How would we, when we are witnessing, answer the question of whether God approved or disapproved of war? This devotion looks to answer that question through reviewing what Scriptures say.
Nuggets
- We are told in Scriptures of times when God does fight for us.
- We know God prepares us for the battle also.
- God didn’t want His people fighting against His people over something He sent.
- We would think don’t murder would equate to no war – which is major kill.
This year, we are looking at self-discipline. We are using Vincent’s The Lesson of Ripeness sermon to look at the need to grow in our relationship with God. We morphed learning enough to be a teacher into determining some areas we need to grow so we can be mature disciples.
Resource
We have been looking at solidifying what we believe. When we witness, we need to be prepared to explain what we believe and why we believe it.
We have looked at the Scriptures; the Trinity (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit); man; salvation; grace; the church; divine ordinances; worship; God’s kingdom; end times; evangelism and missions; stewardship; cooperation; and social order. Now we are going to look at peace and war.
I am entitling this category Peace and War – but we are only going to touch on the peace as being the opposite of war.
I am doing this because we have had many discussions about peace. We’ve said peace is an inward tranquility resulting from a balanced life with spiritual order, equity, and truth.
True, we have focused on individual and group peace. This is more national war.
This isn’t the feeling type. This isn’t the s/he-has-declared-war-on-me type. (Oh, yes. That happens.)
This is the shoot-them-up type. We are going to come at this to determine God’s viewpoint.
Devotions in the What I Believe series
Devotions in the Peace and War category
Does God Approve of War?
But the Man after God’s Own Heart Was a Warrior
Sometimes, War Can be Avoided
Sometimes, War Is Judgment
War as a Sign of the End Times
Let's Put It into Context
War, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations.”
Resource
This is one of those topics that it looks like the Bible contradicts itself. Does God approve of war or not?
Divine Approval
“For who is God besides the Lord? And who is a rock? Only our God. God is my strong refuge; he makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer and sets me securely on the heights. He trains my hands for war; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation; your help exalts me” (II Sam. 22: 32-36 CSB)
Isn’t this a great passage? It is a song David spoke “… Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from the grasp of all his enemies and from the grasp of Saul” (II Sam. 22: 1 CSB).
It starts off with David praising God, showing how He is our rock and fortress. He went on and on about how God saw his distress and saved him.
David said God didn’t only rescue him, but God also fought for him. “He bent the heavens and came down, total darkness beneath his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew, soaring on the wings of the wind. He made darkness a canopy around him, a gathering of water and thick clouds. From the radiance of his presence, blazing coals were ignited” (II Sam. 22: 10-13 CSB).
Then we get to verse 35. “He trains my hands for war; my arms can bend a bow of bronze” (II Sam. 22: 35 CSB).
Whoa! Wait!!!!
That sounds like God approves of war.
Well, we are told in Scriptures of times when God does fight for us.
- “But Moses said to the people, ‘Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that he will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you must be quiet’” (Ex. 14: 13-14 CSB).
- “The Lord your God who goes before you will fight for you, just as you saw him do for you in Egypt” (Deut. 1: 30 CSB).
- “The Philistines came up again and spread out in Rephaim Valley. So David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not attack directly, but circle around behind them and come at them opposite the balsam trees. When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, act decisively, for then the Lord will have gone out ahead of you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” So David did exactly as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Geba to Gezer” (II Sam. 5: 22-25 CSB).
We know God prepares us for the battle also. “For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God” (Eph. 6: 13-17 CSB).
God knows that we will have spiritual warfare as well as physical warfare. He doesn’t want us to not be prepared. He wants us protected.
Divine Disapproval
“Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not to march up and fight against your brothers. Each of you return home, for this incident has come from me.’ So they listened to what the Lord said and turned back from going against Jeroboam.” (II Chron. 11: 3-4 CSB)
You know, this is the only passage that I found in Nave’s Topical Bible where God said that war was forbidden. That surprised me. I figured I would find a “do not start wars” commandment.
This verse, I think, shouldn’t be taken out of context. Rehoboam was a son of Solomon, who became king when Solomon died.
The coronation was going to be at Shechem. Some people came to Rehoboam to ask that he decrease the taxes on them. He didn’t, so the country was divided.
Second Chronicles 11: 4 was God’s response to Rehoboam wanting to go to war with his countrymen. God wouldn’t let him.
God didn’t want His people fighting against His people over something He sent.
I didn’t find any other place where it said don’t go to war.
We can argue that there is the sixth commandment that tells us not to commit murder (Ex. 20: 13). We would think don’t murder would equate to no war – which is major kill.
But Dale brought up some good points.
- There was still capital punishment. Look at Leviticus 20: 13, for example. “If a man sleeps with a man as with a woman, they have both committed a detestable act. They must be put to death; their death is their own fault” (Lev. 20: 13 CSB).
- If there was to be no wars, why did God institute a military? Dale wrote, “The nation to which [the sixth commandment] was given had a strict military organization, organized by the very authority from which the Commandment came.”
So, why all of the contradiction?
Making the Connections
God created a world that did not settle its differences through war. I doubt there really were any major differences – before Satan showed up.
But Satan did show up and got Adam and Eve to disobey God. That allowed murder and war into God’s paradise. God didn’t create murder and war – that was brought on by Satan.
God didn’t really want murder and war. But He had given us the free will to choose whether we would obey Him or not.
So, God chose to use the murder as punishment for sin. And, of course, we still sin. That means we keep instigating the wars – as well as other murders – and needing the punishment.
But look at it this way. God doesn’t expect us to be doormats. The verse I have as the background on my iPad is “for the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline” II Tim. 1: 7 NIV).
God even equips us for spiritual warfare. We had several devotions on the armor God gives us to protect us.
To read devotions in the Armor of God series, click the appropriate button below.
Yes, you would think that God would have rather we obeyed and not open this world up to sin, which included murder and war.
But God knew this was what was going to happen before He even created the world and us. So, He always made this as Plan A.
I am convinced that God will never leave us ill equipped to handle whatever situation is thrust on us. We may not think we are capable, but God gives us the abilities we need to succeed – if we choose to follow Him.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
Non-believers could question us about murder and war while we are witnessing to them. We’ve been looking at defending our beliefs when we are witnessing. That means we have to be secure enough to convince someone to accept our beliefs.
Our questions should still serve us to determine on what we need to focus.
- What does the Scriptures say?
- What do I believe?
- Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
- What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
How Do We Apply This?
We need to follow God’s direction as to what our responses should be. We need to compromise when we can. Fight when we have to fight.
I love what Sharon Carter said at Peggy Carter’s funeral in the movie Captain America: Civil War. She said, “Compromise where you can. Where you can’t, don’t. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say ‘No, you move’.”
We can’t compromise on what God said is an absolute — regardless of the outcome.
Gracious Heavenly Father. We want to say that You do not condone war. You didn’t create it. It is one of the results of mankind choosing to obey Satan over You. Still, You have used it to expand Your kingdom, to provide for Your people, and to judge us when we sin. Lord, we thank You that You have given us strength. May we be strong in You. Amen.
What do you think?
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