in order to give the israelites land . He could have given them spaceships and put a habitable planet on Mars . Your assumption is that God only has one goal , that is to give Israelites land . However , that might not be the case . The goal might be to give the Israelites land ON EARTH . He could have silently sterilised the midionites Which they would definitely have preferred over murder , rape and enslavement . He could have persuaded the midionites to walk to india . You also assume that God has another goal , to minimize suffering . Given that God ' s goals are 1 . Give Israelites that particular patch of land east of the middle sea 2 . Inflict least suffering in the processThen what God did was definitely not optimal . But what if God ' s goals are 1 . Give Israelites that particular patch of land east of the middle sea 2 . Punish the Amorites who are inhabiting that said patch of land . Aren ' t this optimal ? This is verse for God ' s 2 nd goalIn the fourth generation your descendants will come back here , for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure Genesis 1516 NIVMy points are these 1 . God does not reveal ALL of his goals . 2 . Without knowing ALL of his goals , efficiency cannot be determined . However , someone could say , is God powerful enough to change his goals ? I have no idea how to answer that .