This topic is so very important since people do not seem to understand what was clearly understood both in the Old and New Testament about our responsibilities in self defense for ourselves, our families and our nation. 

Please refer to Part 1 as I have already covered WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT RETALIATION OR VENGEANCE? I also taught on WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES SAY ABOUT SELF DEFENSE? I then explained SELF DEFENSE IS WARRANTED FOR AN UNLAWFUL ARREST and finally WHAT IS GOD’S VIEW ON PROTECTING YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY? 

Now continue reading this very important topic on IS SELF DEFENSE JUSTIFIED FOR A CHRISTIAN? 

OWNING WEAPONS FOR SELF DEFENSE & A RIGHTEOUS WAR

1 Samuel 13:19-22 (Lexham English Bible)
19
Now no skilled craftsman could be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “So that the Hebrews cannot make swords or spears for themselves.”
20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines, each to have his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, and his iron plowshare sharpened.
21 The charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshare and for the mattock, and a third of a shekel for the pick and for the axe, and to set the goading sticks.
22 So on the day of battle, there was not a sword or a spear found in the hands of all the army that was with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

Psalms 144:1 (KJ21)
1
Blessed be the Lord my strength, who teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight.

Psalms 18:34 (NIV)
34
He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

1 Samuel 17:34-37 (NKJ)
34
But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,
35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.
36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.”
37 Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

NOTE: In the Bible you can read of accounts where David used his lethal weapons, not only in war and in self defense, but against a bear and a lion to protect the sheep. In today’s standard of weapons, we would be talking about a .44 magnum. The goal is always to protect and preserve life.

Numbers 1:22-46 (NIV)
22
From the descendants of Simeon: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were counted and listed by name, one by one, according to the records of their clans and families.
23 The number from the tribe of Simeon was 59,300.
24 From the descendants of Gad: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families. 25 The number from the tribe of Gad was 45,650.
26 From the descendants of Judah: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
27 The number from the tribe of Judah was 74,600.
28 From the descendants of Issachar: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
29 The number from the tribe of Issachar was 54,400.
30 From the descendants of Zebulun: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
31 The number from the tribe of Zebulun was 57,400.
32 From the sons of Joseph: From the descendants of Ephraim: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
33 The number from the tribe of Ephraim was 40,500.
34 From the descendants of Manasseh: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
35 The number from the tribe of Manasseh was 32,200.
36 From the descendants of Benjamin: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
37 The number from the tribe of Benjamin was 35,400.
38 From the descendants of Dan: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
39 The number from the tribe of Dan was 62,700.
40 From the descendants of Asher: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
41 The number from the tribe of Asher was 41,500.
42 From the descendants of Naphtali: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.
43 The number from the tribe of Naphtali was 53,400.
44 These were the men counted by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family.
45 All the Israelites twenty years old or more who were able to serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families.
46 The total number was 603,550.

Judges 3:1-31 (NIV)
1
These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan
2 (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience):
3 the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.
4 They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.
5 The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
6 They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
8 The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years.
9 But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them.
10 The Spirit of the LORD came on him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him.
11 So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.
12 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel.
13 Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.
14 The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.
15 Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.
16 Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a cubit long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing.
17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man.
18 After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way those who had carried it.
19 But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.” The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left.
20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose from his seat,
21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly.
22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it.
23 Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
24 After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, “He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the palace.”
25 They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.
26 While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the stone images and escaped to Seirah.
27 When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them.
28 “Follow me,” he ordered, “for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands.” So they followed him down and took possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab; they allowed no one to cross over.
29 At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not one escaped.
30 That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.
31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

Judges 4:21 (NIV) (Here Jael hammers a tent peg into an enemy commander’s head while he slept after fleeing from a battle)
21 But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

1 Kings 18:39-40 (NIV)
39
When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!”
40 Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.

2 Kings 1:10 (NIV)
10
Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men.

NOTE: Here God used a prophet as His tool of war to execute judgment upon these fifty men. In another newsletter, I will explain with many examples of Scripture, how God Himself uses violence supernaturally through men and angels to carry out His will upon the unrighteous and unrepentant individuals.

2 Kings 3:24-27 (NIV)
24
But when the Moabites came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and fought them until they fled. And the Israelites invaded the land and slaughtered the Moabites.
25 They destroyed the towns, and each man threw a stone on every good field until it was covered. They stopped up all the springs and cut down every good tree. Only Kir Hareseth was left with its stones in place, but men armed with slings surrounded it and attacked it.
26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle had gone against him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they failed.
27 Then he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall. The fury against Israel was great; they withdrew and returned to their own land.

NOTE: One can see why God was against these pagan nations. They served Satan through false gods/religions, even sacrificing their own children like women and doctors do today by killing children through abortion.

2 Kings 10:1-28 (NIV) ~ Ahab’s Family Killed
1
Now there were in Samaria seventy sons of the house of Ahab. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria: to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders and to the guardians of Ahab’s children. He said,
2 “You have your master’s sons with you and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city and weapons. Now as soon as this letter reaches you,
3 choose the best and most worthy of your master’s sons and set him on his father’s throne. Then fight for your master’s house.”
4 But they were terrified and said, “If two kings could not resist him, how can we?”
5 So the palace administrator, the city governor, the elders and the guardians sent this message to Jehu: “We are your servants and we will do anything you say. We will not appoint anyone as king; you do whatever you think best.”
6 Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side and will obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”

Now the royal princes, seventy of them, were with the leading men of the city, who were rearing them. 

