In Jeremiah 13:22, the prophet declares “If you say in your heart, ‘Why have these things happened to me?...” In this passage, the prophet attempts to address one of the most difficult personal questions of life: Why? In my four previous tidbits I dealt with the question of “Why” on an individual basis.  However, I want to broaden this tidbit to include mankind in general as I look at the ‘Why?’ of war.
   God gives His ‘general’* view of war in James 4:1-2:
1.Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
2.You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

James 4:1-2 is a straightforward statement regarding wars between nations! The phrase: “your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” in James 4:1 refers to man’s sin nature. Man’s sin nature is defined as the evil which exists in every human from conception (Ps51:5;Rom5:12).
   For example, David describes the sin nature in Psalms 51:5: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” And, Paul also describes it in Romans 7:18-20NAS:
18.For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing…”
19. “…but I practice the very evil that I do not want.”
20. “…but sin which dwells in me.”
So…in general, human wars originate in the sin nature of man!
  However, there is a very important ‘different’ side of war. For example, God describes Himself as a man of war(Gen15:3), which describes the aspect of God’s righteous nature that must respond to man’s sin. In addition, God repeatedly reveals His name as the Lord of Hosts (Ps24:10; Is14:24), which means the ‘God of armies’. Furthermore, in response to their sin, God determined Himself at war with Amalek “from generation to generation”(Ex17:16), which means forever! And finally, the archangel Michael is the angel of war(Jude9; Rev12:7)…all of which means in addition to man’s sin nature, God ‘uses’ war as judgment to bring about His perfect will in the earth to judge man’s sin. In other words, because God is perfect, holy, and righteous, He can ‘use’ evil to bring about good(Gen50:20; Judg14:1-4; Jn11:49-50;Rom8:28).
   On the other hand, and yet another variable is that God deals with Israel just a bit differently from other nations due to His ‘forever calling’ (2Sam7:22-24; Ps106:8,10). For example, God promises to fight for Israel against her enemies, to win their battles(Deut20:4), which God will also do for other nations when their behavior and cause is righteous. However, one difference is that when God judged Israel for sin (for example see the book of Judges; Joshua 7:9-11; Assyria(722BC); and Babylon 586BC) His ‘forever calling’ did not allow Him to completely destroy Israel from the face of the earth, like other nations who sinned against Him; such as Amalek(Ex17:16), and other nations found in Genesis 15:19-21. That is a short overview on how God dealt with war between nations in the Biblical text.
   Although I do not know the reason for all wars, I do believe God has unveiled to me reasons for some wars. In the time and space remaining, I would like to address the reason for a war in America’s past: the War for Independence in 1776, a.k.a. The Revolutionary War.
   In short, God used war to separate Britain from America’s 13 colonies ‘because’ of the calling on America to be a beacon of freedom to the world. From 1776 to this day, the Declaration of Independence serves as one example of God’s call on America to gift and establish freedom—not just in America—but in all nations of the world!! In other words, America’s Declaration of Independence introduced God’s first purpose of government: to secure individual human freedom (rights)---I repeat—not just to America, but to all nations everywhere!!
   However, God’s freedom is not defined as an absolute freedom to choose anything! Why? Remember, man’s sin nature! Founder James Wilson declared, “Without liberty, law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression. Without law, liberty loses its nature and its name, and becomes licentiousness.” In addition, Founder Fisher Ames, author of the First Amendment stated: "The known propensity of a democracy is to licentiousness which the...ignorant believe to be liberty." In other words, there is no absolute freedom to do anything you want!
    On the contrary, the Founders of this nation defined freedom first as the right to choose the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as its spiritual foundation!!!! Why a freedom to choose God? Because our wise Founders were either Christians or Christianized and fully understood that humans have a sin nature(Rom7:14-21), which means if freedom is without restraint, man’s choices will include the sin nature, i.e.sin--which does not free mankind, but blinds him(Jn1:9;Ps36:9;Lu11:34-36) and enslaves him (John8:34)!! Remember, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”(Pro14:34)
   Furthermore, man’s ‘freedom’ not only requires a choice’ to choose God (Ex20:3; Josh24:15), but to also choose one’s unique calling(2Tim1:9)—which are heads and tails of the same coin. I repeat, God’s freedom, i.e.America’s freedom begins with two choices: 1.To choose God; 2.To choose His unique individual purpose.
   Although there is much evidence for ‘freedom’ as God’s gift to America, allow me 4 examples:
1.The Declaration of Independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
   The absolute key to this statement is that the rights of freedom are God-given!! In other words, humans can’t define freedom, nor the rights of freedom—without God!! Why? Because of man’s sin nature!!
    Another example of man’s sin nature is found in Romans 8:3 –“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh(sin nature), God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” Why did God condemn sin in the flesh? Romans 8:7 declares–“Because the carnal mind (the thinking of the sin nature) is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
  Although God gave Adam the freedom to choose from any tree in Eden, He commanded him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—which God sovereignly determined as sin! In other words, freedom to choose sin does not exist!
2.God’s calling upon America for freedom is what inspired Leviticus 25:10 to be impressed on America’s Liberty Bell: “And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof…”
3.The second President John Adams said, “…it is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand.”
4.President Abraham Lincoln declared, “The Declaration of Independence gave liberty not alone to the people of this country, but hope to all the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence.”
   Notice the word “all” in Lincoln’s statements. Lincoln was speaking ‘prophetically’; expressing the call of God upon America to reveal freedom…to the world!!!!
 
