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Synopsis
"God is against war" is one of the most Biblically illiterate statements circulating in the modern church. People quote "Blessed are the peacemakers" and "turn the other cheek" as though they've closed the case. They haven't opened it. They've ripped two verses out of a Book that spans 66 volumes, 1,500 years of history, and a God who repeatedly, explicitly, and unapologetically commanded war. Let's open the actual Book. Exodus 15:3… "The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is His name." God introduces Himself as a warrior after drowning Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea. Moses sang this. Israel worshipped to this. Ecclesiastes 3:8… "A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, placed war in the divine order of appointed times. War has a season. Peace has a season. God ordained both. Deuteronomy 20:1… "When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God is with you." God didn't say "never go to battle." He gave Israel rules of engagement. He walked with them into the fight. Joshua 6 through 12. God commanded Joshua to conquer Canaan city by city. Jericho. Ai. The five kings at Gibeon. God didn't merely permit these wars. He ordered them. He fought in them. Joshua 10:11 says God killed more of the enemy with hailstones than Israel killed with the sword. God Himself was the air support. 1 Samuel 15:3. God commanded Saul to strike Amalek and "utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them." When Saul showed mercy to King Agag and kept the best livestock, God rejected him from the kingship (1 Samuel 15:23). Saul's sin was being too lenient in the war God ordered. David. A man "after God's own heart" (Acts 13:22). A warrior from his youth. He killed Goliath, led armies, conquered Jerusalem, expanded Israel's borders through military campaigns. God blessed him in battle repeatedly. The Psalms are filled with David praising God for training his hands for war (Psalm 144:1)… "Blessed be the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle." Romans 13:4… "For he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil." Paul says the governing authority bears the sword as God's servant. The sword is not decorative. The state's capacity for lethal force is divinely authorized for the restraint of evil. Luke 22:36… Jesus told His disciples, "He who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one." The same Jesus who said "blessed are the peacemakers" told His followers to arm themselves. These are contextual commands from a God who understands that peace sometimes requires the capacity for force. And then there's the Jesus of Revelation. The same people quoting "turn the other cheek" have apparently never read Revelation 19. Jesus returns on a white horse… "and in righteousness He judges and makes war" (Revelation 19:11). A sharp sword proceeds from His mouth. He treads "the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God" (v.15). He is called "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS" and the armies of heaven follow Him. The Second Coming is a military event. So where does this "God is against war" theology come from? It comes from people who have built a Jesus out of selected quotes instead of the full canon. They want a pacifist hippie who validates their political preferences. The Bible gives them a sovereign God who sends floods, rains fire on Sodom, drowns armies, commands genocide against the Canaanites, empowers warrior kings, and returns at the end of the age on a war horse drenched in blood. Does God love peace? Yes. Isaiah 9:6 calls the Messiah the "Prince of Peace." But that peace is the result of His total victory, not a substitute for it. The peace of Christ comes after He has crushed every enemy under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:25). "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matthew 5:9) means those who make peace… which sometimes requires confronting, fighting, and defeating the forces that destroy it. A peacemaker is not a pacifist. A peacemaker is someone willing to pay the cost of establishing peace… and Scripture shows repeatedly that the cost is sometimes war. Nehemiah 4:14… "Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses." The God of the Bible is not a pacifist. He is a righteous warrior who authorizes just warfare, empowers His people in battle, and will personally wage the final war at the end of history. “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems… From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.” (Revelation 19:11-16)
