3. Why does God demand the death of so many innocent people in the Bible?

In order to answer this question, first it is important to point out a flawed presupposition within the question itself. The question presupposes that the people are “innocent”. According to the Christian worldview, every one is a sinner (Christian and non-Christian) and that the consequence of sin is death (Rom 3.23, 6.23). What this means is that when we stand opposed to God and his righteousness, his justice will be satisfied. This is demonstrated first in Genesis 3 after our first parents, Adam and Eve sinned and God made atonement for their sin with the sacrifice of an animal with which he made garments of skin as clothes to cover their nakedness and shame (Gen 3.21). It is also demonstrated by the sacrificial system of the Old Testament (Lev 4.1-6.7). And finally, it finds fulfillment in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross which atoned for the sins of humanity, even those outside the covenantal community of Israel (1 Jn 2.2).

What some might argue is that this makes the God of the Bible a bloodthirsty and wicked being and thus should be rejected as an ideal God. But this is a poor conclusion given all the evidence provided. Rather, it makes God out to be just and holy, and ultimately merciful and gracious. God is life (Jn 14.6) and rightly supposing that the opposite of life is death, and given that sin is opposition to God’s being and character either in act, disposition, or state; it follows that the consequence of opposing a holy God is the fulfillment of his justice, which is death. This does not mean that God does not value life. If that were the case then God would not value himself. Instead he values life higher than we ever could by not allowing death to consume the life he has imparted (Gen 2.7). The ultimate demonstration of this is found within the substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here, as Paul writes, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5.21). God’s love for human life (not just physical life but also eternal life) was so great that he sent God the Son to die and suffer in our place, satisfying his justice and imputing his own righteousness onto us (Rom 3.25). Therefore, being that God’s justice must be maintained, the fact that he took our place when he did not have to, reveals very practically his attributes of grace and mercy. In a sense, God demands the death of the sinner and then provides himself as the recipient of his own wrath (Mk 15.34).

Therefore, to answer the question directly, it is God’s justice that demands the death of so many guilty people in the Old Testament who violated his Law. But it is also by his grace and mercy that he provides for his people a means of atonement that spares their physical life in the covenantal sacrifices of the Old Testament which are fulfilled by Jesus in the New Testament. Thereby, in the Old Testament the sins of the rebellious child or the person who violated the Sabbath are atoned for by sacrifice and their lives are spared.

But you might ask, what about God’s commands to slaughter entire races and clans of people. Is God genocidal? If you were to look at the ways of these people and look at their war tactics, you would find that they were a far more evil people than the worst terrorist groups of our day. They practiced incest and child prostitution as forms of worship. They would make child sacrifices to their false gods and attack Israel’s women and children in war while avoiding battles with the men. In short, these were not good, innocent people. And they were not people you would want in the land you were about to inhabit.

In conclusion, the question should not be, “Why does God demand the death of these people?” Rather, a more informed question would be, “Why does God allow any one to live?” And what I would argue for is something John Calvin called “common grace”. God is good and patient as to let us enjoy his provision of life. He lets us know love and peace and justice among ourselves, even apart from God and his covenant relationship. We marry and have children. We enjoy the seasons and the changing of the seasons. We enjoy the wisdom to know the difference from right and wrong, justice and injustice. We enjoy being the image bearers of God creatively and relationally. And all of this is provided even for those who would reject the God who gave these gifts. This is true both for those in the Old Testament and the New Testament. God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13.8).