Sermon: All Nations Before Him Are As Nothing!

#1671
Martin G. Collins
Given 17-Sep-22; 63 minutes

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Is there a difference between God's instruction to ancient Israel and His teaching for members of His church today regarding war? Is God's church held to a higher standard of purity than the warring ancient Israelites? How much higher must our level of purity be as the firstfruits of God's Kingdom than the fighting world around us?

Often opinions in defense of warfare have grown out of a desire to appease the civil power and are clearly opposed to the doctrine of Jesus Christ, the apostles and the prophets, and to the whole spirit of the gospel, as well as to specific precepts in the New Testament. Those who contend that because they live in an evil world, Christians are justified in resorting to using weapons, as if two wrongs make one right.

Unconverted men may have a natural and even political right to take up arms in a just cause, but as Christians, we are required to live up to a much higher spiritual standard and trust in divine protection. Even in absolute self-defense, we may not exert sufficient physical force to the extent of homicide. No humane, much less godly man, can look at the abomination of war as generally practiced in the world without an intense horror and contempt.

How can deliberately entering such a course of action as war, involving not only the immense destruction of human life and property, but also the ruin and misery of helpless and innocent families, ever be condoned by a member of God's church without God's specific command? Do our doctrines not teach universal love and benevolence, not to mention "Thou should not kill," murder? For a Christian to justify such violent conduct from considerations of personal, local, or temporary advantage, and even of national gain and advancement, is clearly against godly standards and doctrine. Are we allowed to do evil in order that good may come?

Human reasoning tries to relieve the Christian's conscience by throwing the responsibility of war on the powers that be, that is, the civil and military authorities. In other words, the government itself. We certainly remember the Nuremberg trials where most of the Germans that were on trial there used that as an excuse—that they were just doing what they were told. But such reasoning would excuse the Christian in committing any atrocity, even idolatry, by decision of secular or political rulers.

The will of a majority under socialist, democrat, or republican government makes no essential difference in this responsibility. Each person must act for himself or herself in the fear of God in ethical, moral, and any other situation or circumstance.

Now in the days of Moses, after all nations had rejected God's rule, God emancipated the Israelite slaves from Egypt. He led them into the country that He had prearranged to give them and established them as His nation, ruled by Him, with His government. But God did not interfere with their prerogative of free moral agency. The Israelites had to make their own decisions to accept it.

Please turn with me to I Samuel 8. Right from the beginning, the Israelites griped, they complained, they doubted, and they rebelled. After a while, they decided they wanted to switch to human government like the other nations around them.

I Samuel 8:4-7 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, "Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." So, Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them."

It was a major flaw, a major sin in their lives and in the history of Israel. So God gave them a human king, Saul, but they still remained bound to their covenant with God as His Kingdom, even though He allowed them to have a human king. Later, God removed Saul and chose David and then He chose Solomon.

When Solomon's son King Rehoboam refused to really relieve the burden of taxes that his father Solomon had levied on the Israelites, the people rebelled and rejected him as their king. They were finding out what a king was really like; it was described to them before a king was actually named for them. Solomon's assistant, Jeroboam, was set up as their king. Then the tribe of Judah seceded in order to retain Rehoboam as their king, and the tribe of Benjamin sided with and joined Judah.

Jeroboam then rejected the Levites whom God had chosen as the priests. They were the top men of the nation in education and leadership. Jeroboam placed uneducated men in the priesthood he could control and many Levites stayed with the kingdom of Judah after Rehoboam. And as you know this kingdom under Rehoboam became known as the Jews.

After 19 kings in the nation of Israel, God caused Israel to be driven into captivity by the Assyrians and the Israelites were moved out of their farms and cities and taken as slaves to Assyria. This is where that got them rejecting God's rule over them.

Please turn to Daniel 2. Later, when the nation of Judah refused to obey God's laws or live God's way of life, God caused King Nebuchadnezzar of the Chaldeans to invade and conquer them, and then the Jews were removed from their homes and their land and taken as slaves to the land of the Chaldeans. God used Daniel to reveal to Nebuchadnezzar that God reigns supreme over all the kings of the earth.

Daniel 2:19-21 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding."

