We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
God’s Dream for the World
One of the grandest expressions of non-violent nature of God is found in Isaiah 11. Here God is dreaming of a time when his creation would be entirely free of violence. “The wolf will live with the lamb,” Isaiah says, and “the leopard will lie down with the goat.” So it will be with “the calf…the lion and the yearling,” and he adds that “a little child will lead them” (v.6). In that day, he continues, predators and their prey will eat and sleep alongside one another, for there will no longer be any carnivores. Even “the lion will eat straw like the ox” (v.7). In the end, there will be no fear between humans and animals, not even between young children and cobras (v 8). For humans as well as animals will neither “harm nor destroy” when God’s dream for creation is realized, because “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (v.9).
This magnificent vision of creation in the future parallels God’s original vision for creation as it is reflected in the Genesis 1 account. God told the first couple that he had given them “every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it… for food” (Gen 1:29). And he adds: “And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food” (Gen 1:29-30, emphasis added).
Talk about a passage acquiring significance in light of the cross! This passage makes it clear that God’s original plan was for the whole creation to be free of violence. This means that all violence among humans and within the animal kingdom is the result of something having gone wrong. As the passage from Isaiah makes clear, what is currently wrong is that our world is no longer “filled with the knowledge of the LORD.”
Through prophet Micah, the Lord expresses his dream that someday people,
… will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. (Mic 4:3)
When humanity is once again “filled with the knowledge of the LORD,” instruments of death will be transformed into instruments that support life, and people will no longer even be worried about the possibility of war.
What hope this beautiful anticipation of the future gives in light of the persistent threat of terror we currently live under!
In a similar way, the Psalmist declares that God,
… makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire (Ps 46:9).
Here we see the Spirit of Christ breaking through to turn the warrior image of God on its head! God is indeed a heavenly warrior, but he is a warrior who “fights for peace.” God is not only non-violent. He’s passionately anti-violence! No wonder Jesus refused to call legions of angels to his defense!
Image by Will Bullas
Category: General
Tags: Character of God, Non-Violence
Related Reading
Jesus and Nationalistic Violence
Throughout the Old Testament, we find Israel spoken of as God’s “chosen nation.” The Israelites were to be a nation of priests whom God wanted to use to unite the world under him (Ex 19:6). Since nationalism and violence inevitably go hand in hand, as Jacque Ellul and others have noted, the covenant God made…
Jesus Said, “Buy a sword.” What did he mean?
Yesterday, I challenged the common assumption that Jesus was violent when he drove out the animals and turned over tables in the Temple courts. (See post.) Today I want to look at the second episode some site to suggest Jesus wasn’t totally opposed to violence. It takes place just before Jesus and his disciples leave…
Was the Early Church Pacifistic? A Response to Paul Copan (#11)
In Crucifixion of the Warrior God (CWG) I argue that Jesus and Paul instruct Christians to love and bless their enemies and to unconditionally refrain from violence (e.g. Matt 5:39-45; Rom 12:14-21). Moreover, I argue that this was the prevailing attitude of Christians prior to the fourth century when the Church aligned itself with the…
Responding to Driscoll’s “Is God a Pacifist?” Part I
I’m sure many of you have read Mark Driscoll’s recent blog titled “Is God a Pacifist?” in which he argues against Christian pacifism. I’ve decided to address this in a series of three posts, not because I think Driscoll’s arguments are particularly noteworthy, but because it provides me with an opportunity to make a case against what I’ve…
Imaging God Wrongly: God’s Self-Portrait, Part 2
Our relationship with God depends on the way we imagine God. When we get the image of God right, the doors open for us to trust and relate to God in the ways we were created to do. But there are so many images of God that are entirely messed up. Just think about the…
Why Did Jesus Curse a Barren Fig Tree?
While no one argues that the NT advocates violence explicitly, many allege that some passages reflect violent attitudes toward outsiders, and especially toward non-believing Jews, while others detect an element of violence in some of Jesus’ teachings and behavior. Some scholars argue that this violent aspect of the NT laid the groundwork for later Christian…