THE BIBLE AGAINST WAR
by Rev. Amos Dresser
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Section 4 |
God’s reputation was
connected with their
success in battle.
Again, God’s reputation was intimately connected with their prosperity, and as Israel’s God He often gave them the victory, lest the heathen should attribute their success to their idols. Hence, again, the force of the prayer of Moses: “Remember Thy servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Look not into the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sins. Lest the land whence Thou broughtest them out say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, etc… Since they are Thy people and Thine inheritance.’” – Deuteronomy 8:25-29
So when they were driven into captivity because of their sins, and the heathen reproached them tauntingly, saying, “These are the people of the Lord!” Jehovah assigned as the reason for delivering them, “I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, ‘Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy name’s sake which ye have profaned among the heathen whither ye went… Not for your sakes do I this,’ saith the Lord God, be it known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.” – Ezekiel 36:19-36. See also Isaiah 48, Psalm 135.
They frequently had faith in
God, simply as contrasted with
the idol gods of the heathen,
and they were blessed
according to their faith.
With but few exceptions the Jews had but little faith in God, and not only were the heathen wont to attribute their victories to their idols, but there was the same tendency in the minds of the Jews.
God’s effort and design was to increase and develop their faith in Him, and “for his own name’s sake” He often blessed them in doing what He did not approve – the best he could do in the circumstances – on the same principle that He now “sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Wherever there was faith, even on the part of a few, to take God as He had all along manifested Himself: as a Savior from their enemies – He was found of them according to their faith. A beautiful illustration of this is found in …
When the king of Syria encompassed Dothan with “horses and chariots and a great host” to capture Elisha, his servant said to him, “‘Alas my master, how shall we do?’ And he answered, ‘Fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.’ And Elisha prayed and said, ‘Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see.’ And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw, and the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, ‘Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness.’ And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.” – 2 Kings 6:16-18. And in this state Elisha led them into the city of Samaria, to their enemy the king of Israel, who, elated at seeing them, said, “‘My father, shall I smite them? Shall I smite them?’ And he answered, ‘Thou shalt not smite them. Wouldst thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.’ And he prepared a great provision for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.” – 2 Kings 6:22-23.
Paul’s “coals of fire” were effectual.
“The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee; for thou, Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” – Psalm 9:9-10. “Be not afraid, only believe.”
So afterwards, when Benhadad besieged Samaria and caused “a great famine” so that women ate their own children to satiate the cravings of their hunger (!) – one of the dire fruits of war – the wicked king attributed the cause of their difficulty to Elisha. The king sent to slay him, but in answer to Elisha’s prayer, “The Lord has made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host; and they said one to another ‘Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.’ Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.” – 2 Kings 7:6-7. And they left a great abundance of provisions for their famished foes.
►► “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
In other cases, God found simply faith enough to look to Him for success in battle. And lest his giving the victory to their enemies should be wrongly construed by each party, and to punish the guilty, He gave tem success. In illustration see …
When Jeroboam made war with him, Abijah’s faith did not look to God as a Refuge. He had barely faith enough to look to God for success in self-defense; not enough to seek Him as a “hiding place,” but simply to contrast Him with the idols of Jeroboam. “And the children of Judah prevailed because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers.” – 2 Chronicles 13:18 and context.
The same also may be said of …
Asa his son
When Zera the Ethiopian came against him with a host of one million, and three hundred chariots, “Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, ‘Lord, it is nothing for thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power. Help us, O lord our God, for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O lord, thou art our god; let not man prevail against thee.’ So the Lord smote the Ethiopian before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.” – 2 Chronicles 14:11-12. “According to thy faith be it unto thee.”
In each case the people knew but little of Jehovah. They feared the Lord and “served their own gods.” “Now for a long season Israel had been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found of them,” just in proportion to their faith. (See the history in 2 Chronicles 13-16.)
… furnishes another illustration in point. “The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian … and Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites. And they cried unto the Lord … and the Lord sent a prophet, who said unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt and brought you forth out of the house of bondage, and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all that oppressed you and drove them out from before you and gave you their land, and I said unto you I am the Lord Your God. Fear not the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But ye have not obeyed my voice.’”
And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to Gideon and bade him break down the altar of Baal and cut down his grove, and then, in the name of Jehovah, go against the enemy. After much hesitancy and many excuses, he finally obeyed the mandate. Baal’s altar was demolished, and an altar to Jehovah built, bearing the inscription, “Jehovah Shalom,” The God of peace. And “the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and he blew his trumpet, and an army of thirty-two thousand was enrolled.”
