Joel M Bradshaw

7They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man. 8Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. 9The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder. 10They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps. 11They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals, 12and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.–Numbers 31

We look at genocide through our modern moral sense and are rightfully appalled. But was what God was commanding Ancient Israel morally the same thing?

God is very clear in the 10 Commandments that humans are not to murder. And back in Genesis 9, God told Noah the reason why. Humanity is made in God’s Image and therefore we were not to murder each other. And this was just after God had sent a worldwide flood! So we have to wrap our minds around the fact that God may command judgment upon a people and He expected obedience in carrying that judgment out. But God also is never selfish and by definition cannot sin. Murder is the most selfish act any human can do to another. 

God sometimes commanded the complete destruction of a people. . We learn in Romans 6:23 the the wages or paycheck for sin ultimately is death. God sometimes sent that death as a direct punishment upon individuals or people groups who directly opposed Him.

When a war is just, then the killing within that war is not legally considered murder. God is just and therefore what he commands is just. Taking a life for selfish reasons is a different matter and is prohibited by God. If I judge God by my standard, then God will always be lacking in my eyes. I am not God, so I instead am judged by God’s standards.

1. The command of God is that we should not murder (Exodus 20:13).
2. God made humanity in His image and gave a consequence against the murder of a human by another human (Genesis 9:6).
3. If a war is just, then the killing of a person in that war by the just side is not legally considered murder.
4. God cannot and does not sin. Every command of His is just.
5. When God commanded the total killing of a society, it was based upon His just and sinless standards (Deuteronomy 20:16-18).
6. The wages of sin is death and God sometimes punished the sin of a society who opposed Him by total annihilation. 
7. Therefore the war was just and the killing not murder.–JMB