Leo Tolstoy’s famous novel War and Peace describes Russia under Napoleon’s wars. The French revolutionary brought great suffering to the Russian people—and eventually failed. The great ‘liberator’ of the Enlightenment drew much of Europe into war. Strangely enough, the very secular philosophies that condemned religious war of ‘Christian’ Europe that followed the Reformation, were the driving force behind the Napoleonic wars. It’s ironic when people themselves do the very thing they hate and condemn in others, isn’t it?
Peacemakers
War is bad—for everyone; peace is good—for everyone. That’s why everyone should pursue peace (Hebrews 12:14). The true sons of God are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9).
‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God’ –Jesus Christ
Human capacity for evil is, indeed, frightening, as Jordan Peterson keeps saying. The worst examples of war and its destructive consequences in 20th century the famous professor refers to, are that of Nazism and Communism. Viktor Frankl pointed out how the Second World War, and especially the Holocaust, have shown what man is capable of. Why has there been so much war? Perhaps, because there weren’t enough peacemakers? Some spoke up, often unheard.
The Great War, as World War I used to be called, was supposed to be ‘the war to end all wars,’ but, as it turned out, Adolf Hitler plunged almost the whole world into war to ‘successfully’ (from his perspective) end World War I. The assassination attempts to stop this mad man were intended to stop the war from further escalating. They failed, but at least someone tried to do something about it. The Allied Forces saw no alterative than to fight the aggressor. All this begs the question, is there such a thing as a ‘good war’? Perhaps we can speak of ‘wars of necessity.’ These are issues of moral clarity. But people really feel hopeless in the face of such evil. Today we read about it, but can hardly imagine what it must have been like.
The God of War
Moses described God as ‘a man of war’ (Exodus 15:3). Wars have been fought in the times of Israel’s biblical and modern history. In the time of Moses, God defended and liberated His people by mighty acts. Fighting the oppressor was a necessity. God revealed Himself as Yahweh Shalom (the God of peace) to Gideon who was about to defeat the oppressors of Israel and liberate God’s people (Judges 6). Paul wrote of spiritual battles against ‘spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places’ (Ephesians 6:12) and of ‘weapons of our warfare’ that are ‘mighty in God’ (2 Corinthians 10:4). The Book of Revelation describes spiritual warfare and speaks of angels, demons, dragons and serpents, and a Lamb waging war to defeat evil. This seems to contradict all our writing on ‘the God of peace,’ or doesn’t it? How can we explain this?
Paul, who proclaimed the ‘gospel of peace’ (Ephesians 6:15), also wrote the following:
‘And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.’ Romans 16:20
There is no way to stop evil and establish peace against unreasonable, fanatical and dangerous oppressors and aggressors than to fight—and defeat them. God’s mission is precisely that: to defeat evil. Our battle is, however, not ‘against flesh and blood,’ that is, human beings, but the spiritual forces that drive people to do such evils. Christians are called upon to wage a spiritual warfare against evil spiritual forces. This is both a battle waged in prayer, but also in speaking out against evil, shedding light on the darkness of sin with the light of the truth. We are to speak to the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), the truth that sets people free—the truth of Christ (John 8:31–36).
God will one day soon subjugate all evil powers and establish eternal peace by removing evil. By comparison in our human legal systems, it is like removing criminal people from society to prison. They will no longer be able to endanger good people in a free society (what evil they continue to do in and from prison is another topic of discussion). God judging evil is, therefore, not an evil that God is committing, but a necessity of His justice! If God would never punish evil, He won’t be a God of justice. God’s nature is, however, primarily that of the good Saviour, and He therefore seeks to be patient and withholds His judgment for a time. But He won’t compromise His justice. God calls on all human beings to turn to the light and seek peace in a life pleasing to God. There will be a final judgment that will set all things right. There is a high Justice.
Noah was a preacher of righteousness in his generation, but the people refused to listen. They even mocked the ship-builder. Noah, on the other hand, was preparing for the impending judgment—and was saved. The flood was God’s judgment on wickedness in order to stop humanity from destroying itself completely. After the flood, God repeated the original commandment He gave at creation to the righteous remnant that was saved from His judgement: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth’ (Genesis 9:1; cf. 1:26). God’s purpose for people to responsibly enjoy life on earth remained the same, yet God needed the right people to fulfil His purpose in the right way. It is not God’s will for people to kill each other and destroy every beautiful thing He created. It’s God’s will for us to live in harmony with His creation and in peace with our fellow human beings. We are moral beings that require moral standards—and we must be held accountable to moral standards. So yes, God can judge people for their evil; His justice demands it. But He acts as the God of peace in order to establish peace.
The Sword of Christ
Then there’s another seemingly controversial statement of Jesus, sometimes misunderstood.
‘Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division.’ Luke 12:51
Wasn’t Christ the ‘Prince of peace’ (Isaiah 9:6) who would bring ‘peace on earth’ (Luke 2:14)? Note that the contrast in the words of Jesus is not between war and peace, but peace and division (Luke 2:51). It’s not a call to physical war; Jesus was opposed to that (Matthew 26:52).[1] The biblical prophets predicated a time when people would hammer their swords into plowshares: production instead of bloodshed; they would no longer learn war (Isaiah 2:2–4; Micah 4:1–3).
