3.149 The Bible and self-defence
Many Christians claim that acts of self-defence are unbiblical, unscriptural and ungodly. However, they are un-doubtfully wrong.
The Bible couldn't be clearer on the right, even the duty; we have as Christians to self- defence.
Let's start in the Old Testament.
Exodus 22:2"If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him,"
we are told in Exodus 22:2. The next verse says,
"If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be bloodshed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft."
In other words, it was perfectly OK to kill a thief breaking into your house. That's the ultimate expression of self-defence. It doesn't matter whether the thief is threatening your life or not. You have the right to protect your home, your family and your property, the Bible says.
The Israelites were expected to have their own personal weapons. Every man would be summoned to arms when the nation confronted an enemy. The people defended themselves.
Samuel 25:13: ”David said to his men, "Each of you gird on his sword." So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword, and about four hundred men went up behind David while two hundred stayed with the baggage.”
Every man had a sword and every man picked it up when it was required.
Judges 5:8: "They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?"
Reminds us of what happens to a foolish nation that chooses to disarm. The answer to the rhetorical question is clear: No. The people had rebelled against God and put away their weapons of self-defence.
Psalms 144:1: "Blessed be the LORD my strength which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight,"
Clearly, this is not a pacifist God we serve. It's God who teaches our hands to war and our fingers to fight. Over and over again throughout the Old Testament, His people are commanded to fight with the best weapons available to them at that time.
And what were those weapons? Swords.
They didn't have firearms, but they had side-arms. In fact, in the New Testament, Jesus commanded His disciples to buy them and equip them.
Luke 22:36: "Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."
Matthew 26:52-54: "Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"
If you read those verses in context they support the position of self-defence. Jesus told Peter he would be committing suicide to choose a fight in this situation, as well as undermining God's plan to allow Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection.
Jesus told Peter to put his sword in its place – at his side. He didn't say throw it away. After all, He had just ordered the disciples to arm themselves. The reason for the arms was obviously to protect the lives of the disciples, not the life of the Son of God. What Jesus was saying was: "Peter, this is not the right time for a fight."
In the context of cultural conservative Europeans current war against the cultural Marxist/multiculturalist elites and the ongoing Islamic invasion through Islamic demographic warfare against Europe, every military action against our enemies is considered self defence. There will be much suffering and destruction but eventually we will succeed and may be able to start rebuilding.
We should recall Nehemiah, who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 4:17-18: "Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon”. ”As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built,...”
More information about Christianity and self-defence
There are many passages that talk about war and violence that God approves of, such as David slaying Goliath (1 Samuel 17). Not to mention the fact that God commanded the Israelites to completely destroy everyone and everything in the Promised Land!
As with many questions in our lives, self-defence has to do with wisdom, understanding, and tact. For instance, in the Luke 22 passage stated above, Jesus does tell his disciples to get a sword. Jesus knew that now was the time when Jesus would be threatened (and later killed) and his followers would be threatened as well. Jesus was giving approval of the fact that one has the right to self-defence. Now just a few verses later we see Jesus being arrested and Peter takes a sword and cuts off someone’s ear. Jesus rebukes him for that act. Why? Peter was trying to stop something that Jesus had been telling His disciples was in fact going to happen. In other words, Peter was acting unwisely in the situation. He was trying to stop something that was not supposed to be stopped. We must be wise as to when to fight and when not to.
Exodus 22 does show quite a bit about God’s attitude towards self-defence. "If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed; but if it happens after sunrise, he is guilty of bloodshed. A thief must certainly make restitution, but if he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft” (Exodus 22:2-3). Obviously here we see that when a thief breaks into someone’s house at night and that person defends his home and slays the thief, God does not hold that death over the defender’s head. However, God does not wish for anyone to take law into his or her own hands. This is why it is said that if a thief is struck down during the daylight the defender is guilty of bloodshed. Now this is speaking of thievery, not an attack. So if the thief were to attack the defender even during the day, self-defence would be justified.
Battle verses
"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)
"If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them ... you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land. You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you." (Leviticus 26:3)
God will anoint you with his power to go into battle
If you are operating under a full surrender with God the Father, and walking in all of God's ways and staying out of any serious sins and transgressions against Him - then the next thing you will need to fully realise is that God will now anoint you with His power if you are forced to go into battle with your enemy.
The Bible tells us that we are now all good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Whether we want to face up to it or not, we are all living in a war zone as a result of the curse of Adam and Eve that is still in full operation on this earth. Anyone of us at anytime can come under human or demonic attack. The daily news will prove that to you without any shadow of a doubt.
Each Christian must now make their own personal decision on all of this. You can either choose to learn how to rise up in the power of your Lord and Saviour and learn how to become a true warrior in the Lord, or you can continue to keep your head in the sand and oppressor after oppressor keep beating you down. The choice is yours.
The following verses will show you that God can anoint you with His power to defeat any enemy that may come your way - but you first have to be willing to step into that anointing, and then be willing to take your enemy head on before God will release His anointing through you to be able to defeat that enemy.
Again, study these verses very carefully - as they will show you the incredible supernatural power that God can channel through you if you would be willing to step into and walk with His anointing.
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from me," says the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17)
"... but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits." (Daniel 11:32)
"For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power." (1 Corinthians 4:20)
"Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds." (2 Corinthians 12:12)
Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle - my lovingkindness and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and the One in whom I take refuge, who subdues my people under me." (Psalm 144:1)
"It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on high places. He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze ... I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them; neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed. I have wounded them, so that they were not able to rise; they have fallen under my feet. For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me." (Psalm 18:32,37)
God can anoint you with His supernatural power to defeat any enemy that may come your way - but only if you are willing to step into it and not be afraid to directly engage with whatever storm cloud is getting ready to come your way.
