Defining violence

  • Deuteronomy 19:16-20
  • Exodus 20:16 – Do not bear false witness. Bearing false witness is an attempt to do violence to another.
  • Exodus 23:1-2
  • I Kings 21:9-10 – Ahab and Jezebel did violence in taking Naboth’s vineyard.
  • Psalm 97:12
  • Psalms 35:11-15
  • Psalms 55:9-11
  • Isaiah 59:3-8

God’s attitude toward violence

  • Violence is punished!
  • Genesis 6:11-13
  • Psalms 7:14
  • Psalms 11:5-7
  • John 18:36

How do we prevent violence in our lives?

  • On earth, we will be faced with violence.
  • Proverbs 1:10-14 – We can be enticed to violence by others.
  • Psalms 73:3 – Envy can lure us to violence.
  • We may have a strong emotional desire to right wrongs. This tests the righteous man (Psalms 11:5). The righteous man fails the test when he is violent himself (James 1:12-15).

Examples of violence

  • Religious Violence and Abortion: The Gideon Project
    • Men blew up an abortion clinic and were convicted for it.
    • They saw an evil and decided to correct it through violent means, which was not right.
    • The men belonged to a denominational church that practiced tongue-speaking. This might have contributed somewhat in that false, modern-day tongue-speaking can lead people to believe God said things He did not say.
  • “Hatchet Granny” tearing up bars to fight against alcohol.
  • Dinah was violated, so Simeon and Levi committed violence to avenge her (Genesis 34; 49:4-7).
  • Current events may cause otherwise good people to be tempted to violence.

With so many wrongs surrounding us, what can we do?

  • Jesus was cruelly treated with great violence, but responding with violence was not the answer. Acts 2:38