In the beginning of my theological education, for eleven years I attended regularly a somewhat militant church. The pastor had been a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force during WWII. He taught the Bible one hour, six days per week with a military style. He often said President Harry Truman should not have stopped General Doulas McArthur from pursuing war with China following WWII, as he wanted to do. As I look back on it now, I think my pastor there at that church bordered on warmongering. Yet I was a reservist in both the U.S. Army (six months active duty) and the Air Force for 7.5 years during most of the time I attended this church.
Some Christians take the opposite position by being pacifists. They not only are opposed to all forms of self-defense, but they also are opposed to their nation having a military for defensive purposes. And they think that any Christian who is in his or her nation’s military is sinning. They often take this stance because Jesus taught, “turn the other cheek” and “love your enemies” (Matthew 5.39, 44). (See my treatment of these texts in my post two days ago, on January 6, 2016, entitled “Did Jesus Teach Indiscriminately Non-Violence.”)
Since the Protestant Reformation, the foremost church denomination that has advocated pacifism has been the so-called Quakers. I have had many Quaker “friends” as they prefer to call themselves. That’s because I lived in Friendswood, Texas, from 1970 to 1997. It is a small community that was founded by Quakers and thus named by them. Quakers are some of the most loving Christians I have ever known. In their history, they have been most known for emphasizing in their church meetings the freedom of the Holy Spirit to be manifested in their midst. So they believe strongly in living a Christian life led by the Holy Spirit. I love Quakers; they are people of peace. Yet I don’t think they’ve been right about being pacifist.
The Bible is full of information in which God has been involved in warfare, and it also will be so at the end of the age. As I blogged the last time, God has his own angelic military in heaven. The Bible often tells of “the LORD of hosts,” in which “hosts” refers to God’s angelic warriors. So, it’s not always peaches and cream in heaven (e.g., Revelation 12.7-12), though there may be different levels there (2 Corinthians 12.2).
Bible readers know how much Israel fought wars against its enemies, beginning with Moses, and that God was aiding Israel in it, even sometimes commanding Israel to engage in warfare. Yet later, God could do the opposite by sending Israel’s enemies to militarily defeat it because of Israel’s continued disobedience to its covenant God. So, the Old Testament is full of history about God being involved in war regarding his chosen nation Israel. Why?
Let’s consider God’s character as portrayed in the Old Testament. Yes, it says, “The LORD” is “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34.6 NRSV and throughout). But that happens only when there is penitence due to “a broken and contrite heart” (Psalm 51.17). Since there often is not, “God is a righteous judge, and a God who has righteous indignation every day. If one does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and strung his bow; he has prepared his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts” (Psalm 7.11-13). Notice these metaphors.
Some Christians think God changed with the advent of Jesus. Thus, many Christians have thought that the God of the Old Testament was wrathful and vengeful, but since Jesus supposedly presents a different character, they have thought the God of the New Testament is not a God of wrath and thus a different God. That is why some Christians have identified themselves as “New Testament Christians.”
Of course, to take this position–that God changed sometime between the two scriptural testaments–is to lay bare a serious weakness for skeptics to seize upon in their bashing of Christianity, and I think rightfully so. Therefore, I do not think the God of the Old Testament is any different than the God of the New Testament; rather, God stays the same about this subject throughout all generations.
The difference is that humans can be different in different generations. That’s why it appears that God is different at times, whereas, he is merely reacting to what humans do. Also, the New Testament covers a very short period of time compared to the Old Testament. And then there is the issue of Israel being a nation whereas the church is a spiritual organism.
Or, let’s consider the New Testament. When the Roman centurion Cornelius became the first Gentile Christian along with his household–even being baptized with the Holy Spirit while hearing and believing the Apostle Peter preaching to them, and
speaking in tongues to verify it (Acts 10)–did Cornelius later renounce his profession as a ruler of perhaps 100-200 Roman soldiers due to his Christian confession? Of course, Luke does not inform us. But I think it is very doubtful. Or, look at Paul’s New Testament letters, in which he writes of military weapons and defenses and uses them as metaphors to explain Christian living (e.g., Ephesians 6.13-17). Surely, Paul would not resort to such language if he was opposed to Christians using these weapons in service to the state or in civil government.
Or, let’s consider what will happen when Jesus returns at the end of the age. The Hebrew prophets foretell that the final Antichrist will lead the militaries of all the nations of the world to converge upon Israel to totally annihilate it (e.g., Ezekiel 38-39; Zechariah 12-14). God had foretold to his Messiah-King at his heavenly ascension, “‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ The LORD sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes” (Psalm 110.1-2). This is the most quoted Old Testament text in the New Testament. God also says then to his Messiah, the Son of God, “You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Psalm 2.9).
Jesus will come then with great vengeance. He will literally ride on clouds and come down to conduct the vengeance of God upon these enemies. The Prophet Isaiah says of that time, “he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked” (Isaiah 11.4). Lest one think this text ought not be interpreted literally, the Apostle Paul foretells about this Antichrist and quotes this text without explaining it as being metaphorical. Paul says of the Antichrist, “the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming” (2 Thessalonians 2.8).
Or, let’s consider further how Jesus will conquer. John the Revelator says of that future Jesus, “from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force” (Revelation 1.17; cf. 2.12). He furthermore says of Christ’s return, “Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war…. And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty” (Revelation 19.11-11, 14-15).
Finally, let’s consider how Jesus will afterwards rule his worldwide kingdom in that world-to-come. John the Revelator says he is the one “who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron” (Revelation 12.5). And Jesus says to his people who obey him, “To everyone who conquers and continues to do my works to the end, I will give authority over the nations; to rule them with an iron rod, as when clay pots are shattered–even as I also received authority from my Father” (Revelation 2.26-27).
Heh, I hate war. Yet I don’t see how a Christian can be a pacifist in light of this written revelation of God. And I have barely scratched the surface, here in this post, regarding biblical texts about warfare.
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