The Bible and War

Tuesday, May 6th

As we continue to reflect on the wars in the Middle-East, especially in Iraq, we ask the question, "Why this war?" We may also ask, "Why war at all?" Some people point to Bible prophecy to answer these questions. They believe it is all mapped out in the Books of Ezekiel and Daniel and the Book of Revelation.

Well, I don't see it that way. Perhaps you think I'm dense. But wait a minute. Do you realize that there are two kinds of Bible prophecy? Much Bible prophecy did predict future events. Much in the Old Testament speaks of Christ. Isaiah Fifty-Three is a good example.

But much Bible prophecy is simply forth-telling, telling it like it is. What do I mean? Well, God spent a great deal of time simply warning ancient Israel. He used the prophets to tell the people about their sin and to warn them about its consequences. These prophecies did not predict the future. They exhorted the people to return to God. For example, Isaiah 1:18 exhorts, "'Come now, and let us reason together,' says the Lord, 'Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow.'" Here is a tremendous word of prophecy urging men and women to turn from sin and return to God.

What about the current war? What does the prophetic word of God say about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, or any war, for that matter? Listen: "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel" (James 4:1-2). The real source of the war, any war, is lust and greed in the human heart.

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