God and War
Jesse2016
There is a lot of questions surrounding the ethical justification of war and a good place to look is in the Bible concerning this issue. In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was commanded to go to war against the nations that lived around the present day boundaries of Israel; for example the Canaanites, Hivites and other nations. These nations were particularly sinful, practicing things like divination, engaging in witchcraft and even sacrificing their children in the fire (Deut 18:9-11). So God decided to wipe out all these people so that Israel would not be tempted to practice the same sinful practices as those people before them. Deut 20:16-18 says “However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.”
This doesn’t mean that God doesn’t want certain people to be saved but rather God wants all people to be saved and to repent. 1 Tim 2:3-4 says “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” Likewise 2 Pet 3:9 says “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” This means that God is very patient with people and gives them many chances and lots of time to repent and be saved. But God doesn't let sin go unpunished forever, there's a point when God says enough is enough and unleashes his fury on the sinners. For example, God knew that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were utterly sinful, but he sent two angels to make sure that it is true and to give them the benefit of the doubt (Gen 18:20-21). Therefore, while God sometimes does allow war to happen for his divine purpose, ultimately he wants everyone to be saved and to receive eternal life with him forever.
Comments
Don't forget to add the Amalekites to the list of completely destroyed peoples. I guess they had it coming, too.
Yes the Amalekites were completely destroyed because of how they harassed the Israelites while they were travelling to the Promised Land. But the interesting thing is that the Edomites, Ammonites and Moabites were initially treated as peaceful neighbours since they were related to the Israelites but when these nations attacked Israel they forced Israel to go to war with them.
Somehow I can accept it if God uses a mysterious or divine force to wipe out cities or an entire people. But when God is said to command the Israelites to do the same, it raises some concern for me.
People should take responsibility for the difficult decisions they have to make in challenging times. Saying "God commanded that we do it" lets us too easily relieve ourselves of that heavy burden.
Sure, the Amalekites (and others) frequently attacked the weakened Israelites for several hundred years, so retribution was warranted, perhaps for survival. It may have been a necessary act of war (dare I say genocide), but not a moral one.
I don't know if God wants the Swedes to be saved though. They are kind of infidels. You know they disbelieved in Dio but in the end Dio teaches them a lesson. The double Spaniards also... kind of evil cos of greedy ways which our Lord doesn't accept.
But remember though even if there are only a few true believers in Sweden or Spain, God is still willing to spare the people for the sake of the believers. Remember God was willing to spare Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of ten righteous people in the city. Ultimately there weren't even ten but it shows how God is merciful to countries even if only they have a few true believers.