Does the Bible Promote Self-defense? - Bible Teaching #3
https://youtu.be/WewWcnRjxKQ
Have you ever wondered if self defense is Biblical? Why do we just grow up and accept that you should defend yourself and your family? Or that military is a good thing? What does the Bible have to say about that? In this article we will dissect this question.
As always, grab your Bible, pray for discernment, and may the Spirit of Truth guide you into the Truth.
In this article we are using a Thomas Nelson NKJV reference Bible and The New Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible Red Letter Edition.
The Old Testament first mentions laws concerning such actions specifically, in Exodus 22:2-3. Defending your family or even your flocks were clearly permitted in that law. It does not take much reading in the Old Testament to know that Israel was a nation that knew war, vengeance and self defense. They were constantly at war with the nations around them, and taking vengeance on others was a popular thing, thus we have the famous Exodus 21:24-25, the famous "eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth law". This was a common theme in the books of: Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, as well as throughout pretty much the whole Old Testament. Those books were riddled with constant war and violence between Israel and the nations around them, (Don't just go on what I say, read them for yourself). So obviously in the Old Testament the Jews were permitted and even commanded a certain level of self defense.
Now we have the New Testament, Jesus Himself saying, in Matthew 5:38-39, "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also." And again in another section Jesus says to Peter, in Matthew 26:52, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword." Even further Jesus says, in John 18:26, "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; but now My kingdom is not from here." Interestingly to back this up further we have Paul in, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."
So next question we must logically ask, Why the drastic change? Is it a contradiction? Or is there a reason.
The key to that question is in Isaiah 2:2-4, a commonly misquoted and misinterpreted passage. "Now it shall come to pass in the later days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." I know that is a big passage, but now it is time to break it down. It is commonly interpreted as the "future house of God" because, "neither shall they learn war anymore." But that is an incorrect interpretation, this is why. First key to that passage is in a very famous verse where the meaning was lost when translating from Greek to English, Matthew 16:18. When Jesus says "...you are Peter and on this rock I build My church..." in the Greek Jesus was doing a play on words. The Greek words petra G4073 and petros G4074. Petros which is where we get Peter, that word means "a piece of rock" and petra (the rock that Jesus builds His church on) means “a mass of rock”, according to The New Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible Red Letter Edition. So basically Jesus is saying, you(Peter) are little rock, and on this big rock(Jesus) I build My church. Now back to that Isaiah passage. In Isaiah 2:2 "the mountain of the Lord's house" is Jesus. Many nations have flowed to Him since he lived on earth, that is part of the gospel, the Gentiles are now partakers with the Jews in the Covenant of God, Ephesians 2:11-22. In Luke 24:47, we see that Jesus commanded the word of the Lord to go forth from Jerusalem, right before He ascended to the Father. We also know that He is judging the nations and rebuking many people already, He has been since the beginning (may cover that topic deeper in another article, but briefly, Jesus was the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, briefly read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13). So now since everything else has been checked, why does the no more war part make Isaiah 2:2-4 the future house of God? It is obviously the current house of God! Gods people will learn war no more! In the beginning there was no war, Jesus partly came to show what God truly wanted from the beginning! Like divorce, the Jews were permitted divorce, in Deuteronomy 24:1, but from the beginning it was not so, Matthew 19:8. God permitted war and self defense, but from the beginning that was not so.
So, now what does that mean practically?
Well, fundamentally police officers can not be "Christian", neither can members of the military. If someone breaks into your house or attacks you, do not resist them, Matthew 5:39. We entrust it to God to avenge us, Romans 12:17-21. For, "...Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?", 1 Corinthians 6:7. The 2nd amendment right to bear arms in America is once again unBiblical. The only reason to have a gun is for hunting. George Washington our first president and 1 of our founding fathers here in America was not a Christian as commander of the army, killing people in the name of liberty and freedom. For "He who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk just as He walked.", 1 John 2:6. All the religious wars fought since Christ walked the earth were not fought by Christians, just sinners claiming the name of Jesus. Just another factor in the apostasy of the "church" as prophesied in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
Some people say "Oh, but our country (America) was founded on god", well, not the God of the Bible. This is just 1 of many proofs against that, which may make for another article some day.
This can be a tough topic to accept, but it is the truth, I pray that you "...receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.", James 1:21.
If you still do not see it, lets go to James 3:14-16. "But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there." Self-defense is by it's very nature self-seeking. You esteem your life or well-being above theirs. This is a trustworthy principle that you can apply to pretty much everything, is it self-seeking? Or is it seeking others above yourself as commanded in numerous places such as, Philippians 2:3-4, Romans 15:1-2, 1 John 4:10-11 and John 15:12-13?
God bless and Godspeed.
I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts and am willing to discuss any of these topics and more, in great detail. If you would like.
