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Of Guns and War

Malcolm Hedding, 16 Aug 2007

"His speech was smoother than butter, but his heart was war; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords." Psalm 55:21 (NAS)

Just the other day I was watching a movie about the Crimean War and the "Charge of the Light Brigade." In the annals of war this charge has become famous for its incompetence, recklessness and waste of lives. More disturbing still was the fact that the commanders saw it all as a "game of honor and glory." Men were made for war because, if they survived, it became the pathway to fame and fortune.

The movie further laid stress upon the fact that war was a foundation stone to life’s existence. It almost reminds us of the biblical comment that at the beginning of spring it was a tradition that the kings went out to war! (2 Samuel 11:1).

For sure, war has always been a part of the human experience and sadly continues to be so. In some respects history is nothing but a catalogue on war; that is, who defeated whom and what were the consequences. Empires and great powers have been built and dislodged by war. The biblical prophet Daniel states that wars and desolations will be a fact of life until the end (Daniel 9:26-27).

Jesus, in his Mt. Olivet discourse, referred to the fact that the world would be riddled with "wars and rumors of war." All of this reminds us of the dark, savage side of human nature. Man is drawn to conflict and while talking peace he prepares for war. We see this deception now being played out by president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, who is all the while preparing for the production of a nuclear bomb that -- as he puts it -- will give glory to Iran!! When Pakistan developed a nuclear capability in the late 90s, the people celebrated with much joy in the towns, villages and cities of that nation.

No wonder the Bible warns that declarations of peace need to be evaluated very carefully, because they may be made as a pretext for war! British prime minister Neville Chamberlain enthusiastically declared "peace in our time" after meeting with Herr Hitler! PLO chief Yasser Arafat stated in 1994 that "piece by piece we will destroy Israel with peace." He deceived the Oslo architects even though they were accomplished politicians and scholars! He thoroughly took them in and at the same time made war. The saga is not yet over.

For religious zealots like the Islamic radicals, war is the pathway to heaven. For them the road to heaven is paved with blood and not gold. The more you kill in the name of Allah, so the more you are guaranteed a place of honor in this world and glory in the world to come. To be sure, the al-Qaeda warlord Osama Bin Laden is admired by millions of people today, even though many of them would not admit it publicly.

All this constitutes a commentary on the condition of the human heart. One often hears people saying that essentially human beings are good. Herein lays the first error. The Bible declares something completely different. It says that man is created in the image of God and thus we all deserve individual respect and dignity. Yet the Scriptures describe the heart of man as desperately sick and wicked above all things (Jeremiah 17:9) and that there is none good, not even one (Psalm 14:1-3).

Until we face up to the problem of the human heart, we will be condemned to the fate of guns and war. For this reason, Scripture speaks of humankind’s need to have a change of heart (Ezekiel 11:19). This can only be wrought by the Spirit of God (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

How interesting it is that when the Messiah comes and rules over the world from Zion, the single great achievement of His reign will be that for the first time in history men will learn war no more (Isaiah 2:1-4). Until that day arrives it seems that we are destined to hear the thunderings of guns and war!

Malcom Hedding is executive director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.