The Second Amendment-3: God’s View

The Second Amendment-3: God’s View
  What I personally find earth-shaking when pondering today’s culture wars is the nearly complete propensity of Christians--‘NOT’ to use God’s Word in their interactions with liberals!! Because the liberal view is so often anti-God, anti-Christ, and anti-Bible, it is no surprise their opinions completely ignore God and His Word (Bible). However, while the conservative view ‘normally’ originates from General Revelation1--which refers to the laws of God created in nature—tragically, even conservatives do not often enough use the Bible (Special Revelation)—to support their contentions!
  But why should the Word of God be used in the culture wars? Because the Bible possesses inherent power(Heb4:12)!! Because the Word of God sets the captive free(Jn8:31,32)!! Because the entrance of God’s Word brings light (Ps119:30)!!! In other words, the Bible directly answers every problem or offers the principle to determine God’s will in every situation!
 
  So, what does the Bible contend regarding the “Second Amendment’s” right to possess a firearm?
 
  First, the Bible declares that God created ‘hell’(Mat25:41) which is His righteous judgment of death on sin. Therefore, it was God Who created the potential of spiritual death on sin (Gen2:17; Deut30:19), imposing its penalty (Rom6:28) on those who reject Him(2Thes1:7-9). In other words, the idea of death as a penalty began with God.
  Second, because man is a sinner (Rom3:23), we do not wait long before we see the manifestation of this ‘death’ in the Biblical text! For example, the consequence of ‘death’ that occurred when Adam and Eve sinned (Rom5:12) included their instantaneous spiritual death and subsequent physical death, climaxing in the spiritual and physical death of all mankind (Rom5:18-19)!!
  Third, within the spiritual death resulting from Adam’s sin, the ‘sin nature’ of man was conceived, meaning mankind is born in sin(Ps51:5). In that ‘sin nature’ of man resides violence and destruction toward all God’s creation, especially mankind, as evidenced by the first recorded murder of Abel by Cain—within one generation!!!
  However, as we learned in part two of this tidbit series on the Second Amendment, when the God who cannot die created all life, He created inherent to that life the power of self-preservation, from which organically flows self-defense. Very simply, all living things possess the desire to continue their lives!
  For example, regarding mankind we see God’s provision for protection in: 1.God’s creation of angels sent to protect man(Ps34:7; Ps91:11;Dan12:1); 2.the wisdom of God provided to protect our souls (Ps1:1-4; 3Jn2); and 3.the mandate to “take dominion” over the earth(Gen1:26-28), from which mankind creates not only clothing and shelter for protection but also physical weapons derived from the earth to defend himself from other men and dangerous animals.
  Let’s move forward now to other Biblical passages (Special Revelation) that teach God’s view on weapons. 
 The Bible’s Protection mandate:   
1.God promise to be mankind’s protector (Gen15:1; Ps91:4)
More Scripture on Self-Defense*
2.Rom12:18- “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men”. This verse is the ultimate self-defense Biblical principle for existing with men with sin natures(Ps37:32).
3.Pro25:26- “A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.” Instead of defending against evil, this passage speaks to appeasement of evil; of not recognizing evil; or not standing against evil.
 
The Bible’s assumption of arms, or the direct mention of arms
The Bible’s war mandate
4.Exodus 15:3: God is called a “man of war”. Wars are fought with weapons to defend self or others.
5.One of God’s immutable names is ‘The Lord of Hosts’ which means “The Lord of armies” (Ps24:10; Ps46:7). This teaches Jesus leads armies into battle. Armies possess arms.
6.Michael the archangel is known in Christendom as the angel of war (Dan10:13,21;12:1). Of course, in war lives are taken by the opposition.
  Furthermore, when Michael fights the dragon, the war occurs ‘in heaven’(Rev12:7). Because weapons are required to fight wars, does this imply there are weapons in heaven? Obviously, the answer is YES! Yet, if this is true, from where did the weapons originate considering that he is fighting in heaven? Again, does heaven allow weapons?
7.Is37:35,36. The angel of the Lord (probably Michael) killed 185,000 soldiers in one night, did he use a weapon to take that many lives? I ask again, if the archangel used a weapon, from where did he get it? And why would he need a weapon in heaven, in God’s very presence?
 
Abraham’s militia.
8.Gen14:1-16. Four kings abducted Lot, and Abraham warred against them with 318 men from his own household. Genesis 14:14 in the KJV says Abraham “armed” the men. This means he possessed the arms in order to arm them. In addition, all Bible versions declare his men were “trained”; but trained by whom, and for what? The obvious answer is trained for war or trained to kill…using a weapon.
  Second, Abraham is called the “father of faith” (Rom4:11,12; Gal3:6). If he is the father of faith, and faith includes passivism, how is Gen14:1-16 to be interpreted?
 
Jesus’ Own Words
9.Matthew 10:34- “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” This passage declares a purpose for Jesus coming to the earth… yet, it also clearly and irrefutably advocates in behalf of arms! I repeat, Jesus instructed us to use arms!!!
10.Luke 22:36- “Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one!” Jesus commands the purchase of a sword, which means--like the Second Amendment—the Bible teaches arms ownership!!
 
The Apostles
11.John 18:10 “Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus” Matt26:51-52; Mk14:47). Peter was armed with a sword in the presence of Jesus!
12.Luke 22:49 – “When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?” In other words, the word “they” refers to either ‘some’, or ‘all’ of Jesus’ disciples. In other words, not only Peter but either ‘some’ or ‘all’ of Jesus’ disciples carried swords!!!
 
  Two final points:
i.The disciples/apostles carried swords, not knives. Although I love the movie series “Chosen”, however they depict the apostles’ carrying knives. On the contrary, the Greek word in Luke 22:49 means “sword”.
ii.However, the most amazing part of the Jn18:10 and Lu22:49 passages is that the Apostles were in a prayer meeting! I repeat, the apostles brought their swords to Jesus’ prayer meeting!!!
 
  In conclusion, all of the scripture and points of this 3-part tidbit series are secondary to ‘spiritual warfare’ (Eph6:10-18) God commands us to first wage against Satan (1Pet5:8;2Cor10:4) and his emissaries, using the Word of God in our mouths(Heb4:12)!
  My ultimate objective in the 3 Tidbits of this series is to help unveil the Biblical roots of our Founder’s Second Amendment!!   
 
* I highly recommend reading about the Bombardier Beetle. It possesses one of the most amazing systems of self-defense in all of God’s creation—possessing mind-boggling complexity. Yet, it was God who created this insect with a natural self-defense---that emanates from self-preservation!!
 
Quotebit
"Any human anywhere will blossom in a hundred unexpected talents and capacities simply by being given the opportunity to do so." -Doris Lessing