So I'm leading a Bible Study right now on the book of Deuteronomy. Why Deuteronomy? Aside from ranking with Isaiah, Psalms, and Genesis as one of the most quoted books in the New Testament, I was drawn to its context: Moses' final words to people of Israel before they crossed the Jordan River and embarked on their new journey as the nation of Israel. What would be important enough to make it into Moses' swansong? What final thoughts would their leader want to impart? Sounds like an interesting book, right? Like something right off the Babylonian Times Best Seller list?
Of all the books in the Bible, I had to choose this one...
Then came passages like this:
When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Deuteronomy 7:1-2
Real men and women engaged in real life and death combat. Hundreds of thousands were killed, and an untold number wounded. Could the one who sent his Son to rescue mankind be the same one who instructed Israel to commit genocide? Could the father of the one who said "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God" say "Show them no mercy"? Could God the Creator be the God of War? In an era consumed with talk of Holy War, these questions beg for answers and understanding.
Much akin to investigative reporting, I started with the basics: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? I wanted to see what observations I could make from the Bible and from those, look for themes and patterns to build my understanding upon. As a tool for solidifying my understand, I'm going to share what I found. So here goes...
War was so common in Old Testament times that while we may associate spring time with spring break, spring cleaning, spring flowers, spring showers, or spring practice, twice in scripture spring is said to be the time when kings go off to war. (2 Sam 11:1; 1 Chron 20:1) That's a sad commentary to begin with and, worse yet, seemingly not too different from the times we live in with conflicts raging around the globe.
Scripture paints a picture of God intimately involved with war. (Josh 11:20; Deut 4:34) Sometimes He instructs the Israelites to fight. (Deut 2:24) Other times He says, "Don't." (Deut 1:42, 2:9) What's noteworthy is that in the midst of a section of Deuteronomy where Moses is conveying instructions about who to and who not to fight, we, the readers, are told that God fought and destroyed three other nations on behalf of non-Israelite peoples: Ammonites, Edomites, and Caphtorites. (Deut 2:20-23) So, God isn't just involved when Israel is at arms. He sovereignly orchestrates all war, but to what ends?
The marching orders in Deuteronomy 7 are clear: completely annihilate seven nations. The answers to "Why?" and "Why now?" are found partly in Genesis 15:12-21. Here God tells Abraham that his descendants will occupy the land of Canaan, but they can't conquer it yet because the "sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." So God used Israel's conquest as an instrument of judgment against the seven nations for their sin.
What also strikes me in that passage is that God is not whimsical or short-fused. He didn't arbitrarily destroy the people of Canaan. He had just cause. In addition, He had plenty of time (4 generations) and opportunity before the conquest to destroy them. Instead He waited to bring judgment until the nations' sin has reached its full measure. I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that I follow a patient, intentional God...an even greater sigh when I know God's patience is driven by His desire for repentance and restored relationship. (Jonah 3:4-10)
But there's more at stake here than just judgment of sin. With a sovereign God, one event can accomplish multiple goals. Such is the case with Israel's conquest. Protecting Israel's worship of the one true God is linked to the destruction of the surrounding people. These nations would tempt Israel (often sexually) into serving their gods, leading Israel astray. (Ex 23:32-33; Deut 7:3-4, 16) The Israelites were to have one true love, one affection, and God was unwilling to share their devotion. (Ex 34:14; Deut 4:24) God intended Israel to lead in and model for the rest of the world what a right relationship with Him looked like. (Ex 19:5-6)
This concern reemerges later in Deuteronomy too. In contrast to chapter 7's battle tactics stand God's instructions for warring against people living outside the promise land. Instead of total annihilation, God says to start by offering peace. But again as it pertains to the current occupants of the promise land, Israel is told "do not leave alive anything that breathes," reinforcing the magnitude of God's concern and the lengths He would have Israel go to protect their loyalty and fidelity. (Deut 20:10-18)
With all the success Israel had taking over the promise land, it's easy to think Israel was special and received preferential treatment from God. On the one hand, they did. Deliverance from slavery...parting the Red Sea...manna from heaven...parting the Jordan River...lop-sided military victories. God even repeatedly describes them as his "treasured possession." (Ex 19:5a; Deut 7:6, 14:1b-2, 26:18; Psalm 135:4)
On the other hand, God made it crystal clear that Israel wasn't special in their own right. They were weaker and smaller than the other nations. (Deut 7:7) They didn't merit the land based on their integrity or righteousness because they had none. (Deut 9:4-6) In fact Ezekiel describes Israel's worthiness as though they were an unwashed, uncut, unclothed baby fresh out of the womb, kicking about in their blood, and whose parents were an Amorite father and Hittite mother--two nations on the Deuteronomy 7 black list. (Eze 16:2-6)
Likewise, God didn't have a double standard in His treatment of Israel. God promised time and again that if Israel abandoned Him, if they failed to observe His commands, if they worshipped other gods, if they prostituted themselves to the surrounding nations, their judgment would come. (Lev 26:14-17; Deut 8:19-20)
And come it did, again and again, until ultimately they were no longer a sovereign nation but at best a scattered people. God used the Cushites, Canaanites, Midianites, Moabites, Philistines, Assyrians and Babylonians to judge Israel. They suffered military defeats and eventually the savage siege of her capital, Jerusalem, and the forced relocation of their aristocracy. (Judg 2:10-23, 3:8, 3:12, 4:2, 6:1, 10:6-9; 2 Kings 17:5-6, 25:1-26)
God wasn't Israel's genie-in-a-bottle or magical trump card to be play at their whim. Joshua 5:13-14 recounts an encounter between Joshua and a man armed and ready for battle. Joshua asks the man which side he's on: Israel's or their enemies'? The man's answer: Neither. He had come "as the commander of the army of the Lord." God's allegiance was with himself. He would fight for his sake and cause, nothing less.
