National Defense
Men are called by God to be leaders and providers and protectors of their own families. It is the role of “protector” which best defines why men must go to war. The essence of why men go it war is about defending their families.
Part of being a man is knowing when they need to fight and realizing what is worth fighting for. If a man’s liberties are threatened then nothing else matters but to focus on the national defense of his own homeland. Fighting for one’s homeland is fighting for that thing which is the most important to men. It is the “homeland” collectively that represents the environment where a man raises his family and where his children and grandchildren after him will continue to carry on their way of life for the following generations.
2 Samuel 10:12 (NIV)
12 Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight.”
These words were spoken by Joab the commander of King David’s army when they were facing overwhelming odds arrayed against them (both forward and behind). Joab knew and understood what was the most essential part of war and knew the real reason that men gather to fight is to fight for their own nation. The bottom line of fighting a just war is the foundational principle that men should fight bravely for their own families and to defend the cities of their God.
Acts 17:26 (HCSB)
26 From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.
God has made every nation of people upon the whole earth and God has also determined their appointed times of national destiny and has given these various “people-groups” their prescribed boundaries which define the geographical places of their habitation.
When Joab spoke of fighting for the cities of their God, he was speaking of fighting for their national homeland and protecting all of those cities located within their national borders (which were given to them by God).
Real war comes down to defending a man’s family and defending his homeland so his children and grandchildren can live free. If a man attempted to defend his only his own house by himself then the enemy would easily overwhelm him and each individual household would be destroyed one at a time. But if all of the men in a nation should join together in ranks within an organized army and work together within one military body, then they can fight in an organized manner. This is how they can successfully defend their nation as a whole. When they win the war and stop the enemies’ attack then they purchase freedom for all. After victory then every family within that nation can continue in their undisturbed freedom and peace and prosperity for themselves and for the generations that follow.
This is the real reason a man will lay down his own life is in order that his “ultimate sacrifice” will provide freedom for his progeny and his future descendants that they might live free. Everything else involving war is secondary to this one over-riding purpose of family defense!
John 15:13 (HCSB)
13 No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.
There is no greater love that a man can show than to lay down his life for those he loves and this most certainly includes his own family as being the foremost of those whom he loves most. This is why the essence of real war is to defend and protect one’s own family and everything else is only secondary or consequential to this one “over-riding” goal.
This is why we should always honor the memory of our past forefathers who paid the ultimate sacrifice when they perished in war because they were fighting so that our generation could live free. Our freedom is costly and it cost the lives and blood of those of past generations of warriors who fought bravely and died to defend the freedoms which we now enjoy.
A Movie that Illustrates Biblical Principles
Back in the 1940’s, in America they still had some good movies that were moral and which also illustrated biblical principles. The 1941 movie called “Sergeant York” is a good example of this.
See the movie links “Sergeant York-Part 1” and “Sergeant York-Part 2” for more details.
In this movie they illustrated the life of a real person named “Alvin C. York” who was born in the mountains of Tennessee and lived in a cabin in a remote region. Some of the biblical principles illustrated by this movie are:
- Making an honest Living by labor.
- Trusting in God by faith for prosperity.
- Using faith to overcome all adversity.
- Laboring and then trusting in God for the increase.
- Fighting for freedom for your family and nation.
- Killing to save lives.
Making an Honest Living by Labor
Genesis 3:19 (NASB95)
19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
The curse of Adam is still upon the earth and because of this men have to labor by the sweat of their brow to earn a living for themselves and their own families. This biblical principle illustrates the fact that men are created by God to be providers for their families and that they are to labor for their own income.
Exercising Faith in God to Overcome
Mark 11:22–24 (NASB95)
22 And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God.
23 “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.
24 “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.
While mankind has to labor under the curse of Adam to make a living, they can also reduce the effects of the curse by exercising their faith in God to provide for them and to bless them. Any type of obstacle (represented by a mountain) can be removed by faith in God.
Exodus 20:9 (NASB95)
9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
This scripture shows that a man should labor for six days a week and then have one day of rest. This means that he is to do his part by labor but then he is to rest in faith and trust God to bless him (after he did his part).
Proverbs 6:9–11 (NASB95)
9 How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?
10 “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest”—
11 Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man.
A man cannot just sleep all of the time and not work or do anything and still expect to prosper. He has to do his part and labor otherwise he will have poverty come upon him and rob him of everything.
Laboring then Resting in God for the Results
Genesis 30:37–43 (NASB95)
37 Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white which was in the rods.
38 He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters, even in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink.
39 So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.
40 Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock.
41 Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might mate by the rods;
42 but when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.
43 So the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys.
Jacob used his faith when he was working as a hired man for wages. He made streaks and spots in some tree branches and he visualized that the sheep would give birth to lambs that there spotted and streaked in color for his wages. Using his faith Jacob saw pure white sheep give birth to offspring that were striped and spotted. It should be noted here that Jacob worked hard and did his part but then he rested in faith and trusted God for his increase. By faith Jacob became exceedingly prosperous and increased continually until he had large flocks and workers and camels and donkeys and other valuable livestock. This illustrates the fact that a man can labor and do his part naturally but then after doing his part then the same man can also rest in God by faith and trust in God to bless him by faith. It was “faith” that made Jacob prosper more than any other shepherd or hired man who operated only by natural labor and self-effort alone.
