Excerpt from the chapter: Are Christians pacifists? from the book: Q – Biblical Times. (Available on Amazon or www.epubli.com/shop)
Are Christians pacifists?
The last book of the Bible calls this conflict the "war of the great day of God Almighty" or Armageddon. (Revelation 16:14,16) It shows that Je- sus Christ will take the lead and "wage war in righteousness." (Rev.19: 11,14,15). Jesus Christ is rightly called the "Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6) But he is not a pacifist. He has already waged a war in heaven to purge it of all rebellious enemies of God. (Revelation 12:7-9) Soon he will wage another war to "destroy those who destroy the earth." (Revelation 11:17, 18).
True Christians love peace. But in the strictest sense of the word, they are not pacifists. Why? Because they welcome God's war, through which his will will finally be enforced on earth - a war that will settle the great controversy of universal sovereignty and rid the earth of all enemies of peace once and for all. (Jer.25:31-33; Dan.2:44; Matt.6:9,1 ….
…. Now, unfortunately, we are ruled by elites who are evil through and through. What happens in such a case? If others do wrong, that does not give you the authority to do wrong too. That would be lynch law, which would end in chaos. Even if the other side does not abide by the rules, we must not take the law into our own hands. After all, the patriots want to get back to justice, or defend the law. And they want to do so in accordance with the applicable regulations. Unlawful judging would not be in the spirit of God.
We find a biblical passage that hardly anyone knows in Luke 3:12-14. Many people, including tax collectors and soldiers, wanted to be baptized by John as a sign of their repentance for their unfruitful lives in order to start anew and lead a life pleasing to God. We are interested in the soldiers at this point. What John the Baptist thought of them.
"Even tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, "Teacher, what shall we do?" 13 He said to them, "Don't ask for more than the pre- scribed tax." 14 People who were serving in the army also asked, "What should we do?" And he answered, "Do not harass anyone or accuse anyone falsely, but be content with your pay."
Interestingly, John the Baptist does not condemn the soldiers because of their profession. When a soldier faces another soldier in battle, that is fair play. But a soldier taking action against civilians - that would be injustice. Johannes admonished them not to commit war crimes. So not to rape or plunder etc. as many mercenaries tend to do. They should be satisfied with their pay.
So God does not see military valor as sacrilege. There must be order. By force of arms if necessary. Incidentally, our King Jesus Christ sees it that way too. Let's read Luke 22:35,36:
"So he asked, "When I sent you out without purse, provision bag and sandals, did you lack anything?" "No" they replied. 36 Then he said to them, "But now let everyone who has a purse take it and a bag of provisions. And whoever does not have a sword should sell his outer garment and buy one."
Jesus disciples were no longer to preach in their homeland of Judea, but to take the work out into the wide world. Any number of dangers awaited them there. This account from Luke shows that a weapon for selfdefense was more important to Jesus than an outer garment. In those days, a cloak was an indispensable item of clothing to protect against the cold and could not be seized if you were in debt. But a weapon for protection against bandits or wild animals was even more important.
This shows us that God has nothing against defensiveness. However, he distinguishes between attack and defense. He does not like armed attacks against innocent people. He hates people who are only out to shed blood with all his heart.
