As before, we’ll start with the Ten Commandments. “Thou shalt not murder” is there.
But we can also go a little further back to Cain and Abel. The first murder occurs in the second generation of mankind … before adultery. Not soon after that, God judges the earth for being “filled with violence” in a flood. After the flood, God gives a law within His covenant with Noah, “whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed. For in the image of God He made man.”
So even in Genesis, God deals with the violence of man against man, and He connects its seriousness with man’s created image, a divine spark that is to be respected and protected.
Before we move on to the New Covenant, we have several prophetic verses and psalms that equate evil with violence. One is a messianic prophecy quoted heavily by the early church: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” Isaiah 2:4. We must be cautious sometimes with messianic prophecies because they also speak of the heavenly realities at the end times, as well. But for those who pray, “on earth as it is in heaven,” even these verses apply.
In Romans 1:30, Paul lists being violent as evidence of being given over to a debased mind. In Galatians, he lists contentions, outbursts of wrath, and murders as works of the flesh. Peace and longsuffering are the fruit of the Spirit. Colossians tells us to put of anger and wrath as part of the old man.
In Hebrews 10:34, the author commends the Christians in Rome for “joyfully accepting the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.” Rome kicked out all the Jews at one point from the city, and the writer of Hebrews notes that while violence was being done to them, they did not return it. Rather, they joyfully accepted the persecution.
Is this not like Christ? Jesus tells Peter to put down his sword because “those who live by the sword shall die by the sword” Matt 26:52 … Jesus was actually quoting Ezekiel 7:15 before healing the ear of a man leading Him to His death.
Jesus also says in His “good confession” before Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews” John 18:36.
We are told to live in peace with all men. Jesus tells us, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called Sons of God” Matt 5:9.
Nowhere in the New Testament are we encouraged to be aggressive or violent to get our way (or even God’s way). In fact, we are taught to have the mind of Christ, to be willing to suffer violence ourselves for the redemption of others. We are told to love our enemies, that love never fails.
We could find many examples of God ordained violence in the Old Testament, though. God has not changed, so don’t get confused.
The Covenant has changed. Where the physical Israel had a constant physical struggle to inherit a physical promise, we have no such promise in the New Covenant. On the contrary, our promise is wholly eternal and spiritual. Therefore, we fight by spiritual means against spiritual forces to attain a heavenly kingdom. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood.”
And the New Covenant is infinitely better than the Old, as Hebrews states. With such a heavenly promise, we have no earthly kingdom to attain or fight for. Remember, when Judas runs out to betray Jesus, Christ says, “now the Son of Man is glorified.”
We (as in Christians) need to stop trying to build kingdoms on this earth through our political ideologies, national allegiances, social agendas and ministries. Of all of those, God is most offended when we build a kingdom for ourselves and call it a ministry.
If we have no kingdom on this earth to identify with and we’ve forsaken our possessions and family to be His disciple, what do we have to fight for?
We’ll try to pull it all together tomorrow.
Peace.