice on
God’s part?” Paul’s answer: “By no means!” Moses will later proclaim, “The
Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness
and without iniquity, just and upright is he” (Deut. 32:4).
It is
commonplace in our culture to ask whether this or that was fair or just for God
to do. But if you stop to think about it, the question itself is actually
illegitimate. Merely asking it presupposes that we are the judge; we will put
“God in the dock” and examine him; God must conform to our sense of fairness
and rightness and justice—if God passes the test, well and good, but if he
doesn’t, we’ll be upset and become the accuser. Perish the thought. As
Deuteronomy 32:4 says, “all God’s ways are justice”—by definition. If God does
it, it is just. (And since the triune God is inherently relational, the Bible
says that God is love—and therefore all of his justice is ultimately born from
and aiming toward love.) To think otherwise is the ultimate act of arrogance,
putting your own mind and opinions and conceptions as the ultimate standard of
the universe.
This
does not, however, preclude humble questioning and seeking in order to gain
greater understanding. While it is ultimately illegitimate to ask if God’s ways
are just in securing the Promised Land, it is perfectly appropriate and
edifying to seek understanding on how God’s ways are just—whether in
commissioning the destruction of the Canaanites or in any other action. This is
the task of theology—seeing how various aspects of God’s truth and revelation
cohere.
3.
All of us deserve God’s justice; none of us deserve God’s mercy.
As
noted above, God is absolutely just in all that he does. The only thing that
any of us deserve from God is his justice. We have broken his law, rebelling
against him and his ways, and divine justice demands that we receive divine
punishment in proportion to our traitorous, treasonous rebellion. It is fully
within God’s rights to give mercy, but he need not give it to all—or to any. It
is also helpful to note that in biblical history, an act of judgment on one is
often an act of mercy for another (e.g., the flood was judgment on the world
but a means of saving Noah; the plagues were judgment on the Pharaoh but a
means of liberating Israel). Likewise, the destruction of the Canaanites was an
act of mercy for Israel.
4.
The Canaanites were enemies of God who deserved to be punished.
“All
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”—”None is righteous, no, not
one”—and “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 3:23; 3:10; 6:23). Therefore if God
destroyed Adam and Eve after the fall he would have been entirely just. When he
wiped out over 99.99% of the human race during the time of Noah, he was being
just.
Sometimes
we can mistakenly think that God just wanted to give his people land and kicked
out the innocent people who were already there. But in reality, the Canaanites
were full of iniquity and wickedness, and God speaks of the land vomiting them
out for this reason (cf. Gen. 15:6; Lev. 18:24-30; Deut. 9:5). All of this is
consistent with the fact that God “avenges the blood of his children and takes
vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his
people’s land” (Deut. 32:43).
It’s
also important to note Deuteronomy 9:5, which says that Israel’s possession of
the land and the Canaanites’ being kicked out would not be due to Israel’s
righteousness, but would rather be on account of the Canaanites’ wickedness.
God very pointedly tells Israel that if they do not follow the Lord and his
law, then they will suffer the same fate as the nations being vomited out of
their land (cf. Lev. 18:28; Deut. 28:25-68; cf. also Ex. 22:20; Josh. 7:11-12;
Mal. 4:6). God gave his special electing love to Israel (cf. Deut. 7:6-9), but his
threats and promises of punishment for unfaithfulness show his fairness and his
commitment to justice.
5.
God’s actions were not an example of ethnic cleansing.
The
Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) provides laws for two types of warfare: (1)
battles fought against cities outside the Promise Land (see Deut. 20:10-15),
and (2) battles fought against cities within the Promised Land (Deut.
20:16-18). The first type allowed for Israel to spare people; the second type
did not. This herem practice (the second type of warfare) meant
“devotion/consecration to destruction.” As a sacred act fulfilling divine
judgment, it is outside our own categories for thinking about warfare. Even
though the destruction is commanded in terms of totality, there seems to have
been an exception for those who repented, turning to the one true and living
God (e.g., Rahab and her family [Josh. 2:9], and the Gibeonites [Josh. 11:19]).
