The way God dealt with the earth under his old covenant was to kill his enemies and command his people (the ancient Israelites) to do the same. He gave them land, asked them to take it by force, and asked them to keep it by force. Thats clearly the old covenant way. Jesus, under the new covenant, says the land is in our heart. Just like the temple was physical in the old covenant, and is now in our heart in the new, so was/is the land. Jesus, under the new covenant, says he is the King of all the earth - the holy land (the whole earth is the Lords). Their is no modern nation (not Israel nor America) that is Gods holy land. It is the whole earth. Jesus, under the new covenant, does NOT condone violence or the encouragement of violence from any believer. Jesus said It was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say... With your enemies we: 1. Love. 2. Bless. 3. Pray for. 4. Give to. 5. Overcome with good. Paul does acknowledge (everyones favorite passage to quote when trying to contradict Jesus - an of thing to do), in Romans 13 - that the government can and will use the sword to defend its citizens. Fair enough - and true enough. But this is NOT the way of Jesus kingdom, it is simply and acknowledgment of reality. But this in no way gives us permission to encourage or participate in violence to stop violence. Simply said - the way of Jesus Kingdom is counter-intuitive. It doesnt make sense (like many of my posts)! :) So lets not quote the old covenant to support our theories unless they can be read through the clear teaching of our Lord and Master - Jesus.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 15:04:09 +0000
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