“And the Lord said unto Gideon, ‘The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, my own hand hath saved me. Now therefore, go and proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead,’ and there returned of the people twenty-two thousand, and there remained ten thousand. And the Lord said unto Gideon, ‘The people are yet too many,’ and the number was reduced to three hundred. These went forth armed with their lamps and their trumpets against the foe, who lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seaside for multitude. At a given signal they broke their pitchers, let their ‘light shine,’ and blowing their trumpets, cried, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon,’ and they stood every man in his place round about the camp. And all the host ran, and cried, and fled, and the tree hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set every man his sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host.” – Judges 6-7.
Their success was in their standing in their place and blowing the gospel trumpet.
But even here they failed fully to rest in God, and elated, took the work into their own hands, and so forgot God and went a whoring after the golden ephod which Gideon made from the spoils of war.
Alas, alas, for the woeful unbelief and wickedness of man! The heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. “Lord, increase our faith!”
Another reason for
their prosperity in war
… is found in the fact that He often sent them against other nations for the same reason He sent Sennacherib against Jerusalem, of whom He said, “O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit He meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.” – Isaiah 10:5-7. “Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood.” - Isaiah 10:5-7, 12, 15 etc.
In the same manner, we can account for the civil wars between Israel and Judah generally.
“Hardness of heart” was the
cause of all their wars.
So it was “because of the hardness of their hearts” that God even used them as instruments of destruction.
Their exodus from Egypt, their whole history, their being carried away captives into Babylon, shows that it was not with God’s approval that they waged war. Of their own choice, and according to their own plan “they took the sword,” and they finally “perished by the sword.”
True, for his own name’s sake among the heathen, He often blessed them, but much more would his name have been honored and revered had they been willing to hold their peace, stand still and see the salvation of Jehovah. Then could they have sung the song of Moses and the Lamb, and said truly, “The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation. He is my God, and I will prepare Him a habitation – my father’s God, and I will exalt him. Jehovah is a man of war; the Lord is his name.” – Exodus 15:2-3. “Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth the people which Thou hast redeemed. Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation.” – Exodus 15:11,13. “The people shall hear and be afraid… Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of Thine arm they shall be as still as a stone.” – Exodus 15:2,3,11,13-16.
Then too could they have united with Jehoshaphat saying, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thy truth’s sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens; He hath done whatsoever He pleased. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; noses have they, but they smell not; they have hands, but they handle not; neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them. O Israel, trust thou in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the Lord trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. The Lord hath been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great. The Lord shall increase you more and more, you, and your children. Ye are blessed of the Lord, which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord’s; but the earth hath He given to the children of men. The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord.” – Psalm 115.
In conclusion, then I remark, that by searching the scriptures:
1. We find the spirit of the New Testament to be the spirit of peace, and as the Old Testament has the same author, and as “God has not changed,” it also must have the same spirit. We find it has.
2. We find the lovers of war strive in vain to extract the spirit of war from the example or precepts of Jesus Christ. His followers are men of peace, and it is because the Jews would not become his followers that they were men of war.
3. We find the Bible regards war, offensive or defensive, as a curse to all engaged in it, inflicted only on the disobedient and unbelieving. Of course, God does not inflict curses on the obedient and faithful. Wars and fighting come from men’s lusts as self-inflicted judgments for sin.
4. We find the Bible regards peace as a great blessing promised to obedience and faith. The faithful and obedient have rest, and enjoy the fruits of the land.
5. We find that even with the faint light the Jews possessed, they had no war while they walked in that light. So long as they were willing to follow the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night and go where and as God led them, all was well. But they refused to obey; neither were they mindful of the wonders God did among them, but hardened their necks and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage “and sent men before them to search out the land and bring them word by what way they should come” etc. That is, they did not wish Jehovah as a leader, so He gave them up to their own stubbornness, and they walked according to their own plan. And by bitter experience they found they could not “lie down safely,” while they trusted to their swords.
6. Substituting war for slavery, how applicable the language of T. D. Weld:[35]
“The spirit of (war) never takes refuge in the Bible of its own accord. The horns of the altar are its last resort. It seizes them, if at all, only in desperation – rushing from the terror of the avenger’s arm. Like other unclean spirits, it hates the light, lest its deeds should be reproved. Goaded to madness in its conflict with common sense and natural justice, denied all quarter, and hunted from every covert, it breaks at last into the sacred enclosure, and courses up and down the Bible seeking rest and finding none. THE LAW OF LOVE, streaming from every page, flashes around it an omnipresent anguish and despair. It shrinks from the hated light, and howls under the consuming touch, as the demoniacs recoiled from the Son of God, and shrieked, “torment us not.” At last it slinks among the shadows of the Mosaic system, and thinks to burrow out of sight among its types and symbols. Vain hope! Its asylum is its sepulcher; its city of refuge, the city of destruction. It rushes from the light into the sun; from heat, into devouring fire; and from the voice of God into the thickest of his thunders”
Blessed be God, He does not require us to avenge our wrongs. Our rights, our lives, and our sacred honor are secure. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it and are safe.” – Proverbs 18:10. “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him.” – 2 Chronicles 16:9.