What this means is that the reason for the destruction of God’s wicked enemies
was precisely because of their rebellion and according to God’s special
purposes—not because of their ethnicity. “Ethnic cleansing” and genocide refer
to destruction of a people due to their ethnicity, and therefore this would be
an inappropriate category for the destruction of the Canaanites.
6.
Why was it necessary to remove the Canaanites from the land?
In
America we talk about the separation of “church” and “state.” But Israel was a
“theocracy,” where church and state were inseparably joined and
indistinguishable, such that members of God’s people had both political and
religious obligations. To be a citizen of Israel required being faithful to
God’s covenant and vice-versa.
The
covenant community demanded purity, and egregious violations meant removal
(e.g., see Deut. 13:5; 17:7, etc). This also entailed the purity of the land in
which they were living as God’s people, and failure to remove the unrepentant
from the land meant that the entire nation would be pulled down with the
rebellious, resulting in idolatry, injustice, and evil (e.g., Deut. 7:4;
12:29-31)—which sadly proved to be the case all too often under the old
covenant.
Christians
today are not in a theocracy. We are “sojourners and exiles” (1 Pet. 2:11) with
no sacred land in this age. We live in the overlap of the old age and the age
to come—”between two places” (in the creation that groans—after the
holy-but-temporary Promised Land and awaiting the holy-and-permanent New Heavens
and the New Earth). In this age and place we are to respect and submit to the
governing authorities placed over us by God (Rom. 13:1-5)—but they are not, and
should not be, a part of the church (God’s people called and gathered for Word
and sacrament). Furthermore, God’s gift of specific, special revelation to the
whole church has now ended (cf. Heb. 1:1-2: “Long ago, at many times and in
many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he
has spoken to us by his Son”). These factors combine to ensure that nothing
like the destruction of the Canaanites—required for the theocracy of Israel to
possess the physical land—is commissioned by God or is permissible for his
people today.
7.
The destruction of the Canaanites is a picture of the final judgment.
At
the end of the age, Christ will come to judge the living and the dead (Acts
10:42; 2 Tim. 4:1; 1 Pet. 4:5), expelling them from the land (the whole earth).
That judgment will be just, and it will be complete. That is the day “the Lord
Jesus [will be] revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey
the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal
destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might
(2 Thess. 1:8-9). Amazingly enough, Paul asks the Corinthians something they
seem to have forgotten, if they once knew it: “Do you not know that the saints
will judge the world? (1 Cor. 6:2).
How
does this work? What will it look like? We don’t know for sure. But God’s Word
tells us that God’s people will be part of God’s judgment against God’s
enemies. In that way, God’s command of the Israelites to carry out his moral
judgment against the Canaanites becomes a foreshadowing—a preview, if you
will—of the final judgment.
Read
in this light, the terrible destruction recorded on the pages of Joshua in
God’s Holy Word become not a “problem to solve,” but a wake-up call to all of
us—to remain “pure and undefiled before God” (James 1:27), seeking him and his
ways, and to faithfully share the gospel with our unbelieving neighbors and the
unreached nations. Like Job, we must ultimately refrain from calling God’s
goodness and justice into question, putting a hand over our mouth (Job 40:4)
and marveling instead at the richness and the mystery of God’s great
inscrutable mercy (Eph. 2:4). At the end of the day we will join Moses and the
Lamb in singing this song of praise:
“Great
and amazing are your deeds,
O
Lord God the Almighty!
Just
and true are your ways,
O
King of the nations!
Who
will not fear, O Lord,
and
glorify your name?
For
you alone are holy.
All
nations will come
and
worship you,
for
your righteous acts have been revealed.” (Rev. 15:3-4)
The
discussion in the Introduction to the book of Joshua in the ESV Study Bible is
helpful in thinking through this issue. For a more in-depth treatments, see
Paul Copan’s article, “Is Yahweh a Moral Monster?”