Daniel 2:36-37 "This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. You, O king [speaking to Nebuchadnezzar], are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory."

There is no doubt at that point, in Nebuchadnezzar's mind, of who was in charge. God revealed to him that He gave the kingdom and the kingship, the power to govern; and that nations govern only by God's consent.

Now, let us go back to Israel's early history. Why then did Israel go to war and kill their enemies? Did God command them to? Eventually He did! But in no way does this alter or nullify God's earlier command that people obey Him and have faith in Him to fight their battles for them.

Please turn to Exodus 13. When the Egyptians chased the children of Israel to the Red Sea, the Israelites did not turn around to fight them because the Lord was fighting for them. God was building their faith in Him from the beginning. But the Israelites later rejected God's full protection. God did not intend for Israel to need to go to war. In delivering them out of Egypt, so they would not see war, become discouraged and fearful and want to return to Egypt, He took them on a roundabout way to the Promised Land.

Exodus 13:17-18 Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, "Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt."

So, the Israelites were fearful of other nations. Nevertheless, the Lord knew that Israel would prefer to fight their battles by the sword like other nations.

Now, He gave only a few people His Holy Spirit at that time and the vast majority did not have God's Spirit indwelling them, even though they were His covenant people. So it was natural for them to want to use faithless human reasoning and fight for themselves.

After the miracles God had performed in freeing them from slavery in Egypt—protecting them, blessing them, and fighting their military battles for them, leading them miraculously by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night—even before they had reached Sinai, these people began to gripe and complain and grumble and disobey God!

If war is wrong, if it is sin, if it is contrary to God's way of life, then why did God on occasion actually order the Israelites to go to war and kill? I will give you two primary reasons. Number one: Israel had sinned in not trusting God to do the fighting for them. And in disobeying God's command against war, they had chosen to be a war-waging nation. Their decision was wrong, but God compels human beings to decide whether or not to sin, and if they do, they bring on themselves a penalty. Israel refused to rely on God to do the fighting and chose to be a warring nation. In Matthew 26:52, Christ says, "All who take the sword, will perish by the sword."

The second primary reason: God's purpose must stand regardless of what people do. It was God's purpose to install Israel in the Promised Land and to drive certain people out of God's holy land which He had promised to the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. These Gentile nations should not have taken and possessed that land according to God's purpose. Yet they did. And since Israel was not going to rely on God to drive out these nations but elected to be a war-making nation, God still used them to accomplish His purpose of driving out these land poachers, and therefore God ordered them to do what was required to make His purpose stand.

The fulfillment of the divine purpose does not depend on humans. It depends on God's actions, not human action, but the humans took it into their own hands to go ahead as a warring nation.

Please turn to Psalm 44. Even though this Israelitish nation rebelled against God's command against war and killing, and even though they made their decision to become a war-making nation like all the others, and even though God used them in driving out nations from the Promised Land, it is still confirmed in God's Word that it is God who thrust out these foreign nations from Israel's hand.

Psalm 44:1-3 We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, the deeds You did in their days, in days of old: You drove out the nations with Your hand, but them you planted; You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out. For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; but it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, because You favored them.

Acts 7:45 speaks of the land possessed by the Gentiles whom God drove out before the face of our fathers. Acts 13:19 says that God destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan during Israel's 40 years of wandering. So even though the Israelites took up arms against these other nations, it was still God either way who was going to take care of those other nations for them. God thrust out the nations from the Promised Land in fulfillment of His promise to Abraham.

God alone has the right to take human life since He alone is the giver of life. Because of Israel's faithlessness and disobedience, God used them as His instrument in taking life, which God had full right to do. How much better would it have been for the Israelites if they had totally obeyed and believed in God to fight all their battles for them?

Please turn over to Matthew 5. Regarding war, military service, and killing, God's basic law is the sixth commandment recorded in Exodus 20: "You shall not murder." The Ten Commandments are the ten basic principles of righteousness for human beings, both individually and nationally. The New Testament magnifies this principle. In I John 3:15 it says, "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." So Jesus applies this law directly to enemies.

Matthew 5:43-44 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you."

