Table Of ContentThe Old Testament Roots of Nonviolence
Abraham’s Personal Faith,
Moses’ Social Vision,
Jesus’ Fulfillment,
and God’s Work Today
P E. F
HILIP RIESEN
The Old testament roots of nonviolence Abraham’s Personal Faith, Moses’ Social Vision,
Jesus’ Fulfillment, and God’s Work Today
Copyright © 2010 Philip E. Friesen. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical
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The Seed, Root, and
Flower
Of Peace
In the Soil of Injustice
With Seeds of Hope
For Today
The inspiration for the outline comes from thirty years of ministry to and friendship with Asian
Buddhist relatives and friends. In the Far East, the lotus often represents the pain and beauty of
life. The picture is of a beautiful flower growing out of the muck and mud of swamp water, for
me a marvelous picture of grace, revealing the beauty God can bring out of the suffering of our
lives. As a Christian, I see Jesus to be the flower of peace bringing fragrance to our lives when
our roots go down beneath life’s tragedy and suffering into the depths of God’s grace, giving us
new life in Jesus Christ.
Preface
M to Minnesota as children of German-
Y PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS CAME
speaking Mennonite immigrants from the Ukraine. They left land, wealth,
and comfort in Russia for the sake of conscience, and the issue was military
conscription. What they did not fully understand was the reality they were
buying stolen property when they came to Minnesota. They bought land taken
violently from the Dakota Sioux. History was repeating itself, because one
hundred years earlier my grandparents’ ancestors had accepted land from the
Russian Czar taken by conquest from Muslims. Were my ancestors naïve and
lucky, or were they people of great faith? Did the resurrection of Christ defeat
the violence of the system once for all and make it unnecessary, as my
Mennonite ancestors believed, or were they simply clever enough to reap the
spoils of war without having to fight?
When I first discovered the library in third grade, I wasn’t thinking about
these questions. My childhood heroes soon became the frontiersmen, Jim
Bridger, Hugh Glass, and James Butler (“Wild Bill”) Hickok. I greatly admired
James Hickok for his work as an honest lawman in a lawless world, a man who
sought to bring about, as he described, “a government of laws and not of men.”
At the same time I listened to my maternal grandfather’s stories of growing up
across the creek from the Lakota Sioux in South Dakota, and the kindnesses his
family received from them, despite the ethnic cleansing that had placed the
Indians on a reservation. The government of laws my hero helped establish had
been a lawless intrusion into the lives of the native peoples, but this was a
disconnect my education taught me to accept as normal.
As time went on this disconnect widened. On one hand I learned pacifism
from my Mennonite parents with an ethic of peace, promising freedom from sin
and bringing fellowship with each other. On the other hand in public school I
learned the glory of battle and patriotic heroism that brought political freedom
from tyrants and kings.
In the mid-1960’s I attended a Christian College where military training was a
required class for all freshman males. During this period this disconnect became
for me unavoidable. How could the same indwelling Holy Spirit of Christ so
clearly lead my spiritual ancestors to prison and death rather than participate in
war, and at the same time lead my spiritual mentors at school in the opposite
direction? Could both be following the same Spirit?
After graduation the most difficult moment of my youth was facing my own
father to declare I no longer shared his convictions about war. His response
exceeded my wildest hopes. In essence he said, “I gave you to God and you
belong to him. You follow him wherever the Holy Spirit leads and I will support
you.” With these words he set me free from mere religious tradition.
In 1967 the Vietnam War was raging, and all young men my age were being
drafted. Had I actually been drafted I would have gone, but just at that time I was
invited to serve as a missionary teacher in East Africa, and when I accepted the
invitation an exemption from military service was quite miraculously granted.
There was no clever calculation on my part to avoid military service. It was clear
God had something else for me to do. Like my forbearers who left Germany in
the 18th Century and again left Russia in the 19th Century, God had a different
place for me.
It took another forty years of study and experience before the disconnect in
my mind over the war issue had been bridged. Yes, the Spirit of God does lead
his servants in opposite directions at times, but there are reasons of culture and
situation that govern. The Biblical story I tell deals with God and human social
institutions—institutions built upon violence with God’s permission for a time,
but which are “passing away,” as John’s first letter tells us. I invite my readers to
cross the bridge by faith from what is temporary to what is permanent, because
the current social order is “passing away.” The government of laws will be
obsolete when love for Jesus rules the hearts of all.
Acknowledgments
I , it is appropriate to acknowledge those
N A BOOK BY A PACIFIST ABOUT PEACE
persons who have worn the military uniform and who have also contributed to
my spiritual growth in some way or supported me in mission. This includes
friends, relatives, and prayer partners, but one colleague in particular stands out.
Dr. Morris Inch, my Bible teacher at Wheaton College in the fall of 1962,
invited me to pray with him in his office. In his prayer for me, an eighteen-year-
old freshman, he referred to me as God’s servant, sent by God to study with him.
This shocked me to the core of my being, giving me a new perspective. I knew
Dr. Inch was God’s servant, but I had never thought of myself in that way, and I
never forgot the honor he bestowed upon me in his prayer. Dr. Inch served in
what was called the Army Air Force in Italy during World War II.
