Holy War?

(From Deepen your Faith Devotional)

The involvement of our country in the war in Iraq inspired many polls for or against the war on the Internet. While many people are quick to point out the need for the war (to gain justice for the human rights violations and acts of terrorism suffered by many; to punish the terrorists), others seem doubtful. Some Christians have asked themselves, Should a Christian ever go to war? Or should Christians be pacifists, refusing to take up arms no matter what the cause? Have you asked yourself those questions as well?

Let’s examine God’s orders for his chosen nation of Israel in the Old Testament. In Numbers 31, God tells his people to go to war with the Midianites and to utterly destroy them. Why did God require such terrible punishment for Israel’s enemies? Aren’t Christians supposed to be loving and kind peacemakers?

To answer this, we have to understand some basic differences between the Old Testament nation of Israel and God’s people today. In the Old Testament, God led his nation to their new home--Canaan. Along the way, they were opposed by numerous other nations, like the Midianites. (After all, who would voluntarily give up his or her home?)

The problem wasn’t simply that these other people were in the way. They also worshiped idols and routinely sacrificed children to these idols.

For Christians today, however, our war is a spiritual one. 'For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places' (Eph 6:12). God’s people today are not determined bynationality, but by spirituality. Whereas God’s blessings and promises before belonged to Abraham’s physical descendants, they now belong to those who are spiritually 'grafted' into Abraham’s line (Rom 11:17). Therefore, when any nation goes to war today, its cause may be just, but it cannot be considered holy in the way Israel’s wars were. Israel had God himself fighting battles for them, and he often gave Israel miraculous assistance and assurance of victory. No modern nation can make that claim.

So, should a Christian go to war? Unfortunately, you won’t find the final answer here. We see in God’s Word that God has, at times, told his people to go to war with other people; therefore, those who believe war is never right should reconsider.