The basic foundation of the government of God is love. Of course God's way of life shows: love toward others in equal balance with love of self. It is impossible for military service, bearing arms, killing, and war against other human beings to be characteristic of true Christians, because they are contrary to the foundational principle of God's way of life, God's way of love.

Human reasoning tells us that for all nations to obey the sixth commandment is not practical, nor will it work. The argument goes something like this: If our nation obeys the sixth commandment and is disarmed, having no military force, it would be attacked and beaten by some other nation that ignores, disregards, and disobeys God's law and believes in war. We would lose our freedom, our land, our homes, and probably our lives.

But in Proverbs 14:12, God says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." The omnipotent God provides the protection for those who are godly against any ungodly enemy. The Almighty is not impractical and He does not leave those who obey and trust Him, who accept His government, helpless.

Turn over to Exodus 23. One of the basic responsibilities of any government is to protect its own people. Many fail miserably. Is the government of God so impotent that it cannot protect the individual or the nation it governs? God took Israel, a family of several million people, to be His nation, and offered to set them up as a nation under His government.

Exodus 23:20-22 "Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries."

God promised to supernaturally fight any invading army to protect the nation and people under His government. It is not wrong for God to fight an invading army, and if necessary, take human lives. God is the molder, shaper, and Creator of human life. He gave it and He has the right to take it away if He chooses. All life, including human life, belongs to Him. And as I said earlier, there is a difference between what God expects from a civil nation, a secular nation, and what He expects from His church. So what I am speaking of is the ideal for God's church. Our purity must be higher than any nation on earth or any peoples.

God gave us a set of laws that regulate the relationship that we must have toward God and toward other humans. In that law, God has made it a capital sin for a human being to take the life of another human being. Almighty God renders war and killing unnecessary for any people or nation because God Himself will do the fighting, if fighting is necessary. A few years ago, I heard a Protestant minister describe the major difference between Islam and Christianity. He said, "Muslims believe that they must fight for their God. We Christians believe our God fights for us."

Sadly, mainstream Christianity does not really go to the extent of believing that, but they recognize it as a truism. There is a lot of truth in that statement if those Christians are true Christians and not just professing mainstream Christians of today who do not obey and are not faithful.

We have to have a true conviction that God exists and is a rewarder of those who obey Him. Faith is paramount to understanding the true sovereignty of God. Now, faithfulness is adhering unwaveringly to God and His covenant. Consider for a moment these five elements of faith.

1. To be faithful, we have to be obedient. It is humbly submissive to be faithful.

2. To be faithful, we have to be loyal, that is, consistently affectionate and allegiant to God.

3. To be faithful, we have to be truthful. That is, true to God's Word and standard of righteousness.

4. To be faithful, we have to be dedicated, that is, zealously devoted to God.

5. To be faithful, we have to be conscientious, scrupulous in doing God's will.

The quality of obeying God, above compliance to a law of human government that would cause us to sin, might even become a life and death matter, as it was for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Faith without works is a dead faith, but their active faith was one that enabled them to stand steadfast in the face of a horrible death.

But at the same time, no Christians should have a rebellious attitude toward his nation. We should not have a defiant attitude toward the civil government of our nation, but rather an obedient attitude to God first and then respectful compliance to the laws of the secular authorities, as long as they do not conflict with our obedience to God and faith in God.

This positive attitude is going to be harder to maintain as our nations continue to become more wicked towards the end of this age. But God is very clear that He sets up leaders and we are in limited subjection to them unless they try to force us to go against God's statutes, principles, and law as spelled out in His inspired written Word.

The issue is that each individual must decide for himself that obedience to God must come first. There are many things in life that will test us and God will allow them to test us to see how conscientious we are, or how convicted we are. We have said many times in sermons that there is a difference between preferences and convictions. So what is your religion? Is your religion a conviction or is it just a convenience at certain times?

Now regarding the objection to war, God does not allow the individual to decide what is right and what is wrong; only whether to obey Him or not. He determines and reveals what is righteousness and what is sin. But He compels us to decide whether to obey or not. The whole question is one of our relationship and our responsibility to our God versus our nation. Which has precedence?

Christians, especially young Christian men, and in this day and age women, should realize the seriousness of conscientious objection with regard to the subject of a war. The dissenting opinion of Justices Hughes, Holmes, Brandeis, and Stone in the Douglas Clyde Macintosh U.S. Supreme Court case, reveals the legal standing of and provides an authorized definition of conscientiousness.

