Christian Crier
Here are seven Bible verses that show that we should protect or defend ourselves.
Luke 22:36 “He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.”
Why would Jesus tell the disciples earlier to take no provisions with them on their way to preach the kingdom of God and then later, tell them to take “a money bag” and likewise, “a knapsack” and even but a sword? The first time Jesus sent out the disciples, He wanted them to trust God for everything they’d need but it might have been because the first time they went to people, they hadn’t heard the gospel yet and weren’t really that hostile toward. The next time they went out, people started persecuting the messengers of the gospel and as a result, the disciples wouldn’t find shelter or food as easily and that meant that they might even need a sword to defend themselves.
Matthew 10:34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
Many people during Jesus’ earthly ministry thought that He came to bring peace and so many sought to take Him by force to make Him King and overthrow the Roman Empire (John 6:15), however Jesus never came to establish an earthly kingdom at that time. The Jews had expected the Messiah to begin His earthly reign when He came but they didn’t understand that He came to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Jesus must have shocked the religious crowd of the day, perhaps even His own disciples, when He said He didn’t come to bring peace but a sword, meaning that households would be divided and “a person’s enemies will be those of his own household” (Matt 10:36).
Numbers 31:3 “So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian.”
Why did Moses command the Israelites to arm the men and prepare to go to war against the Midianites? It was not really their idea but God’s as it says it was to “to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian.” But why? God tells us that it was on account of “Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD” (Num 31:16) because they had caused the Israelites to commit adultery and fornication which was obviously contrary to the laws of God.
First Peter 5:8 “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
We have more than flesh and blood that we must defend ourselves against. Paul identifies our archenemy as Satan and his demons and in Ephesians he writes that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12) so we must “take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (Eph 6:13).
Exodus 21:24-25 “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”
This law was for the intended purpose of having family feuds escalate out of control. It tried to prevent a “Hatfield’s and McCoy’s” war. This was the law of retribution and was intended to prevent things from spiraling out of control. The justice meted out was to be equitable or the penalty was to fit the crime; no more than the law demanded but no less either. This was to prohibit vigilante parties from taking justice into their own hands and doing far worse than the original infraction.
Genesis 9:5-6 “And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”
The law of God was a great deterrent to crime. For example, there was the sentence of death for anyone that murdered. That’s because mankind is made in the image of God (Gen 1:27) and since God is the Author and Giver of Life, only He can take a life. The only exception was when someone murdered another in a premeditated manner, and not by accident. They would have to pay with their own life so for Israel, capital punishment was a powerful deterrent to murder.
Nehemiah 4:17-18 “Who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.”
Nehemiah records the fact that those who were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem needed armed guards so that they might protect and defend themselves and their families. There is nothing unbiblical about this at all as they had been given the right by King Artaxerxes to do so (Neh 2). That’s why we have those in authority given to our societies and were done so by God Himself (Rom 13).
Conclusion
Paul writes as if we had better be prepared to defend ourselves, but not against men, but against Satan and his demons as he writes, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (Eph 6:13). Today, Satan is roaming about like a lion, seeking whom he might destroy (1st Pet 5:8) so my suggestion to you is to take up the whole armor of God every day in order to defend and protect yourself from the wicked spirits that are in high places.
Article by Jack Wellman
Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.
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