I thank my wife, Kim, and children, Michelle and Josiah, for their support of
my ministry, study, and writing, especially my wife whose industry and frugality
made possible the quantity of unpaid time I was able to invest in this project. I
also acknowledge the inspiration and stimulation of fresh ideas and creative
insights contributed by my Galilean Fellows partners, Dr. William Monsma,
founder of MacLaurin Institute and the Galilean Center, Dr. Michael Brands, and
John Spaulding, Th.M.
Especially, thank you to Dr. Steven Schweitzer, my advisor on this project
when I did sabbatical research in 2007 at the Associated Mennonite Biblical
Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana. Dr. Schweitzer is currently Academic Dean at
Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Indiana.
Finally I must acknowledge my copy editor, Claire Davis, who has saved me
from a host of errors.
List of Abbreviations
ANET: Ancient Near Eastern Texts
NICOT: New International Commentary Old Testament
KJV: King James Version
NASB: New American Standard Bible
NIV: New International Version
NRSV: New Revised Standard Version
Introduction
The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ;
and he shall reign forever and ever. (Revelation 11:25 KJV)
O in 2001, the World Trade Center in New York was
N A SUNNY DAY
completely demolished. Those who flew the planes and those who sent
them did so, as they claimed, in the name of God. More than three thousand
years ago, the city of Jericho was similarly destroyed and devoted in destruction
to God. What was the difference between these two events?
Four thousand years ago Abraham devoted his son to God and took him up
Mount Moriah to kill him. A millenium later, Hannah devoted her son to God,
but instead of trying to kill him, she took him to the Tabernacle to live his life in
service to the Lord. What made the difference?
In the sacrifice of Isaac, Abraham did what would be normal in his society.
Isaac’s birth had happened in answer to Abraham’s deepest prayers, and
Abraham felt he should devote that son to God. He proceeded to do so in the
only way a man of his time knew to do. By the time of Hannah there was another
option. According to Hebrews 11:19, Abraham believed God could raise Isaac
from death, and Abraham’s faith precipitated a new revelation and a new era.
Beginning with Abraham, Israel began to learn that human sacrifice in worship
was unacceptable to God, and Hannah lived in this new tradition.
What Abraham did would not be right for Hannah. What Joshua did would
not be right for us. God’s offer of his son to die and Jesus’ resurrection from
death has precipitated an entirely new set of options that are better than what
Joshua did. Those who destroyed the World Trade Center were living with
Joshua’s understanding of God. Islam brought Arabia forward in the rejection of
polytheism, but Mohammad stumbled where the world consistently stumbles, at
the scandal of the cross. Unless we have learned to live the life of the
resurrection in the light of the cross, we will operate at best, as Mohammad did,
in the light of an Old Testament understanding.
Peace comes at a price. When the price is not paid, there will be war. But the
price is not military preparedness; rather, it is faith and obedience. The persistent
inability to get along with neighbors is proof that one isn’t getting along with
God. Proverbs 16:7 makes this observation, “When the ways of people please
the Lord, he causes even their enemies to be at peace with them.” The stories in
Judges reveal the negative side of this truth.
In Judges 2:1 a messenger of the Lord brought Israel the announcement of
impending war. Israel had failed to expel the tribes whose lease on God’s land
had expired, and instead had turned those natives into slaves (Judges 1:28–35.)
The former Hebrew slaves from Egypt now had slaves of their own, and God
didn’t like it. Failure to obey God had cost them God’s protection, and they
found themselves defenseless.
Throughout the story told by Judges, each time Israel’s relationship with God
grew cold and distant, conflict arose with neighbors, and Israel lost its liberty.
Each episode of subjugation was followed by repentance, and then by
deliverance from God who sent Judges. Each episode of deliverance was
miraculous, not dependent upon superior, human, military strength. This was the
way God ordained for Israel to go to war.
During the time of Samuel, Israel demanded to have a king like other nations
in order to prepare a better military defense; and after Israel had a king like other
nations, they no longer felt so vulnerable as before. But to have a king like other
nations was not God’s plan, and those who understood Moses’ teaching always
insisted there should be no king but Yahweh. Unfortunately, the military
establishment effectively replaced dependence upon God. People now depended
upon the ruler who then, in turn, enslaved them.
The Old Testament Roots of Nonviolence is about the divine/human
interaction that brings real social change for the salvation of the world. The case
in point is the issue of peace and war, but the purpose of this book is
missiological. I hope those who may disagree with my conclusions about peace
will still join the discussion about God’s mission for the world and the changes it
brings.
Non-theistic religions offer personal peace and escape from earth’s suffering
through religious exercise, but the incarnation of Jesus brought heaven’s peace to
earth. This peace is for the community, not just the individual, so that faith can
be a community affair in which all participate, and do so in a way that leads to
peace.
Islam offers the rule of God on earth through worship and government action.
Jesus offers the same, but his government operates differently. This is
noteworthy among religions: only the Christian gospel offers the pacifist option.
Islam could not produce such an idea, and neither could Judaism apart from its
Messiah.
Jesus brought peace to the earth in his coming, and that peace is growing in