When one's belief collides with the power of the State, the latter is supreme within its sphere, and submission or punishment follows. But in the forum of conscience, duty to a moral power higher than the State has always been maintained. The essence of religion is belief in a relation to God involving duties superior to those arising from human relation. One cannot speak of religious liberty, with proper appreciation of its essential and historical significance, without assuming the existence of a belief in supreme intelligence to the will of God.

That is what the Supreme Court of the United States ruled. That a person has a right by conscience to refuse to be placed in war or to become a soldier. We must pray for God's guidance, leading us into a right personal conviction to Almighty God. None of us knows when and what God may call us to do to be with a witness to His sovereignty.

In the months following 9-11 Republicans introduced proposals suggesting the military draft be resumed and enforced. Just a few weeks ago, two Democrat Congressman introduced legislation to revive the draft. And although the administration is not forcing a draft at this time, the recent proposals show that while conscription has been unenforced for almost 50 years, the idea is not necessarily dead. In fact, this revival of the draft is primarily concerning whether or not to add women to the draft or not. The draft is there, it stands, it is official, and it is not active. And there is a reason for that.

A proclamation by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter issued in 1980 requires by law that men register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of their 18th birthday and report to the SSS within ten days every time they change their address until their 26th birthday. Few young men today fully or voluntarily comply and so enforcement was abandoned in failure decades ago. But this presidential order and law authorizing it remain officially on the books. It can be called up at any time and every once in a while congressman tries to do that as these two democrats tried to do a few weeks ago. I think what they are doing is delaying the decision on that until after the elections.

Few young men today fully or voluntarily comply so Congress and military planners continue to pretend that a draft based on the current incomplete and inaccurate Selective Service registration database remains a realistic fallback option for the Pentagon. That is what the military planners are saying. It still is a viable option and still on the books.

Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan said the most fundamental objection to draft registration is moral. Now the true Christian conscientious objector is the person who, based on biblical understanding and sincere belief, has the conviction that it is wrong to support war or enter military service as a begotten spiritual citizen of the Kingdom of God. He does not fight as an ambassador for Jesus Christ. It is wrong for him to fight, kill, or wage human war.

If we are ambassadors for Christ, it is like us being an ambassador for the United States, but living in France. We have no say in anything and we are not to be conscripted into their army. That is just a physical example of the spiritual that exists. This sincere and humble commitment to the conscientious objector's beliefs of non-aggression is part of an intimate personal relationship he has with his God and therefore his decision to become a conscientious objector is between him and his God.

Now, despite what the leaders of this nation may sneer against him or her, this does not mean that he is not a patriot of his country or that he has any hatred or antagonism toward the leaders or citizens of his country, of his earthly citizenship. He is a law abiding person. Conscription assumes this nation's young men belong to the state and it is wrongly associated with patriotism when it really represents socialism, collectivism, and involuntary servitude. Conscientious objectors will suffer persecution from various sources: from the draft board, other citizens, employers, federal and state governments, or military personnel.

Just quickly, I am just going to explain my experience as a conscientious objector. This was quite a few years ago, 50 years ago, I think. This is what happened then at the tail end of the Vietnam War. And I give it to you just an example of what you may have to go through as a young person. I hope not.

A year or so before I turned 18 (conscription age in the U.S.), I wrote an eight page letter declaring my personal religious beliefs regarding military service and war. And when the draft lottery for my year of eligibility came up, the order of priority was chosen by birth date. And my lottery number was 22 out of a possible 365, which meant anyone under 100 went into boot camp, or basic military training camp and then made available for export to Vietnam.

When I sat in front of the draft board, one of the first things I remember the interrogator telling me was that her son was in Vietnam fighting for his country as we spoke. That made it even harder, did it not? Then she called me a coward and a traitor.

Some of the questions the board asked me were, "Why won't you fight for your country?" "Are you just doing what your parents want you to do?" "What are the doctrines of your church?" Can you prove that you're not just trying to get out of serving your country?" "Would you defend yourself if someone broke into your house and tried to kill you?" "Do you still want to be a conscientious objector if it means going to prison?" "Are you willing to do public service?"

