Ecclesiastes 3:8

3 There is a time(A) for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

8     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

I’ve seen a lot of information over the internet and amongst certain circles that spoke about peace. What all these things have in common is their worldly/secular viewpoint of what peace looks like and how it should be obtained and I noticed they are all absent of a walk with Christ. 

I’ve read instances in Bible history where there was a time for peace and a time for war and there was a purpose behind every war that Israel was involved in. 

In the book of Jasher, Jacob’s only daughter Dinah was taken by force and defiled by a Canaanite Prince named Shechem. In Israel this was a grave abomination because Israel was commanded by Yah to not give their sons and daughters to Canaanites or uncircumcised people and they were not to intermarry outside of their own. When Jacob heard of the event he sent his servants to retrieve Dinah and they came back with the report that let him know an abomination against Dinah had occurred. Instead of retrieving his daughter himself, in effort of seeking peace at all cost, he simply sent servants for Dinah to the house of Shechem and spoke nothing more about it. However, when the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi and the rest of Dinah’s brother heard of what came of their sister they were exceedingly angry and in the midst of the discussion Shechem and his father came to discuss the matter of how the two can properly wed. Now after the damage is done these two men are now seeking the proper blessing from Jacob after defiling his only daughter an even bigger insult. Simeon and Levi devised a plan to take their sister but not without delivering justice to this nation first. Simeon had a God-given idea to tell Shechem and his father that if they wanted to intermarry with their women and vice versa that their men would have to be circumcised. This was a good deal as far as Shechem and his father were concerned and they went back and discussed this with the other men of their nation who were also in agreement. However one of the leaders spoke against this saying in so many words all of this to marry a Hebrew woman? Why not marry a Canaanite instead? As a result the whole nation with the exception of about two men were all circumcised and while they were in recovery Simeon and Levi killed all of them except the two who would serve as witnesses to this event incidentally. 

Surprisingly, Jacob was upset and fear came over him. From his vantage point he could no longer live peaceably in the land. He was so overtaken with fear and anger for the disruption of his peace that he did not discern that this was the will of the Lord because He wanted them to take over the land(Jasher Chapter 33-35). The whole event had been orchestrated by the Most High God of their fathers so that as they multiplied the land could accommodate their size. Not only would His justice be served for the defilement of Dinah, but this served to benefit Jacob and his sons in the end and bring glory to the name of the God of Israel forever as here we are reading the story of the terrifying God of Abraham till this day. Judah encouraged his father Jacob to put his cowardice perspective down and reminded his father of the God they served. They relayed the matter to their father Isaac and they all prayed to their God and he filled terror in the hearts of the kings of the other nations who decided they didn’t want any smoke with the Hebrews or their God and abandoned making a war with them. In the end nations till this day are in fear of the Hebrews and their God because of the testimonies from days old. 

Here we see you can have “peace” and lack purpose. One thing that this shows us is God is a God of war and He incites wars and fights for His own. It is this same God that stirs the hearts of kings to set their hearts the way He wants them to turn and for his purposes. It is the only true God that has ways that are not our ways so at times where we should speak and the words that come forth seem strange to others may have in fact have been orchestrated by the Most High himself as we read in the story that again, it was God that put that suggestion in Simeon’s mind for a compounding outcome.

Our God may cause us to stir up wars and give us peace while doing so. He will cause us to incite wars for purposes much as we seem him do today using his sons to stir war to invoke the awakening that was prophesied for this time. There is a time to speak and a time to be quiet a time to war and a time for peace. Sometimes when there is turbulence it is for an event to take place and the peace that is obstructed is allowed from God to train you how to fight and not abort a mission or shrink. At times the lack of peace is because someone is out of the will of God and an action is required to change circumstances. Sometimes it’s warfare obstructing the plans of God and it is a call to fight in the realm of the spirit. We can either act in courage and battle alongside the God of the Bible or we can cower in seek of peace at all costs and abandon our harvests. Had Jacob and his sons sought peace at all costs they would have forfeited the inheritance Yah had for them. Had they sought out peace the glory of Yah and the vengeance He wanted for their sister would not have not been obtained. Sometimes our callings, purposes and responsibilities call for war before obtaining our promises but with war requires bravery and faith in God and this walk is not for the faint of heart. Unfortunately people wake up everyday choosing peace that may accommodate the lusts of the flesh, or cater to their fear or the unknown or the separation that prompts elevation. Everyday, people cling to situations or lifestyles for comfort because the challenging thing or person does not seem to bring “peace”. The world religions people seek bring “peace” yet they have the total absence of God. Many have  misconstrued warfare and the seemingly absence of “peace” as a sign against the actual will of God and run away in fear and never level up spiritually to His plans. Sometimes that push for peace and conformity is of the enemy when what is being promoted is against the laws of God and nature.

One thing I’ve observed is that He has always had his people fight for their promise lands and sometimes whole groups of his chosen people never entered in because they didn’t want to fight and complained about the battles required showing their lack of faith and courage. If you are not careful you may never come into the promises of the Most High who planned for you before the womb because you could not discern His plans and in fear you ran and lost it all in search of peaceful pastures. Shalom