Wrestling with Giants and Genocide: Reframing the Old Testament’s Toughest Narratives

Wrestling with the “Genocide Commands” of the Old Testament: Giants, Rhetoric, and Spiritual Battle

For readers troubled by the Old Testament’s stories of conquest and destruction, there are few issues more challenging than the so-called “genocide commands.” Did God really endorse wholesale slaughter? Recent theological and biblical scholarship – especially through the work of Michael Heiser, Frs. Stephen De Young and Andrew Stephen Damick at the Lord of Spirits podcast, and Dr. Paul Copan, offer a richer, more faithful explanation, anchored in ancient worldviews, spiritual realities, and textual nuances.

Ancient War Rhetoric: When “Total” Didn’t Mean Total

Ancient Near Eastern records are full of “total… Continue reading →