Notice the first verse tells you that you can have God's power and authority to trample over "
all" the power of the enemy - not just against some or part of his power. This means you can have God's anointing and power operating in you to come out completely victorious against any enemy that may attempt to come against you.
God will give you his strength, boldness and courage to walk with his anointing
All of the above Scripture verses are definitely telling you that God can anoint you with His power whenever that power is going to be needed to take on any kind of enemy or challenge. However, there is one more thing that you are going to need before God will release His power through you. And that one more thing is the mental strength, courage and boldness to step out with His power to use it to directly engage with your enemy.
If you are not willing to step out and flow and operate with God's anointing for whatever you are going to need it for - then absolutely nothing is going to happen. If you are not willing to speak out to any enemy that may be trying to attack you - then God's power will not come into the situation to blow them out of there, and they will thus stay right where they are at continuing to attack you.
As you will see when reading some of our own personal testimonies - nothing was happening in all of these adverse situations until that person was ready and willing to step out of his boat with some mental confidence, courage and boldness to face and take their enemies head on.
"If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small." (Proverbs 24:10)
The verse is telling you that if you faint in the day of any kind of adversity, that your strength will be considered small in the eyes of God.
In other words, God is telling you that He does not want you to be a wimp - and He is expecting each and every one of us to learn how to war against any enemy or challenge that could come our way operating under His authority, power and anointing to be able to do so. This is why we are all called to be soldiers of Jesus Christ, not just a select few.
God will go before you to fight your battles
Sometimes God will simply run a protective shield around you where nothing can get through to attack you. Other times something will start to slip through to come directly against you - and then God will move ahead of you to take it out. This is where God will literally take your enemy head on and do battle with it.
Sometimes God will fight the actual battle through you - other times He will simply tell you to hold your ground and position and do absolutely nothing - and then He will move Himself to completely take out the attack coming against you. This is where God shows you how powerful and how awesome He really is when He moves into battle to personally protect you.
Again, these next set of verses are extremely powerful as all of the other ones listed above. Notice the very intense language God is using when these verses describe Him moving into actual battle for you.
These first two verses are specifically telling us that God can be a
Man of War if He needs to be and that He can actually be stirred up to go into battle for you if He has to.
"The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name ... Your Right Hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces. And in the greatness of Your excellence you have overthrown those who rose against You; You sent forth Your wrath which consumed them like stubble." (Exodus 15:3,6)
"The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies." (Isaiah 42:13)
"For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard." (Isaiah 52:12)
"Therefore understand today the Lord your God is He who goes before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said to you." (Deuteronomy 9:3)
"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, 'Destroy!' " (Deuteronomy 33:27)
"I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you ..." (Genesis 12:3)
"Plead my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me; fight against those who fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help. Also draw out the spear, and stop those who pursue me. Say to my soul, "I am your salvation." (Psalm 35:1)
"When my enemies turn back, they shall fall and perish at your presence. For You have maintained my right and my cause; You sat on the throne judging in righteousness." (Psalm 9:3)
"God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If He does not turn back, He will sharpen His sword; He bends His bow and makes it ready. He also prepares for Himself instruments of death; He makes His arrows into fiery shafts." (Psalm 7:11)
"He will guard the feet of His saints, but the wicked shall be silent in darkness. For by strength no man shall prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces; from heaven He will thunder against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed. (1 Samuel 2:9)
"... For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You ... Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel ... thus says the Lord to you: 'Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's ... You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!" Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you." (2 Chronicles 20:12-17)
"Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; they shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish. You shall seek them and not find them - those who contend with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing. For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.' " (Isaiah 41:11)
"You marched through the land in indignation; You trampled the nations in anger. You went forth for the salvation of Your people, for salvation with Your anointed. You struck the head from the house of the wicked." (Habakkuk 3:12)
Other verses:
"The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them." (Psalm 34:7)
"For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways." (Psalm 91:11)
"And let the angel of the Lord chase him ... And let the angel of the Lord pursue them ... Let the destruction come upon him unexpectedly." (Psalm 35:5-8)
"Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared." (Exodus 23:20)
"Then the Lord commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath ... but David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord." (1 Chronicles 21:27, 29)
"And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when the people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses - all dead." (2 Kings 19:35)
"Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died." (Acts 12:23)
The last verse shows that sometimes angels can literally appear to you as a normal human being, usually for the purpose of helping you out with something. There are countless testimonies from people who have been helped out by angels in a moment of crisis - and then all of sudden they are gone as quick as they came.
We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29)
Whenever a human command goes against God's command, we are to obey God.
And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one." (Luke 22:36)
This passage allows for the use of fighting in self-defence.
All who draw the sword will die by the sword" (Matthew 26:52)
To use the sword (or any other weapon) carries the greatest responsibility, and it can indeed be used in self-defence. That is the way I see to balance Luke 22:36 and Matthew 26:52.
Sources:
1. http://www.counterpunch.org/complaint.html
2. Norsk Folkehjelp/NTB-DPA
3. http://www.iacenter.org/warcrime/11_weapn.htm
4. http://www.counterpunch.org/dead.html
Sources:
http://www.bible-knowledge.com/Battl...the-Bible.html http://www.gotquestions.org/self-defense.html
http://www.loveyourenemies.org/sword.html#start
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=25442 
