To make things harder we have the Old Testament contrasted to the Jesus of the New Testament. Jesus who is called the prince of peace. Jesus who said to love your enemies. Jesus who said not to resist the evil man. The one who said to turn the other cheek, pray for those who would do you harm, and pray for those who persecute you.
Jesus once said that not a single stroke of the pen was to be removed from the law, and yet he carried principles of non-violence to his own death. On the cross he exemplified the example of conquering your enemies through the power of personal sacrifice. Jesus did all this based on his knowledge and teaching of the Old Testament books. So how does one read the Old Testament, filled with it's violence, and come to a place of peace?
1) God tries to reduce human violence.
One important thing to remember is that the majority of the violence in scripture is given as a negative example. Just because something is in scripture doesn't mean that it's meant to be exemplified. We don't betray Jesus for money, for example, simply because the story of Judas's betrayal is in the Bible. Neither would we rape our sister and force her to marry us, (Yeah, real story) simply because it's in the Bible. Most of the stories of scripture are negative examples, and we see God working behind the scene to reduce human violence.
Take the story of Cain for example. Cain was famously the first person to commit a murder. More than this, it was the murder of his brother, close kin to show us that the father of all violence is against our own, as all violence to follow is against our own. God's response to this is to condemn Cain to a lifetime of hard toil, where he will have to work for every morsel of gain from the land.
Think about this though. God does not take vengeance on Cain. Cain is not killed because he killed. And furthermore the mark that God gives Cain is specifically meant to keep anyone who may have contact with him from doing harm. God marks Cain with the purpose of reducing future violence.
Beyond this, ending violence was the reason God gave for bringing the flood. Instead of open warfare, God saves the Israelites from Egypt by miraculous means. When the Israelites took Jerhico they marched around the city for six days, returning to camp every night (allowing the city dwellers to flee). And every military victory within God's plan is accomplished through his miraculous intervention rather than traditional human warfare.
When Gideon raised an army to save the Israelites God famously told him that there were too many of them to deliver the enemies into their hands. So God reduced their numbers from tens of thousands all the way down to three hundred. And the actions of those three hundred were minimal, all they really did was smash pots and light lanterns and yell, and God brought victory. God reduced violence by having his people present in battle, almost exclusively to watch his power win over that of their enemies.
2) God wanted trust in him rather than the military.
It seems that for some Christians their faith in God and their faith in the military are inexplicably linked. But from a biblical perspective faith in the military is seen as nothing less than idolatry. This does not mean that people of military service are some sort of evil priesthood, it is more of a condemnation of our trust in the military over our Lord.
In Deuteronomy 17 God describes his concession around his people having a king. He didn't want them to have a king, he wanted to be their king. But since he knew they would insist on having a king he decided to give them a detailed idea of what the king should look like. In this description there are three important points. The king was not to build up many horses, or capture horses from their enemies (advanced weaponry). The king was not to take many wives so as not to be corrupted (military alliances). The king was not to amass great wealth (military financing).
Especially in the ancient Mediterranean, kings were military leaders. The responsibility of the king was to amass a standing army through taxation, weaponry and alliances for protection and conquest. Yet God's description of what the Israelite king is to be is one robbed of military might, who spends his time focusing and meditating on the words of God's law. It is more than ironic to see the way that this king, one robbed of military might, is seen completely in the person of Jesus. Jesus who, although has no military power, is the conqueror of souls.
3) Scripture looks from and towards peace.
God created the world in shalom, peace. Creation was in balance and people lived without violence. It wasn't until humanity brought violence into the world that it was created. In a way, violence is the undoing of God's creation. When we kill and destroy we're undoing what God has made.
But scripture looks forward to a time of peace. And this looking forward to peace is not 'looking forward to heaven' nearly as often as you might think. The prophets look forward to a time when weapons of war will be beaten into tools, (spears into pruning hooks). They look forward to a time when nations will put down their weapons and learn warfare no longer. Scripture looks forward to a time when peace will once again rule in this world.
When we look at scripture as a story that moves from a place of peace towards a place of peace it is easier to see how peace becomes the tool to make this happen. Violence was never meant to be a part of our existence, and we look to a time when violence will no longer be part of us. How can we expect that violence would be the way to achieve it?
Conclusion:
While I will admit that these ideas in and of themselves do not completely force someone to say "pacifism" it is definitely easier to see how the non-violence stance can come out of Old Testament teaching. Ultimately Jesus was someone who took these kinds of Old Testament principles and took them to their greatest heights. Ultimately, as followers of Christ, we must try to see the rest of scripture through the eyes of Christ and how he taught them.Here we find the way to peace through non-violence.
Discussion:
1) Do you struggle with the violence of the Old Testament? Have you ever struggled with your image of God because of this violence?
2) How have you dealt with the apparent contradictions of the war-like Old Testament God, and the peace loving New?
3) How do you define violence? Physical, emotional, spiritual, etc...
4) What does violence look like to you? In regards to...
- Crime in your community?
- Relationships in the workplace?
- Other every-day areas of life?
- What do you do about it?
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