How Does the Bible Speak of Soldiers?
In his final words to his understudy, the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and said:
Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
…The time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. (2 Timothy 2:3-4, 4:6-7)
The Bible speaks very favorably of soldiers. (See the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-20)
When a Roman centurion came and asked Jesus to heal his servant, Jesus didn’t say, “Go and stop being a soldier!” On the contrary, He said, “I tell you with no one in Israel have I found such faith.”
“Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the wod, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.” (Matthew 8:8-10)
In the Book of Exodus, the Lord said, “Thou shall not murder.” And He also commanded Moses and Joshua to fight against the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-16).
Murder is an act to destroy another human being out of hatred.
If he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died, or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. (Numbers 35:20-21)
Whereas, a national army is a God-ordained offense.
He is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer…
Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. (Romans 13:4,7)
Our soldiers deserve our respect and our honor. They lay down their lives, some of them paying the ultimate sacrifice, to defend our freedom from those who want to take it, and they protect the ones we love. They are an example – a reminder that freedom isn’t free. For even the Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life so that we would have freedom from sin and from death, paying the ultimate sacrifice, out of love.
…when we understand the text.
(This video is by WWUTT. Discovered by Christian Podcast Central and our community — copyright is owned by the publisher, not Christian Podcast Central.)