Last week, The Daily Mail had an article headlined: “Bronze Age DNA disproves the Bible’s claim that the Canaanites were wiped out: Study says their genes live on in modern-day Lebanese people”1 The article mentions Deuteronomy where the Israelites are commanded to destroy the Canaanites. But this is a straw man argument. Joshua states 13:13 “But the Israelites failed to drive out the people of Geshur and Maacah, so they continue to live among the Israelites to this day.”2 Joshua states 15:63: “But the tribe of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites, who lived in the city of Jerusalem, so the Jebusites live there among the people of Judah to this day.”3 Joshua 16:10: “They did not drive the Canaanites out of Gezer, however, so the people of Gezer live as slaves among the people of Ephraim to this day.”4 Joshua 17:12: “But the descendants of Manasseh were unable to occupy these towns because the Canaanites were determined to stay in that region.”5 Later, you read about the Israelites fighting the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and the Philistines. Buried down in the article is an acknowledgement that “biblical stories say that the Israelites took over most of the Canaanites’ land, and that those who survived were forced to do labour.” I am pretty sure they are counting on people missing that and focusing more on the headline.
This exposes the extreme bias of people in academia and the media against the Bible. The Bible is under a constant onslaught. Even the Bible Gateway website that I use has advertisements for Curiosity Stream highlighting “First Man” – a very Darwinistic program. This is why churches need to address these issues and teach parishioners that they can believe the Bible. Local biblical creation organizations such as the San Antonio Bible Based Science Association can help. Talk to your church leadership. If they are not addressing this, ask them: Why not? Tell them about us.
Terry Read
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4733046/Canaanites-ancestors-modern-day-people-Lebanon.html
- https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+13
- https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+15&version=NLT
- https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+16&version=NLT
- https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+17
