Is it right to pray for the peace of God’s enemies?
With current events in Israel. I’m very disturbed with the international call for peace and feel that praying for peace in Gaza is contrary to God’s will.
The horrible humanitarian crisis in Gaza is consequential to their regime’s actions – just as so many innocent Germans were caught up in the carpet bombing of their cities during World War 2, which was necessary to overthrow that murderous regime. Meanwhile, no great discussion is made around tens of thousands of Israelis are refugees, displaced from the reach of indiscriminate rocket-fire from Gaza in the south and Lebanon in the north.
Background
So why am I so gun-ho militaristic? Isn’t it plainly written in the 10 commandments:
Exodus 20(KJV):13 Thou shalt not kill.
Well, if you read other translations, they generally say “Do not murder” which is “the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.” However, when I looked up the original Hebrew, the word is as ambiguous as “kill”. This is clarified in other scriptures that mandate killing such as:
Genesis 9:6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.
Unlike the ten commandments, which were given to Israel, the 7 Noahide laws were given to all humanity, as his descendants. These laws prohibit idolatry, blasphemy, murder, sexual immorality, theft, and eating blood, and require government to judge such matters.
I don’t see how Genesis 9 prohibits idolatry, except by inference that it’s the opposite of worshipping God who spared us from the destruction of Noah’s flood. In the 10 commandments we read:
Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.
This is reiterated in the Apostles’ letter to gentiles clarifying religious requirements:
Acts 15:29 … abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.
The key
The key to this discussion is:
Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
2A time to be born, And a time to die;
A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
3A time to kill, And a time to heal;
A time to break down, And a time to build up;
If your theology is that war is always evil, your theology is contrary to scripture.
Judges 3:1 Now these are the nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan 2(this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it)
I find this really curious. God allows enemies to remain around us so that we might learn to fight wars. More blatantly: God thinks war is good.
Joshua 6:21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
I hope you’re getting uncomfortable with this. We need to face this discomfort together. War is not nice. But sometimes it’s necessary. We’re quite happy to go on and on about spiritual warfare, but balk about natural wars.
Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Christians are called to bring down spiritual strongholds, who influence people around us to act as our enemies. If we just kill off those pagans who are attacking us, how are we going to fulfil our mandate to save their souls?
God is no different today than in the Old Testament. That heresy is called Marcionism.
To be good, God must mete out judgement – whether that’s wiping out Sodom and Gomorrah with volcanoes or using Israel as his tool for destruction:
1 Samuel 15:1 Samuel also said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. 2Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”
Since King Saul disobeyed this command, 500 years later King Agag’s descendant plotted the genocide of Jews around Ester’s time. I feel that we’re witnessing another Esther event – where the evil plot against Israel is being turned around for the Jews to rise up and defeat their enemies who intend to wipe them out.
For a government to be good, they must bring criminals to justice. A government that doesn’t punish criminals is wicked. If God didn’t punish the wicked, he’d be evil.
2 Peter 3:9 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.
We see at the end of this universe how he will destroy all oppose him and come against his people:
Revelation 20:7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
Before his millennial reign is a similar event:
Revelation 19:19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.
This is pretty graphic stuff. God’s into war – eventually – to wipe out his enemies.
Key point
My point is that if your theology is “War = evil, Peace = good”, your theology does not align with scripture. Bluntly put, you’ve created your own god that you bow down to in worship. This blasphemous idolatry is as bad as the Pharisees who murdered their Messiah!!!
Historical recap
On October 7th, the regime voted to govern Gaza sent a militia to invade Israel – to brutally massacre men, women, and children, and to take hostages after raping and massacring family members in front of their eyes, and leaving babies behind in ovens to burn to death. Hamas must be brought to justice!!! They’re using every trick in the book to get away with murder!!! And really, it’s not just murder, it’s genocide!!! One of these tricks is to pull on the heartstrings of the world with graphic images of the consequences of the war they brought on their human shields and calling for a ceasefire. Hamas have convinced most of the world that they should be let off with yet another warning. No!!! Hamas must be brought to justice!!! Hamas must be stopped from ever committing such a crime against humanity. Hamas must be stopped from brainwashing their children to murder every Jew as is found in their educational curriculum. Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop with Hamas. They’re just another name in the perpetual genocide against the Jews. This is why the League of Nations granted the Jews the right to settle in the geographic region called Palestine that had been confiscated from Turkish rule after World War 1.
The chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is a call to the genocide of every Jew in Israel, whom they call occupiers. Don’t be fooled by those who soft talk this, saying this really means the 1967 lines. They follow in the footsteps of the PLO, founded by Yasser Arafat, the godson of Hitler’s advisor who lobbied for extermination rather than expulsion of the Jews from Germany. A recent west-bank poll revealed 44% support for Hamas. In Lebanon, Hezbollah have commandeered the government and are continually menacing Israel. Houthi rebels in Yemen are joining the fight with rockets and piracy against Israel-bound ships. Behind all this is Iran chanting “Death to Israel, Death to America”.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem
Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
7Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces.”
8For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
9Because of the house of the Lord our God
I will seek your good.
How can there be peace in Jerusalem when their enemies constantly attack them with militias, suicide bombers, and tens of thousands of rockets fired indiscriminately?
Those perpetrating these attacks must be brought to justice. Unfortunately, this means war. One cannot pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the peace of their attackers. That’s like praying for peace in your home while hateful neighbours keep lobbing Molotov cocktails over the fence. “There’s a time to kill” – there’s a time to administer justice.
God is gradually rolling out his prophetic plan to restore Israel and defeat His enemies. To pray for the peace of God’s enemies is blasphemous idolatry. But do pray that God would continue to provide every opportunity for the salvation of all people whether Palestinian, Jew, or anyone else.
– Brent