Genocide

The Genocide Convention passed the United Nations in 1948 with a unanimous vote of 56 states and went into force in 1950 after 20 states ratified it. The US ratified it in 1986 conditioned on the following reservations:

"(1) That with reference to article IX of the Convention, before any dispute to which the United States is a party may be submitted to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice under this article, the specific consent of the United States is required in each case. (2) That nothing in the Convention requires or authorizes legislation or other action by the United States of America prohibited by the Constitution of the United States as interpreted by the United States." Understandings: "(1) That the term `intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group as such' appearing in article II means the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in substantial part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such by the acts specified in article II. (2) That the term `mental harm' in article II (b) means permanent impairment of mental faculties through drugs, torture or similar techniques. (3) That the pledge to grant extradition in accordance with a state's laws and treaties in force found in article VII extends only to acts which are criminal under the laws of both the requesting and the requested state and nothing in article VI affects the right of any state to bring to trial before its own tribunals any of its nationals for acts committed outside a state. (4) That acts in the course of armed conflicts committed without the specific intent required by article II are not sufficient to constitute genocide as defined by this Convention. (5) That with regard to the reference to an international penal tribunal in article VI of the Convention, the United States declares that it reserves the right to effect its participation in any such tribunal only by a treaty entered into specifically for that purpose with the advice and consent of the Senate."

In order to answer this question you have to be more specific. God ordered men women and children to be killed on certain occasions. The reason was for abominations committed. The people in question were committing child sacrifices to demons. The Jews disobeyed this command every time thinking they knew better than God what to do. Less than two generations later the Jews had adopted these practices and were sacrificing their children to the demons, Moloch, Baal, and Ashera. You cannot look backwards into time and try to project your thoughts or even your terminology on the era in question. You must understand the time as it was back then. Child sacrifice is abomination to God and deserving of death. Read the Bible and understand it in context, not in any political or ideological agenda you may have and it will make sense. God gave the Jews 900 years to correct their ways before he wreaked havoc on them. Read Ezekiel where God chronicles all of their misdeeds you are asking about. God gives a list of the things the Jews had done and the people that taught the Jews to do these things throughout time. So if by genocide you mean God ordering the death of people that murdered babies yes there is genocide in the Bible. Ethnic cleansing NO. They were killed for what they did not who they were. Jews were ordered by God to be a light to the gentiles but the Jews didn't understand this. They thought they were better than the gentiles. God has since proved them wrong.

Answer:

That is not always the reason. God ordered Israel to take the land of the Philistines and He ordered much slaughter - just in wartime. That had nothing to do with sacrifices to demons.