Email:
Michael.servantofchrist@gmail.com
Have you ever wondered if self defense is Biblical? Why do we just grow up and accept that you should defend yourself and your family? Or that military is a good thing? What does the Bible have to say about that? In this article we will dissect this question.
As always, grab your Bible, pray for discernment, and may the Spirit of Truth guide you into the Truth.
In this article we are using a Thomas Nelson NKJV reference Bible and The New Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible Red Letter Edition.
The Old Testament first mentions laws concerning such actions specifically, in Exodus 22:2-3. Defending your family or even your flocks were clearly permitted in that law. It does not take much reading in the Old Testament to know that Israel was a nation that knew war, vengeance and self defense. They were constantly at war with the nations around them, and taking vengeance on others was a popular thing, thus we have the famous Exodus 21:24-25, the famous "eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth law". This was a common theme in the books of: Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, as well as throughout pretty much the whole Old Testament. Those books were riddled with constant war and violence between Israel and the nations around them, (Don't just go on what I say, read them for yourself). So obviously in the Old Testament the Jews were permitted and even commanded a certain level of self defense.
Now we have the New Testament, Jesus Himself saying, in Matthew 5:38-39, "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also." And again in another section Jesus says to Peter, in Matthew 26:52, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword." Even further Jesus says, in John 18:26, "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; but now My kingdom is not from here." Interestingly to back this up further we have Paul in, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."
So next question we must logically ask, Why the drastic change? Is it a contradiction? Or is there a reason.
The key to that question is in Isaiah 2:2-4, a commonly misquoted and misinterpreted passage. "Now it shall come to pass in the later days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." I know that is a big passage, but now it is time to break it down. It is commonly interpreted as the "future house of God" because, "neither shall they learn war anymore." But that is an incorrect interpretation, this is why. First key to that passage is in a very famous verse where the meaning was lost when translating from Greek to English, Matthew 16:18. When Jesus says "...you are Peter and on this rock I build My church..." in the Greek Jesus was doing a play on words. The Greek words petra G4073 and petros G4074. Petros which is where we get Peter, that word means "a piece of rock" and petra (the rock that Jesus builds His church on) means “a mass of rock”, according to The New Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible Red Letter Edition. So basically Jesus is saying, you(Peter) are little rock, and on this big rock(Jesus) I build My church. Now back to that Isaiah passage. In Isaiah 2:2 "the mountain of the Lord's house" is Jesus. Many nations have flowed to Him since he lived on earth, that is part of the gospel, the Gentiles are now partakers with the Jews in the Covenant of God, Ephesians 2:11-22. In Luke 24:47, we see that Jesus commanded the word of the Lord to go forth from Jerusalem, right before He ascended to the Father. We also know that He is judging the nations and rebuking many people already, He has been since the beginning (may cover that topic deeper in another article, but briefly, Jesus was the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, briefly read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13). So now since everything else has been checked, why does the no more war part make Isaiah 2:2-4 the future house of God? It is obviously the current house of God! Gods people will learn war no more! In the beginning there was no war, Jesus partly came to show what God truly wanted from the beginning! Like divorce, the Jews were permitted divorce, in Deuteronomy 24:1, but from the beginning it was not so, Matthew 19:8. God permitted war and self defense, but from the beginning that was not so.
So, now what does that mean practically?
Well, fundamentally police officers can not be "Christian", neither can members of the military. If someone breaks into your house or attacks you, do not resist them, Matthew 5:39. We entrust it to God to avenge us, Romans 12:17-21. For, "...Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?", 1 Corinthians 6:7. The 2nd amendment right to bear arms in America is once again unBiblical. The only reason to have a gun is for hunting. George Washington our first president and 1 of our founding fathers here in America was not a Christian as commander of the army, killing people in the name of liberty and freedom. For "He who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk just as He walked.", 1 John 2:6. All the religious wars fought since Christ walked the earth were not fought by Christians, just sinners claiming the name of Jesus. Just another factor in the apostasy of the "church" as prophesied in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
Some people say "Oh, but our country (America) was founded on god", well, not the God of the Bible. This is just 1 of many proofs against that, which may make for another article some day.
This can be a tough topic to accept, but it is the truth, I pray that you "...receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.", James 1:21.
If you still do not see it, lets go to James 3:14-16. "But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there." Self-defense is by it's very nature self-seeking. You esteem your life or well-being above theirs. This is a trustworthy principle that you can apply to pretty much everything, is it self-seeking? Or is it seeking others above yourself as commanded in numerous places such as, Philippians 2:3-4, Romans 15:1-2, 1 John 4:10-11 and John 15:12-13?
God bless and Godspeed.
I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts and am willing to discuss any of these topics and more, in great detail. If you would like.
Email:
Michael.servantofchrist@gmail.com
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