War and Oppression

It is no secret that a war between good and evil is raging in our world. Since the beginning of the Creation, the devil has been waring against God, hoping to win the Throne of Victory, only to be constantly shut down century after century. God’s power is supreme, but His love even for His enemies allows them to think they can win against the Creator. His love allows them the freedom to keep trying, but nobody ever wins against the Creator, no matter how much they try.

Love and freedom are not just platitudes, but the foundation of life. God is love and He gives freedom to every person to live according to their own will. The war comes when the will of God is in conflict with the will of people. When the devil finds a person who’s will is not aligned with God’s, he knows he has a willing soldier to fight against God.

The war always begins with a battle against free will, and we almost always jump willingly into war because we often prefer forcing others into submission rather than allowing them to use their free will. Submission has been the model of global empires for centuries. It should come as no surprise then, that as soon as an oppressed people have had enough, they throw off the yoke of one oppressor for another, often one who promises to defeat the first. The cost is always free will as empires shift from one oppressor to another.

No wonder so many view God as just another option to defeat our enemies. We thank God for defeating cities that have been strong against us, and we praise Him when we raises our cities to glory. No wonder we honor rulers that claim to be fighting for God. If we are unable to convince people to live according to God’s desires, then ‘by all means’ someone must force them to honor God. There is no love in forced honor.

O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. For thou hast made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the palace of aliens is a city no more, it will never be rebuilt. Therefore strong peoples will glorify thee; cities of ruthless nations will fear thee. For thou hast been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the blast of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, like heat in a dry place. Thou dost subdue the noise of the aliens; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled. On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined. And he will destroy on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” – Isaiah 25.1-9

In today’s reading form Isaiah, we are forced to reconcile our need to be freed from our oppressors and the desire to force others into submission. “For thou hast made the city a heap….thou dost subdue the noise of the aliens…and he will destroy on this mountain the covering that is cast over all people.” These passages might lead us to believe that God is doing these things against earthly kingdoms and our nasty neighbors. He is doing them against our enemies, but our enemies are not our neighbors. Our enemy is the devil and his demons.

We must stop thinking of our fellow citizens as our enemies. God commands us to love our enemies, so we must never force others to love God or to subdue them by oppression. Our true enemy is the devil, and he is all about oppression and submission. As Orthodox Christians we read the Old Testament through the lens of the resurrected Christ. Christ has subdued evil. He has destroyed Hades which held us captive. He has claimed victory from the mountain of Golgotha.

Don’t read today’s passage from Isaiah as if we are at war with our brothers and sisters on earth. We are at war with demons, and they never stop trying to oppress us and trick us into submission. If you doubt who the real enemy is, consider today’s martyrs who each were killed by earthly kings because they refused to submit to evil. Yes, the ones who tortured them were fellow citizens, but they were under oppression of the devil.

If you want to end war, then you must begin to love enough to allow others the free will God gave to them. War only spreads when free will is oppressed. Don’t swap one version of oppression for another thinking change is possible. The war we are engaged in already has a winner, and His Name is Jesus Christ.

Please consider helping us redesign and update our website with a safe online donation today. Visit https://LiveANewLifeInChrist.org/donate.