HolyWord.com – Read the Bible Today!

The Short answer is sin and Evil are the cause of violence and war. Where there is sin, different problems and abuses begin to arise. Where sin grows unchecked into extremes of evil, there is a diminishing concern for others, even to the point of violence and war. Let's see how the Bible reveals the existence of sin, sin's growth into violence, and what God's plan is for handling it. Original GraceBefore we get into details of sin and war, let's take a moment to look at the original grace, before there was a sin. The first people who knew God (Adam and Eve) lived in the world, worked (cultivated) and had food to eat. God provided for them and they trusted in God. There was no sin.The Bible May Not Have existedIf original grace had continued without sin, there would be no war and possibly no need to write a Bible because no one needed anything more to be saved. History may have been filled with joyful stories & prosperity, telling of the goodness of God. The Bible Exists for people that have fallenThe Bible exists for people that have fallen into sin. It describes what happens when people choose evil, the negative effects it has on them, and the way to get restored back to good health, by choosing goodness with God. The Bible was written for us sinners. The Old Testament sin cycleThe Old Testament is filled with countless stories of this fallen theme. Prideful man (men an woman) choose not to trust God, They follow their own desires, They take from others, cause strife, retaliate, and create war. This has major negative consequences. They realize their sin, They are sorry, and want to be free from the pain sin causes, They ask God for forgiveness, They return to the Lord (for a while) The cycle repeats. How many ways can people sin?in the Old Testament, the people would sin until they failed, live through the consequences, and come back to God for help, where he restored them. The problem is they don't fully trust God yet, so once another opportunity came along, they pridefully tried a different path on their own. The Scriptures show sinful people trying almost every way imaginable to do things their own way and their failures. The Bible shows over and over, choosing to be away from God leads to failure. The sinner harms others and himself The Absence of GoodEvil is the absence of good. Freely choosing to be away from God's presence results in us being further away from the goodness of God's grace. Evil is not neutralIn sin. a person follows their own desires for their own gain; gluttony, sloth, lust, greed, wrath, envy, and pride. If left unresolved these can grow into deadly sins; One of those is greed for power. When left unchecked, greed for power takes from others for one's own gain; violence, killing, and war. History is filled with it. The Bible presents the reality of a fallen sinful world. That honesty adds to the truthfulness of the Bible, but it doesn't condone sin. To Make matters worseTo make it even worse, humans are not the only ones who have chosen evil. Angels have as well. Some chose God and are completely free from sin. Some chose to be away from God and are completely full of evil; The Devil and his demons chose evil and prowl about the world for the ruin of souls. The Temptation of Jesus Temptation:When we sin it is not like we are in a neutral state between good and evil. We remove ourselves from God's protection. The more we sin, the less grace we have. When we have less grace, the Devil and the demons can tempt us more easily. Sin is not neutral.But... God has not given up on us...After Adam and Eve listened to the Devil and sinned, God did not give up on them. They felt shame, they had to leave the garden, and things were more difficult than before, but God did not hand them over to the Devil, there will be an ongoing battle. Gen 3:14-15 14 Then the LORD God said to the snake: …15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel. Is Murder God's plan? Shortly after we see Cain murder his brother Abel out of jealousy. This was not God's doing. He warned Cain against the sinful path... Gen 4:6-76 Then the LORD said to Cain: Why are you angry? Why are you dejected? 7 If you act rightly, you will be accepted; but if not, sin lies in wait at the door: its urge is for you, yet you can rule over it. The Lord is telling Cain that he can still choose to act rightly, avoiding sin. Cain does not listen and commits murder. Gen 4:8Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out in the field.” When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. It is clear that God did not want murder and banished Cain. Turning away from God, sin ended in murder. ACIREALE, ITALY - APRIL 11, 2018: The fresco Killing of Abel in Duomo - cattedrale di Maria Santissima Annunziata by Pietro Paolo Vasta (1736 - 1739). These events were included in the Bible to warn us not to make the same mistake, to teach us to rely on God.Cain let sin rule him to the point of murder. After Cain we see sin spread like a plague. Violence and war spread. God did not cause this, He warned against it. The Bible does not promote violence and war.The Bible does not promote violence and war. However, it does record it as history for us to learn something. Within all the turmoil, God's plan continues. He remains faithful to His people when they repent and turn back to Him. The pattern of sin repeatsThis