   In conclusion, the War for Independence was not only a war for America to become free from Britain; but that God would use the war to catapult freedom around the world!   
 
*God determines two reasons for war in scripture:
            i.General reason, i.e.the sin nature (Jms4:1,2)
            ii.Specific reason (God’s judgment upon one or both parties
               involved in the war for sin (2Chron12:1-2;1Sam15:1-2)!)
In addition, remember God has two ‘wills’ toward man: 1.Benevolent will(Lu2:14); 2.Judgment will(Eph5:6). Technically, God’s only will is benevolent, however, because He is absolutely just, He must respond to man’s sin, which results in what is called His Judgment will.
 
 
QuoteBit
"Religion and liberty are the meat and drink of the body politic. Withdraw one of them and it dies... without religion we may possibly retain the freedom of savages, but not the freedom of New England... If our religion were gone, our state of society would perish with it and nothing would be left worth defending.”
               -Timothy Dwight, Grandson of Preacher Jonathan Edwards,
                chaplain in the Continental Army

  The last 3 tidbits I have endeavored to expound on the question that Jeremiah asked for the children of Israel; ‘Why have these things happened to me?’ (Jer13:22). In other words, Jeremiah is teaching how to respond to the most difficult question of life…why has this bad thing happened to me?
  After addressing the theology of the ‘Why’ question in my past 3 tidbits, I now want to address how to apply the ‘Why?’ theology to my life. Of course, the reason this is so important is that bad things cause personal suffering which is the number ‘ONE’ reason people reject God.
  Two confirmations:
1.“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” -1Tim4:1
2.The Bible dedicates an entire book, i.e. Job, to understanding how to deal with the pain and sufferings of life.
 
  So, let’s jump right in and examine one of the more difficult situations of America’s past: slavery. The most important questions we must ask ourselves regarding American slavery are: If God is God, what was He thinking/doing during American slavery? Why did God allow the enslavement of Blacks if He is such a good God? Can God be ‘just’ if He allowed such cruelty to be perpetrated upon Black people?
  Allow me an example. In the movie ‘Emancipation’, star actor Will Smith plays the role of Peter. One of the most powerful and emotional scenes in the film occurred near the beginning when a Black slave who had just been whipped, beaten, and chained, was tossed back into a slave-holding pen while all the other slaves watched helplessly. A slave sitting next to Peter (Will Smith) begins shaking with fear after viewing this situation. Peter turns to the trembling slave and begins to encourage him to think about something good, i.e.his family, to calm him down.
Then Peter suddenly declared, “God is with us!” The first slave who is still trying to recover from his beating overhears Peter’s words is stunned, and angrily replies, “How can you say that to him? God is with us! Where is He? And why has He not set you free? Stand up and praise your God for all He has done for you! For all of us! God is not with you! He is nowhere! He sends that fool (referring to a slave preacher) to tell us about His word, to be a good slave; to be obedient to your masters! Is that what God says to you?” As Peter listens intently, tears begin rolling down his face; and then he responds, “God says many things! I do not know why God shows Himself to some people, and not to others, but if you do not know Him. I will pray for you!”
  In other slave/oppression movies, the norm is to call the oppressed to anger, hatred, and revenge against the oppressors!!! But not the writers of this movie! I’m fully convinced the Holy Spirit inspired Peter’s response! I repeat, although the suffering in this scene was unimaginably horrific, Peter (Will Smith) did not curse God, nor White people; and just as important, nor did he attempt to offer some deep theological explanation! In short, Peter did not attempt to explain something he did not understand! Yet, despite his inability to understand, Peter’s response showed that he retained his faith in a ‘good’ God—despite his suffering! ‘THIS’ PRINCIPLE is ‘THE’ key to answering the question of ‘Why?’ in our personal lives when facing suffering and tragedy!  
  So, am I saying the response to slavery is to do nothing? No! To ONLY pray? No! Is there an answer to the question of slavery* from God’s perspective? The answer is…YES!! To begin we must remember the first principle of determining God’s Will: God is good, at all times, and in every situation---because His nature is good (Ps119:68; Ps136; Lu18:19) and…He cannot deviate from His good nature…ever!
  Furthermore, God’s nature is multi-faceted, which in short means along with His goodness, He is just (Gen18:25; Ps96:13), and His justice is perfect (Deut32:4) because He is perfect, i.e.without sin(2Cor5:21; Ps92:15). This means God cannot be unjust anywhere or at any time…because He is absolutely righteous!
​
  First, ‘God’s Will’ is two-fold:
1.Benevolence Will. Because God is good, He is benevolent toward all mankind. Luke 2:14 declares: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men”
2.Judgment Will. Because God is both perfect and just(Deut32:4), He must judge sin (Gen18:25; Acts17:31). On the contrary, if He does not  judge man’s sin---then He is unjust!
 
