Are you a pacifist?
Should a believer be a pacifist?
What does the bible of Elohim teach us
about
“pacifism” and its movements?
First of all, what is the meaning of the word pacifist? Does a
pacifist qualify an individual opposed to any form of war? Would not the propaganda
of pacifism encourage the acceptance of any power whatsoever, provided war is
avoided? Is this in agreement with Bible examples and teachings? To be pacifist
and to love peace are they synonymous?
I propose to investigate this topic in greater depth in order to
enlighten us and to know better which attitude to adopt towards pacifism.
The believer must in principle guide
his conduct according to the good examples given by the Bible. At the end, the
believer must be an imitator of our Father and Creator, an imitator also of His
Son through whom everything has been created:
Paul writes to us in his first
letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 1:
" Imitate me, just as I
also imitate Christ. "
In his Epistle to the Ephesians,
chapter 5, verse 1, Paul completes by writing to us: " Therefore be imitators of Elohim
as dear children."
So these are well-defined models
that the Bible encourages us to follow and consequently, we should check how
their position versus to the theories emanating from pacifist propaganda.
In Exodus 14:14, we read, "Yehoah (translated by the Lord) will fight
for you, and you shall hold your peace." Similarly in Deuteronomy 1: 30
and 20: 4 is written,
" Yehoah your Elohim, who goes before you, He will
fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your
eyes."
This makes us discover that our Father
example is in some circumstances a fighter who makes war!
To put an end to all the
insinuations of those who claim that Yehoah, the Lord
of the Old Testament has nothing to do with Jesus and the Lord of the New
Testament, I invite you to read how the book of Revelation is describing our
Lord Jesus, at the time of His coming, in Revelation 19: 11-20:
" 11 Now I saw
heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes
war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head
were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13
He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of Elohim.
14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp
sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will
rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness
and wrath of Almighty Elohim. 16 And He has on His robe and on His
thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud
voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and
gather together for the supper of the great Elohim, 18 that you may
eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the
flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free
and slave, both small and great.”
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. 20 Then 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."
In the same way, the book of
Revelation reveals also that the Archangel Michael is also a fighter!
Let's read chapter 12, verse 7:
" And war broke out
in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon
and his angels fought, "
What fight?
This does not mean that a believer
has to fight anyone, anything and anytime. The Children of Israel have learned
it cruelly as we can see in Deuteronomy 1: 42-44:
“42 “And Yehoah said to me, ‘Tell them, “Do not go up nor fight, for
I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.” ’ 43
So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the command
of Yehoah, and presumptuously went up into the
mountain. 44 And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out
against you and chased you as bees do, and drove you back from Seir to Hormah."
There are indeed rules to fight as
Paul reminds us in his second epistle to Timothy, in chapter 2, verses 4 to 5:
" 4 No one engaged
in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please
him who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 And also if anyone competes in
athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. "
One of the essential rules is that
our Father should be with us and not apart. Jesus acts quite the opposite of
the Children of Israel in the following example given in John 18: 33-36:
" 33 Then Pilate
entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said
to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
34 Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or
did others tell you this concerning Me?”
35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief
priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom
were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I
should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”
Jesus demonstrates that he must
follow the rules of his Father and do some fighting only when it is the right
time and not at any time. He will fight at the time revealed by the book of
Revelation and not before.
But this does not mean that Jesus
and his people acting as ambassadors of the Kingdom of his Father, the so-called
believers are not fighting today! It is just the opposite, as Jesus did, the
believer must fight, must wage war (Romans 15: 30-33):
" 30 Now I beg you,
brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit,
that you strive together with me in prayers to Elohim for me, 31
that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my
service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 that I may
come to you with joy by the will of Elohim, and may be refreshed together with
you. 33 Now Elohim of peace be with you all. Amen."
Paul writes that this kind of fight
is a very hard fight and that you have to prepare for it all the time (I
Corinthians 9: 26-27):
" 26 Therefore I
run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27
But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have
preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."
Paul knows what he is talking about
since he was forced to fight beasts in Ephesus (I Corinthians 15: 30-32):
" 30 And why do we
stand in jeopardy every hour? 31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 32
If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage
is it to me? If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we
die!"
Paul was not the only one to fight beasts,
David, three thousand years ago, also fought the lion to protect the flocks of
his father as he was a shepherd! Jesus Christ will do the same but the lion
will be replaced by the beast, the false prophet, and their armies supported by
the large majority of people on earth: the pacifists will certainly be on their
side if they do not convert before !
An essential part of this
conversion, of this radical change that is asked from every man who wants to
become a true believer, is precisely a fight to even to bloodshed
(Hebrews 12: 3-4):
"3 For consider Him
who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary
and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to
bloodshed, striving against sin."
Who is the enemy to fight?
The believer does not fight any
enemy. He must indeed fight the one who is really his enemy, the one who
endangers his eternal life in case of failure!
