Originally Posted by psychodragon
Q: Why did God tell the Jews to slaughter all those tribes in the land of Canaan? Doesn't that make Yahweh a bloodthirsty deity?
A: No, that doesn't make God a bloodthirsty deity. The tribes you speak of - the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, joined with the Amelekites and Moabites - were evil societies. Not only did they refuse to worship God, they also practiced sorcery and human sacrifice. God, being perfectly holy and just, was required to erase those tribes both to punish their sins and to protect the nation of Israel from spiritual contamination. If the Israelites were to adopt the culture of those peoples, then Israel would be rendered ineligible to bring forth the Messiah, for the culture would then not be ready to receive Him.