I've unwatched this topic about three times now. I'm not interested in debating.
Reason for The Crusades explained
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I’m not either. You shared an experience involving your mother and an experience involving yourself. If @Wrangler is correct - he’s not - then you were both disobeying Jesus in the way that you responded to your armed assailants.
He’s a killer and he is trying to teach you (and everyone else who will listen to him) to be a killer too. Your mother’s response and your response to those who were inflicting violence on you honors the teaching of the Messiah and puts the false teacher to shame.
You did well. The Messiah is well pleased with the example you and your mother set.
Short but informative video with a map showing the battles.
The Muslims fought 548 battles to try to take over...the Crusaders only fought a handful in comparison.
The Muslims fought 548 battles to try to take over...the Crusaders only fought a handful in comparison.
Her actions, and those of her mother, are strong evidence that they don’t embrace your “you are not a disciple of Jesus if you aren’t armed, ready to kill“ teaching. I would have been surprised if she had told me that you were passing along to me what she believed.
Although I don't own a weapon or want a weapon, I would be grateful if someone defended me from an attacker.
I remember a pastor years ago who always wrote interesting little stories on the bulletin. He wrote one time he and his family were camping in an RV. They heard there was a killer roaming around that area!
He said he had a gun under his pillow but that it's always a quandary about what to do in a situation like that.
“you are not a follower of Jesus if you aren’t armed, ready to kill” - Wrangler
He’s not telling you the truth. He’s bearing false witness against the Messiah, against the apostles, and against the earliest followers of Jesus.
People like that often wind up making the situation worse.
I seem to recall a recent news story about criminals trying to violently break in someone's door. The home owner went to the door with his gun... criminals fled.
I don’t doubt it. The gun may not even have been loaded. Whether it was or it wasn’t, it doesn’t sound like the home owner killed any of the criminals.
I spoke with a man one time a long time ago who was a farmer. He always had a loaded shotgun nearby. He told me that one night he heard someone breaking into his barn (or perhaps it was another storage building) and he went to the door and fired a blast from the shotgun into the air. He wasn’t aiming at the burglar and the burglar ran away. The farmer didn’t believe in killing his enemies.
My wife had a radio on yesterday and whatever Talk Show she was listening to caught my attention. I don’t know what the topic of the program was but what caused my ears to perk up was hearing the host (I think his name was Clay Travis) say “Burglars don’t want to break into homes when they know someone is home. They are smash and grab, get in and get out fast, criminals.”
My paternal grandmother always kept a pistol on the nightstand by her bed. It hadn’t been fired since the 1930’s. After she died in 2012 (aged 98), my father checked the gun and found that it wasn’t loaded. I think just having it there gave her some peace of mind. There’s no way on God’s good earth that she ever would have killed a burglar breaking into her home.
When you hear people play the “What if ...?“ game, they always rig it - some crazy lunatic is intent (for unknown reasons) on breaking into your house and killing your wife, your mother, your sister, your daughter, your grandmother, etc. - sometimes the drama is ramped up by adding that he wants to rape the female(s) first - and only you can stop the man from carrying out the deed. I began dealing with that a few days ago. It didn’t draw any interest.
When I was 19 I took the aptitude test to enroll in the Air Force, and right at that time a man knocked on my door, and we would talk about the Bible, even though I kept telling him to stay away I'm not interested, one thing led to another, back in the 1980s I bought a Open Bible, and read the whole thing through, just to prove this guy wrong, so he would stop bothering me!
Yes, the Gospel of John (John 2:13-16) records that Jesus made a whip of cords (rushes/reeds) and drove people, sheep, and cattle out of the temple, not physical harm to persons. after I read all Jesus words in the gospels, I decided Jesus gave specific instructions for peace not war.
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Jesus talks clearly and many times talks metaphorically and figuratively, what would happen if we took his words always literally?
AI Overview
If Jesus's words were taken literally at all times, it would result in a series of absurd, self-contradictory, and physically impossible interpretations of the Bible, leading to an impractical and potentially harmful lifestyle [1].
This literalist approach would cause significant confusion and conflict with other biblical teachings due to the inherent nature of the language used. Key examples of the consequences would include:
- Physical Mutilation: Verses like "If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away" (Matthew 5:29) and "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away" (Matthew 18:8) would mandate self-mutilation rather than the intended metaphorical meaning of removing sinful influences from one's life [1].
- Cannibalism: Jesus's words, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life" (John 6:54), would be interpreted as a call for physical cannibalism rather than the symbolic act of partaking in the Eucharist or spiritually connecting with his sacrifice [1].
- Incompatible Instructions: Following certain instructions literally would conflict with others. For instance, Jesus tells his followers to "let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'" (Matthew 5:37), but also to be "as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16), which a strict literalist might find hard to reconcile without understanding the nuance [1].
- Absurd Actions: His command to "consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin" (Matthew 6:28) as an example of God's provision would, if taken literally, suggest that humans should stop working entirely and rely solely on divine intervention for basic survival needs [1].
- Misunderstanding of Parables: The core meaning of his parables—stories designed to teach spiritual lessons through relatable, often exaggerated scenarios—would be lost. For example, the parable of the camel going through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:24) would be seen as a statement about actual physical animal transport rather than a profound metaphor for the difficulty the wealthy face in entering the Kingdom of Heaven [1].
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Our brothers and sisters are in every nation in the world, in 1,108 languages, is it possible to not listen to all Jesus words about, love of neighbor, being a Peacemaker? Jesus says: So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12 NIV
I understand you have good reasons to believe what you believe, I had good reasons back in the 1980s when I enrolled in the Air Force, I feel the reasons to observe all Jesus words is more powerful then any reason man can provide.
