The Defense That Wins

ANCIENT Egypt stockpiled horses and chariots, the most effective war implements of her time. Military prowess raised her to become history’s first great world power, caused Egypt to so bristle with might that an arrogant Pharaoh treated with scorn the very interests of the Creator and his chosen people then in Egyptian bondage: “Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go.” (Ex. 5:2, AS) But the Pharaoh and all Egypt learned who Jehovah is at the cost of the flower of their troops and their ruler in the Red sea.—Ex. 14:15-31.

Assyria succeeded Egypt as a harsh, merciless and bloody conqueror. Her military steam roller flattened all opposition until the particularly aggressive King Sennacherib hurled it against the covenant people of God, by then well established in their promised land. In one night Jehovah’s angel wiped out 185,000 of the heart of Assyrian pride, scattering the broken remnants of the army in disorderly retreat.—Isaiah chapters 36, 37.

Later on, mighty Babylon gained the unparalleled title, “mistress of kingdoms.” Her capital city was surrounded by walls 344 feet high and 86 feet wide, an inner wall, moat and 25 bronze gates on each side. Absolutely impregnable it was called! Yet in the dark of night while the infamous Belshazzar was blasphemously toasting demon gods with utensils stolen from Jehovah’s temple of worship, the drunken city was surprised and sacked by the Medes and Persians.—Daniel chapter 5.

Successively these powers with their satellites dominated human affairs, backing their authority with swollen military forces. The sword held sway, but never did prove a deterrent to armed conflict. That rule has proved true to this very day. Now, despite the appellation “brain age”, the nations still insist on resorting to brawn to settle differences, and nothing has changed except the dimensions of the wars, which have grown much larger.

Christ Jesus warned of the ill consequences accruing from reliance on carnal weapons. He certainly was acquainted with the disastrous histories of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon and other like empires. He doubtless saw in Rome another nation headed for the same fate. At any rate, he once counseled a too-anxious disciple of his: “Return your sword to its place, for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword.”—Matt. 26:52, NW.

His followers, Jesus insisted, should instruct with the Word of God, not invade with tanks, armies and artillery. They must make disciples of “all kinds of men”, not assuming to themselves the role of judges and executioners of God’s vengeance. Jesus himself, who is certainly no pacifist, has already been named to lead Jehovah’s executional forces at Armageddon. In the meantime blessed preaching, sounding the warning, is the lot of his earthly followers, a course sometimes made difficult by persecutions and groundless hatred from opposers. So he tells us: “Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those persecuting you; that you may prove yourselves sons of your Father who is in the heavens, since he makes his sun rise upon wicked people and good and makes it rain upon righteous people and unrighteous.”—Matt. 24:14; 28:19; 1 Tim 2:4; Matt. 5:44, 45, NW.

Despite the present greatest arms race in history, some thinking men of high-caliber intelligence in prominent stations have flatly expressed their small regard for it as a sound defense of the peace. In 1949 John Foster Dulles called this course “dangerous”; and in contrast with economic and military power which “can be developed under the spur of laws and appropriations”, he said, “moral power does not derive from any act of Congress. It depends on the relations of a people to their God.”

In an editorial appearing in U.S. News & World Report of May 26, 1950, David Lawrence, the editor, deplored the defeatist notion that there is “no way out except threat and counter-threat—and that war can be prevented only by scaring the Russians into believing they will be beaten in war”. He asked pointedly: “Why must the philosophy which Jesus taught be brushed aside as ‘impractical’ and ‘idealistic’ in international policy? . . . Is Christianity merely something to which we pay lip service in our churches but which we refuse to accept as a code of behavior in dealing with a so-called enemy? Have we no regard for the challenge that a whole people might be reached by a display of Christian humility and forbearance? Do we dare to try a truly Christian approach to the Russian people? And if we try it, can we pay the price that it requires in order to achieve the greater objective?”

Jesus worked in the interests of lasting peace in an endless world to come where “righteousness is to dwell”. (2 Pet. 3:13, NW) How foolish then to rely on chariots, a cavalry, infantry or massive walls—good for a brief hour of militant splendor, but followed by an eternity of ignominy in lifeless dust. And how could such a new world society hope to maintain peace in surroundings of hate and rivalry? No, the ways of the old world are out. For the new system of things Jesus taught: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. The second, like it, is this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets.”—Matt. 22:37-40, NW.

Should we wait for the new world, then, before practicing these principles, and in the meantime blast back at the hatred and violence expressed against Christians now with more of the same, rendering like for like and displaying the benefits of Christianity with a mailed fist and a breathtaking store of atomic weapons? Is this how one proves himself the son of his Father in the heavens? If there is any question regarding the results of such a course, take one look at the sorrowful, fear-struck, “practical” modern world that has tried it. Christians know better. They know that to preach to this world in an effort to help any willing listeners, they do not have to stoop to the low standards it follows nor conform to its miserable image. Instead they practice those things which will survive Armageddon and which identify the new world society: “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control,” all component parts of the defense that wins.—Gal. 5:22, 23, NW.