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God of the Bible
Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced
in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by
Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box
141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000 Subtitle: Religion in War, does God
approve? Introduction Is God involved in every aspect of our lives or just when situations are going well and everything is coming up roses? If we refuse to fight in war or any conflict of society, does that make us, and more righteous? This a Bible study that investigates conflict and war. Should we stand up for what's right and fight against the wrongs being done in politics and every day life? Come and find the jewels of truth in scripture. I. Scripture reveals that God sometimes intervenes for the
helpless, the first example being the deliverance of Israel under the
rule and control of Egypt. Remember how God revealed his power to Egypt through the plagues? But God does send people into fight the battle. Example: Israel claiming Canaan - "The Promise Land" II. Scripture reveals that God promised to give Abraham, Canaan
the Promised Land". This was initiated by God not Abraham. Genesis 12:1-5; Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your kindred And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and So they came to the land of Canaan.(NKJV) Genesis 15:1,5-7,18-21; After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceeding great reward." Then He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. Then He said to him, "I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it" On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants Genesis 18:17-19; "And the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him." (NKJV) Genesis 50:24; And Joseph said to his brethen, "I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." (NKJV) Exodus 6:6-8; "Therefore say to the children of Israel: 'I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.'" (NKJV) Lev. 20:20-24; 'If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness. They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. If a man takes his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing. He has uncovered his brother's nakedness. They shall be childless. You shall therefore keep all My statues and all My judgments, and perform them,
Psalm 105:42-45
For He remembered His holy promise, And Abraham His servant Abraham His servant. He brought out His people with joy, His chosen ones with gladness. He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, And they inherited the labor of the nations. That they might observe His statutes And keep His laws. (NKJV)
III. Scripture reveals that God was concerned about the young nation Israel being able to stand the sinful practices that existed in the land. God called Israel to war to eliminate the presence of sin in the land. (NKJV)
Lev. 18:24,25;
'Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants. (NKJV)
Exodus 23:33;
(The people of Canaan)Deut. 7:1,2
"When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them nor show mercy to them. (NKJV)
IV. Scripture reveals that God prepared the way for Israel. The Israelites went to war and physically fought.
Deut. 20:1
"When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." (NKJV)
Joshua 24:17,18
"for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, even the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God. (NKJV)
V. Scripture reveals that Israel was armed before the Lord for war.
Numbers 31:1-5;
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying "Take vengeance for the children of Israel on the Midanites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people." So Moses spoke to the people, saying, "Arm some of yourselves for the war, and let them go against the Midianites to take vengeance for the Lord on Midian. "A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war." So there were recruited from the divisions of Israel one thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. (NKJV)
Numbers 32:20,32;
Then Moses said to them: "If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the Lord for the war,.................. "We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan,
1 Chronicles 12:23,24;
Now these were the numbers of the divisions that were equipped for the war, and came to David at Hebron to turn over the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the Lord: of the children of Judah bearing shield and spear, six thousand eight hundred armed for war,...........(NKJV)
VI. Scripture reveals that there were wars of extermination.
Ecclesiastes 3:1,8
To everything there is a season, A time for evey purpose under heaven: A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace. (NKJV)
Waged against early inhabitants of Canaan
Numbers 31:7;
Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. (NKJV)
Deut. 7:2;
"and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. (NKJV) I personally had a hard time understanding why the Lord would command complete extermination of a culture. I know God is loving and merciful. After meditating on this and studying scripture, I concluded that God was being merciful to the children. There is scripture concerning an age of accountability and so these children were spared the eternal judgment that their parents and grandparents may have faced. And if you think about how you would react to any people that came into your land and destroyed everyone (except children), I would think that the children would not grow up being grateful that they were spared, but rather bitter and angry for what happened to their relatives. There would be a large group of children (not Israelites) that would have caused the Israel nation alot of difficulties that the Lord understood better than any of us could imagine. I do not have the mind of God, these are only my own thoughts.
Deut. 13:15;
"you should surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword-utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock, with the edge of the sword. (NKJV)
Deut. 20:16,17;
"But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive. but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God commanded you,(NKJV)
1 Samuel 15:2,3
"Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'I will punish what Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" (NKJV)
VII. Scripture reveals that there were other conditions for war.
Deut. 20:10-15;
"When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you. Now if the city will make peace with you, but would make war against you, then you shall beseige it. And when the Lord your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword. But the women, and the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil you shall plunder for yourself; and you shall eat the enemies' plunder which the Lord your God gives you. Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations. (NKJV)
VIII. God directed wars, revealing the best way to attack and defeat the enemy.
Joshua 8:1,2
Then the Lord said to Joshua: "Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it."(NKJV)
Joshua 10:25
Then Joshua said to them, "Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight." (NKJV)
IX. Scripture reveals that the Lord promised Israel curses, troubled times, and war, if they decided to disregard His commandments.
Deut. 11:26-28;
"Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known." (NKJV)
Deut. 27:15-26;
'Cursed is the one who makes any carved or molded image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen!' 'Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.!' 'Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor's landmark.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!.' 'Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road.' and all the people shall say, 'Amen! 'Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!.' 'Cursed is the one who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered his father's bed.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 'Cursed is the one who lies with any kind of animal.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'Cursed is the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 'Cursed is the one who lies with his mother-in-law.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 'Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 'Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' (NKJV)
Deut. 28:15-49;
'But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: "Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. The Lord will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. Your carcasses shall be food of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away. The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you. You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes. Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them. Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand. A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see. The Lord will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. The Lord will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods-wood and stone. And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the Lord will drive you. You shall carry much seed out to the field and gather but little in, for the locust shall consume it......................(NKJV) Not sure if I can legally copy the entire chaper, but the text continues to the end of the chaper (verse 68).
Note: Promises of war, destruction, curses, vaxation and rebuke.
Deut. 28:20,25;
"The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me." (NKJV)
note:
verse 25 "all the kingdoms of the earth" (NKJV) this could include modern times, it states "all the kingdoms of the earth".
verse 31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes,.........your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you.......your sheep shall be given to your enemies. (NKJV)
verse 32 Thy sons and thy
daughters shall be given unto another people Conclusion: God was involved with Israel when they went to war to claim the "Promised Land". Israel sought God over and over again for direction and guidance, then they obeyed. I believe God will be involved in every aspect (the good, and the bad) if we would seek Him, pray about every situation we are facing, and lean not upon your own understanding and wait upon the Lord, and do what we are lead to do as we face difficulties of life over and over again. If you still wonder if God is involved in or approves of war click on the "Armor of God" link. Why was armor provided for if God is not involved in war as well as other situations?
My Favorite Links:
What Religion is Approved of God?
Divine Communication in Direct and Personal Ways
Hidden Word Pictures in the Hebrew Language
Jehovah Witness Bible Study - Meeting at the Well
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