Last month the New York Times reported that an Iranian man requested asylum into England, stating that he had converted to Christianity because it was a peaceful religion. However, the British government turned him down. The interesting part is that they did so by quoting Bible verses from the Books of Leviticus, Exodus, and Revelation in an attempt to claim that Christianity is not peaceful. “These examples are inconsistent with your claim that you converted to Christianity after discovering it is a ‘peaceful’ religion, as opposed to Islam which contains violence, rage and revenge,” read the rejection letter.

It is somewhat baffling that the British government would deny his asylum for theological reasons considering England is an increasingly secular society. Furthermore, their claims were false since Christianity is a peaceful religion. Unlike Mohammad, who was a war general, Jesus was called the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6) and told his followers to be peacemakers (Matt. 5:9). Followers of Jesus were never told to use arms for the sake of Christianity; rather, Jesus told Peter to put away his sword (Matt. 26:52).

There is, however, one aspect of the Bible that continues to hinder people from seeing Christianity as a peaceful religion and demands further attention: God’s war-commands for ancient Israel. Some Christians try to explain these away by saying that the God of the Old Testament is somehow different than the God of the New Testament. But that is nowhere to be found in the Bible. What is the correct, biblical answer then? Is it actually possible for a loving God to have commanded His people to war?

Examples in Scripture

Before going any further, let’s look at a few examples of war-commands in Scripture.

Deuteronomy 7:1-4 (italics mine)

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods.”

Deuteronomy 20:16-18: (italics mine)

“But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods….”

Joshua 11:10-12: (italics mine)

“And Joshua turned back at that time and captured Hazor and struck its king with the sword, for Hazor formerly was the head of all those kingdoms. And they struck with the sword all who were in it, devoting them to destruction; there was none left that breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire. And all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua captured, and struck them with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded.”

When we read these with our 21st-century western eyes, they seem barbaric and inhuman. However, when reading any piece of literature it is always important to read it within its context. This is no different with the Bible.

The Context of Ancient Israel

There are three very important details about ancient Israel and the culture that they lived in. These points will help us, as present-day westerners, to see more clearly why this was necessary at that time.

1. War was a practical reality for all nations in the ancient Near East.

During this time in history, nations were constantly taking away land from each other by force. These nations were willing to engage in whatever means were necessary in order to do this. If ancient Israel was living in the midst of a peaceful land surrounded by peaceful nations, then this would never have been necessary. But this was not the case.

2. God was punishing very morally corrupt cultures.

God did not want to put these specific cultures to death simply because they were not following Him. These cultures were so wicked and their practices so evil that it was necessary that they receive immediate judgment. For example, in an act of worship to their gods, these cultures would engage in temple prostitution. Even worse, parents in these cultures would sacrifice their own children to their gods. This is also why God told His people in Deuteronomy 12:31, “You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.”

It is also important to remember that God was willing to preserve a wicked nation if there were hope that they would turn from their wickedness. For example, God said that he would preserve Sodom and Gomorrah if He could find 10 righteous people in it (Gen. 18:16-33). Yet, they were not found, so the city was destroyed. A more positive example happened later in the Old Testament as God was going to punish Nineveh unless they repented. God sent the prophet Jonah to the Ninevites which led to Nineveh repenting (Jonah 3:1-10). So they actually received no judgment because of their repentance.

3. God’s ultimate purpose was to bring salvation to all nations through Israel.

The whole Old Testament is one big story made up many little stories that lead to the coming of Jesus, the promised Messiah. This bigger story must be kept in mind when thinking about the wars that God commanded His people to engage in. Far from being a normal and ongoing way of life, these war-commands were limited to a small geographical location as well as to a small span of time (roughly one lifespan surrounding the time of Joshua). At this specific point in God’s plan, this was momentarily necessary so that God could establish His people and the religious culture (Judaism) through which the world’s Savior would come.

When Jesus did come, he came to completely fulfill the Old Testament. One way he did this was by establishing a spiritual kingdom, whereas in the Old Testament God was creating an earthly kingdom. Similar to the Old Testament, Jesus came to create a people that would fight in a very real battle. Yet the tactics are no longer military tactics but spiritual ones: prayer, preaching the gospel, holy living, loving and serving others, etc. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, as well as through these tactics, Jesus’ mission is to destroy the real enemy, the source of evil and suffering, Satan himself (1 John 3:10; Eph. 6:12). Thankfully, we know from the Book of Revelation that Jesus, the Messiah and King, will succeed.

God’s commands for Israel to destroy cities and nations were necessary because of the culture that ancient Israel lived in. These war-commands are far from the normal way of life for God’s people and they in no way make the entire Bible a non-peaceful book. Rather, this was something that God allowed for a small period of time in a small geographical location and was only one part of God’s larger plan to bring salvation to the whole world. Christianity indeed is a peaceful religion, and for the British government to say otherwise to a convert from Islam seeking asylum is absurd.