I have been somewhat conflicted for years. On the one hand, there is a lot of scripture about treating your enemies nicely.
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat,
and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,
for you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the LORD will reward you.
Proverbs 25:21-22 ESV
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
Luke 6:27-36 ESV
“But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!”
Matthew 5:44 NLT
On the other hand, as an officer in the U.S. Army I had to become spiritually comfortable with the notion of killing lots of people, no doubt sending the majority to eternal damnation. (I left the Army, in part, because I think people are being killed who shouldn’t be, and I didn’t want to have an active role in that. Also, I realized I have no desire to die for a cause in which I don’t believe.)
Phinehas is a Biblical hero because he killed a couple sinners. This stopped the plague.
And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
Numbers 25:6-9 ESV
I say again, hero.
And the LORD said to Moses, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.'”
Numbers 25:10-13 ESV
There are also a number of what I consider “violent prayers” in scripture.
Let me not be put to shame, LORD,
for I have cried out to you;
but let the wicked be put to shame
and be silent in the realm of the dead.
Let their lying lips be silenced,
for with pride and contempt
they speak arrogantly against the righteous.
Psalm 31:17-18 NIV
Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;
LORD, tear out the fangs of those lions!
Let them vanish like water that flows away;
when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.
May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,
like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.
Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.
The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,
when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.
Then people will say,
“Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
surely there is a God who judges the earth.”
Psalm 58:6-11 NIV
I have prayed like this. I have prayed evil people either repent or die. But always, there has been a little “catch” inside when I pray like that. It doesn’t seem to line up very well with these words of Jesus.
“But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!”
Matthew 5:44 NLT
I was reading Revelation last night. (Surprised? Don’t be. 🙂 ) I noticed again I’m helping heaven smell good.
And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 5:8 ESV
There’s more incense in chapter 8.
When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
Revelation 8:1-5 ESV
The “violent prayers” I sometimes pray are part of the “Prayer Bomb” that will go off on earth someday. As long as my prayers follow scripture, they’re ok. The inner conflict I’ve felt for years is a lot less today. For me, mind-renewing sometimes takes a while.
Are you following God's plan for your life? You should. Your plan sucks. It really, really sucks. Suckage Maximus. Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! Jesus is coming. Are you ready to meet Him? Give your life to Jesus Christ. Time is running out.
Lift Up Your Eyes! 