Why was it “Ok” for ancient Israel to fight? Was that what God originally wanted, and should we follow their example? Just what WAS God’s original plan? Did He WANT Israel to fight? No! It was never His original intention!

When Israel was trapped against the red sea, they saw Pharaoh coming and they were frightened and began to complain, “Didn’t we tell you in Egypt to let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it was better to serve the Egyptians, than to die in the wilderness.”

But Moses said, “Fear ye not, STAND STILL, AND SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more FOR EVER. THE LORD SHALL FIGHT FOR YOU, AND YE SHALL HOLD YOUR PEACE” (Exodus 14:9-14).

In the beginning, God didn’t tell them to take up arms and battle the Egyptians; He wanted them to let HIM fight.

Exodus 23:20-23 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. IF thou shalt indeed OBEY his voice, and DO all that I speak; THEN I Will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries…and I WILL CUT THEM OFF.

Exodus 23:27-28 I will send my fear before thee, [THIS describes what God WANTED from the beginning! He wanted to simply make the inhabitants of the land FEAR Israel – no SWORD, no BATTLE and BLOODSHED, simply FEAR!] and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. And I will send hornets before thee, [HE WANTED TO USE BEES! Not Bayonets!] which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

God planned to bring Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land WITHOUT WAR! Without Israel having to draw the first drop of blood! His very word said so! No mention is made here of Israel taking up arms. Why is this? Why didn’t God have them fighting from the beginning, at the Red sea – or even back in Egypt? BECAUSE GOD WANTED THE ENTIRE NATION TO BE HOLY! They were ALL, EVERY LAST ONE supposed to be the HOLY PRIESTHOOD of God TO THE ENTIRE WORLD!

Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

And the priesthood, in nearly every culture in history wasn’t part of the army! Ancient Israel was no exception, as you’ll see shortly; And God wanted this ENTIRE nation to be priests to Him!

But from the beginning, Israel didn’t want to have to trust God. Because they KNEW God had requirements! They knew that God would make them abide by certain laws, AND IF THEY DIDN’T, HE WOULDN’T FIGHT FOR THEM! (Exodus 23:20-23)

But to fight THEIR OWN battles, with THEIR OWN WEAPONS, and THEIR OWN STRENGTH, they didn’t have to do ANYTHING to please God! And this is how they wanted it!

And so Israel resisted and finally thoroughly rejected His offer, so God allowed them (SOME of them!) to fight their own battles, since they DIDN’T WANT GOD TO DO IT! But He STILL reserved a priesthood of men who DID NOT FIGHT to be HIS! The sons of Levi!

Numbers 1:1-3 And the LORD spake unto Moses… saying, Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, … From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

Verses 45, 47, 49 So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel;… But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them... thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel:

The Levites – the PRIESTHOOD OF GOD – was not counted among the men who hacked and butchered in WAR! THEY WERE NOT TO GO TO WAR!

Verses 50-53 But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle. And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts. But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.

The Levite’s job was to take care of the temple of God, to teach the law to the people, so that God would not be mad at them, and SEND the war! God punishes His people with WAR! If a people is displeasing Him, He sends ANOTHER nation to KILL SOME OF THEM!

Judges 3:12 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.

This happened 6 times in the book of Judges alone! When the nation sinned, God brought them war. When they didn’t repent, they lost the war and went into captivity, UNTIL they repented and did what was right.

1 Kings 14:15-16 For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger. And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.

And later, when the nation that He raised up to destroy Israel became too evil, He destroyed THEM! WAR is always one of His means of punishing a country for their SIN! The PRIESTHOOD was SUPPOSED to keep this from happening. THEIR JOB was to teach the people to be RIGHTEOUS, and PLEASING to God, so that God wouldn’t bring this calamity on the nation!

Malachi 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.

But in order for a man to BE a priest, or to be associated with the temple and work of God, HE COULDN’T BE A MAN WHO SHED THE BLOOD OF OTHER MEN!

1 Chronicles 28:2-3 Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building: But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, BECAUSE THOU HAST BEEN A MAN OF WAR, AND HAST SHED BLOOD!!

Does this sound like the words of a God who WANTS His people, His country, and HIS SERVANTS in HIS CHURCH to FIGHT IN WAR? NO! God TOLERATED the war because of the lack of FAITH of Israel! He PUT UP with it because of the hardness of their hearts, just like He PUT UP with divorce – but He didn’t like it! (Matthew 19:8)

The PRIESTHOOD simply could not be BLOODY, and be acceptable to God. And since the nation WOULD NOT put their trust in God, He allowed them to fight… but He reserved the PRIESTHOOD for Himself – a tribe of people that DID NOT FIGHT, that WAS NOT BLOODY, and that GOD COULD WORK and SPEAK THROUGH!

If the priest had done his job in the nation of Israel, and the people had listened, there would have never been a need for a battle. In fact, Israel would never have fallen to Assyria! It would have survived to this day!

Likewise, if the PRIESTHOOD in this country was doing their job, and teaching people to be pleasing to God, WE WOULD NOT HAVE WAR! The PRIESTHOOD, even the churches in this world COULD HAVE caused this nation to AVOID ALL THE WARS this nation has ever suffered!

Righteous nations dwell in PEACE, not in WAR! (Leviticus 25:18, Isaiah 32:18). When another nation threatens you, God will fight for you – INSTEAD of you – unless He is angry with you, and is the one who sent it to punish you in the first place!

Today, the church of God is that PRIESTHOOD of God! YOU!

1 Peter 2:5, 9 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ…. ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

As such, your job is NOT to enter into battle with this world, but to TEACH THE WORLD WHY IT HAPPENED! Not to kill the enemy, but to KILL THE SIN IN THE PEOPLE WHOM GOD IS PUNISHING!!

YOU CAN’T DO THIS IF YOU ARE STILL BLOODY FROM DISEMBOWELING ANOTHER MAN! God won’t LET you be HIS PRIEST if you are a BLOODY MAN!

So what do you think? Should you join the world’s military, and fight for them, helping them to kill the enemies that God has sent against them to punish their wickedness?

Or should you keep yourself clean, free from blood, and tell them WHY men are dying for their country? Show them the SIN that has caused God to send a punishment upon this nation? So that they might repent, and save ALL the men’s lives, on both sides of the war!

Which is more patriotic, and which will help the nation the most?

Think about it.