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A Biblical Response to
Those Who Say We Should Disarm; to
Those Who Teach Pacifism; to
Those Who Think the Bible Has
Nothing to Say About Arms
by Pastor Matt
Trewhella
Genesis 4:8-12 In this passage, Scripture records
the first murder wherein Cain killed Abel. That Cain must have used some sort
of weapon to kill Abel is evidenced by the fact that Abel was bleeding (he was
not strangled). Notice how God responded to the killing. He did not institute
some sort of weapon-control, rather, He punished the one who committed the
crime.
Exodus 20 and following In His holy Law,
which God decreed at Sinai, nowhere do you see God outlawing weapons in regards
to the various crimes which He prohibited in His legislation. He always
punishes the perpetrator. He never disarms the citizenry.
Exodus 22:2 In this verse, God declares that if
someone breaks into your house at night and you kill him, you are not guilty of
murder. This verse makes clear that you have a God-given right to defend
yourself and to defend your family.
Deuteronomy 22:23-27 This passage deals
with rape. Notice that verse 27 ends with the words "but there was no one
to save her." What is the implication of such a statement? The implication
is that had someone been around to hear her cry out, they had a moral duty to
intervene and protect her from being raped. To stand by would be immoral. We
have a God-given right to defend not only ourselves, but also others.
Numbers 1 In His economy, God instituted an
armed citizenry, not a standing army, in order to deal with the affairs of war
regarding Israel. This is what the Founding Fathers
of America envisioned for our nation. Even in Switzerland today,
every home is furnished with a machine gun (one of the reasons Hitler chose not
to invade Switzerland).
I Samuel 13:19-22 The Philistines disarmed the
Israelites. Weapon-control was instituted. No blacksmiths were allowed lest the
Israelites arm themselves. A disarmed people is the sign of a conquered people.
A disarmed people is the sign of an enslaved people.
Isaiah 2:1-5 Many, including the United Nations,
take the latter part of verse 4 in this passage, which states "they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks," and try to say that God
wants us to disarm. The context makes clear however, that "swords will be
beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks" when God Himself rules, not when the United
Nations or any other government of man rules.
Matthew 5:38-39 In this passage, Jesus is not
denigrating the Law of God in regards to one’s right to defend himself
and others, rather He is repudiating the lex
talionis - the law of retaliation, which said, "if someone
messes you up today, you go back and mess him up five times worse
tomorrow." The Pharisees were even using the Law of God to justify this
mindset. Jesus is repudiating this personal vengeance which some sought to
justify and participate in. He is not
saying we cannot defend ourselves or others.
Vengeance
belongs to God (Romans 12:19; Deuteronomy
32:35; Proverbs 20:22). We are not to avenge ourselves.
If we see someone who needs our help during the commission of a crime, we have
a God-given right and duty to intervene. If however, the crime has been
committed (past tense), we have no God-given right or duty to go and execute
judgment upon the perpetrator. God will avenge. God will judge.
God
has given the sword (a symbol of judgment) to the civil magistrate (Romans
13:4). If a crime has been committed, it is to be reported to the civil
authorities and they have a God-given right and duty before God to execute
judgment.
Matthew 26:51-52 Some try to say that this passage
proves that Jesus was a pacifist and against guns. Quite the contrary. Where
does Jesus tell Peter to put his sword? "In
its place." John makes it clearer, Jesus said to Peter "Put your sword into the sheath"
(John 18:11). Jesus didn’t tell him to
melt it down into a plowshare, rather he told him to put it "into the
sheath." The sword has its proper place. It’s not evil. But Peter
was wanting to use it in an improper situation. Jesus came to earth to die.
Peter would be abrogating the purposes of God if he intervened with the sword.
As Jesus goes on to say in verse 11 of John chapter 18, "Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has
given Me?" Jesus was trying to teach His disciples that His
Kingdom is not expanded in the earth through the use of force, rather it is
expanded through the preaching of the Gospel and the discipling of the nations.
If
someone wants to live by the sword, they will die by the sword, as Jesus says.
In other words, he who uses the sword for improper purposes will die by it. It
was improper for Peter to have used it in that situation. A criminal or a
tyrant who uses the sword improperly will rightly die by it. But the use of the
sword in a proper fashion, to defend one’s person or one’s family
or one’s country, is not condemned by Scripture, rather Scripture upholds
it.
God
is not a pacifist. Jesus is not a pacifist. As Jesus said in the very next
verse, verse 53, "Or do you not think
that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than
twelve legions of angels?" Jesus could have used force. The use
of force; the use of swords were simply improper for the situation in which
Christ was involved. He was suppose to die. He and the Father are not
pacifists. He did not use force because He had to drink the cup of the Father.
Exodus 15:3 This verse of Scripture declares
the Lord to be a "man of war."
That God is not a pacifist is evidenced throughout Scripture. Even Jesus
Himself, who is the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of
His person, and who has declared all that God is (Hebrews 1:3; John 1:18), drove the
moneychangers out of the temple with a whip and overturned their tables (John 2:15). The book
of Revelation defines Him as a King who does what? "Judges and makes war" (Revelation 19:11). The
Scripture declares that Jesus Christ is "the
same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). God’s
character does not change. God is not a pacifist.
In
closing, there are some who say that "we should not have guns; we should
just trust God." My response to those who say this is - "let me ask
you, do you have a lock on your front door?" They always say
"yes." I then ask "Do you lock it when you leave or go to bed at
night?" Those who live in the city always say "yes." I then ask
"Why do you have a lock on your door? Why don’t you just trust God?"
Just
because we have a lock on our door or a gun in our closet does not mean we are
trusting in them to protect us with the same trust
with which we’re to trust the Lord.
Rather,
we simply see the wisdom and prudence of having such things in order to be good
stewards in protecting our belongings and our families.
The
psalmist understood that there was no contradiction. The psalmist (David) who
said in verse one of Psalm 144 "Blessed
be the Lord my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for
battle" said in verse two of Psalm 144 "My lovingkindness and my fortress, My high tower and my
deliverer, My shield and the one in whom I take refuge."
