In the biblical narrative, war is often depicted as an instrument of divine judgment, a means by which God executes His justice upon nations and peoples who have turned away from His commandments. Throughout the Scriptures, God uses war to discipline His chosen people, Israel, as well as to judge pagan nations for their idolatry and wickedness.

Old Testament Examples

1. The Conquest of Canaan: One of the most prominent examples of God using war as a judgment is the conquest of Canaan. The Canaanites were judged for their abominable practices, including idolatry and child sacrifice. In Deuteronomy 9:4-5 , God tells Israel, "Do not say in your heart, when the LORD your God has driven them out before you, ‘Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land.’ But it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you."

2. Judgment on Israel and Judah: When Israel and Judah fell into idolatry and disobedience, God used foreign nations as instruments of judgment. The Assyrian conquest of Israel and the Babylonian exile of Judah are prime examples. In 2 Kings 17:18-20 , it is recorded, "So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained, and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced."

3. The Babylonian Exile: The prophet Jeremiah warned of the coming judgment through Babylon. In Jeremiah 25:8-9 , God declares, "Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, I will summon all the families of the north,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land and its residents and against all the surrounding nations.’"

New Testament Perspective

While the New Testament does not focus on God using war as a judgment in the same way as the Old Testament, it acknowledges the reality of divine judgment. Jesus speaks of wars and rumors of wars as part of the signs of the end times (Matthew 24:6). The Book of Revelation also depicts apocalyptic battles as part of God's final judgment on the earth.

Theological Reflections

From a theological standpoint, the use of war as divine judgment underscores God's sovereignty and justice. It serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of sin and rebellion against God. The biblical narrative consistently portrays God as patient and long-suffering, yet ultimately just in His dealings with humanity. War, as a form of judgment, is not arbitrary but is rooted in the moral order established by God.

Moral and Ethical Considerations

The concept of God using war as a judgment raises complex moral and ethical questions. It challenges believers to consider the holiness and righteousness of God in contrast to human sinfulness. It also calls for a deep reflection on the nature of divine justice and the human responsibility to live in accordance with God's will.

Conclusion

The biblical portrayal of war as a tool of divine judgment serves as a powerful testament to God's justice and the serious consequences of turning away from His commandments. It is a theme that runs throughout the Scriptures, reminding believers of the importance of faithfulness and obedience to God.Exodus 23:24
You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but you shall utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
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Leviticus 26:17,31-39
And I will set my face against you, and you shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and you shall flee when none pursues you.
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Deuteronomy 28:25-68
The LORD shall cause you to be smitten before your enemies: you shall go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shall be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
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Deuteronomy 32:30
How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?
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Judges 2:14
And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
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2 Kings 15:37
In those days the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.
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1 Chronicles 5:22,26
For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelled in their steads until the captivity.
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1 Chronicles 21:12
Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before your foes, while that the sword of your enemies overtakes you; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise yourself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.
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2 Chronicles 15:6
And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.
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2 Chronicles 12:1-12
And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.
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2 Chronicles 24:23,24
And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them to the king of Damascus.
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2 Chronicles 33:11
Why the LORD brought on them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
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2 Chronicles 36:1
Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.
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Job 19:29
Be you afraid of the sword: for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment.
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Psalm 44:9-16
But you have cast off, and put us to shame; and go not forth with our armies.
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Psalm 60:1-3
O God, you have cast us off, you have scattered us, you have been displeased; O turn yourself to us again.
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Psalm 105:25
He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtly with his servants.
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Isaiah 5:1-8,25-30
Now will I sing to my well beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well beloved has a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
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Isaiah 9:8-12
The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it has lighted on Israel.
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Isaiah 13:3,4,9
I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for my anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
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Isaiah 19:2
And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
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Isaiah 34:2-6
For the indignation of the LORD is on all nations, and his fury on all their armies: he has utterly destroyed them, he has delivered them to the slaughter.
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Isaiah 43:28
Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.
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Isaiah 45:7
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
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Jeremiah 12:7,12
I have forsaken my house, I have left my heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
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Jeremiah 46:15-17,21
Why are your valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.
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Jeremiah 47:6,7
O you sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere you be quiet? put up yourself into your scabbard, rest, and be still.
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Jeremiah 48:10
Cursed be he that does the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keeps back his sword from blood.
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Jeremiah 49:5
Behold, I will bring a fear on you, said the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wanders.
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Jeremiah 50:25
The LORD has opened his armory, and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
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Ezekiel 23:22-25
Therefore, O Aholibah, thus said the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your mind is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side;
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Amos 3:6
Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD has not done it?
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Amos 4:11
I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have you not returned to me, said the LORD.
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Zephaniah 1:7-18
Hold your peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD has prepared a sacrifice, he has bid his guests.
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Zechariah 8:10
For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbor.
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Zechariah 14:2
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
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The Sweet Uses of Adversity
... The Sweet Uses of Adversity. A Sermon (No.283). Delivered ... it. God to prove the
strength of faith, sometimes himself makes war on faith. Think ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 5 1859/the sweet uses of adversity.htm

'Make us a King'
... harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of ... The divine judgment
of the request cuts down to ... In this case, as always, God uses men's sins as ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/make us a king.htm

The Timeliness of Prayer
... It is one of the uses of our present dreadful adversity[4] that we are driven to
bring the great two-handed ... If war is in any sense God's judgment on sin ...
/.../forsyth/the soul of prayer/chapter iv the timeliness of.htm

The Work of God's Spirit
... says to God, "Thou teachest my hands to war, and my ... to be used as God's Spirit Himself
uses them ... of men,""remember, that for all these things God shall bring ...
/.../kingsley/twenty-five village sermons/sermon iv the work of.htm

From Megiddo to Carchemish, 608-605.
... a real Prophet, an authentic Speaker-for-God at once ... verb to prophesy different from
that which he uses of Jeremiah ... and all who were apt for war; none remained ...
//christianbookshelf.org/smith/jeremiah/1 from megiddo to carchemish.htm

The Dove of God
... and said with strange blending of images of war and of ... coming is to make us all Christs,
God's anointed, and ... us for a moment dwell upon the various uses of the ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture a/the dove of god.htm

Letter ccxx. (AD 427. )
... of those wicked and unjust men whom God uses as instruments in ... does not affect your
obligation to love God and not ... stedfastly even in the cares of war, if you ...
/.../augustine/the confessions and letters of st/letter ccxx a d 427.htm

The Instrumentality of the Wicked Employed by God, While He ...
... exclaims, that by his hiss, by the clang of his trumpet, by his authority and command,
the wicked are excited to war. ... If God not only uses the agency of ...
/.../the institutes of the christian religion/chapter 18 the instrumentality of.htm

Soul Winning
... is always an adaptation in the instruments which God uses to produce ... souls to God
if you go not to God yourself ... your battle-axe and your weapons of war from the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/sermons on proverbs/soul winning.htm

God.
... Not only were the war, the pestilence, and the captivity ... of our Hebrew text have
made him do, he uses the title ... he borrows the deuteronomic Yahweh thy God, or a ...
//christianbookshelf.org/smith/jeremiah/1 god.htm

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