There were some in the church that went to prison back in those days because they were conscientious objectors, but most were allowed to go into public service of some sort.

Probably the most well known conscientious objectors in the United States have been the Amish and the descendants of the Anabaptists of the 16th century Europe. They have comprehensive records of their history that includes their conscientious objection to military service. Something I found fascinating regarding this was a brief history overview of the Anabaptist position on non-resistance in times of war and peace titled, "People of Peace, Victims of Violence." I am going to read some excerpts out of this to illustrate what conscientious objectors have had to endure over the almost last 500 years.

While I give these examples, ask yourself this question: Is my faith strong enough to stand up against the authority of the state when it requires that I go against God's commands? And I am talking about preferences and convictions, as I mentioned earlier. So my question is: are you convicted enough to go through some of the things that these people have gone through? At least we can be thankful that we have a constitution in the United States that is almost being followed these days, but was followed very closely for a couple of hundred years because it protected us as conscientious objectors from such violence and things.

But let me give you some examples because things are really going awry in this nation and there is no telling what they are willing to do. And what they have done to the January 6th people that went into the Capitol Building is a sign that they will torture people in this day and age.

On January 21st, 1525 these Swiss brethren secretly met and rebaptized each other to signify their adult commitment to their faith, and in a church not part of the State. Their radical acts challenged the unity and authority of both and their refusal to serve in the military was a distinct threat to the city's safety. The results: they were hunted down, asked to recant, had their children taken away, were exiled, tortured, sold into slavery, branded, burned at the stake, drowned, and dismembered. [That is the worst of it.]

Regarding the American Revolution, John Hostetler wrote in the Amish Society,

The opposition to taking the oath of allegiance and joining the militia was interpreted by patriots as an alignment with the British. The Amish, unlike the Quakers, generally paid the war tax but disclaimed any responsibility for its use.

According to Steven Nolt in his History of the Amish, the Amish were caught between the Tories and the patriots and neither side cared to recognize the non-resistant stance of "peace churches." In some cases, contributions were made instead of military service.

Let us see how the Amish fared in the American Civil War.

Their belief in non-resistance brought them under suspicion on both sides. The moral and political issues again tore some families apart as some joined the ranks. The 1863 Federal Conscription Act allowed for the hiring of substitutes and some Amish and Mennonite communities raised thousands of dollars for those members facing the draft who could avoid it by a $300 commutation fee.

Lancaster's "Tennessee John" Stoltzfus was one of the Amish who hired a substitute to take his place. According to Paton Yoder in his book, Tradition and Transition, "he kept a blue coat in his attic from the man he had hired as a substitute later killed in battle. Occasionally, John retrieved the coat and reverently polished the brass buttons in remorseful meditation."

In the "war to end all wars" World War I:

The Amish declared conscientious objector status. As Albert Keim writes in The Amish and The State, CO's were drafted into the army and posted to military camps with the hope that they would enter non-combative service." The question then became one of how much to cooperate. The resistance to wearing uniforms rather than their plain clothes and the refusal to bear arms resulted in harassment, beatings, and humiliation in many cases.

Menno Diener stationed at Camp Taylor, Kentucky witnessed the bayonet stabbing of another Amish boy and he himself suffered beatings with a broomstick. He wrote, "A a few days later, another boy has his face black and blue from beatings, was placed on display by public road road. Someone placed a sign on him that read, ;I refused to fight for my country.'"

According to see Stephen Nolt in his History of the Amish, "Officers occasionally 'baptized' Amish CO's in the camp latrines in mockery of their Anabaptist beliefs.

In the period from 1941 to 1945, World War II,

Alternate service was required for those who were conscientious objectors. Many of whom were, of course, not Amish. For many Amish, however, a farm deferment meant they could work at home and those not eligible had to leave the community and often worked in civilian public service camps in mental hospitals, forestry projects, or firefighting. According to Albert Keim, one Irishman named Ed Miller was a subject in a series of human guinea pig experiments at the University of Illinois.

During the Korean and Vietnam wars,

Amish boys again served in hospitals or prisons. While conditions were better, there were sometimes harassment of Amish boys for their non-violent beliefs, but some boys refused even alternate service and so were sent to prison.

