Date: 04/06/03

Text: Ecclesiastes 3:8

Title: Nations at War

Theme: As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to develop a biblical world view to address this and others wars in general.

Pastor Hsueh

Introduction:

This present war with Iraq is different from all other wars. It is also called the “Living Room War”. Many of us watch the progress or lack of progress of the war in our own living room. We think we know every move of the army several thousand miles away. Every movement is immediately analyzed by the so-called military experts and the armchair generals.

Watching events that happen thousands of miles away and being beyond our control, is a very frustrating experience. We experience mood swings. We are confused about the nature of the war. Some vehemently claim that this war is a moral, political and military mistake. Others treat t as a holy war, wiping out an evil government. On television we see hundreds of thousands of protesters, yet Polls show 75% of the American public is supportive of this war. It is confusing, isn’t it?

I am certain that we each have our opinions and convictions about this war. Often we find discussions difficult for they easily turn into an emotional debate, hurting feelings. Therefore we only talk to those with similar opinions. This further create an ‘us vs them’ mentality.

Even though this is a difficult subject to address, I feel it is important for us to understand and explore what some of the biblical perspectives regarding wars are. I also recognize that it is foolish and shallow for me to think that I can fully address this issue in a 25 minutes sermon. My purpose this morning is not to tell you whether or not this war is right or wrong; but to help us to begin developing a biblical world view, so that we know how to address this and other wars.

I. War is a distortion of God's original creation.

I trust that many of us have asked, if God is a loving God, why are there so many wars and why is He sometimes downright cruel in the OT? Again, we need to go back to Genesis 1, the very beginning of the Bible and the beginning of our world.

1. God created a perfect world. Genesis 1:31

In Genesis 1:31, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good…” The world God created was good, according to God's perfect and absolute standards. In this creation, man’s relationship with God, with himself, with the environment and with each other was good, in the sense of being complete, perfect and normal. It was a harmonious and creative creation, reflecting the creator’s glory, goodness and greatness.

2. Men deliberately disobeyed God.

As we continue our reading of Genesis, we learned about how Adam and Eve deliberately disobeyed God. This disobedience is also called “men’s fall”. This disobedience resulted in great changes in the created world. Men’s relationship with God, with self, with the environment and with each other had become abnormal. Instead of harmony, it is now full of conflict and disunity.

You see, the original creation was perfect and normal. Yet because of man’s disobedience, it is now abnormal and distorted.

3. War is the result of man’s disobedience to God.

After man’s fall, we witnessed the first murder in human history. Cain, the elder son of Adam and Eve, deliberately killed his brother, Abel. Later, Abraham in order to rescue his nephew, Lot, fought against the five kings and won.

As a result of human disobedience, war entered the world. War is abnormal, because in any war, lives are lost, lands and properties are ruined. In both the Old and New Testament, the scriptures acknowledge wars between tribes and nations. Looking at the history of Israel, it was a record of wars with its surrounding nations. The fact that scriptures acknowledge its presence, does not suggest its normality. On the other hand, whenever we see war, it should remind us of its abnormality. It is against God's will and his character. War is a result of human sinfulness.

II. God often used wars to accomplish his divine plans.

If war is abnormal and against God's character, why is God involved in human warfare? This topic certainly deserve much more time and space than is allowed here. From our study of the OT, we may come to the following observations.

First observation: God sometimes uses war to punish the evil.

Wars in the scripture must be seen from the perspective of Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” God was cursing the Snake that symbolizes the evil one, Satan. The Snake’s descendents will be in a constant conflict with Eve’s descendents; that is God's people. And ultimately, one descendent of Eve, Jesus Christ will have ultimate victory over Satan.

When we read how God commanded the Israelites to conquer Canaan, the land that was promised to them, we must see the spiritual aspect of it. That is, it is also a war, a conflict between the good and evil. It is God against those nations whose practice were evil and against Him in every aspect. It was a punishment and judgment on evil.

Then in the NT, we are told that with the coming of Christ, it is no longer a war of flesh. The conflict between God's children and Satan is now a spiritual warfare, fought with God's word and with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The second observation: God uses war to discipline his people.

In the book of Joshua we learned that God had instructed the Israelites to remove all the inhabitants of Canaan. They did not accomplish this goal. Then, in the book of Judges 3:1,2 “Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before.” God had allowed certain local groups of people to remain in the land. Why? So God would use them to discipline his people when they disobeyed him. Very often, in the OT, war was a means of God’s teaching his people to be faithful and obedient to him. They were not to be dependent on their might or power, but to be dependent on the power of God's spirit.

