Murder
I have a friend who is using the story of Jericho to prove that God condones murder and is therefore imperfect. My friend states that because God told the Israelites to take over the city, he is saying that the murdering of these "innocent" people was okay, and therefore murdering of any sinner is all right. I am unsure what to reply to him. Could you give me some feedback?
In Scripture, "murder" means "unjustly to deprive someone of life." As C. S. Lewis wisely put it, all killing isn't "murder" any more than all sex is adultery.
God is the giver of life, and it is up to God to decide when life will end (Job 1:21). We don't charge God with murder every time a person dies. Usually God carries out his decision to end a life directly. He may, however, carry out that decision through his representatives--for example, the government (Romans 13:1-5).
You might also ask your friend what makes him/her so sure that the inhabitants of Jericho were "innocent." The Bible paints a very different picture of the culture and lifestyle of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan (e.g. Deuteronomy 18:9-12).
At the time of the conquest of that land by Israel, God had decided that the lives of the inhabitants of Jericho should end, and that is God's prerogative. Israel was simply acting as God's representative--as the means that God used to carry out his decision.
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