Didn’t Yahwe also accept child sacrifice?
When I point out the wicked genocide which was unleashed at the Canaanites and surrounding nations in the Promised Land by the Israelites; Christians are quick to claim that the Canaanites received their due judgment for their sins which accumulated over time. Yahwe was only using the Israelites as his instrument for judging these alleged wicked nations. So what exactly were the sins of the Canaanites? It is usually argued that the Canaanites and surrounding nations were sacrificing their children by passing them through the fire. So basically their sin was human sacrifice. Though I am left wondering with regards to Yaweh’s decision; in his quest to stop child sacrifice among these nations, he decides to wipe out all the infants. That would stop the practice I guess. The following scriptures describe the destruction of the nations and justification for the genocide.
Deutronomy 3:6
And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city.
Joshua 6:21
And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
Deutronomy 20:17-18
v17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee: v18 That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God.
So God decided to stop child sacrifice by annihilating every living creature in the various cities. However, this justification doesn’t make sense since Yahwe also accepted child sacrifice. There’s even a commandment specifically about sacrificing firstborns in the Bible. You don’t have to take my word for it, read the scriptures yourself. It seems to me that God’s problem was not necessarily child sacrifice, but rather sacrificing to the wrong gods. He was clearly okay if a child was offered to him as a sacrifice. And he is adamant that none should come before him empty handed. Though, overtime this command was relaxed by allowing the child to be redeemed with a lamb or something. The following scriptures prove my case.
Exodus 22:20
He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
Exodus 22:29
Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
Exodus 34:20
But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.
Yahwe admits he commanded child sacrifice
Ezekiel 20:25-26
v25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live; v26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.
Some apologists may argue that Yahwe was actually disgusted with the practice of child sacrifice and if you read the full context of the Ezekiel passage rather than verse 25 and 26 only, it is clear that the Israelites rebelled against God. To further strengthen their case, apologists may point to some scriptures which they think proves their contention. For instance the following scriptures:
Leviticus 18:21
And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
2nd Kings 16:3
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.
2nd Kings 17:17
And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
Like earlier stated, I still contend that Yahwe himself also accepted child sacrifice. The fact that he made a commandment specifically to offer him firstborns only proves my argument (Exodus 20:29). Notice that the prohibition of child sacrifice in the above scriptures is to other gods like Molech. It is an abomination to Yahwe only because the sacrifice is done in the name of the gods of the heathen. But he clearly had no problem if the sacrifice was done in his name. Case in point is the sacrifice of Jephthah’s daughter (Judges 11). God accepted that sacrifice with no prohibition whatsoever.
Why didn’t God forbid the sacrifice of Jephthah’s daughter?
Think about it. If Yahwe was as disgusted and offended with human sacrifice as stated in the above scriptures, why didn’t he stop Jephthah from sacrificing his daughter? His injunction would have overruled Jephthah’s foolish vow. God had power to do so but he didn’t. He chose not to intervene, meaning he was fine with it. Otherwise, he would have intervened like the way he did in the case of Isaac. Perhaps the circumstances are different between the two cases but my point still remains. If he can intervene in Isaac’s case, he could’ve done the same with Jephthah’s daughter. There’s no excuse for allowing what you consider abhorring to be done in your own name, considering you had power to prevent it. If he had power to prevent it and chose not to prevent the sacrifice all together, it means that’s exactly what he wanted.
Even if I was completely wrong about everything I’ve presented in this post, the apologist still has a lot to explain and reconcile. Even if for argument’s sake, Yahwe did not even approve Jephthah’s sacrifice, the point still remains. Why did Yahwe allow the sacrifice to be done in his name? You might then argue that people do all sorts of things, even abhorrent things in God’s name but that doesn’t mean God approves them. But what about the commandment which he established that the firstborns belong to him? (Exodus 22:29). If he hates human sacrifice with a strong passion, why make such a commandment?
To make matters interesting in this discussion, let’s assume am wrong and that I have misunderstood what am reading and completely missed the point. Let’s even say I have ignored a lot of context in the scriptures I’ve presented, and therefore I have reached an erroneous conclusion. Yahwe does not accept human sacrifice and he hates it. If this is your position, then where does it leave poor Jesus? Wasn’t Jesus a human? Wasn’t he a son of man (firstborn)? Wasn’t his death a sacrifice? Didn’t God accept that sacrifice? If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, then you do agree with me that God accepts human sacrifice. Therefore, it was hypocritical of him to punish the Canaanites for doing exactly what he also allows.
Conclusion
Finally, let me recap my points in this post. I have argued the idea that the Canaanites were destroyed because they practiced human sacrifice as a hypocritical reason. If child sacrifice was the reason for committing genocide against the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; then Yahwe is evidently hypocritical. I say so because Yahwe made a commandment on how firstborns should be offered to him. Moreover, he used to be happy and remained quiet if the sacrifice was made in his name. However, when the Israelites sacrificed to different gods, that’s when he came out all blazing and condemned the abomination. It seems the Israelites loved to worship the gods of the heathen and throughout the Bible Yahwe is always complaining about them because he was jealous. He didn’t get the attention he deserved/wanted from the Israelites. And finally the biggest of them all, the sacrifice of Jesus, most Christians admits Jesus was a human sacrifice so I have nothing to argue concerning that. You can also see Reasons why Penal Substutionary Atonement is unjustified
Christian Responses
theology debunked 