Was Jesus sent to cause war?

Do you like challenges? How about tackling some bible verses that are not only very difficult for many, if not most, Christians and non Christians to believe, but, just to make matters even worse, they also seem to contradict many other bible verses?

Many people could wrongly conclude that the bible contains hate speech, is crazy, throw the towel in, and walk away with a bitter taste in their mouth against Jesus, the bible, or God, perhaps for the rest of their lives, wondering how all this could be.

As I endeavor to do in all my teachings, their purpose is not only to teach spiritual knowledge, but to empower you to do your own critical, logical thinking and what free online biblical research tools to use in order to make the word of God your own.

How to get rooted and grounded in God’s love and his word is what this is all about.

The verses in question are in the tenth chapter of the gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 10 [KJV]
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.

How could Jesus possibly say such a thing?!?!

To make matters even worse, there are even more verses in Luke similar to these!

Luke 12
51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:
52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.
53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

Whenever we see an apparent contradiction of 2 or more bible verses, or even if there are no actual contradictions, but the verse itself seems to be wrong, or extremely unlikely, or just seems to go against all common sense and logic, what are we to do?

The answer has to be in one or two places: either there is a mistranslation of the biblical manuscripts, or we don’t properly understand the verse. This could be due to inaccurate teachings we’ve had in the past, missing information, or perhaps a preconceived idea or wrong assumption that we’re not immediately aware of.

So let’s start our journey for truth by seeing if there is a mistranslation of the text by going to biblegateway.com and using the parallel verses feature to test 3 other randomly chosen versions.

3 different bible versions of Matthew 10:34-36

Matthew 10 [Darby]
34 Do not think that I have come to send peace upon the earth: I have not come to send peace, but a sword.
35 For I have come to set a man at variance with his father, and the daughter with her mother, and the daughter-in-law with her mother-in-law;
36 and they of his household [shall be] a man’s enemies.

Matthew 10 [amplified bible]
34 Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 For I have come to part asunder a man from his father, and a daughter from her mother, and a [m]newly married wife from her mother-in-law—
36 And a man’s foes will be they of his own household.

Matthew 10 [Mounce interlinear new testament]
34 Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 For I came to turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law;
36 and a man’ s enemies will be members of his own household.

So far, the text remains fundamentally the same, but we will check 2 older, more authoritative manuscripts just to be sure.

Here is what the Codex Sinaiticus says [the oldest complete copy of the Greek new testament, dating back to the 4th century]

Codex Sinaiticus
Matthew 10
34 Think not that I came to send peace on the earth, I came not to send peace, but a sword.
35 For I came to set a man in opposition to his father, and a daughter to her mother, and a daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law;
36 and a man’s enemies shall be those of his household.

And finally, we’ll take a look at an archive of the lamsa bible, translated from a 5th century Aramaic text.

Lamsa bible
Matthew 10
34 ¶ Do not expect that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to
bring peace but a sword.
35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her
mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
36 And a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.

Ok, so after checking several different versions & manuscripts, we can see that the chance of a translation error [or even deliberate biblical forgery] is extremely small. Therefore, we must conclude that the problem is in our understanding of these difficult verses and not a mistranslation.

Now we will begin to shine some light on this passage of scripture. In the center margin of my bible, there is a reference note that says these verses were quoted from the old testament – Micah 7:6.

Micah 7
1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
2 The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
3 That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.
4 The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
5 Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
7 Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

So in Matthew 10, Jesus was quoting from the old testament. The concept of members of a family being against each other didn’t originate with him. He was merely passing on the same basic information to his generation and beyond. But that still does not fully explain the mystery – yet.

As we can see from the context, when members of a household are at war against each other, the root cause originates from the evil men of their day – [verses 2 to 4 describe them well], and not Jesus.   In verse 3, the word “reward” comes from the Hebrew word “shillum” [Phonetic Spelling: (shil-loom’)] and means “bribe”.

The religious leaders in Micah’s day were corrupt, just as many are today.  Whenever there are bribes, there are other evil things going on and the operation of multiple devil spirits.

Exodus 23:8 [amplified bible]
7 Keep far from a false matter and [be very careful] not to condemn to death the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify and acquit the wicked.
8 You shall take no bribe, for the bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the testimony and the cause of the righteous.

Lying and bribery go hand in hand; they are very often associated with each other, as are violent mobs, riots, etc.  Bribery does not cause physical blindness, but spiritual.  That is why so much of politics, man-made systems of religion & big business are “blind” to the evil they cause and why they lie to cover up their corruption that we see so often nowadays in the media and the internet.

Micah 3
9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 The heads thereof judge for reward [bribe], and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us.

Proverbs 6 has an even more extensive list of the characteristics of these evil people.

Proverbs 6
12 A man of Belial, a wicked person, is he that goeth about with a perverse mouth;
13 he winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;
14 deceits are in his heart; he deviseth mischief at all times, he soweth discords.
15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly: in a moment shall he be broken, and without remedy.
16 These six [things] doth Jehovah hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood;
18 a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations; feet that are swift in running to mischief;
19 a false witness that uttereth lies, and he that soweth discords among brethren.

Who are these men of belial?

Definition of Belial
noun
1. Theology. the spirit of evil personified; the devil; Satan.
2. (in Milton’s Paradise Lost) one of the fallen angels.

Origin of belial
< Hebrew bəliyyaʿal, equivalent to bəlī without + yaʿal, worth, use

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2015.

Men of belial is literally translated Men of worthlessness and it refers to people who are the spiritual sons of the devil.

