J-term is taking its toll on me. I spend several hours everyday in really intense class discussion, battling with Old Testament war narratives in Issues of War, Peace, & Social Justice in the Old Testament. I am no Bible scholar, but I have thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by them. I never realized until a few days ago just how troubling certain passages of the Old Testament really are. I have a hard time seeing God as Divine Warrior who “shattered the enemy” and endorsed the Canaanite genocide and participated in the obliteration of certain people groups to be the same God who loves humility and gentleness, gave us Prince of Peace, and has a special concern for the poor and oppressed. It’s not an easy thing, I’m realizing, to sift through these inconsistencies. I am incredibly discouraged by the brutal legacy Old Testament war narratives have had on our history and all of the terrible things done in God’s name over the years.
It is good, however, to be surrounded by great thinkers and reading excellent books that help me navigate these hard Scriptures: The Powers that Be, Rich Christian in an Age of Hunger (yay!), The Problem of War in the Old Testament, and various articles and excerpts from other great books. About four days in, I’m frankly disenchanted with the Just War Theory, more attracted to frustrating pacifism, and wholeheartedly in agreement with Jesus’ way of peacemaking (regardless of Just War Theory or pacifism). My gracious housemates and other important voices have been great for conversations until the wee hours of the morning, as I think on these things and try to understand Israel as theocracy, God as merciful and just, and what to make of Jesus. These haven't been easy days, but out of this struggle, a new appreciation for the Slaughtered Lamb has surfaced in me. More than most days, I am thankful for the person and example of Jesus. He overturned things quite a bit, made some pretty scandalous claims about God, and absorbed our violence on the cross. And it blows my mind, in the midst of war in the Bible, war in the news, and the resulting war in me. Thank you, Jesus.
“Something new was going on that would be dangerous to the old. From their ancient texts Jesus mined truths about God that the Jews were unwilling to face. He drew out of the old scriptural wineskins a new kind of revelational wine. He lifted the veil that had blinded his generation from comprehending the magnanimous scope of God’s love. He pulled aside the curtain that had hidden the shalom, the peace of God, that would embrace not only the Jews but all nations, until the whole earth would be filled with the glory of the Lord.”
Show Them No Mercy, Cowles