By the time of the Gulf war:

The U.S. no longer had an officially enforced draft so there was no real issue here for the Amish people, young people, or other conscientious objectors.

I read these excerpts from the series of articles to give you an idea of how this society has treated conscientious objectors over the span of several centuries—that it is not something to take lightly. God may allow some true Christians to go through some of these things and we know there will be martyrs at the end time. Today, governments are morally decaying rapidly. So who knows what the future holds here. But we always have God having our backs.

For those of you who are personally convicted of your beliefs against killing and military service and are nearing draft age or who are of draft age (that would be those of you who are 18-26), I recommend that you write a letter "To Whom it May Concern" stating your conviction and giving biblical scriptures to support your claim because you cannot rely on a letter from your church to get you out of this. Sign it and have it notarized, and mail it registered mail to yourself to assure it is sealed and dated by the post office. But do not open it until you have to appear before a draft board or need it for other reasons to prove your beliefs. I had asked my children to do that 20 or 30 years ago, and they still have the letters, they are still sealed. I think they are in my safe right now. But they have never needed them, thankfully. But you never know. It is better that you state your belief now than when you have to come before somebody to express them.

Former President John F. Kennedy said, "War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today."

So converted people, those who are faithfully living God's way of life, individually and nationally, must leave the warring to God. He is able, He is powerful. He has the right and He has promised protection—and He cannot lie! To doubt that He will do our fighting for us is to fall short of the mark of faithfulness. Romans 14:23 says, "Whatever is not from faith is sin." Therefore it is sin to fail or refuse to trust God to do whatever killing is necessary to protect us. Because He has forbidden us to kill and has promised to do any necessary fighting for us. The duty of God's people is submission and faith. That is the way of peace.

Please turn with me to Exodus 14. Now, right from the beginning, the children of Israel were deficient in faith and even with all the miracles that followed, the Israelites continued to lack faith. I gave you some of examples earlier. God's purpose was to deliver them out of Egyptian slavery, to show them—all nations, and all humanity—that He would fight their battles for them. So, in spite of their faithless complaining in this initial example of God's faithfulness—in spite of their lack of faith—He was determined to fight their battles for them and save them, which He did until they became so corrupt that they had to go into captivity.

Exodus 14:13-14 And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."

The Israelites were not to fight, but stand still. They were to remain in peace and watch God fight their battles for them. For a short time the Israelites were in awe of God and actually believed God. They even expressed a little temporary faith along the way.

Egypt is a type of the world and the Lord was, figuratively in type, delivering the Israelites out of the world. They were starting out living God's way of life, which requires faith. It is a life of loyalty and obedience to God. Submission requires faith. "We are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God."

So, just believing that God exists is not the faith that saves you. Recall that even Satan believes that God exists. Because it is a dead faith and produces nothing if it is just a belief. The newly freed Israelite slaves, still in awe of God after experiencing great miracles, expressed faith and sang with faithfulness and hope. Sadly, they did not believe very deeply for very long. When they came to Marah, they found the water too bitter to drink. This one little problem in their path brought them again to complaining and doubting. Again, by a miracle, God made the water sweet and He gave them a test of obedience, along with miraculously providing food.

In Exodus 16, the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron about where their food would come from in the wilderness. So God gave them manna with specific instructions on how to gather it. They failed that test of obedience because they did not totally trust God.

Please turn over to Exodus 17. They complained about not having enough water to drink. When the children of Israel journeyed to Rephidim, again there was no water. And again they griped and complained and lost faith in God and they could not bring themselves to completely trust and obey Him. They had been grumbling, disobeying, and losing faith on a regular basis even in the face of constant miracles from God. And, as God performed another miracle causing water to gush out of a rock, the people doubted that God was with them.

Exodus 17:7 So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"

After all those miracles and all that God did for them, and they were still like that.

Frequently, God had given these people awe-inspiring and miraculous demonstrations of His intention to fight their battles for them. These were visible miracles which the people witnessed with their own eyes. God had clearly demonstrated His faithfulness, His power, and His grace.

