Matt 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?” Jesus is telling us He will allow the scriptures to be fulfilled, even if it means pain and suffering. The great mystery of this verse is that God is doing all He needs to do to allow each of us to have a choice. He could force us to be His servants, however, where is the love in that? The choice He is giving us is in the fulfillment of the scriptures, so we might choose to accept His offer of eternity, or this life alone. Weapons have a place, but disrupting the fulfillment of prophecy is not one of them.
Lk 22:35-38, “And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing. 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. For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.” Apparently, we are to have weapons enough to protect ourselves from something?
Is 2:4. “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” One day we will not need weapons, but this is obviously not that day.
Numb 22:31, “Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.” Even the angels have weapons.
1 Sam 17:50, “So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.” We are to use weapons for defensive purposes; sometimes we need swords and sometimes a sling and a stone will do. This world is filled with evil and people trying to kill God and all of His servants. If we doubt this, we might want to check out this link, if you see a 404 error, look below it for the link: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/04/14/christian-persecution-how-many-are-being-killed-where-are-being-killed.html.
Josh 5:13-14, “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?” Sometimes the angels use their weapons in defense of God’s people and the completion of His plan. Studying the six-day war of the 1960’s might provide us with a modern day example and here is the link: http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/timeline_cdo/aid/525341/jewish/Introduction.htm. The fulfillment of prophecy requires Israel to survive all attempts to destroy it and there have already been many.
Rom 12:18, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” God calls us to live in peace if it is at all possible. God hates murder, which is the shedding of innocent blood, and never asks us to murder any one, Prov 6:16-19, “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”
Matt 24:22, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” Some two thousand years ago God told us that one day we would develop weapons so powerful, they would be able to destroy all flesh. That day came in 1945 when we developed nuclear weapons and God has promised to step in before we use them to destroy ourselves. Sounds like Jesus’ will return just before one of this world’s maniacs is able to push that dreadful button of destruction.
1 Tim 5:8, “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” We are meant to provide for our families and this includes defending them from harm. God does not want us to use our weapons for anything other than defensive purposes. He will take care of the rest, Is 59:19, “So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.”
Comments, opposing opinions and suggestions for future topics are all welcome at: bill@reasoningwithgod.com.