War

In human history, the first recorded declaration of war came from the mouth of God.  You need to remember this, for without it, you are lost.  In the fall, the Adam and Eve allied themselves with the serpent, with Satan.  God could have chosen to let this condition continue, but decided to declare war on the serpent and all his people.  This declaration of war appears in Genesis 3:15.  "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."  When God says that He will put hatred between the serpent and the woman, He implies that such hatred was not already there.  He also puts hatred between the two seeds.  This results in the war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent culminating in the crushing blow delivered by Jesus, the ultimate seed of the woman.  Thus, the first war declared in the history of man was that established by God himself.

Now, you could claim that the first war pre-existed this between the rebellious angels led by Satan and the faithful angels.  You can also point out that the fall occurred because Satan brought this war to earth.  All this is true.  Yet the Bible credits God as the establisher of this human part of the struggle for a theological reason.  This declaration of war is not only the beginning, but also the promise of the end, and inevitable end.  The war was over as soon as it started as surely as God's word, which cannot be broken.  Even so, God who ordains all that comes to pass, ordained also this sequence of events for His own glory.

Throughout the pages of the Bible, human wars have spiritual connotations.  Israel's conquest of the promised land through military action, through war, demonstrates what some call "intrusion ethics," the ethics of the kingdom, of heaven, forcing their way into physical space and time.  Thus, the conquest of the unrighteous, pagan nations by the righteous people of God mimic the war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.  This partly explains why God ordered practical genocide.  There can be no quarter in the war between righteousness and unrighteousness.

The present Christian age sees in these regulations, not a pattern for human conflict, but a pattern for spiritual battle within.  Our greatest war is against the old man, our own sin nature that remains within.  The Spirit wars with the flesh, and in this war, there must be no quarter given.  We must eradicate sin completely.  We are to execute s sin genocide within.  We deplore any genocide of person, for that old age example is fulfilled in Christ.  Now, every nation contains the seed of the women, the people of God.  Genocide, which now arises from racial hatred, violates God's law of oneness in Christ among all nations.

The Christian lives in perpetual conflict.  "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other." (Galatians 5:17)  We live in combat.  We live at war within.  What we must then consider is the question, "What does the origin of war tell us about the present reality of war between people and nations?"

We must begin with two fundamental and seemingly contradictory principles.  First, that war results from sin.  Second, that war is necessary and right when waged against sin. How we apply these principles depends on a number of factors.

Let us first consider the wrongness of war.  Conflict between people comes from the sin within.  When you see conflict, be sure that there is sin somewhere.  After all, it is two sinners, two groups of sinners, two nations of sinners who orchestrate this conflict.  There is no war without sin, and so war will remain until sin is eliminated.  This understood, we must also recognize that often the idea of the right-side and wrong-side are not so easily discerned.  Is there ever an innocent side in a fight?  There may be a relatively more right side, but not a wholly innocent side.

If war includes sin in its origin, we must also understand the sin in its execution.  Men kill other men.  Even though we do not claim this violates the sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not murder," the killing of another human says something about our respect for one made in the image of God.  That we resort to such tactics shows how lightly we consider human life sacred.  We rush to save the unborn and yet rush to kill our enemies also.  Is this proper?

One of the most sobering thoughts about war came to me by a former employer.  He remarked that in war unregenerate men are sent to an eternity without God, even those fighting for a just cause.  If we cannot have compassion for the lives of those we are fighting, can we not pause to consider the damage we do to our own soldiers?  Can we not count those we condemn to an eternity in hell for our safety?

With these sobering thoughts in mind, can we say there is any such thing as a just war?  Consider these words from the Westminster Confession of Faith. "It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a magistrate, when called thereunto: in the managing whereof, as they ought especially to maintain piety, justice, and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each commonwealth; so, for that end, they may lawfully, now under the new testament, wage war, upon just and necessary occasion." (WCF 23.2)  The Confession admits the Christian may be called by God to serve as a civil magistrate.  As such, he holds the authority to wage war for right purposes.  The citations to scripture all deal with examples of Christian soldiers in the New Testament and Romans 13 where the civil magistrate bears the sword.  They chose not to fully develop the definition of a "just and necessary occasion," perhaps due to the situation of the state in which they sat.  Remember, this document arose out of the English Civil War.

What then is a "just and necessary occasion"?  In the Larger Catechism, "lawful war" appears in the context of "necessary defense." (WLC 136)  For this reason, we may adduce that the fundamental purpose of national war is in defense of its citizens.  We need not engage in speculative debates about the extent of threat needed to justify war.  These principles must be applied situationally.  In the abstract, just as you need not be shot before you return fire on an assailant, so you need not be physically attacked before acting to protect.  As one may defend oneself from an attacker who is pointing a weapon at you, so you may defend against one who is threatening with a present ability and effort toward attack.  It also need not be a civilian target.  Soldiers' lives warrant protection as well as civilians.  The Bible does not discriminate between people.

In the conduct of the war, the Bible gives us better guidance.  I direct your attention to Deuteronomy 20.  The entire chapter deals with the way in which Israel was to conduct its wars.  Even though the nation state ceased to exist and the exact force of the law does not directly apply any longer, the "general equity" still ought to direct how we are to consider war to be conducted.  This is how Israel was to deal with those who threatened it. "When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.  And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it." (Deuteronomy 20:10-12)  Verse 15 makes it clear that these are rules from nations threatening the promised land, not the nations under the "intrusion ethics" described before.  For these, the nation was to go to a war footing and then sue for peace.  If the threat was removed, there would be no war.  If the nation continued its belligerence, the war would be prosecuted.  The ultimate goal of a just and necessary war is the return to peace, the elimination of threat.

Casuistry often appears in the rationalization for war.  It is notoriously hard to identify the attacker and the attacked.  Both sides are often at fault, and a just war is often hard to identify.   We may then conclude that war occurs because of sin.  It is right to protect those under sinful, unlawful assault.  War should be limited to the restoration of peace.  Just war theory also deals with the proper organization to wage war, but this goes beyond our study.

War is a grim business.  We cannot treat it cavalierly, considering its hazards and evils.  Even so, I want to leave you with a joyous thought.  Within the orders regarding war for Israel there is a unique event.  Remember, every able-bodied man of a certain age in Israel was expected to go to war.  Before the prosecution of the war, the officers were required to read the following instructions.

"And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.  And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.  And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in" (Deuteronomy 20:5-7)

By these instructions, the Lord demonstrates something to us of His priorities.  Something mattered more to God than war.  He cared about His people enjoying His blessing.  A blessing anticipated, but yet to be enjoyed made you exempt from military service.  A house built, but not yet inhabited; a field planted, but not yet harvested; a marriage planned, but not yet accomplished; the Lord wanted His people to enjoy their lives even in the midst of war.

Even more, that last exception expanded beyond the others.  "When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken." (Deuteronomy 24:5)  The newlyweds were exempted from military service and all business for the space of one year.  It amounted to a one year honeymoon, without the travel.  Note especially the purpose of this honeymoon.  The ESV gets this horribly wrong.  The purpose of this year is not to rejoice with his wife but to bring joy to his wife.  The wives of the men were included in the Lord's concern that His people enjoy His blessing.

In the midst of the darkness and distress of war, the Lord intends for His people to remember His goodness, and to enjoy His blessing.  This separates us from the rest of humanity.  The terrors of war are not to be compared to the blessings of the Lord.  Living Christian in an unchristian world requires us to remember the words of the psalmist in war.  "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." (Psalm 23:4-5a)