The Warring God

“You can run on for a long time Run on for a long time Run on for a long time Sooner or later God'll cut you down Sooner or later God'll cut you down”

Introduction

Many people enjoy this song by Johny Cash, but few go so far as to understand the Biblical truth represented in the lyrics. Unless we are watching Clint Eastwood chase down bandits, we would rather avoid and not talk about what the lyrics really mean. But the truth is this: those who oppose God will, one day, be cut down by God. We don’t like this idea because we feel that it not only takes away from the love of the Lord but also maligns His character. Nevertheless, the facts are there. I propose that we need to teach ourselves as well as unbelievers that God destroys His enemies. Not only this, but I believe that we should take comfort and encouragement from this truth as well. By looking at several key passages of scripture, we will be able to see that God conquers other “gods,” foreign nations, and entire armies.

Caveat

Before we really get going, I must clarify something. I am not saying that God enjoys or delights in the destruction of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11 ESV). God is a loving and gracious God Who cares for what He has made. To forget about this is just as bad as downplaying any of God’s other attributes. We should not be so prideful to think that because God saved us that His only care and concern is for us and other like-minded people. Christians are not special apart from the grace of God.

God Beheads an Idol

In 1 Samuel 5, we read about when the Philistines captured the ark of God. At the start of the chapter, it doesn’t sound like God is winning, or like He is the one pursuing His enemies. At first glance, one would say that the Lord had been dealt a blow. However, as you continue to read, you find that this is not the case.

“When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. 3 And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4 But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.” (1 Samuel 5:1-4 ESV)

The Philistines thought that putting the ark of God in their temple next to their god Dagon would show the world that Dagon had beaten the God of Israel. God, however, promptly causes Dagon to bow down to Him. Maybe it was an accident and the wind just blew Dagon over? Dagon is set back up and God knocks him down again, cutting off his head and hands. Further on in the chapter you read how God afflicted the Philistines until they had no choice but to let the ark of God go. The world saw that it was God, and not Dagon, who had the power to vanquish His enemies.

God Conquers Nations

In Exodus 7:14-11:32 one finds the account of the ten plagues against Egypt. God sent each plague to show His supremacy over the Egyptian gods as well as the human “deities” who ruled there. The Egyptians had enslaved the people of God and God was going to free them—but not before punishing the slave masters. His final act against the Egyptians at this time was to destroy their entire army in the Red Sea after they were sent to recapture the people of God.

In the rest of the Israelite’s history, one sees that it is not only the Egyptians that God destroys. Read the book of Joshua, read any of the prophets, and you’ll find that God takes out nations left and right. The extremity to which he did so causes people today to say that the God of the Old Testament is wrathful and hateful. Nevertheless, it is always true that nations who are against God will eventually fall to His wrath.

God Runs Down an Army

Not only does God take out other gods and nations, but as we are going to see, He also destroys entire armies.

“10 And the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.” (Joshua 10:10-11 ESV)

In this passage, God gives the kings of the Amorites into the hand of Joshua. Joshua conquers them and chases them down. But his feeble human actions do nothing compared to what God brings against these enemies. God chases the Amorites with hailstones and kills more with hailstones than the sons of Israel did with the sword. On that day, the Lord even made the sun stand still!

13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

If you stand against God, He is against you—and that is a scary place to be.

Encouragement

The encouragement I have for believers is this: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31 ESV). What have we to fear with God on our side? He wipes out nations, hurls hailstones, decapitates idols, and promises to protect His own (John 10:27-29 ESV). These promises should light fires under us as Christians. We should be marching through the streets of every town shouting the praises of God and pleading with people to turn to Him. What can they do to us with God on our side?

Why We Should Teach This

Teaching the reality of God’s war against sin and evil is an integral part of teaching the gospel. People need to know that God will destroy those who stand against Him. Firstly, when we don’t teach about God’s pursuit of evil, we cheapen the love, grace, and mercy that He shows to His own.

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person-though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8 ESV)

Do we fully grasp where we were compared to God before Christ called us? It seems that many of us don’t. None of us will ever understand how far we were from God and how much He was removed from us. We do His love a disservice by failing to mention or downplaying the weight of wrath that was against His people before they became His people.

Secondly, humanity needs to know this because they themselves are naturally disposed against God. Every person who is not in Christ is being run down by God and it is only a matter of time before He stops showing them mercy and brings their life to a final end. As Christians who know this, it is our duty to be out on the streets pleading with others, begging them to come to Christ before it is too late. If we don’t tell people of the doom that is coming upon them, how are they to know? Many Christians put up the argument that it is not loving or Christ-like to mention the wrathful aspects of God. I ask this: if someone is driving a thousand miles an hour for the edge of a cliff, is it more loving to let them go off the edge or is it more loving to do anything and everything to get them to stop? By avoiding telling our fellow man where God stands with the wicked, we allow millions and millions to drive right off the cliff without intervention.

“11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11 ESV)

God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked so why do we? He pleads, “turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die,” and we should plead the same.

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Works Cited

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) ESV Text Edition: 2016

© 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Cash, Johnny. "God's Gonna Cut You Down" American V: A Hundred Highways, American Recordings, 2006.