Nawbee
04-22-2003, 10:50 PM
Here's an article for the local paper that I just submitted:
1 Chronicles 28:3 But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build a house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood.
While God delivered David many times from many enemies, we see here that God did not condone war, nor did He consider David righteous in those wars. God tells David, in effect, that his hands are stained by the blood he shed in war.
I have every confidence that even this blood can be cleansed by the washing of the stained hands in the blood of Jesus Christ. Once bathed in His blood, even the blood of war will no longer be discernable.
How is it then that God delivered David from the hands of his enemies and delivered so many enemies unto their certain deaths at the hands of David without accounting David as righteous for his acts of war?
The answer is held in a single word, namely, forgiveness.
God forgave David for his killing in war. God, being God, foreknew that when He would say to David that he, David, could not build the Temple because of the blood on his hands, that David would then repent of his sin. So, God, being God, could allow the acts of David until David came to see them in the proper light.
God does this not only for the kings of Israel but for all who come to an age to make a decision about what is right or what is wrong and in the end, choose Jesus.
David was wrong to kill, even in what he and others considered "Justified war" and God forgave him for it. While God forgave him, it did cost David the chance to build the Temple, which I’m sure he wanted very, very much to do.
This is something very important for a Christian to consider when they form their worldview about war.
Since man is ever sinful, from the time of Cain and Abel, God has tolerated the practice of one man or group of men killing other men. With careful study, one can only conclude that though God has allowed this to happen and has in fact forgiven many men of note for doing so (David, Paul, Moses, etc.), never has He ever ordained willful killing as righteous.
All who have done so stood in need of His forgiveness. All who do so now stand in need of His forgiveness.
What then of war?
The bible is clear that there will be wars and rumors of war as long as men rule by governments. The bible is clear that those such as Saddam and Osama should live in keen awareness that the Ordained powers, such as the United States, bear their swords of unimaginable devastation to keep an order on
the Earth.
What then is a Christian’s part in a war? If they wish to remain righteous, they must not kill. They may seek to explore the boundaries of God’s grace by fighting and later seeking forgiveness but God is not mocked.
While I abhor what many mean by the phrase, "Support the troops", in that they mean basically, "Shut up and wave a flag and smile and blindly and enthusiastically cheer the good ol’ US of A or die you Commie pig!", a Christian can take it to have a Christian meaning.
We can, as God does, look to the Eternal. We can meet the person where they are. We can listen to them. We can drag them from harms way. We can see that they are fed. We can sit with them in the hospitals. We can pray with them and for them when the reality of what some of them have done comes to haunt
them as it does any person of conscience.
Yes, there is much we can do to "Support the troops!"
What we cannot do is condone killing.
As God tolerates it, however, we must, in Christ, come to grips with the reality and inevitability of war. While we can minister to soldiers, we must not become soldiers.
To those Christians who were snared into becoming soldiers, you cannot kill. To those who were snared into killing, you must repent and be Healed. There is nothing to prevent even those who have killed from coming to the same forgiving God who forgave David.
And yet, while we cannot kill for this country, if your heart is given
wholly to Christ, there is nothing to prevent the risking of our lives to minister to others, here or elsewhere.
Why did I wait until the fighting was done? Because all, like David, must fight this battle first in their own consciences. It is not for the minister to promote doubt. It is not for the minister to rationalize killing, even that allowed by God.
It is for the minister to promote healing and wellness.
1 Chronicles 28:3 But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build a house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood.
While God delivered David many times from many enemies, we see here that God did not condone war, nor did He consider David righteous in those wars. God tells David, in effect, that his hands are stained by the blood he shed in war.
I have every confidence that even this blood can be cleansed by the washing of the stained hands in the blood of Jesus Christ. Once bathed in His blood, even the blood of war will no longer be discernable.
How is it then that God delivered David from the hands of his enemies and delivered so many enemies unto their certain deaths at the hands of David without accounting David as righteous for his acts of war?
The answer is held in a single word, namely, forgiveness.
God forgave David for his killing in war. God, being God, foreknew that when He would say to David that he, David, could not build the Temple because of the blood on his hands, that David would then repent of his sin. So, God, being God, could allow the acts of David until David came to see them in the proper light.
God does this not only for the kings of Israel but for all who come to an age to make a decision about what is right or what is wrong and in the end, choose Jesus.
David was wrong to kill, even in what he and others considered "Justified war" and God forgave him for it. While God forgave him, it did cost David the chance to build the Temple, which I’m sure he wanted very, very much to do.
This is something very important for a Christian to consider when they form their worldview about war.
Since man is ever sinful, from the time of Cain and Abel, God has tolerated the practice of one man or group of men killing other men. With careful study, one can only conclude that though God has allowed this to happen and has in fact forgiven many men of note for doing so (David, Paul, Moses, etc.), never has He ever ordained willful killing as righteous.
All who have done so stood in need of His forgiveness. All who do so now stand in need of His forgiveness.
What then of war?
The bible is clear that there will be wars and rumors of war as long as men rule by governments. The bible is clear that those such as Saddam and Osama should live in keen awareness that the Ordained powers, such as the United States, bear their swords of unimaginable devastation to keep an order on
the Earth.
What then is a Christian’s part in a war? If they wish to remain righteous, they must not kill. They may seek to explore the boundaries of God’s grace by fighting and later seeking forgiveness but God is not mocked.
While I abhor what many mean by the phrase, "Support the troops", in that they mean basically, "Shut up and wave a flag and smile and blindly and enthusiastically cheer the good ol’ US of A or die you Commie pig!", a Christian can take it to have a Christian meaning.
We can, as God does, look to the Eternal. We can meet the person where they are. We can listen to them. We can drag them from harms way. We can see that they are fed. We can sit with them in the hospitals. We can pray with them and for them when the reality of what some of them have done comes to haunt
them as it does any person of conscience.
Yes, there is much we can do to "Support the troops!"
What we cannot do is condone killing.
As God tolerates it, however, we must, in Christ, come to grips with the reality and inevitability of war. While we can minister to soldiers, we must not become soldiers.
To those Christians who were snared into becoming soldiers, you cannot kill. To those who were snared into killing, you must repent and be Healed. There is nothing to prevent even those who have killed from coming to the same forgiving God who forgave David.
And yet, while we cannot kill for this country, if your heart is given
wholly to Christ, there is nothing to prevent the risking of our lives to minister to others, here or elsewhere.
Why did I wait until the fighting was done? Because all, like David, must fight this battle first in their own consciences. It is not for the minister to promote doubt. It is not for the minister to rationalize killing, even that allowed by God.
It is for the minister to promote healing and wellness.