When the Israelites clamored for a king to fight their battles—rejecting God as their king—Saul was selected (1 Samuel 8:7, 19-20; 10:18-24; 12:12-13). After reigning on the throne for two years, Saul had an army of 3,000 men, 1,000 of whom were under the command of his son Jonathan (1 Samuel 13:1-2). The Philistines readied a daunting military force of 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and people as numerous as the sand on the seashore to meet the Israelites in battle (1 Samuel 13:5). Saul’s army was so frightened that they ran and hid themselves (1 Samuel 13:6). After Saul had sinned in attempting to present unauthorized offerings to the Lord, Samuel rebuked Saul and the situation grew even dimmer (1 Samuel 13:8-14); only 600 men were present with Saul (1 Samuel 13:16). Moreover, their lack of weaponry is described in 1 Samuel 13:19-22:

Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock. Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads. So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.

Thus, only two swords, one for Saul and one for Jonathan, could be found among the entire Israelite army.

Israel was unarmed to meet the foe and frightened before an enemy that vastly outnumbered them. The Lord’s church is described in the New Testament as the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). Though our warfare is not carnal (2 Corinthians 10:4), the need for God’s people to be armed against Satan’s assaults could not be more pressing. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:10-13:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

God’s word is sharp as a sword (Hebrews 4:12). We are to take, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). Trials, temptations, skepticism, fraudulent religions and false doctrines surround you. But God is with you and He is greater than the world (1 John 4:4). God delivered Israel through Jonathan (1 Samuel 14); there is no telling how much God can do through one person armed with His word today. Do not be left unarmed to meet the foe. Spend enough time with God’s word that you make it a part of you. With the word of God you can “war a good warfare” (1 Timothy 1:18), you can “fight the good fight of faith,” and “lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:12).

-Mark Day

Jesus told us to pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44).  We are to bless them instead of cursing them (Romans 12:14).  However, there are some passages in the Bible where God’s people call for the wicked to be punished.  David, in some of the Psalms, appeals to God regarding His enemies.  He prays, “destroy thou them, O God” (Psalm 5:10), and “break their teeth, O God, in their mouth” (Psalm 58:6). David even goes so far as to say, “The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked” (Psalm 58:10). How do these reconcile with Jesus’ command in Matthew 5:44 to love our enemies and pray for them? Should we take these as just David venting his anger and as soon as it was released he would not truly desire his enemies to see such a grim end? Were these appropriate for only the Old Testament in keeping with the principle of divine justice that God would curse those who cursed the nation from Abraham (Genesis 12:3) as well those who disobey God who are among His people, as Moses describes in Deuteronomy 32?

No, there are New Testament verses that call for divine vengeance on the wicked in certain circumstances. Romans 13:1-4 argues that Christians should submit to governmental authorities because they function as God’s minister to execute wrath on evildoers. It is important to note that David’s “imprecatory” psalms (where he is calling for his enemies to be punished) are not intentions of personal vengeance, but rather an appeal to God to exact vengeance. One of the ways God does this is through judicial proceedings. The “eye for an eye” of the Old Testament is not a barbaric code for personal vengeance but rather an instruction to deter crime by prescribing the judges to levy punishment in proportion to the crime committed (Deuteronomy 19:16-21). Justice from the authorities rather than personal vengeance is what is called for.

The call for a curse on evildoers is also on the condition that they are impenitent. We are to desire that men come to repentance like God does (2 Peter 3:9). Peter pronounced a curse on Simon the sorcerer for his wicked request to buy the power to give the Holy Spirit, saying “thy money perish with thee” (Acts 8:19-20). But Peter also appealed to Simon the sorcerer to repent (Acts 8:22). Simon was receptive and asked for prayers (Acts 8:24). Did Peter still desire the sorcerer’s death after this penitent request? Certainly not. Those who follow the course of Simon’s temptation, but are so hard-hearted that they refuse to repent, promulgating a false gospel in order to use their followers, are not pleasing to God. Paul called for such people to be accursed (Galatians 1:6-9).

There are those extreme cases where after repeated attempts to get the wicked to turn from their ways, they show that they are dead set on assaulting God and His people. In such situations, it is proper to request divine justice. God’s justice is represented by those souls who had been slain for the word of God crying out, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:9-10). In a nation, as ours, where Christians are not having their blood shed for following God’s word it is easy for us to say that we should never call for God to punish the wicked. But to Christians who are experiencing extreme persecution by wicked men who have continually spurned all appeals to cease from their violence there is solace found in these passages that call for God to punish the wicked. In such extreme cases, as Paul did, we can ask the Lord to repay evildoers according to their works (2 Timothy 4:14).

-Mark Day