DAVID, A MAN OF WAR
“The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die.”
This is a word from General George Washington in an Address to the Continental Army one day before the Battle of Long Island on the 27th of August 1776. This was the first battle of the American Revolutionary War just after the United States declared its independence from Great Britain.
One of the most difficult ethical questions that human beings have grappled with is the matter of war. And there is no better place to consider it than from the Bible. Some people say that the greatest book on this subject is one called “The Art of War” by the fifth century writer Sun Tzu [sun chew].
But the best way to live and the clearest answers to life are found in the Bible. So, practically speaking, the greatest book on this subject is the Bible. You see, the Bible always tells the truth about any and every topic. And the when you adjust your thinking about a subject to what God says about it, you are operating in the realm of truth.
Is the topic of war a pleasant topic? Absolutely not. Yet, it’s a fact of life. As we speak there are no less than 40 wars occurring on planet earth. In “The Encyclopedia of Military History; from 3500 B.C. to the present” by Dupuy and Dupuy (1986) there have been 4345 battles or sieges, meaning there have been upwards to 4,000 wars over the past 5,500 years. That have certainly been a lot of wars on planet earth.
Today we are going back to II Samuel and to the lessons from this book for today. But I’d like you to turn first to a NT book; the Book of James. James, by the Holy Spirit, tells us exactly where war originates. Please open your Bible with me to James chapter four. Please look with me at James 4:1. James 4:1 “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? (2) Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”
Can you see what God says on this subject of war? He makes it personal and he makes it practical. Much of what you will read on the matter of the ethics of war pertains to the philosophical concept of war. And philosophy is very important. But often philosophy takes the issue completely away from the heart of a thing. Here we see that the LORD simply tells you the truth about this subject.
He Who knows the heart tells us that war originates at the very core of our lives. It originates in the sinful impulses of men. It comes from selfishness. The roots of war are found no farther than your own heart. War and fighting come from the lusts that war in your body’s members. Sin is the root and war is the fruit.
This term “lusts” is simply “desires.” When your desires are for things that pertain to you and what you want without regard to what is good and right and beneficial to someone else, you can be sure there’ll be a fight of some sort.
A boy once asked, “Daddy, how do wars begin?” “Well,” dad replied. “Take the first world war. It began when Germany invaded Belgium.”
Immediately his wife interrupts him, “Tell the boy the truth. It began because somebody was murdered.” The husband yanked his head towards his wife, “Are you answering this question or am I?”
Go on to Page Two
This is a word from General George Washington in an Address to the Continental Army one day before the Battle of Long Island on the 27th of August 1776. This was the first battle of the American Revolutionary War just after the United States declared its independence from Great Britain.
One of the most difficult ethical questions that human beings have grappled with is the matter of war. And there is no better place to consider it than from the Bible. Some people say that the greatest book on this subject is one called “The Art of War” by the fifth century writer Sun Tzu [sun chew].
But the best way to live and the clearest answers to life are found in the Bible. So, practically speaking, the greatest book on this subject is the Bible. You see, the Bible always tells the truth about any and every topic. And the when you adjust your thinking about a subject to what God says about it, you are operating in the realm of truth.
Is the topic of war a pleasant topic? Absolutely not. Yet, it’s a fact of life. As we speak there are no less than 40 wars occurring on planet earth. In “The Encyclopedia of Military History; from 3500 B.C. to the present” by Dupuy and Dupuy (1986) there have been 4345 battles or sieges, meaning there have been upwards to 4,000 wars over the past 5,500 years. That have certainly been a lot of wars on planet earth.
Today we are going back to II Samuel and to the lessons from this book for today. But I’d like you to turn first to a NT book; the Book of James. James, by the Holy Spirit, tells us exactly where war originates. Please open your Bible with me to James chapter four. Please look with me at James 4:1. James 4:1 “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? (2) Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”
Can you see what God says on this subject of war? He makes it personal and he makes it practical. Much of what you will read on the matter of the ethics of war pertains to the philosophical concept of war. And philosophy is very important. But often philosophy takes the issue completely away from the heart of a thing. Here we see that the LORD simply tells you the truth about this subject.
He Who knows the heart tells us that war originates at the very core of our lives. It originates in the sinful impulses of men. It comes from selfishness. The roots of war are found no farther than your own heart. War and fighting come from the lusts that war in your body’s members. Sin is the root and war is the fruit.
This term “lusts” is simply “desires.” When your desires are for things that pertain to you and what you want without regard to what is good and right and beneficial to someone else, you can be sure there’ll be a fight of some sort.
A boy once asked, “Daddy, how do wars begin?” “Well,” dad replied. “Take the first world war. It began when Germany invaded Belgium.”
Immediately his wife interrupts him, “Tell the boy the truth. It began because somebody was murdered.” The husband yanked his head towards his wife, “Are you answering this question or am I?”
Go on to Page Two