What does the Bible say about soldiers and war?

1 Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.

2 He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.

3 LORD, what are human beings that you care for them, mere mortals that you think of them?

4 They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.

5 Part your heavens, LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke.

6 Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy; shoot your arrows and rout them.

7 Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners

8 whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.

9 I will sing a new song to you, my God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,

10 to the One who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David. From the deadly sword

11 deliver me; rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.

12 Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.

13 Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision. Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields;

14 our oxen will draw heavy loads.There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets.

15 Blessed is the people of whom this is true; blessed is the people whose God is the LORD.

And with them, by their generations, after the house of their fathers, [were] bands of soldiers for war, six and thirty thousand [men]: for they had many wives and sons.

Chronicles-1 7:11

All these the sons of Jediael, by the heads of their fathers, mighty men of valour, [were] seventeen thousand and two hundred [soldiers], fit to go out for war [and] battle.

Chronicles-2 25:13

But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Bethhoron, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil.

Ezra 8:22

For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God [is] upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath [is] against all them that forsake him.

Isaiah 15:4

And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard [even] unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him.

Matthew 8:9

For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this [man], Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth [it].

Matthew 27:27

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band [of soldiers].

Matthew 28:12

And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,

Mark 15:16

And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.

Luke 3:14

And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse [any] falsely; and be content with your wages.

Luke 7:8

For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth [it].

Luke 23:36

And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,

John 19:2

And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put [it] on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,

John 19:23

Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also [his] coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.

John 19:24

They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.

John 19:32

Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him.

John 19:34

But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

Acts 12:4

And when he had apprehended him, he put [him] in prison, and delivered [him] to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

Acts 12:6

And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

Acts 12:18

Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter.

Acts 21:32

Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul.

Acts 21:35

And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people.

Acts 23:10

And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring [him] into the castle.

Acts 23:23

And he called unto [him] two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night;

Acts 23:31

Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought [him] by night to Antipatris.

Acts 27:31

Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.

Acts 27:32

Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.

As Christians, we know that God has a purpose for every command he gives. He is never gratuitous, never delighting over bloodshed. The Almighty hates “hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil” (Proverbs 6:17-18).

Candice Lucey

One frequent objection raised against the Christian faith is the violence described in the Old Testament. Gideon, David, Joshua: they were among the many leaders who conquered and killed in the name of the Lord. Israel appears to have been a violent nation, and God seems like a despotic warmonger.

What was the Lord’s purpose for war? Why is the Old Testament so violent in contrast to the New Testament — where Jesus offers peace?

The Theme of War in Scripture

A biblical concordance offers over 400 references to war. Break these down, and they include examples of military conflict and of interpersonal conflict. Scripture tells us that there is “a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:8).

Battles were planned throughout the ages, according to God’s appointed time and purpose. The Lord describes his people as “my hammer and weapon of war: with you I break nations in pieces; with you I destroy kingdoms” (Jeremiah 51:20). Jesus warned that his return will be preceded by “wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6).

According to Billy Graham, “The Bible certainly urges us to pray for peace and support those who work for peace. [...] But the Bible also warns us that we will never bring about a complete end to wars and conflicts.” Countries, communities, and families engage in wars, which leave a painful legacy.

Later generations return to those conflicts in physical or emotional ways, hurling bullets or abuse back and forth. Any peace between traditionally hostile nations and neighbors is uneasy, suspicious. Both sides know that a new conflict could flare up out of the bitterness of defeat. The defeated side nurtures a thirst for revenge.

Weapons of war have included swords, guns, cannons, and words. There is always a risk that nations and people living side-by-side with their unresolved tensions will again pick up their weapons for a new attack. Until Christ returns, there will always be war.

Old Testament Bloodshed

There are several Old Testament examples of military engagement where the Lord’s people are overcome by oppressors or are ordered to kill their enemies. “Even a cursory reading of Joshua can provoke questions that leave us confused, angry, and perhaps even ready to give up on the Bible and on God. Why would a good God send his people to take land that belongs to another nation?”