Next the Gentile king Amalek came against the Israelites in great strength with an invading army and this time, God allowed the Israelites to learn through experience. He allowed them to sin and Moses reached the end of his patience trying to induce the stubborn, rebellious Israelites to trust God.

Exodus 17:9-13 And Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand at the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand." So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was when Moses held up his hand, the Israelites prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hand became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

There you see the Israelites taking matters into their own hands and they were fighting with the sword themselves. But God had intervened out of His mercy.

Moses feared that since the Israelites lacked the faith to trust God for their protection, they would be slaughtered. And although Moses weakened and gave the order for war, it was the people themselves who actually made the decision for war. Their total lack of reliance on God clouded their minds to the fact that it was absolutely unnecessary for them to arm themselves and wage war. And even worse, it was wrong. But God let them make their own decision and even helped them through it.

This incident was the turning point. It was after this that God promised, conditioned on obedience and faith, to always fight their battles for them, to protect them from war, and to give them constant peace. And this happened before they reached Mount Sinai. Now, it was after this that they accepted God's government over them. But already they had shown a lack of faith and trust, even during the days when God was demonstrating His power and faithfulness by so many miracles! They had experienced a taste of war and they should have turned from it and relied on God instead of themselves.

By their continuous disbelief, lack of reliance on God, and reliance on warfare, they made the decision to be a warring nation, just like the Gentiles of the rest of the world. And the fact that all nations have chosen this way of sin does not make it right. World leaders today and all nations are so far from God and his way of life. God has become so unreal to them that it probably would seem ridiculous even to suggest such a thing. The scientists, the industrial and commercial leaders, the educators, and even the clergy have departed so far from God that such a thought as relying on Him does not even enter their minds.

Even though God allows humans to make their own decisions, including the decision to sin, and He allows nations to go to war, God's purpose must stand. His purpose was to settle the descendants of Abraham in the land He promised to Abraham. God's promise to Abraham 430 years earlier had been made unconditional. Abraham had performed his part of that agreement and he had obeyed God and kept God's commandments and laws. And now God's faithfulness demanded that He plant the Israelites in that land, regardless of their conduct.

It was God's responsibility to place these people in the Promised Land, driving out the inhabitants. And it was Israel's responsibility to decide how this would be done; whether to rely on God to do the fighting, driving out the inhabitants, or to arm themselves and engage in war.

So, the descendants of Abraham had made their decision to be a fighting, warring nation. And since they had made that decision, God used them to do the fighting in the driving out of the inhabitants possessing the land that God had allotted to Abraham's descendants.

Consequently, God gave orders for them to do the fighting and killing that was necessary to accomplish God's purpose of putting them in the Promised Land, but that did not make war right. So it was because of Israel's faithlessness and disobedience that God allowed them to take up arms and as a result, God used them as His instrument to drive out the Gentile nations in the land they were to possess.

Since God had given them every opportunity to choose to let Him fight their battles for them, they were without excuse! One sin leads to another. And since whatever is not of faith is sin, as Romans 14:23 tells us, when the Israelites doubted God's promise, they proceeded to commit the sin of fighting and warring. God allowed this because without free moral agency, His purpose for having placed humans on this planet would be frustrated and that purpose is to expose the effects of sin and to promote development of righteous character—and that demands free moral agency. So, God's purpose must stand even though He allows humans to rebel and sin.

So God called David, a man after His own heart. We know David was a warring man. So how could He have called him a man after His own heart? He certainly could. Yet, David was a warrior and killed many people, beginning with Goliath. As king, he willingly waged war, but that did not make his waging war and killing without consequences. God held David accountable for his blood-guiltiness. However, because God is so merciful, He took into consideration the war-waging nation in which David lived and ruled, and its influence on him from his youth.

God gave him almost an entire lifetime to repent of his warring way of life and he suffered for his warring ways by having a violent family life. And God eventually punished him for his guiltiness of spilled blood. David desperately and zealously wanted to build God's Temple in Jerusalem. But an intrinsic sense of decency requires the purification of the worshipper from defilement when engaging in the solemn ceremonies of worship. David's killing and war-raging made him defiled because of the human blood that he had spilled. Here are a couple of examples of how violent his life was.

