God-Hardened Hearts | The Institute for Creation Research
God-Hardened Hearts

"For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses." (Joshua 11:20)

One of the most bitter complaints of critics against the Bible is its portrayal of the severity of God, especially in His command to Moses to destroy all the Canaanites. "When the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them" (Deuteronomy 7:2). This seems more severe than ever when we read in our text that God Himself hardened the hearts of the Canaanites so that Joshua could destroy them.

But the notion that God is merely a kindly grandfather figure is a self-serving figment of man's sinful imagination. The New Testament reminds us that "our God is a consuming fire" and "the wages of sin is death" (Hebrews 12:29; Romans 6:23), and God doesn't change. "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8).

As far as the Canaanites were concerned, God had given them 400 years to repent (Genesis 15:13-16), but each new generation had gone further away from God than the one before, and they were practicing (as archaeology has revealed) every form of debauchery known to man. It was an act of mercy by God toward all those who would come in contact with them in future generations to decree their destruction now. They had already irrevocably hardened their hearts toward God, so God now hardened their hearts against Israel. Thinking they could destroy God's people, they only hastened their well-deserved end. HMM

The Latest
CREATION PODCAST
I Have NO Credentials! | The Creation Podcast: Episode 50
Do you need a science degree to be a champion of creation? How do we communicate the truths of Scripture to our friends and family? The good news...

NEWS
Shark Jaws
Sharks are back in the news, and it’s in regard to their most formidable and fearsome structure—their jaws. Zoologists recently studied...

CREATION.LIVE PODCAST
Established Day 4 | Creation.Live Podcast: Episode 13
Humans have long been fascinated by the night sky. As Psalm 19:1 reminds us, "The heavens declare the glory of God"—His creative signature...

NEWS
Physical Evidence Trumps Evolution Theory
One of the hallmarks of good science is to formulate a cogent theory based on the physical evidence. For example, if the physical evidence (e.g. a fossilized...

NEWS
Solar System Symmetries
Most all school children can recite the planets in our solar system using memory devices such as: “My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Names”...

NEWS
Does Iron Toast Union Rescue Long Ages?
The puzzle persists after all these years. On the one hand, biochemists perform decay rate studies that show biochemicals cannot last a million years...

CREATION PODCAST
The Industrious Efficiency of Bees | The Creation Podcast: Episode...
Bees? BEES! When it comes to these incredible insects, we often think of hives and honey—and stingers. But these little creatures are incredibly...

NEWS
Blinking Fish Transitioned to Land?
The mudskipper (Boleophthalmus caeruleomaculatus) of the order Perciformes, is a fascinating fish whose evolutionary origins are quite unknown. They...

NEWS
Man: Created to Walk Upright
One of the many serious problems with “human evolution” is how, when, why, and where our alleged apelike ancestors decided to rise and walk...

NEWS
''Prehistoric'' Reptile Designed to Swim
Locomotion in the human and animal world means the power to move from one place to another. Recently, evolutionists have published research regarding...