Mk:3:17: And
James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed
them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder
Jesus called James and John sons of thunder.
Why is that?
Luke 9: 51 And it came to pass, when the time
was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to
go to Jerusalem, 52 And sent messengers before his face:
and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready
for him. 53 And they did not receive him, because
his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and
John saw this, they said, Lord, will you that we command fire to come down
from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did? 55 But he turned, and rebuked them,
and said, All of you know not what manner of spirit all of you are of. 56 For the Son of man is not come to
destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
James and John were eager to destroy men's
lives, but Jesus came to save them. We also know that God has told us in
the last days there would be rampant violence in the earth:
Mt:24:37: But as the days of Noe were,
so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Gen:6:13: And God said unto Noah, The
end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence
through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
The earth is filled with violence and division,
a sign of the end times is the world will have wars and rumors of wars.
Math 24: 3: And as he sat upon the mount of
Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall
these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end
of the world? 6: And ye shall hear of wars and rumours
of wars... 7: For nation shall rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom... 9: Then shall they deliver you up to
be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations
for my name's sake. 10: And then shall many be offended,
and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
The above scriptures show the violence
in the earth and in the church. You would think that if Jesus warned us
of such things the people of God would err on the safe side instead on
the divisive side. I am not denying the need or call for church discipline.
Jesus also said:
Mt:10:34: Think not that I am come to
send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35: For I am come to set a man at variance
against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter
in law against her mother in law. 36: And a man's foes shall be they
of his own household.
But He also said this:
Mt:18:7: Woe unto the world because
of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man
by whom the offence cometh!
Now if you know me, you may know that I
claim to be a tilter:
Jer 48:12 Therefore behold, the days
are coming, says the Lord, when I shall send to [Moab] tilters who shall
tilt him up and shall empty his vessels and break his bottles (earthenware)
in pieces.
But this work, is not against men's wills.
I cannot and do not go around destroys peoples theologies and force them
to believe what I believe. It's a "whosoever will" and "he that hath an
ear". This is a balance.
Many christians today are encouraging war,
and particular the war in Afghanistan that we went to after 9/11. Now I
am all for justice, while I do have doubts about the perpetrators, I am
not against the punishment of those who did so. The problem is how we did
it. As I discuss in part here:
...On June 5, 2006,
the Muckraker Report contacted the FBI Headquarters, (202) 324-3000, to
learn why Bin Laden’s Most Wanted poster did not indicate that Usama was
also wanted in connection with 9/11. The Muckraker Report spoke with
Rex Tomb, Chief of Investigative Publicity for the FBI. When asked
why there is no mention of 9/11 on Bin Laden’s Most Wanted web page, Tomb
said, “The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted
page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.”
Surprised by the
ease in which this FBI spokesman made such an astonishing statement, I
asked, “How this was possible?” Tomb continued, “Bin Laden has not
been formally charged in connection to 9/11.” I asked, “How does
that work?” Tomb continued, “The FBI gathers evidence. Once
evidence is gathered, it is turned over to the Department of Justice.
The Department of Justice than decides whether it has enough evidence to
present to a federal grand jury. In the case of the 1998 United States
Embassies being bombed, Bin Laden has been formally indicted and charged
by a grand jury. He has not been formally indicted and charged in
connection with 9/11 because the FBI has no hard evidence connected Bin
Laden to 9/11.”...
Now either we have
evidence or we do not. And if we do have evidence, then we need to bring
that evidence forward properly before we execute judgment. In Math 18 the
last step is to mark the believer as heathen, who has refused to repent.
In the case of 9/11, the last result is war. By skipping the procedures
of judgment we risk the wrath of God.
Mt:7:2: For with
what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you again.
By rushing to use
the sword, the sword will come back on us:
Math 26: 52: Then said
Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that
take the sword shall perish with the sword.
Living by the sword
is the curse of Esau, which represents our flesh which Jacob represents
our spirit:
Gen 27:40 And
by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall
come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his
yoke from off thy neck.
...it is not God's
best for us, because we are trusting in our defense and not God's. It is
of the wrong spirit, as Jesus told James and John.
If you have been
all riled up, and have jumped the gun to bring judgment upon those that
did 9/11, you risk having our nation destroyed, in your seek to preserve
it.
Lk:17:33: Whosoever
shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his
life shall preserve it.
Pr 16:32 He that
is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit
than he that taketh a city.
In my discipleship
schooling I have seen how some men of God actually believed in acting out
in anger and seeking God's forgiveness later. As I shared in that page
above, this is not God's best. And it is a horrible example to others whom
we seek to influence; our children, or those under us in the Lord, and
the worst thing is doing such may actually destroy the thing you are seeking
to preserve.
In the Old Testament
God gives many commands and rules for the Israelites to follow and some
of these were in judging matters and people. God said that they couldn't
judge someone without multiple witnesses. Bringing forth evidence before
bringing forth the sentence of judgment is God's way. How perverse is it
to do the reverse? Can we excuse the war in Afghanistan by bringing forth
evidence afterwards? We cannot. If the FBI says there is no evidence, then
there is none. Any evidence you think you may have is dismissed, because
it was not brought forth properly. Many dismiss the evidences by those
who share conspiracy ideas right? And that is because those evidences have
not been brought forth correctly. Therefore all evidence must be dismissed
unless it is brought forth rightly.
While I go on about
the war in Afghanistan, this is only a fruit of the problem I am trying
to discuss here. Having the wrong spirit. Being a son of thunder. This
particular fruit may be the final matter which destroys America however.
We reap what we sow. God is not mocked. While it may be too late for America,
it is not too late for us individually. I discuss this here:
