Christians in the Military, Pt 2

Last week we talked about the strong historical evidence of Christians in the military, the reasons why modern-day Christians believe that Christians should be in the military, and that the earliest recorded Christians were unanimously against Christians being the military or committing any violent acts.  This week we’ll look at scriptures that talk about how Christians should conduct themselves in times of war. Let’s begin.

We all know that Christ had two Advents (when he would appear to the world and save it).  The first, obivously, was when God came in human form and died on the cross.  The second will bring an everlasting peace, and when that everlasting peace will come, is more debateable.

All Christians believe that there will be an “End Times”, and that during this period people will live in harmony with each other.

He will judge between the nations
And will settle disputes for many peoples
They will beat their swords into plowshares
Nation will not take up sword against nation
Nor will they train for war anymore.
Isaiah 2:4

The wolf will ive with the lamb,the leopard will lie down with the goat,
The calf and the lion and the yearling together
And a little child will lead them.
Isaiah 11:6

And we also know that after Jesus left for the first time, that there would still be conflict.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.  Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
Matthew 24:6-7

So for right now there will be war, but later on there will be peace.  What should a Christian do during times of war?

You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’  But I tell you the truth, do not resist an evil person.  If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other also.
Matthew 5:38-39

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
Matthew 26:52

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world.  If my kingdom were of this world, my servant would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from here.
John 18:36

Most perplexing though, is that before Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, he asked his disciples to sell their cloak (a most precious possession if you tend to live outside most of your life) to buy a sword (Luke 22:36-38).

Whether this was to allow Jesus to later heal a man who was harmed by Peter so he could say “those who live by the sword will die by the sword”, or that Jesus gave permission for his follows to arm themselves, is not clear to me.  Personally, I’d rather not have to give an accounting to why I killed someone, especially if God holds all life to be sacred.

Next week I’m going to talk about Ruth.  See you there.

Prophets and Prophecy 101

This week I want to talk about prophecy.

My final comment on last week's post said that I would examine a prophecy of Daniel, but the more I thought about it (and after listening to some feedback from facebook) I decided that I need to talk about prophecy and what it means for Christians today.

The first thing I want to point out is that prophecy doesn't necessarily mean "a prediction from the future".  In John 4:16-19, Jesus asks a woman to get her husband, and the woman replies that she has no husband.  Jesus then points out that she’s telling the truth—she has no husbands, but she has been married five times, and the dude she’s currently with isn’t her husband.  When Jesus reveals this knowledge about her, she says: “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.”

The woman declares Jesus’s prophet-hood not because he told the future, but because he knew something about her past.  In other portions of scriptures, Pharisees say that if Jesus was truly a prophet, he would know that he was in the company of sinners (Luke 7:39), again demonstrating that a prophet should be aware of a person’s past as well as making predictions of the future.

This idea that a prophet’s knowledge is not limited to the past is exascerbated by the fact that when Jesus was being struck on the face after being tried by the Pharisees, they mock him, saying: “Prophecy! Who hit you?”  My assumption is that they wouldn’t ask this question unless information of the present would also be available to a prophet.

Past, present, future.  The power of prophecy doesn’t seem to be limited to just the future, and the power doesn’t seem to be limited for good, either.

Deuteronomy 13:1-4 states that a prophet shows their authority from God by performing a sign or wonder, but they can still announce that the Israelites should follow other gods.  Obviously, God didn’t want the Israelites to follow other gods, and this scripture is followed by an ordinance saying that if this happens then God is testing them to see if they will follow other gods (and other people), or if they will continue to follow the one true god.

While he have exemplary models for dedication to God from various prophets (Isaiah had to be naked for three years (Isaiah 20:3), and Ezekiel was initially told to eat bread baked from human execrement (Ezekiel 4:12), but God relented (Ezekiel 4:13-15)), we also have the not so great example of Jonah, who decided to go against God’s will and not preach to Ninevah as he was told (Jonah 1:1-3).  From this I think it is fair to assume that just because you have the gift of prophecy doesn’t mean you’ll use the power for good; just that the information revealed to you is true.

What does this mean for the modern Christian?  Just that we need to be sober-minded when it comes to someone’s claim to prophet-hood in our era.  If someone says that they have the gift of prophecy, but they only make claims to the future, be alert.  Same thing if they start saying stuff that isn’t aligned with God’s will (remember Deuteronomy 13:1-4?) Or if they can’t accomplish other “signs and wonders” (Elijah and Elisha were able to part water in 2 Kings 2:8 and 2:14, similar to Moses parting the Red Sea). So, while most of the prophets did amazing things (especially Jesus), that doesn’t mean that ALL prophets are good.

A final note:  I personally don’t believe that people have the power of prophecy today.  I believe that prayer produces miracles and that sometimes God may reveal to people certain goals or missions for their lives, but I highly doubt that people have the power to know information that should remain hidden to most.

I’m going to continue talking about prophecy next week.  The week after I think I might tackle some political issues that Christians are facing today.