II Samuel 8:5 records that "David killed twenty-two thousand of the Syrians." II Samuel 10:18 shows that "David killed seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand horsemen of the Syrians."

Please turn over to I Chronicles 22 now and look at what David said to his son, Solomon, and God's reason to David for not letting him build His Temple.

I Chronicles 22:7-10 And David said to Solomon, "My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house to the name of the Lord my God; but the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight. Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.'"

I Chronicles 28:2-3 Then King David rose to his feet and said, "Hear me, my brethren, and my people: I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made preparations to build it. But God said to me, 'You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood.'

So David was unworthy to build the Temple because of the blood he shed in war. And he had been a man of war from his youth, which, though at times, was shed in the service of God and Israel; yet made him substandard for service in building the Temple. He was less acceptable than someone else who had never pursued such bloody work. God, by assigning this as the reason of laying David aside from this work on the Temple, showed how precious human life is to to God, and how important purity is in His servants in doing His work.

Turn over to Isaiah 1. Isaiah's vision of God's call to the sinful nation of Judah to repent of her wickedness speaks of blood-covered hands, causing God to close His eyes and ears to man's prayers because of man's spiritual uncleanness from the bloodshed.

Isaiah 1:15-16 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil.

It is quite blunt and leaves no room for doubt. God intended that the one who built the physical Temple would be a type of Him who would build the spiritual Temple, not by destroying men's lives, but by saving them, as Luke 9:56 states.

The church, of which the Temple at Jerusalem was to be a type, would be presided over by the one who was to be preeminently the Prince of Peace and therefore would not be properly represented by David, whose mission had been a preparatory one of battle and conquest, but by his son Solomon, who would reign in unbroken peace.

So, David was a man after God's own heart, but not because of his wars, his fighting, and his killing. God punished him for that by not letting him build His Temple and allowing David's family to be so violent. Although David was forgiven for shedding so much blood, he still suffered the consequences of his actions which made him unclean regarding building the Temple.

All sin has far-reaching effects, even after being forgiven. For example, a sexual sin may be forgiven upon repentance, but the consequences of a sexually transmitted disease often continues.

Turn over to Psalm 51. What did endear David to God was, first of all, his willingness to humbly admit it when he found out he was wrong and to genuinely repent. In Psalm 119, he expressed how much he loved and obeyed God's law. And his attitude was right in most areas of his life other than killing and adultery. In thanks to God's mercy and patience, he eventually overcame those sins and was forgiven for them. Even though David had many wives, he repented of this and put away his concubines. And in his later years, he only had one wife. He sinned, but he acknowledged his sins and truly repented. In verse 14 it shows David repenting of his blood-guiltiness.

Psalm 51:14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

Please turn over to Isaiah 40. God and His law is supreme and has precedence over the laws of any nation. Through Isaiah, among others, God gives us a comparison of the relative power and authority between Him and any and all nations of the earth.

Isaiah 40:9-15 0 Zion [of course, that is a code word for God's church], you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold, your God!" Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.

Then Isaiah asked a series of rhetorical questions to further illustrate God's sovereignty.

Isaiah 40:12-15 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with the span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him? With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him and taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as small dust on the scales; He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.

Isaiah 40:17-18 All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?

God rules supreme. Every national government on earth rules only by God's permission. Human government are like human individuals with free moral agency. God allows governments to obey and receive blessings or disobey and suffer consequences.

For a final scripture please turn with me to Romans 14. God's Master Plan calls for a duration of 6,000 years for human beings to choose voluntarily whether to accept and obey the rule of God or to rebel and suffer the automatic penalty. It is simply human acceptance or rejection of God's sovereignty.

Romans 14:11-12 For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.

The basis of God's government is His spiritual law, the Ten Commandments. The penalty for not keeping them is the absence of God's blessings. It is the death penalty eventually, which is the absence of the blessing of eternal life.

There is a purity required of us that is far above the ethical and moral standards of the world. We must keep ourselves unspotted, uncontaminated from violence, vengeance, and warring attitudes and actions of this global and also national society.

Obedience, faith, and purity in service to God is the duty of all members of God's church. That is the way of peace. To do whatever fighting might be necessary is God's prerogative. May God continue to fight our battles for us! We certainly look forward to His return.

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