We have just read that one of our
enemies who must be fought to bloodshed is sin. Fighting sin means fighting our
flesh, our carnal nature that usually are dictating the actions of our body and few people
understand it as they are blinded by the materialism of this world especially
in these last times before the end (Romans 8: 12-17):
" 12 Therefore,
brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13
For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you
put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as
are led by the Spirit of Elohim, these are sons of Elohim. 15 For
you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the
Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit
Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of Elohim, 17
and if children, then heirs—heirs of Elohim and joint heirs with Christ, if
indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."
It is indeed the Spirit who must
take power in our carnal bodies to put an end and to kill all that is bad in us
(Galatians 5: 17 and 24):
" 17 For the flesh
lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are
contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish....
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its
passions and desires."
By fighting in this way, we
indirectly close the door to the essentially destructive action of Satan and
his demons who roam in search of the prey we can become
(I Peter 5: 8-9):
"8 Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing
that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. "
With which weapons should we go to war?
Every fighter, every warrior must be
armed and must also know how to use his weapons before going into battle.
The weapons of the believer are not
the ones you usually hear about, they are not tanks, cannons, fighter planes,
bombers, intercontinental rockets, nuclear weapons! No, because all these
weapons will be destroyed at the end (Ezekiel 39: 9-10):
" 9 “Then those
who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the
weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and
spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years. 10 They
will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because
they will make fires with the weapons; and they will plunder those who
plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them,” says Yehoah
Elohim."
Already in the psalms, it was
clearly explained that there is no value to put his trust in this type of
weapons (Psalms 20: 7-9):
" 7 Some trust in
chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of Yehoah our Elohim. 8 They have bowed down and
fallen; But we have risen and stand upright. 9
Save, Yehoah! May the King answer us when we call."
The believer's weapons are indeed
quite different in their concept. Let us read in Isaiah what are the weapons
that Yehoah has putting at the disposal of his people
when the situation is desperate (Isaiah 59: 15-20):
" 15 So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Redeemer of Zion Then Yehoah saw it, and it
displeased Him that there was no justice. 16 He saw that there was
no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm
brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him. 17
For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His
head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal
as a cloak. 18 According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,
fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; the coastlands He will
fully repay. 19 So shall they fear the name of Yehoah
from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; when the enemy comes
in like a flood, the Spirit of Yehoah will lift up a
standard against him. 20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” Says
Yehoah."
These are the same kinds of weapons
that are available to the believer (Ephesians 6: 13-17):
" 13 Therefore take
up the whole armor of Elohim, that you may be able to withstand in the evil
day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having
girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16
above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of Elohim; "
Conclusions
As you have read, the Bible answers our question from the
beginning:
THE BELIEVER, IF HE SEEKS PEACE, MUST KNOW HOW TO FIGHT AGAINST THE
ENEMIES OF PEACE!
THE BELIEVER IS FAR FROM WHAT IS A PACIFISTE TODAY,
HE IS A WARRIOR THAT MUST BE VIRTUOUS AND COURAGEOUS TO COMBAT!
LOVING PEACE DOES NOT MEAN TO BE A PACIFIST!
WHEN OUR LORD CHRIST-JESUS WILL COME, TO TAKE POWER ON EARTH, THE
JEWS OF JERUSALEM WILL NOT BE PACIFISTS, BUT THEY WILL FIGHT WITH HIM LIKE THE
SAINTS (Zechariah 10: 3-7):
"
3 “My
anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the goatherds.
For Yehoah of hosts will visit His flock, The house of Judah, and will make them as His royal horse in
the battle. 4 From him comes the cornerstone, from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together.
5 They shall be like mighty men, who tread down their enemies in the
mire of the streets in the battle. They shall fight because Yehoah
is with them, and the riders on horses shall be put to shame. 6 “I
will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. I will
bring them back, because I have mercy on them.
They shall be as though I had not cast them aside; for I am Yehoah
their Elohim, and I will hear them. 7 Those of Ephraim shall be like
a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as if with wine. Yes, their
children shall see it and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in Yehoah."
And let us read also the following
(Zechariah 14: 3-14):
"
3
Then Yehoah will go forth and fight against those
nations, as He fights in the day of battle. 4 And in that day His
feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And
the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very
large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it
toward the south.
5 Then you shall flee through My mountain
valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you
fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king
of Judah.
Thus Yehoah my Elohim will come, and all the saints
with You.
6 It shall come to pass in that day that there will be no light; the
lights will diminish. 7 It shall be one day which is known to Yehoah— Neither day nor night.
But at evening time it shall happen that it will be light. 8 And in
that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them
toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both summer
and winter it shall occur. 9 And Yehoah
shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be— “Yehoah
is one,” and His name one. 10
All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba
to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be
raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin’s Gate to the place of the
First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel
to the king’s winepresses.
11 The people shall dwell in it; and no longer shall there be utter
destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
12 And this shall be the plague with which Yehoah
will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: their flesh shall dissolve
while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and
their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths. 13 It shall come to
pass in that day that a great panic from the Lord will be among them. Everyone
will seize the hand of his neighbor, and raise his hand against his neighbor’s
hand; 14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all
the surrounding nations shall be gathered together: gold, silver, and apparel
in great abundance."