In the movie “Sergeant York” the character Alvin C. York lived in the mountains where the soil condition was poor and full of rocks. He wanted to buy some fertile farmland in the valley so he could produce some good crops and have a hope of getting married and providing for his own family. His own father had tried to buy some fertile farmland in the valley but he was unable to get this land and died without ever seeing it. Alvin York worked hard to save the money but he had to first come to the end of his own self-effort and trust in God by faith. He experienced some huge disappointments but in the end he was able to obtain the land that he desired and was able to marry and begin his own family.
This movie illustrates that a man is to do his part and labor but then after doing his part he is to rest in God by faith and trust God for the increase rather than trying to do everything solely by self-effort.
Fighting for Freedom
2 Samuel 10:12 (NASB95)
12 “Be strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the LORD do what is good in His sight.”
This movie also illustrates that fact that a man is called by God to be a protector of his own family. This is the reason that men go to war because if they are passive and do nothing then the war will come to their own country as well. They cannot suppose to defend their own households by themselves in time of war otherwise the enemy will defeat each household one by one and enslave all of the people. They have to join together within organized ranks and divisions within a military structure so that they can fight in organized manner and defend their nation. This is why men must have military training so that in the event that war breaks out they will be prepared and trained and ready to fight. If they have no military training they will have no hope of resisting the attack of an organized army of enemy who seeks to destroy their country and destroy their way of living and destroy the prosperity that was built by their forefathers and then enslave them.
South Korea is a good example of this because it was languishing in extreme poverty during the early 1960’s but the Koreans were industrious and worked hard (and had faith in God) and as a result they built a prosperous nation that is today very advanced. They applied the biblical principle that a man must labor and do his part first and then they exercised their faith in God to prosper their labor. There was a huge revival in 1907-1910 throughout the Korean peninsula and many Koreans became believers (just as Alvin York become a believer as seen in this “Sergeant York” movie Part-1 and Part-2).
See the link “1907-1910 Pyongyang Korea Revival” and “When Revival Fires Swept Korea” for more details.
The “Spiritual Revival” that occurred in the early 1900’s swept over the entire Korean peninsula with huge numbers of Koreans becoming believers prior to the Korean war. After the war took place the Korean peninsula was split in two with the North being left to communism and the South being free. Those in the south were free to worship God but those in the north were largely oppressed. Today there are two vastly different cultures that developed in both North and South Korea. The prosperity in the South can largely be attributed vast numbers of industrious Koreans who became believers. They do their part to work (like Jacob did his part) but they also rest in God in faith and trust God for their increase as Jacob did. This resulted in them prospering by faith.
The north also has hard working people but their faith in God is repressed and stifled by a communist regime that puts believers into prison for having a bible or for worshipping God. This shows that hard labor alone is not enough to cause someone to prosper if they do not also have faith in God to prosper them. They must do their part to labor but that is not enough (in and of itself) to cause them to prosper. They must also have faith in God (just as Jacob did) to see their prosperity manifest. This is difficult to do when a country is under an oppressive regime that punishes those who believe in God and even imprisons them for their faith. This one factor alone is the greatest reason for the vast economic difference in prosperity between North and South Korea. Also civil leaders must have a fear of God and have some basic moral values. If a dictatorship spends millions on nuclear weapons to threaten the world with annihilation (while their own people starve to death) then it is difficult for a citizen to prosper in such a country beyond just a basic survival level when languishing under such an oppressive system as this.
The Korean military training has a great opportunity however to impart life skills to recruits that can help them prosper in natural living and also by teaching them to have faith in God for their prosperity. Again this is another principle illustrated by the “Sergeant York” movie where a man did his part to labor but then rested in God by faith to bring in the prosperity for him.
Killing to Save Lives
Another important principle illustrated by this “Sergeant York” movie was that in time of war a soldier will often be required to kill during battle. Alvin York did not want to kill others but at the same time his men were being “mowed down” like grass by machine gun fire and hundreds were dying. Alvin York had to stop those machine guns to save the lives of his men. He killed 25-Germans with such accurate rifle fire that it caused the surviving 132-Germans to surrender. Alvin was awarded for his bravery but his greatest reward was the lives that he saved. This is the key principle to learn is that a soldier often has to kill in order to save lives and to defend freedom so that those of his own country can live free. North Korea is no longer free because politicians stopped military generals from winning the Korean war and taking the entire Korean peninsula. Half the peninsula now “languishes” under oppression for this reason. If a war is lost then people can end up living under oppression for generations to follow as is currently evident in North Korea today.
So this movie called “Sergeant York” illustrates many biblical principles about a man overcoming and putting his trust in God and also risking his life in time of war to save others and also when a man has to kill in order to save lives.
Again, see the movie links “Sergeant York-Part 1” and “Sergeant York-Part 2” for more details.
This topic of “National Defense” and the reason why men must prepare for war and defend their country illustrates the essence of manhood and what being a man is all about. A man is called by God to be a protector and provider and leader of his own family. Joining together with other men for military training is an essential part of protecting one’s own family and protecting his own nation and protecting their way of living and protecting the prosperity that their fathers have built up before them. If men do nothing then evil will prevail and they will lose their freedom and their children and grandchildren will end up languishing under oppression and poverty and misery as is now the case of the people now living under oppression in North Korean today. This can happen to any nation on earth and many nations have fallen to oppressive dictatorships when people were not trained and ready to fight and defend their own freedoms. This is the essence of being a man to defend and protect freedom so their children and grandchildren after them can life free and can have the freedom to worship God in unmolested manner.