The Lord sent his people into lands, which he had laid aside for them. Israel conquered lands and took lives. The Book of Joshua is particularly challenging, but as Andy Patton argues, we need to read it in context. Yes — there is plenty of violence here, but also a nation of idol worshipers engaging in pagan rituals, which included child sacrifice, rejecting, and mocking the one true God.

The Root of Judgment

Canaan did not spring up out of another god’s creation story; the Canaanites were descendants of Ham, the son of Noah. Each person slain by Joshua and his men was made in the Image of God and descended from Adam and Eve. 

Yet, the Canaanites were led to reject God, turning to debauched religious practices. They were guilty of treason against the commandments, the roots of which were implanted in each person when he or she was shaped by God, even before he gave Moses the Ten Commandments, even if they were not exposed to the teaching of religious leaders.

Paul explains, “The work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them” (Romans 2:15). The Canaanites stood accused.

Biblical Finer Points of War

When Joshua led his army into battle, they were not descending upon a regular town; this was a military outpost. Joshua Ryan Butler explains that “God is pulling down the Great Wall of China, not demolishing Beijing.”

Patton also reminds us that there were boundaries and limits established by God, which limited Joshua’s military pursuits. Parts of Canaan were to be left alone, and Israel was commanded to offer mercy and invite the Canaanites to worship God. Few accepted.

While some might say it was mercy, which motivated the Israelites to spare lives where the Lord had told them to spare none, the Christian knows that God has a purpose for every command he gives.

He is never gratuitous, never delighting over bloodshed. The Almighty hates “hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil” (Proverbs 6:17-18).

Finally, Patton explains that the language of warfare is full of hyperbole and rhetoric, “extreme battle language” typical among the writings of ancient nations. Obviously, when a nation is said to have been wiped out, this cannot be the case if some remnant of that nation is describing events they witnessed.

War is always bloody, but it also has a purpose. In God’s economy, that purpose was to wipe out evil and to be glorified as Sovereign, not gratuitous violence.

Israel was a conquered nation by the time of Christ because they continually chose to worship idols instead of worshiping the Lord. They were never overcome, however, owing to the military prowess of an Imperial power such as Rome or Egypt.

The Almighty demonstrated his sufficiency with the few hundred men who conquered the Midianites (Judges). The problem was internal. In James 4:1, the eponymous epistle writer asked, “What causes quarrels and fights among you?” War never ceases because there is an internal and painful confrontation within the believer, the war to overcome sin.

Christ did not come to earth to lead a decisive battle against the physical enemies of Israel because internal strife is the real problem. James 4:1 tells us, “Your passions are at war within you.”

When Christ healed the paralytic, he first said, “Take heart my son, your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2). The most important enemy was the one, which prevented an individual from experiencing eternal life with Christ rather than eternal death in hell with Satan.

So, while Christians are taught to love their enemies instead of fighting them, they still wear the Armor of God (Ephesians 6) against sin and Satan, their most ruthless enemies. As Gandalf said as the Fellowship faced the Balrog, “Swords are no more use here.”

Paul exhorted the church at Corinth to fight sin with “the weapons of our warfare [which] are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).

The Coming End Times War

Christians anticipate one final, decisive confrontation between Christ and Satan. Christ came to save his people for eternity from their biggest enemy — sin — so removing Satan from his rule over the earth will be the most dramatic and violent war ever to take place.

We know who the winner is already. What we do not know for sure are the details. Revelation offers clues, but much of the language is symbolic. Historical battles are described using extreme language, but how can language avail us to try and depict the final, epic battle?

Fire came down from heaven and consumed [the enemy], and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:9).

Unlike some of the warriors of Israel, Christ will follow through and completely destroy Satan and his minions. We know that victory is certain and since Christ is the leader, he will obey his Father to the last detail.

For further reading:

Did God Condone Violence Found in the Old Testament?

What Is Spiritual Warfare?

Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/zabelin

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