In other words, even though war is evil, yet God still uses wars to train and discipline his people.

And the third observation: when attacked, the Israelites are to defend themselves.

III. Present day application of biblical principles.

Now, what does it mean to us today? We have to remember that God no longer rules any country as he did in the OT with the Israelites. Therefore no nation can claim that they have a divine edict from God to enter a war. Then, what should our attitude be about war?

1. Principles of ‘Just’ War.

Since 400 A.D. Christians in the western world have been struggling about this issue of war. When is a war justified, that Christians can endorse and participate in it? Fist, Augustine then St. Thomas Aquinas developed the theory of the Just War. There were first 3 principles:

a. Legitimate authority. Does the person or organization ordering troops to war have the right to do so.

b. Just cause. Is freedom threatened and are people and neighboring countries safe from a tyrant?

c. Righteous intention. Does the nation going to war have any interest in occupying, exploiting or destroying another nation?

Later theologians added 3 more criteria:

d. Last resort. Is fighting a war the only means left to right a wrong?

e. Reasonable hope for success. Are the goals of this war limited and achievable?

f. Proportionality. Is it likely that the human cost of going to war will be less than the human cost of not going to war?

When all six criteria are met, then this may be considered a just war. If any one of these principles is not met, then it is not a just war and Christians should refuse to fight. It is apparent that equally sincere Christians will come to different conclusions in the above principles. It is possible that both are right, and at the same time both could be dead wrong. For this reason, down through the centuries, there are those who condemn all wars, and at the same time, others who would selectively endorse certain wars.

2. Our obedience to God. Joshua 5:13-14

In the book of Joshua we have an incident in which God appeared to Joshua. Joshua asked, “are you for us or for our enemies?” (Josh 5:13-14.) That is, whose side are you on? God's response, “Neither, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” That is, I am not on anyone’s side. The issue is: not whose side is God on, is God for us, but are we on God's side? Before we go to war, and during the war, we’re to ask: are we being obedient to God's word?

3. Rise above our emotions. 2 Chronicles 20:1-4

Each of us will have his or her own opinions and convictions about this and other wars. When we discuss, we usually try to convince the other person that our position is right. Therefore it is very easy for us to become emotionally involved. Or we ourselves will feel very emotional about the war. Last week someone said to me, “When I turned the TV on, I became very angry.” Some feel angry, others frustrated and depressed. These are all normal emotional reactions to a war. Yet we don’t just stay there.

In 2 Chronicles 20:1-4, we have these words, “After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. …….Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.. ….” What was Jehoshaphat’s response to the news of war? He was afraid. This was an emotional response. Then he set his face to seek the Lord. He prayed and proclaimed a fast. In other words, he did not stay in that emotional state of fear for too long. He came to the Lord and prayed. Furthermore, he asked his people to pray to the Lord.

I feel there is a lesson for us to learn here. Yes, we’ll have all kinds of emotions. We can admit them and not be embarrassed by them. However, we don’t have to continue to stay in that mindset long. We bring it to the Lord in prayer. Tell God about our fears and confusion. As we pray, we also recognize that God is Faithful, Loving and Sovereign. In the midst of such dark moments, we still trust him. This is faith.

Conclusion:

War, any kind of war, is against God's character. Therefore it is abnormal. In times of war, personally we need to think through some of the principles of a “just” war and come to certain conclusions ourselves. They can provide us with some guidelines so we know how to discuss the issue of war with our friends and fellow Christians. Even after thoughtful consideration and discussion, we still may not agree with one another. One of us could be right, or we could be both wrong.

I still remember when I was a graduate student at Purdue. I had very strong convictions about the Vietnam War. The pastor of the church I attended held an opposition position from me. I remember the long discussions and arguments we had about the war. One night he took me home about 11pm. It was winter and we were arguing in the car till about 1am. Yes, we had opposite convictions. Yet to this day, we are still friends. We still call him our pastor. Yes, we can disagree, but we don’t let our disagreements ruin our Christian fellowship.

War is abnormal. Yes there may be winning wars, but there are no true winners. We can still visit the thousands upon thousands of soldiers who died in the 1^st and 2^nd WW. After almost 30 years, the consequences of the Vietnam War are still haunting our society. 10 year after the first Gulf War, some soldiers are still suffering from some mysterious deceases. When we come to war, there are no winners.

And finally, as we recognize the abnormality of human war, it should cause us to look forward to a day when there will be no more tears or pains. In that new heaven and earth, there will be no more wars. And together with all the saints, we can sincerely say, Lord Jesus, Come.