Back in the time of Moses God's people waited 400 years before God sent them a deliverer Moses, even though the Israelites outnumbered the Egyptians, they could have gone to war with the Egyptians, but they were not given instructions from God at that time to engage in war, so the Israelites followed God's promise to Abraham and waited for a deliverer Moses.
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Does Matthew 10:34 contradict Jesus other words or is it metaphorically talking about something else?
AI Overview
No, Matthew 10:34 ("I have not come to bring peace, but a sword") doesn't truly contradict Jesus's overall message of peace
but rather clarifies the consequences of His presence and message on a divided world, acting as a metaphor for spiritual separation and conflict, not literal violence. His words highlight that accepting His truth creates a sharp division between believers and non-believers, even within families, contrasting the world's superficial "peace" with the spiritual disruption His radical message brings.
God gave the Israelites specific instructions to go to war against enemy nations and sometimes the whole war, was won with a smaller number of Israelites.
AI Overview
That is correct; several narratives in the Hebrew Bible describe instances where the Israelites achieved military victories against numerically superior forces, which the text attributes to divine intervention and specific instructions from God [1].
Key examples include:
AI Overview
That is correct; several narratives in the Hebrew Bible describe instances where the Israelites achieved military victories against numerically superior forces, which the text attributes to divine intervention and specific instructions from God [1].
Key examples include:
- Gideon's Army: In the Book of Judges, God specifically instructs the judge Gideon to reduce his army from 32,000 men down to just 300, ensuring that the Israelites would not claim the victory was by their own strength [1]. With these 300 men, using tactics based on surprise and psychological warfare (trumpets, empty jars, and torches), they routed a massive Midianite and Amalekite coalition [1].
- David and Goliath: One of the most famous stories is not an army against an army, but a young shepherd, David, who defeats the Philistine champion Goliath using only a sling and a stone, while the Israelite army watched, unable to match Goliath's might [1]. The victory is explicitly credited to God's power rather than David's skill or the size of the army [1].
- King Jehoshaphat: In 2 Chronicles, when faced with a vast coalition of Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites, King Jehoshaphat is told by a prophet not to fight because "The battle is not yours, but God’s" [1]. The Israelites simply assembled and watched as their enemies turned on and destroyed each other [1].
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Triumph1300
Well-Known Member
In the New Testament God commands Spiritual Warfare.
There should be more Focus on t h a t kind of Warfare.
There is no doubt Global conflicts are caused by demonic activity.
When countries go to war demons are rejoicing.
Matthew 10:34
Aramaic Bible in Plain English
34 Think not that I have come to bring peace in the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 I have come to divide a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, 36 And a man's enemies will be the members of his household.
It looks like to me that verse 35 and 36 is Jesus explaining further about verse 34
Please, what's your advice on these scriptures?
Ephesians 6:17
Berean Standard Bible
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
AI Overview
You're exactly right;
Matthew 10:35-36 explains that the "sword" in verse 34 isn't literal warfare but the sharp division caused by choosing Jesus over earthly loyalties, leading to family conflict as people align with Him or reject Him, with one's ultimate allegiance to God superseding even family ties, a poignant truth for followers facing tough choices and persecution.
You're exactly right;
Matthew 10:35-36 explains that the "sword" in verse 34 isn't literal warfare but the sharp division caused by choosing Jesus over earthly loyalties, leading to family conflict as people align with Him or reject Him, with one's ultimate allegiance to God superseding even family ties, a poignant truth for followers facing tough choices and persecution.
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Say what you want, say what you will about Pope Francis but he learned the lesson.
“Let us not forget this: War is in itself a crime against humanity. People need peace! The world needs peace!”
Modern war is ‘crime against humanity,’ Pope Francis says
With massive civilian deaths and the destruction of cities and their infrastructure, modern “war is in itself a crime against humanity,” Pope Francis said.
www.chicagocatholic.com
You haven’t learned the lesson. You promote crime against humanity. Worse still, you urge followers of Jesus to commit crime against humanity. I call on you to repent.
“There will no longer be any curse”
(Revelation 22:3)
”... herem is therefore used in Zech 14:11 as a metaphor for a genocidal form of war that intends nothing less than the complete slaughter and destruction of the enemy (see Isa 34:2; Jer 31:40), and the promise that it will never again occur is couched in the covenantal promise language of Gen 9:11. Therefore it appears that katathema is the author’s way of interpreting herem. Thus the word refers not generally to curses, accursed things, or persons, but specifically to the promise that ‘the curse of war’ will no longer exist.”
(David E. Aune, Word Biblical Commentary, Revelation 17-22, Vol. 52C, p. 1179)
(Revelation 22:3)
”... herem is therefore used in Zech 14:11 as a metaphor for a genocidal form of war that intends nothing less than the complete slaughter and destruction of the enemy (see Isa 34:2; Jer 31:40), and the promise that it will never again occur is couched in the covenantal promise language of Gen 9:11. Therefore it appears that katathema is the author’s way of interpreting herem. Thus the word refers not generally to curses, accursed things, or persons, but specifically to the promise that ‘the curse of war’ will no longer exist.”
(David E. Aune, Word Biblical Commentary, Revelation 17-22, Vol. 52C, p. 1179)
Jesus and the apostles do not teach the followers of Jesus to model the “thousand yard stare” to the world. That is not what the Messiah wants the faces of his followers to look like. That is not what the faces of his followers look like when they are doing what he commanded them to do (Matthew 28:19-20).
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