Today's article is about Violence, where it is mentioned in scripture and what we as Christians are to do about it.
When we take a look at Gen 6:11-13 we see that the earth was filled with violence which resulted in God completely flooding it.
Back in the old Testament we see that God made laws against violence which included an eye for an eye and a toothe for a toothe (Exo 21:24, Lev 24:20, Deu 19:21). So basically however you harmed another the same was done to you.
If we take enough time to study our bible we should come across several passages of scripture where God commands his people to not be violent and sure enough we do (Jer 22:3, Eze 45:9).
Throughout the bible we see God's Judgment on those that do violence Psa 140:11, Pro 28:17, Jer 22:17-19, Eze 7:23, Eze 8:17 -18, Eze 12:19, Eze 28:16, Joe 3:19, Oba 1:10, Mic 2:1-5, Hab 2:8, Hab 2:17, Zep 1:9 and Luk 12:45-46 are just some examples of this. This is because God's soul hates those that love violence (Psa 11:5).
In Psa 140:1-4 we have David asking the Lord for protection against the violent man. We find out in Pro 10:6 and Prov 10:11 that violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
A prophecy concerning Jesus in Isa 53:9 shows us that Jesus was not a violent person, and in Luk 3:14 we see John the baptist instructing soldiers to not be violent either. When we take a look back at Eze 18:4-9 God tells us that those that keep his judgments/statutes including not spoiling people by violence will surely live. According to Jon 3:8 and the context thereof we see that the men of Nineveh repented of the violence that was in their hands, at the preaching of Jonah.
As Christians under the NT we can see several passages of scripture that instruct us about this topic. We have Jesus telling his followers to love their enemies, do good to them, and to be harmless as doves (Mat 5:38 -44, Luk 6:27-29, Mat 10:16). Php 2:15 is another verse that shows that we should be harmless as well as blameless. Furthermore we see the apostles Paul and Peter writing and telling us to not render evil for evil (Rom 12:17, 1Th 5:15, 1Pe 3:9). We also see instructions to not be a striker or brawler from 1Ti 3:3, Tit 1:7, and Tit 3:2. 2Ti 2:24 teaches us to be gentle to all.
We also can see by reading the scriptures that we are to be meek, long-suffering, forgiving, merciful and forbear one another as well (1Co 13:4, Eph 4:2, Col 3:12-13), this is a strong contrast to being violent. The bible tells us to get rid of malice (Rom 1:29, 1Co 14:20, Eph 4:31, 1Pe 2:1 ), which is the inclination to hurt other people for no reason, just because you like too, or for revenge; the bible also tells us not to avenge ourselves but allow God to avenge us (Rom 12:19). This is because the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2Co 10:3-4), we are to overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21). We identify hatred and wrath as a work of the flesh and thus avoid it (Gal 5:20).
Although Christians are not supposed to be violent we see from the passage of that we still can practice self defense (Luk 22:36-38), indeed it is a man's duty as a christian to provide for his family (1Tim 5:8). This would include protection wouldn't it.
So in conclusion we see that violence isn't a good thing and we as Christians should avoid being violent. One good thing that Christians can look forward to is a time when we don't have to be concerned about violence anymore (Isa 60:18).
See also: Lev 6:2, 2Sa 22:3, Psa 55:9, Psa 58:2, Psa 72:14, Psa 73:6, Pro 4:17, Pro 13:2, Pro 16:29, Isa 59:6, Jer 6:7, Eze 7:11, Amo 3:10, Mic 6:12, Zep 3:4, Mal 2:16, Mat 11:12
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