“There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heavens in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, ‘Destroy them.’ Israel then shall dwell in safety alone… Happy art thou, O Israel! Who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord. The shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency, and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee.” – Deuteronomy 33:27,29.
“The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them… The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.” – Psalm 34:7,15,16. See the whole psalm. ►► 1 Peter 3:8-18, Psalm 61.
“My defense is of God, who saveth the upright in heart.” – Psalm 7:10. “Thou art my hiding place and my shield.” – Psalm 119:114, 32:7. “The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation.” – Exodus 15:2. “The Lord is my defense, and my God is the rock of my refuge.” – Psalm 94:22. See also Psalm 62.
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer; the God of my rock, in Him will I trust. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my high tower and my refuge – my Savior – Thou savest me from violence… As for God, his way is perfect… He is a buckler to all that trust in Him.” – 2 Samuel 22. See also Isaiah 33:15-16, Zechariah 12:8-18, Psalm 61:3-4, Proverbs 18:10, 2 Chronicles 32:7-8, Genesis 15:1, Psalms 28:7-8, 33:20, 84:11, etc.
Such is the language of the Old Testament saints. Now if they had so much ground for confidence in God, how much more we who live under the blazing light of the cross, with “legions of angels” (Matthew 25:52-53) at our service, “sent forth to minister to them that shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14), assured of our Savior that our “angels do always behold the face of his Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:10), assured too, that “all things work together for good to them who love God” (Romans 8:28), that every occasion of suffering shall “turn to us for a testimony” (Luke 11:13), and so give an opportunity to bear witness to the blessed savor of meekness, forgiveness, patience, and love.
O, if God had occasion, by way of complaint, to say of Israel, “Hath a nation changed their gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens at this, and be horribly afraid; be ye very desolate, saith the Lord, for my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:11-13), how infinitely more guilty are we if we neglect so great a salvation. Jesus is our Savior: a Savior from hell, a Savior from sin, a Savior from all our enemies. “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; as He spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of them that hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.” – Luke 1:68-75.
“How sweet the name of Jesus
sounds in a believer’s ear.”
To you, therefore, who believe, He is precious. “Who have I in heaven but thee, and I desire none upon earth beside thee,” is the language of all who really know Jesus Christ. He is the “Ancient of days.” “Thousand thousands minister unto Him. Then thousand times ten thousand stand before Him,” (Daniel 7:9-10) and “this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even unto death.” – Psalm 48:14. Then since Jehovah is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
We may indeed suffer “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword.” For Christ’s sake we may be “killed all the day long, and accounted as sheep for the slaughter,” yet “not a hair of our head shall perish.” If in patience we possess our souls, “in all things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” – Romans 8:31-33, Luke 21:12-19.
“We are ready then to give an answer to every one who asketh us, a reason of the hope that is in us with meekness and fear.” – 1 Peter 3:8-18.
The conclusion of the whole matter is summed up in the following lines:
B. True faith, producing
love to God and man:
say, Echo is not this the gospel plan?
E. The gospel plan.
B. Must I my faith in
Jesus constant show,
By doing good to all both friend and foe?
E. Both friend and foe.
B. But if a brother hates
and treats me ill,
Must I return him good, and love him still?
E. Love him still.
B. If he my failings
watches to reveal,
Must I his faults as carefully conceal?
E. As carefully conceal.
B. But if my name and
character he tears,
And cruel malice too, too plain appears,
And when I sorrow and affliction know,
He loves to add unto my cup of woe;
In this uncommon, this peculiar case,
Sweet echo, say, must I still love and bless?
E. Still love and bless.
B. Whatever usage ill I
may receive,
Must I still patient be and still forgive?
E. Still patient be and still forgive.
B. Why echo, how is
this? Thou art sure a dove,
Thy voice will teach me nothing else than love!
E. Nothing else than love.
B. Amen with all my heart,
then be it so.
’Tis all delightful, just and good I know.
And now to practice I’ll directly go.
E. Directly go.
B. Have I no cause to
fear, though man afflict,
May I be sure my Savior will protect?
E. My Savior will protect.
B. Henceforth on Him I’ll
roll my every care,
And both my friend and foe embrace in prayer!
E. Embrace in prayer.
B. But after all, these
duties, when they’re done,
Must I in point of merit them disown,
And rest my soul on Jesus’ blood alone?
E. On Jesus’ blood alone.
B. Echo – enough – thy
counsel to my ear
Is sweeter than to flowers the dew-drop tear.
Thy wise instructive lessons please me well,
Till next we meet again, farewell!
Farewell!
E. Farewell! Farewell!
[35] Theodore Dwight Weld (1803-1895) was the leader of the “Lane Rebels” and one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society.
[36] A poem by Cornelius Cayley.