7 When the letter arrived, these men took the princes and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel.
8 When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, “They have brought the heads of the princes.” Then Jehu ordered, “Put them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.”
9 The next morning Jehu went out. He stood before all the people and said, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these? 10 Know, then, that not a word the LORD has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail. The LORD has done what he announced through his servant Elijah.”
11 So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his chief men, his close friends and his priests, leaving him no survivor.
12 Jehu then set out and went toward Samaria. At Beth Eked of the Shepherds,
13 he met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, “Who are you?” They said, “We are relatives of Ahaziah, and we have come down to greet the families of the king and of the queen mother.”
14 “Take them alive!” he ordered. So they took them alive and slaughtered them by the well of Beth Eked—forty-two of them. He left no survivor.
15 After he left there, he came upon Jehonadab son of Rekab, who was on his way to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, “Are you in accord with me, as I am with you?” “I am,” Jehonadab answered. “If so,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.” So he did, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot.
16 Jehu said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD.” Then he had him ride along in his chariot.
17 When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed all who were left there of Ahab’s family; he destroyed them, according to the word of the LORD spoken to Elijah.

Servants of Baal Killed

18 Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much.
19 Now summon all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests. See that no one is missing, because I am going to hold a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who fails to come will no longer live.” But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.
20 Jehu said, “Call an assembly in honor of Baal.” So they proclaimed it.
21 Then he sent word throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one stayed away. They crowded into the temple of Baal until it was full from one end to the other.
22 And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring robes for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out robes for them.
23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rekab went into the temple of Baal. Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Look around and see that no one who serves the LORD is here with you—only servants of Baal.”
24 So they went in to make sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had posted eighty men outside with this warning: “If one of you lets any of the men I am placing in your hands escape, it will be your life for his life.”
25 As soon as Jehu had finished making the burnt offering, he ordered the guards and officers: “Go in and kill them; let no one escape.” So they cut them down with the sword. The guards and officers threw the bodies out and then entered the inner shrine of the temple of Baal.
26 They brought the sacred stone out of the temple of Baal and burned it.
27 They demolished the sacred stone of Baal and tore down the temple of Baal, and people have used it for a latrine to this day.
28 So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel.

Deuteronomy 20:16-18 (NIV)
16
However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.
17 Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites— as the LORD your God has commanded you.
18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God.

NOTE: Numbers 13 & 14 includes the example of Amalekites. In Numbers 25 & 26 is the example of the Midianites and the battle of Jericho in Joshua chapter 10. Yes, throughout the Bible there are examples of fighting and war. Moses led the Hebrews in the Exodus from Egypt because Pharaoh was defeated. David and Goliath, Sampson, Gideon, Joshua and Elijah also came against Ahab and Jezebel and their false prophets etc.

MERCY AND GRACE FOR ACCIDENTAL HOMICIDE

Deuteronomy 19:1-10 (NIV) ~ Cities of Refuge
1
When the LORD your God has destroyed the nations whose land he is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their towns and houses,
2 then set aside for yourselves three cities in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
3 Determine the distances involved and divide into three parts the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that a person who kills someone may flee for refuge to one of these cities.
4 This is the rule concerning anyone who kills a person and flees there for safety—anyone who kills a neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought.
5 For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life.
6 Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought.
7 This is why I command you to set aside for yourselves three cities.
8 If the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he promised on oath to your ancestors, and gives you the whole land he promised them,
9 because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today—to love the LORD your God and to walk always in obedience to him—then you are to set aside three more cities.
10 Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed in your land, which the LORD your God is giving you as your inheritance, and so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.

NOTE: A person who accidentally killed a person (unintentional manslaughter) had to flee to one of the six Levite cities of refuge as the Levites were the only tribe who had been appointed by God as His priests. The cities offered the offenders refuge and protection from retribution of the avenging family until their case went to trial.

I hope this teaching has helped clarify the responsibilities of both, Christians and pastors, in areas of the love of God in protecting His people through self-defense; enforcing God’s laws including legal execution, a just war, possessing and using firearms appropriately to protect oneself, family and friends. To sit back and watch an evil person hurt, rape or kill ones spouse or children is the utmost in stupidity as far as understanding our obligations in scripture to protect life, liberty and property. 

The love of God demands us to defend the innocent even if we have to use weapons to do so. That same love of God requires us to love those who persecute us as the Romans did to those under their jurisdiction. When they required someone to walk a mile in their service, Jesus said volunteer to walk two miles with a good attitude. We are suppose to show the fruits of the Holy Spirit to the prison guards who guard us when we are unjustly incarcerated as both Rev. Watchman Nee and Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as well as my grandparents Rev. Harold and Letta Hansen did to their concentration camp guards in China and Germany.

Rev. Watchman Nee was a church leader and theologian as well as a renown Christian author in China. He understood his Christian duty to resist communism during the Communist Revolution in China. 

We read in Part 1, how Anti Nazi and Hitler dissident Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, understood his Christian responsibility in Germany during WWII. Bonhoeffer had joined the Abwehr, a German military intelligence organization, where he served as a courier for the German resistance movement to reveal its existence and intentions to the Western Allies to help them win the war. Bonhoeffer also exhibited the love of Jesus to his guards when he was arrested so much so that the sympathetic guards helped to smuggle Bonhoeffer’s religious teachings out of prison and even offered to help him escape from prison. Bonhoeffer refused, fearing retaliation against his family. 

During the American Revolution, the clergy called THE BLACK ROBE BRIGADE, understood their responsibilities to fight with deadly force as many of them became officers leading the charge to liberty and freedom. I understood my responsibilities as a Christian and pastor as I joined The United States Air Force serving 4 years and later, The Sheriffs Department and a member of SWAT, serving 6 years as a sniper. 

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