1 Samuel 4:1-11 tells of how Israel thought they'd be victorious if they just brought the ark of the covenant with them into battle--like a good luck charm. The result: Israel lost 30,000 men, and the Philistines took possession of the ark, the keeper of the covenant.
Consider the fortunes of Rahab and Achan. Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute, is not only spared for her faith in God, but she gives birth to Boaz--Ruth's kinsman redeemer and King David's great grandfather--and receives recognition in Hebrew's Hall-of-Fame/Faith. (Josh 2; Matt 1:1-16; Heb 11:31) Achan, clansman of the tribe of Judah, disobeyed God's command and took plunder from the victory at Jericho. As a result, God's anger burned against Israel, Israel lost its first battle, and Achen and his whole family was stoned to death. (Josh 7) In short, the Canaanite was spared, and the Israelite was destroyed--outcomes determined by their relationship with God.
So does God like war? Is it a good thing? No.
How's that for a short answer?
God hates violence. (Psalm 11:5) Unlike some deities of ancient religion, Yahweh is not a fan of war, death, and destruction. These things are consequences of sin that came about as a result of or after the Fall in Genesis 3. Before the Fall was peace and an all-access pass to God as man walked freely in garden with God. Afterwards, not so much. In Genesis 6:11-21, God so abhorred the violence which had enveloped the Earth that He hit the cosmic reset button and destroyed all but Noah's family.
Yet perhaps the most telling story of God's perspective on war is found in 1 Chronicles 22:7-10. David, the writer of numerous Psalms, the man after God's own heart, the king by which all the other kings would be measured, David had his construction plans for the temple of God torpedoed. Why deny David this great honor? Not because he didn't love God enough, but rather because his legacy of war as Israel's king. God wanted the place where all Israel would come to worship associated with peace and rest, not bloodshed. So He chose Solomon (David's son with Bathsheba whose name may have been derived from the Hebrew word for 'peace') in order that history would accredit a man of peace as the builder of His house.
Nonetheless, a just, holy God must deal with sin, and our God is the only one with properly balanced scales to measure out justice. Ezekiel 7:11 describes how violence became the tool to punish wickedness. It's as if to say the consequence of sin and rebellion is being on the receiving end of more sin. In Genesis 9:5-6, God told Noah that He will demand a reckoning for people who are killed and that justice for those who shed blood will come in their own blood being shed.
One last observation: the phrase "holy war" is not found in the NIV translation of the Bible. In the NASB, it is found only once, Micah 3:5, where the context is prophets leading the people of God astray and declare war against people who don't buy them off. (Not being a Hebrew scholar, I don't know why in out of the 319 uses of this particular Hebrew word, the NASB translated this one occurrence as "holy war".) So while God declares many things holy, set apart--things like Sabbaths, sacrifices, His people, etc.--war is not one of them.
Applying this knowledge to New Testament times is a challenge. First, God is no longer building a nation-state to serve as a priesthood to the rest of the world. Rather, He's commissioned the church--an entity that can and should bridge ethnic, national, racial, and economic boundaries--for that purpose. (1 Peter 2:9) Second, the kingdom we fight for is God's, so Paul points us to new weaponry: righteousness and truth, peace and faith, salvation and scripture, and prayer. (Eph 6:10-18)
Undoubtedly the notions of self-defense and defending the oppressed in a world that prefers guns, road-side explosives, and suicide bombers must be humbly and prayerfully engaged and filtered through the truth of scripture. But where I find my thoughts directed now are to the other story lines of war.
In Israel's conquest, one major storyline was their worship. Who would they serve? Who would they pledge their allegiance to? Who would they remain faithful and obedient to? To the church today: do we show that allegiance, the full devotion God wants and deserves? Or have we been seduced by the cultures around us into some half-baked (or less) following of God--like obeying His commands when it's convenient or self-serving? What needs to change or have an end put to it? To me, the Christ-follower: the same question...what do I need to cut out of my life that snares me--like a job, an addiction, a relationship, a hobby, a TV show?
My other line of thought is to look for the other stories unfolding in war, like the story of Rahab. How is God bringing himself glory in the midst of war? Is it just the defeat of evil? Or is it through love being poured into the literal and metaphorical wounds of such times? Is it through those suffering exhibiting peace because they're confident in the sovereign King? Is it through the humility of peacemakers? God is still in control, so what else is He up to?
How grateful am I that God can bring Himself glory in the midst of fallenness. By doing so, He redeems the brokenness, the pain, and the suffering by giving it meaning, purpose, and value. May His kingdom come in the midst of the violence of our times.
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