Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Deuteronomy 7:2 and when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Deuteronomy 7:2 and when the LORD your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall not make a covenant (treaty) with them nor show mercy and compassion to them. |
Bible Question:
Hello Charis, Actually I am very close to the conflict. My son is in the Air Force and is packed and ready to go! And while I respect his decision to fight for the cause...I still disagree with it entirely. What makes you think that just because God can defend us on a seperate basis as we turn the other cheek in our personal lives, that He is not capable of doing the same for us collectively as a nation against violent madmen? Do you think He is less powerful when dealing with many people than when dealing with only one or a few? How do you justify our actions? While the terrorist wrongly and terribly killed many people...what gives us the right to do the same? Where is it written in the Law of God that we are allowed to kill when one of ours has been killed? Where is the 10 commandments disguished between singular and plural? Where does it say...thou shalt not murder unless you have been attacked by terrorist? Our war is a spiritual war as Christians, not with flesh and blood...but with the principalities of darkness. Here we are to take on the armour of God not the weapons of men. (Ephesians 6:10-18 When it comes down to it, our fight is not with Bin Ladin or any terrorist group...but with the spirits of darkness that cause these men to commit the evil acts they do. From a fleshly, earthly stand point;it is a war of man against man, country against country, with political overdrops. But in Truth, this is ultimately a war of evil against righteousness..a spiritual war. And that my friend, is where the true battle lies. With the tools laid before us, we can move mountains with a grain of faith. Where is your faith? Is it in almighty God or is it in the power to destroy through massive weaponry and the intellegence and reasoning of mere humans? coop1 |
Bible Answer: Dear coop1, Greetings in Jesus' name! Friend, my faith is in Christ Jesus, and I will dwell in His house forever. But for the moment, He has placed me here, among the brethren AND among the heathen. Jesus has given me clear instruction about how to fellowship with the brethren, and I do my very best to live by His instructions. The Lord has also taught me in the Bible that the heathen need to hear the Word of God, and I serve Him in this capacity in a hostile (but not murderous) environment. He teaches that we must portray love and grace, but at the same time be wise and sensible. I'm afraid that history has shown that ignoring and 'forgiving' murder and terrorism has NEVER changed the collective hearts of those bent on destroying all of a different faith. True, God CAN do anything! But history and revelation show that He has not changed and will not change the collective hearts of murderers and warmongers. These things WILL continue until the return of our Lord. I, too, have friends and relatives that have served, or are serving in the Armed Forces of the USA. I know for a fact that their presence and heroic efforts are necessary for what little peace we have now in the world. One day, the Lord will do away with such things, but we are not just going to 'slide into' a peaceful world because of our humanistic 'mercy flow.' This goes against all prophecy of the Bible. In any case, no 'nation' is truly under God, but only those with individual faith in Christ Jesus. I am to submit to this authority, and my nation has declared war on terrorism. I will serve my country if called upon. (Though I am a bit old :-)) I am sorry if you are offended by my comments. Aren't you getting a bit 'hot' for a pacifist? :-) In Christ Jesus, charis |