Beloved Christian Israelites!
Christian Israelites have no mandate for taking up arms.
God gives the dominion to whomsoever He wishes, and the ones who have the power are the ones who have been given the dominion by God. This was the lesson which king Nebuchadnezzar had to learn, and finally did learn, that God gives the dominion to whomsoever He pleases, also to the king of Babylon, as it is written of Nebuchadnezzar’s madness: “That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.” (Daniel 3:25, my underlining)
Now, if the king of Babylon can learn that God gives the kingdom of men to whomsoever He will, how much more should God’s own people Israel acknowledge that God gives the dominion to whomsoever He will, even to Israel’s enemies!
Some may ask: What then if the Jews manipulate the authorities to come and arrest you, or even kill you, do you then have God’s mandate to pick up your arms and resist?
To answer that question, first answer this question: Do you want to do what the Lord Jesus did? Do you want to follow Jesus?
What would the Lord Jesus Christ have done if the Jews had manipulated the authorities into arresting Him, and even killing Him? The answer is very simple, because it actually did take place, after Judas Iscariot’s betrayal, where the Jews came with Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus and eventually killed Him.
When this took place, Simon Peter decided to pick up his arms, and even smote the ear off a Roman soldier, as it is written: “And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear. Then Jesus said unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou not that I cannot pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:51-53, my underlining)
Now to answer the question: Do Christian Israelites have mandate to take up arms if the authorities come “to get you”? No! because the Lord Jesus knew that they came to get Him, and also knew that they would eventually kill Him, and He still let them take Him, and even rebuked the apostle who took up his arms.
Remember: being arrested and killed was not Jesus’ biggest failure, as the Jews had hoped it would be, but His biggest success.
Paul spelled out very clearly in Romans chap. 13 that Christians should submit themselves to the political powers: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” (Romans 13:1) And: “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:” (Romans 13:3)
Remember that Paul wrote these words to Christians who lived in the pagan Roman Empire, where there was far less freedom than in the West today. How much more should Christian Israelites today not appreciate the freedom that we have, when we think of how Paul and his contemporaries lived!
The Swedish Pentecostal pastor Åke Green told God’s truth about homosexuality in his church and was in 2005 sentenced to one month in prison (but later acquitted). Did he do the right thing?
When Daniel the prophet's three friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refused to fall down and worship Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon's golden image, Nebuchadnezzar threatened them with being thrown into a burning fiery furnace.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego continued to refuse to fall down and worship the image, and answered the king of Babylon: “… our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18)
When the king of Babylon's mighty men came to bind Daniel's three friends, they did not resist, and were saved by God when thrown into the burning fiery furnace. They were obedient to God, and while they were not entirely obedient to the king of Babylon, neither did they rebel against him. Ã…ke Green defied the Swedish authorities peacefully and non-violently in order to be loyal to God, and did not take up arms against the state. He was therefore a good example of a Christian who followed in the spirit of Daniel's three friends.
Ã…ke Green and Daniel’s three friends therefore stayed within God's limits, even though they crossed “the king of Babylon's” limits.
In Numbers chap. 25 Israel was sinning, and the Israelites were committing whoredom with Moabite women, and an Israelite man openly took a Midianite woman in front of Moses and all of Israel: “And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through the belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.” (Numbers 25:7-8). For doing this, God gave Phinehas an everlasting covenant of peace and priesthood because Phinehas was zealous for God’s sake (Numbers 25:10-13).
Phinehas’ act was obviously very good in God’s eyes, as can be seen from the context. It can, however, be done in a better way, because one of the Ten Commandments reads: “Thou shalt not kill.” (Exodus 20:13)
Christian Israelites who see Israelites who likewise bring in obvious non-Israelites into Israel circles, can quote the Word of God to the Israelite sinner about mixing with non-Israelites (Deuteronomy 7:3, Judges 3:5-8, and Nehemiah 13:3, etc.). That would be continuing in the spirit, but not the acts, of Phinehas.
By quoting the Holy Scriptures the Christian Israelite can thus redeem the acts of Phinehas, by doing it in a better way, a peaceful way, and without shedding blood.
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12)
Moses could have chosen to start a rebellion, but he did not. Instead he communicated with God, Israel, and Pharaoh, and let God do the job. Eventually Israel was let go, and the Israelites had not even picked up arms. God was given the glory!
Jesus could also have chosen to start a rebellion, but He did not. Instead He preached the Gospel of peace, in peace.
God does not want His people to rebel, but to repent.
December 2008