The division Jesus spoke of is regarding how people would disagree over who He is and how they respond to Him. It is a spiritual analogy, not a physical ‘sword.’ The ‘sword’ of Christ is the dividing element regarding people’s response to the Messiah (cf., John 9:16; 11:45–53; 16:13–15; 21:10–11; Acts 17:32–34). We must be clear in our alliance with the God and Prince of peace and follow Him without compromise (Matthew 10:34–39). Peace on earth in the angelic proclamation (Luke 2:14) is to those with whom God is pleased—He gives grace to the humble.
Isaiah’s prophecy, too, implies that the Son of peace would establish peace as deliverance from oppression (Isaiah 9:4) in order to establish ‘justice and righteousness’ (v 7). This rule of peace would have ‘no end’ (see Luke 2:31–33; cf., Daniel 2:44). When the Kingdom of God manifests, there will be peace (Romans 14:17). God will establish peace (Isaiah 26:12). The people living in darkness would see a great light (Isaiah 9:2), a prophecy Matthew applied to Jesus and Him spreading the light of the Gospel (Matthew 4:14–17). Light and truth bring freedom from oppression and true peace. Even the forerunner of Jesus, John the Baptist, was to point people sitting in darkness ‘into the way of peace’ (Luke 1:79).
Another prophecy, by Simeon in the Temple (Luke 2:25–35), spoke of a ‘sword’ that would pierce Jesus’ mother’s heart, again a figure of speech to describe sorrow as the Son and Saviour was ‘appointed for the rise and fall of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed.’ Since people loved darkness more than the light (John 3:16–21), they would fight the light and those who stood for it (Matthew 10:19–22). Therefore, sin, not Jesus, is the problem. He is the Judge and Saviour—we get to choose! Choose the light.
Crushing the Serpent
The God of peace would crush Satan, the enemy of humanity (Romans 16:20). Christ is Head over all powers and will subjugate all evil completely once and for all (Ephesians 1:15–23; Philippians 3:20–21; 1 Corinthians 15:43–53). The God of peace is the God of war on evil! There’s an echo in Romans 16:20 from the so-called ‘Proto-Gospel,’ when God first pronounced judgment on Satan, the serpent, that the Seed (Offspring) of the woman would bruise its head (see Genesis 3:15). This spoke of Christ/Messiah the Son who would wage war and defeat the great dragon, the ancient serpent, representing the devil/Satan, the eternal enemy of God (Revelation 12). The evil visible in the earth is due to an evil spiritual reality that God would eventually bring to a complete end.
In the meanwhile, the sons of God are called to live in peace (2 Corinthians 13:11), seeking peace (Hebrews 12:14) and spread peace on earth (Matthew 5:9), while waging a spiritual warfare on the forces on wickedness driving human evil (Mathew 10:1; 12:28). Authority is given by Christ over the evil works of wicked spiritual forces (Luke 10:17–20; Ephesians 6:10–18). Christ came to destroy the wicked works of the devil (1 John 3:8; Acts 10:38), and so should we (John 14:12). And God, in His faithfulness, will protect us from the evil one and keep us at peace in all circumstances (2 Thessalonians 3:3, 16). The weapons are spiritual to deal with wrong thoughts and concepts opposed to the truth of God (2 Corinthians 10:3–6; cf., Acts 9:22; 17:3; 18:28). It’s not a physical war, but a spiritual battle. We are to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). The sons of peace are to spread the truth that sets people free and this divine freedom brings peace. Peace will prevail—and we are to carry a heart for peace.
A Heart for Peace
In the midst of struggles and battles, God wants us to have a heart of and for peace, even when things are difficult, perhaps war-like, around us. Carry His peace in you; let it rule in your heart (Colossians 3:15). Although the ‘sword of Christ’ causes division, as much as it depends on us, we must seek to live in peace with others (Romans 12:18). Such a peaceful attitude is one of forgiveness when wronged and committing everything into God’s hands to set it right—we overcome evil by doing good and thus won’t be overcome by evil (vv 14–21). When we live pleasing to God, He can make even enemies at be at peace with us (Proverbs 16:7). He can prepare a table in the midst of enemies (Psalm 23:5). We shall not fear but pursue peace—always. Seek peace and pursue it (Psalm 34:14).
Be a peacemaker with a heart of peace. Peace will prevail.
[1] Religious Wars?
Isn’t religion responsible for most wars in the world? Well, no! Some religious wars were fought, yes; some evil rulers have abused religion to wage war for financial and territorial gain, but most wars are wars of conquest for political reasons. The worst wars in the last century with the most casualties of war, have been fought for political and ideological reasons. Hitler, Stain and Mao were not religious! Except, of course, if we ascribe to Nazi and Communist ideology some religious element, which is actually not unreasonable to do. There was really a cult-like aura around these evil men, who not just dragged the world into war (Hitler), but also slaughtered millions of their own people (Stalin, Mao). What these evil dictators have demonstrated is ‘the human capacity for evil,’ as Jordan Peterson points out repeatedly.
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