pattern repeats in the Bible over and over. Some readers may get tired of it or expect things to be nicer, but sin exists in the world and the Bible includes the reality of it.People Need God to SaveWithin a world of various types of sin and violence, God saves. Each time the circumstances are a little different, but the people fall into grave sin and the Lord is there when they repent. FREE WILLGod gave people free will. He gives them the freedom to make choices to trust in Him or not. If He stepped in to stop every sin, then it wouldn't be free will. We would be like robots or slaves with no real choice at all. He allows free will to give us a chance to learn the difference between good and evil and decide freely which path to choose.Ongoing BattleIf we go back to Gen 3:15, there will be an ongoing spiritual battle between the Devil and the people. The Devil can tempt people but he cannot subdue them against their will. The Devil is still a creature, a fallen angel. God is infinitely more powerful so we can always call on God for help. Why Does God kill some people in the Bible? Isn't that against a commandment?We do have commandments to live orderly within this world, but God is not bound by this world and sees things differently. We may think in terms of someone's life ending when they die in this life, but to God, their life is still young and eternity is just beginning. This world is just temporary. It is a place where people can learn and choose wisely between good and evil. The Bible makes no promises as to when each person's life ends. Scripture says to be ready since we don't know the day or the hour. Before the Messiah came, if someone truly wanted to be saved they could be. If they were totally against God, then He sometimes judged them and moved them into the next life. Death of king Achab, graphic collage from engraving of Nazareene School, published in The Holy Bible, St.Vojtech Publishing, Trnava, Slovakia, 1937 We call it death, but from God's perspective, He is granting them their choice in eternity. They may not like where they end up, but it is their free choice to be separated from Him. Given a choice between pure evil and His peopleIn the Old Testament, given a choice between pure evil and His people who He had a Covenant promise with. God chose His people and rebuked the evil. It is rare to have a whole community that is permanently turned away from God, but it can happen. Sodom and Gomorrah, The Ban of the Canaanites, The evil priests of Ball These crossed the line of merely being sinners who could repent, into totally wanting sin in their way of life, apart from God.If any wanted be saved they could have been. At the ban of the Canaanites, the Canaanites had ample time to give up their false gods, their idolatry, and barbaric sacrifices of children. Rahab was one who listened and was saved. If they wanted complete separation from God and God granted it to them for eternity, who are we to judge God? God's original request was different40 years earlier, if the Israelites had trusted God and walked into the promised land as He asked, they could have returned home and converted the whole land by the strength of their faith (as the Christians did later with Rome). They chose not to listen, trained for war, and their sinful path led to ongoing problems with the Canaanites after that. The bloodshed could have been avoided if they had trusted the Lord. Sinful people can't do it on their own.The Old Testament reveals to us that sinful people can't do it on their own. They repeatedly fall into sin. Even when they came back to God, it was only a matter of time before they sinned again. They needed something more.GOD PROVIDES THE ANSWERGod knew this from the beginning, but people needed to see the futility of sin and its consequences over and over before He provides them with the ultimate answer, sending his only son, the Messiah, Jesus. The Crucifixion Jesus is the answerJesus accepted all the sin and all the violence, placing them on his shoulders as He died to the cross. He became the Sacrifice that changed everything. Just as God reminded Cain to avoid sin and its consequences, Jesus reminds us that sin, violence, and war are not the solution... Jonh 13:3434 I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. Trust In HimIf we learn from the Bible and place our trust in Jesus, then we have learned something valuable, that no sin, no violence, no war, and no evil can separate us from the Love of God. He is our eternal reward in heaven. In Summary of 'Why is there so much violence in the bible?' Free will exists for each person, so the potential for sin and violence existed then as it does now.The Bible does not promote violenceThe Bible shows us the evil consequences of violence.If the Bible avoided the history of violence that would be fiction.The Bible helps us see how goodness, love, and self-sacrifice prevail over violence.The fall was great, but Jesus conquered sin and death.Redemption is greater than sin! This May Interest You: Why Are Animals Killed in the Bible?Family Ideas: Fun Bible Games - Visit Our Online Gift Store Would You Like to Read a Quiet Psalm? - Click Here VIENNA, AUSTRIA - FEBRUARY 17, 2014: Christ the King statue by architect Richard Jordan and artist Ludwig Schadler from year 1933 in Carmelites church in Dobling. Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

.

Recent Posts