God, war and destruction

In the last weeks I have been working my way through the book of Isaiah, and I have to say I have been experiencing an opening and broadening of perspective that is profound. I would like to share a few thoughts on my experience to date. There are a lot of uninspired preachers and teachers that say God is not a God of war, and frankly, the only way I can see this being true is if someone ignores scripture. I think some of this fallacy comes from not understanding the true, or essential war that is taking place. That would be the war between good and evil, or the war between the kingdom of Christ VS the kingdom of Satan. In Isaiah there are many and varied judgments of war, apparently divinely decreed and executed. There are illustrations in images and sounds and implications of the coming doom that are absolutely terrifying. In Isaiah 13:9 we read;

Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

…cruel, wrath, anger, desolation, destroying… who? sinners. those committed to sinfulness and rebellion. Further on in the book God says through Isaiah He will “sweep her with the broom of destruction”.
Destruction in this case is to annihilate or lay waste.

In order to think correctly about war and destruction, we need to first consider Gods view on evil and sin. The bible warns over and over again that those who practice evil and sinful lifestyles will be punished, defeated, cut off…destroyed. In the new testament it is said Christ came to destroy death, the devil, and his works. Christ is victorious in this with his death and resurrection. At this time, however – you and I are in the midst of an all out war, and daily there are prisoners and victims of sin and evil, as well as those being saved and delivered from the power of evil. Not only are the terrors of the spiritual war all around us today, but there are repeated warnings and prophecies of coming war and destruction, including this salient scripture from
Revelation 19:11

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him [was] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

What you will find too, is that those that twist the scriptures to deny these truths of war, destruction and judgment – also have a tendency to have a very “lenient” view of sin and a very compromising and socially correct inclusiveness to their preaching. Some names that come to mind are Greg Boyd, Brian Mclaren and Tony Compolo – who together excrete multiple books (distractions) to employ hours of your time in an effort to distract you from seeking Christ through scripture, empowered by the Holy Spirit. I would advise you as a servant of Christ to turn away from these kinds of authors – take your bible, ask God Himself to teach you His way, ask Him for an undivided heart, pray that He would lead you in the way of everlasting. It is sad to me to see so many being led by blind authors such as I mentioned – and missing the simplicity that is in Christ.

When Paul warned against those having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof – I believe one class of people would be those denying the reality of Gods war against evil and sin, and the power that comes from a truly repentant heart as we kneel before the cross and ask forgiveness for our sins and repent, seeking Gods will to be done in our life today. This power of repentance and a biblical view of sin is one of the most glorious gifts given to mankind, let us not forsake it (and ourselves in the process).