  The Judgment Will of God is ‘THE’ most complex Biblical doctrine because of its many facets. So, to understand and explain American slavery, we must first determine God’s will regarding the issue of slavery—because He is same yesterday, today, and forever(Heb13:8), i.e.His will is the same for all humans, at all times, everywhere…because God is just(Deut32:4)!
  The Bible declares Rehoboam sinned against the Lord and took all Israel with him (2Chron12:1,2). In God’s righteous judgment for their sin, He determined to send Shishak, the king of Egypt to wipe them out, unveiling to them the “WHY”, i.e. the reason Shishak was attacking. In other words, there is a reason, i.e. a ‘Why?’ for everything that happens in this life—good or evil (Is1:19; Pro26:2; Job37:23; Deut28)!
  Because they did not know the reason, and because God is perfectly merciful(Ps136)--which means even in judgment He desires mercy (Jms2:13)—God sent the prophet Shemaiah to announce the reason Shishak was attacking: “…Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.” -2Chron12:5
  Incredibly, the people humbled themselves and declared: “The Lord is righteous!” (2Chron12:6). These words are a simple declaration of God’s nature of Righteousness (Ps129:4). In other words, the people declared all God’s ways are righteous(Ps145:17)—including the absolute justice of wiping them out through Shishak--for their sin!
  Of course, this teaches one of the first principles of understanding how to deal with suffering and pain: I. Declare the righteousness of God’s judgments, no matter how difficult the situation. In other words, NEVER BLAME GOD FOR EVIL…especially in your time of suffering!
  Incredibly, God took the people’s declaration of righteousness as repentance and sent Shemaiah back to Rehoboam:
“And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.”           -2Chron12:7
 
  2Chronicles 12:7 confirms that God’s initial judgment for their sin was absolute: to destroy them—because sin requires justice(Rom6:23). However, while under absolute justice, because of their repentance, God gave them mercy…but that mercy resulted only in a ‘some’ (partial) judgment. Verse 7 says, “Therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them ‘some’ deliverance.”
  So, what was the final, i.e. ‘some’ judgment? Verse 8 declares: “Nevertheless they shall be his ‘servants’; that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” The Hebrew word for “servants” is ebed, meaning slave.
  This teaches 2 types of slavery: i.slavery to God, and ii. slavery to man. Because God is good, slavery to God is good (1Cor7:22; 1Cor6:20; Mk10:44). However, because man is evil, slavery to man is wicked (Gen1:26-28; 2Chron12:8; 1Cor7:23).
  Therefore, 2 Chronicles 12:1-9 teaches slavery is a judgment of God for sin! This truth is confirmed by the entire book of Judges, where Israel was in and out of slavery for their sin lasting over 450 years. A third witness is both the nations of Israel and Judah were taken into slavery for their sin in 722BC, and 606 BC respectively.
  I repeat, slavery is a judgment of God upon a people group for their sin! This means when Blacks were brought enslaved to America, the reason was sin committed in Africa!!! Blacks are not the only group enslaved in history; slavery has existed in all people groups and nations—all over the world--for thousands of years!!! This does not make the enslavers innocent…for God condemns both kidnappers(1Tim1:10), which is the foundation for slavery; and the enslavement of men(1Cor7:23)!!
  In conclusion, because God is Sovereign (ruler over all), no event, nor situation; nor anything good or bad, can happen outside of God’s will. See God’s 2 wills above. If this is not true, then God is not Sovereign, i.e.He does not rule over all! In other words, there absolutely can be nothing good or evil, regardless of its scale or magnitude, that can occur without the involvement of the Sovereign God—Who rules over all! Why? If the devil can act apart from God’s will, then he is either equal with God, or greater than God---both of which are false!
 
*While I recognize slavery is an extremely difficult topic, and can literally take volumes to unpack, I can offer some basics. 
 
 
Quotebit
“…the spread of Christianity and Christian influence on government was primarily responsible for the outlawing of infanticide, child abandonment, and abortion in the Roman Empire (374AD)”
-Alvin J. Schmidt in ‘How Christianity Changed the World’, Christian Ethics, Wayne Grudem, pg475