God and Violence
“Where Can God Be Found in Our World of Violence?”
Those words headlined a recent blog. Put differently, is God doing anything about all the mayhem? Are you as a Christian, asking that question? What can you tell your ten-year-old when she asks? If a neighbor raises the issue, what will you say?
In today’s world, violence is breaking out everywhere. Riots are erupting, homicide rates are rising, businesses are being looted and burned. Cities like Portland, Minneapolis, and Kenosha are getting far more media attention than ever before. In this moment, the blogger’s question begs for a biblical answer. Although the article offered helpful insights, it said nothing about a key piece of the God’s-response-to-violence puzzle.
Photo by Oscar Chan from Pexels
Does God Care About Violence?
Long ago, God took a strong anti-violence stance. Back in the days of Noah, says the Bible, ”the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence” (Gen. 6:11). Violence then meant what it does to us now—cruel, destructive, unjust actions. Notice two things here about violence. First, the words violence and corrupt show up in the same sentence. Just as fever is a symptom of the measles, violence is a symptom of corruption. Second, the violence did not escape God’s notice.
The Genesis story goes on to say that God took tough action against this violent infection that had gone global. As The Message paraphrase puts it, “God said to Noah, "It's all over. It's the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I'm making a clean sweep” (Gen. 6:13). The flood came—God’s severe response to wipe out the violence corrupting his earth.
After the Flood, Does God Still Oppose Violence?
God promised not to repeat the worldwide flood. But after floodwaters receded, violence cropped up again. Take the case of the Edomites as an example. They came from the line of Esau, Jacob’s brother. At one point, Esau wanted to kill Jacob. The bad blood between their descendants went on generation after generation. God said to the Edomites: “Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever. . . . As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head” (Obadiah 10 and 15).
How, without the flood option, would God deal with Edom’s violence? Later, through the prophet Ezekiel, God said: “I will take vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel, [emphasis added] and they will deal with Edom in accordance with my anger and my wrath; they will know my vengeance” (Ezekiel 25:14). In other words, God acted (i.e., “I will take vengeance”), but he did so through human beings, the people of Israel, as his deputies to punish Edom for its violence.
God working through human beings should not surprise us. Why? Because at creation, God put people—those created in his image—in charge of his earth. The earth belonged to God, but people made of its dust were to rule it for him. In How God Became King, N. T. Wright, says: “Judaism always assumed that the creator God wanted the world to be ordered and ruled by his image-bearing creatures.” Through human beings, God can carry out even his vengeance-work.
Does God Overlook Violence Now?
“Wait,” someone may object, “Obadiah and Ezekiel—that’s Old Testament stuff. Today we know God as the God of love. Now that Jesus has come and lovingly died for our sins, God doesn’t deal harshly anymore.” You may have sung the old children’s hymn as a prayer to Jesus: “Thou art gentle, meek, and mild,” and “loving Jesus, gentle Lamb.” Yes, Jesus is the Lamb of God. But the New Testament also speaks of him as a Lion. Further, it pictures him like this: “ Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty” (Rev. 19:15).
Ask yourself: Would it be loving for God to simply let violence go unchecked? We are living between Christ’s first coming and the setting-up of his eternal kingdom. God will never again wipe out the world’s population with a flood. But is he willing to let violence run rampant while we wait for his kingdom-yet-to-come? How would such a just-go-along-with-it response to evil demonstrate his love?
But Where Can God Be Found in Our World of Violence?
We’ve already seen pieces of the answer to the original question. First, God fiercely opposes violence. Second, he has used people [e.g., Israel] as his tools for opposing it. Paul brings those pieces together in Romans 13. He tells us that God has put human rulers, government authorities, into positions of power. Their assignment? A major part of it is to curb evil in the world. Government rulers, Paul says, “do not bear the sword for nothing. They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer” (Rom. 13:4).
Government authorities are agents of God’s wrath. An agent carries out work for someone else. Wrath is God’s anger aimed at sin. Wrath-agents of God must be hard-nosed—tough but fair. They “bear the sword.” Swords are potentially lethal weapons. God has given human rulers authority to use force—if necessary even to the point of injury or death to counteract violent wrongdoers. So where can God be found in our world of violence? While he is not physically present in person, he is opposing violence through the work of his representatives, the “agents of wrath” who have the training, know-how, and weapons to stand against it.
Does God Really Do His Work Through People?
How does God feed you? Through the work of farmers, truck drivers, and grocers. How does God clothe you? Through the work of those who weave and sew fabrics. How does God shelter you? Through the work of architects carpenters, plumbers, and electricians. How does God protect you from violent criminals who rape, maim, and kill? Through the work of lawmakers, police officers, judges, jailers, soldiers, and the like.
Abraham Kuyper, the theologian who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, recognized in Scripture what he called “sphere sovereignty.” In other words, God—in doing his work through human beings—parcels out one circle of authority to the family, another to the Church, another to government, and so on. Each sphere has delegated supremacy within the limits of its own field. Only government, God’s “agent of wrath,” has his commission to “bear the sword.”
But What About Police Brutality?
In our day of cell-phone videos and instant news, we too-often see and hear about police brutality. Sadly, even though God gives those in the government sphere their authority, they can and do become corrupt. That was true even back in Bible times. Queen Jezebel killed off God’s prophets. Coworkers conspired to send Daniel to the lions. And King Herod ordered the slaughter of babies. All were government agents who veered out of bounds into violent actions.
Of course, hurtful leaders appear in non-government spheres as well. Sadly, some pastors fall into sexual sin. Some fathers abandon their families. And some police officers use excessive force on those they detain. Detestable as they are, these failures do not erase the truth that God has delegated his authority to and carries out his work through upright people in the Church, in the family, and in the government.
God’s “agents of wrath” in government cannot eliminate violence. They can, however, connect it with consequences. A simple illustration: imagine you are driving on a freeway at 15 miles per hour over the posted limit. Then, off in the distance, you spot a trooper’s car. What will you instinctively do? Yes . . . me too! In a similar way, the presence of enforcement officers puts the brakes on violence. Without lawmakers, police, courts, and prisons, the world would suffer immeasurably more brutality than currently plagues it.
Our World Needs God’s Peace-Preservers
Since the early 1700s, those in the police force have been called “peace officers.” Their job: to preserve the peace of communities. Human government—in this waiting-period for the full establishment of God’s Kingdom on the new earth—is a stopgap provision of God’s common grace. This grace is called “common” because God provides it both for those who follow Jesus and those who don’t. To keep lawlessness from doing its worst in the interim, God has graciously given human rulers the authority to “bear the sword.”
In these disrupted times, when many are saying “abolish the police,” the biblical perspective on the role of government will help us think straight. Should we support the reform of out-of-line police practices? Absolutely! But at the same time, we should back legitimate law enforcement as one of God’s good gifts to the world. As Paul puts it, “the authorities are God's servants” (Rom. 13:6).
An orderly, tranquil environment reflects God’s will for people on his earth. Paul urged Timothy to train Christians to pray “for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (I Tim. 2:2). These words lead me to ask myself some serious questions:
How faithfully am I praying for “those in authority”?
What am I asking God to provide for them and to do through them?
How shall I answer when others ask, “Where is God in our violent world”?