British Dictionary definitions for Belial
noun
1. a demon mentioned frequently in apocalyptic literature: identified in the Christian tradition with the devil or Satan
2. (in the Old Testament and rabbinical literature) worthlessness or wickedness

Word Origin and History for Belial
early 13c., from Hebrew bel’yya’al “destruction,” literally “worthless,” from b’li “without” + ya’al “use.” Wickedness as an evil force (Deut. xiii:13); later treated as a proper name for Satan (2 Cor. vi:15), though Milton made him one of the fallen angels.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

There are only 2 basic types of reasons for war: 5-senses reasons and spiritual ones. In the 5-senses category, the actual number of reasons could be endless: disputes over property, money, natural resources, etc, but the root cause is in the spiritual category.

The men and women who have sold themselves out to Satan, these sons of Belial, are the root cause of wars. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or brain surgeon to figure out that committing murders, lying, deceiving, sowing discord amongst various groups of people, devising mischief, speaking wicked imaginations, etc could lead to war.

You must remember that these same people who commit those things listed in proverbs 6 are the exact same people mentioned in Deuteronomy 13 – those who have sold out to Satan are leaders with a lot of influence, power, money and abilities in our societies around the globe who lead people into idolatry.

Deuteronomy 13:13
Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;

Psalms 28:3
Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.

Jeremiah 23 [amplified bible]
11 For both [false] prophet and priest are ungodly and profane; even in My house have I found their wickedness, says the Lord.
12 Therefore their way will be to them like slippery paths in the dark; they will be driven on and fall into them. For I will bring evil upon them in the year of their punishment, says the Lord.
16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the [false] prophets who prophesy to you. They teach you vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility) and fill you with vain hopes; they speak a vision of their own minds and not from the mouth of the Lord.
17 They are continually saying to those who despise Me and the word of the Lord, The Lord has said: You shall have peace; and they say to everyone who walks after the stubbornness of his own mind and heart, No evil shall come upon you.

Matthew 24
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers [many] places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
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.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax [grow] cold.

Notice that all these bad things happen because of the false prophets, which is just another name for the sons of belial.

I Thessalonians 5
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

So we have seen that world peace is an impossibility for 3 fundamental reasons:

1. Scripture: many different bible verses tell us that there will absolutely be wars
2. Logic: a problem will not go away until the root cause has been identified, located & removed. The evil people causing wars [sons of belial = sons of the devil] will be around until the devil gets thrown into the lake of fire in the book of revelation, which is way off into the future.
3. History: all recorded history has proven God’s word correct. Thousands upon thousands of wars have been documented in every continent on earth, for thousands of years, in every imaginable situation, amongst many many different races and groups of people. And this does not include countless conflicts that are not classified as full scale wars.

The devil and human nature have not changed since the fall of man recorded in Genesis 3 thousands of years ago, so there will always be wars until God makes a new heaven and earth way off into the future.

II Peter 3:13
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

So with all that fascinating information on war, we need to proceed with the context of what Jesus said.

One of the ways that the bible interprets itself is that all scriptures on the same subject must be in harmony with each other.

For example, if there are 37 verses on subject x, and 4 of them seem to contradict the other 33 verses, we should not build an entire doctrine around the 4 oddball or confusing verses. That’s not handling the word of God honestly, logically, or consistently.

We must do more research on the 4 problem verses, [the minority] to find out how they fit in with the rest [the majority].

Let’s see what the bible says about peace.

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

This appears to be a direct contradiction to what Jesus was teaching about coming to bring war!

Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Mark 4:9
And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Jesus even calmed a storm on the sea of Galilee in order for there to be peace!

Mark 9:50
Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

Jesus is teaching them to have peace amongst themselves, so how can he teach about bringing war??

Luke 10:5
And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.

Jesus is teaching his disciples to bring peace to the homes they went to.

At this point, we can see then that there are many other verses that clearly and unmistakeably teach that Jesus taught people to be peaceful, yet this seems to contradict the 2 verses in Matthew 10 & Luke 12 where Jesus said he came to cause war and division.

Ready for the answer?

Its figures of speech.

Definition of figures of speech
noun, plural figures of speech. Rhetoric
1. any expressive use of language, as a metaphor, simile, personification, or antithesis, in which words are used in other than their literal sense, or in other than their ordinary locutions, in order to suggest a picture or image or for other special effect.
Compare trope (def 1).

One of the principles of how the bible interprets itself is that the scriptures are to be taken literally whenever and wherever possible. However, if the words are not literally true to fact, then there is a figure of speech being used.

The purpose of figures of speech are to give emphasis on what God wants emphasized in his word. In other words, figures of speech tell us what is most important in the bible.

There are over 240 different kinds of figures of speech used in the bible, and some have as many as 40 different varieties under one single figure, so its a massive area of study that few christians seem to be aware.

Specifically, the answer to our problem is a figure of speech called metonymy.

Definition of Metonymy
noun, Rhetoric
1. a figure of speech that consists of the use of the name of one object or concept for that of another to which it is related, or of which it is a part, as “scepter” for “sovereignty,” or “the bottle” for “strong drink,” or “count heads (or noses)” for “count people.”.

Word Origin and History for metonymy
n.
1560s, from French métonymie (16c.) and directly from Late Latin metonymia, from Greek metonymia, literally “a change of name,” related to metonomazein “to call by a new name; to take a new name,” from meta- “change” (see meta-) + onyma, dialectal form of onoma “name” (see name (n.)). Figure in which the name of one thing is used in place of another that is suggested by or associated with it (e.g. the Kremlin for “the Russian government”). Related: Metonymic ; metonymical.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

E.W. Bullinger’s appendix to the companion bible  [Scroll down to metonymy].

Met-o’-ny-my; or, Change of Noun
When one name or noun is used instead of another, to which it stands in a certain relation.

[There are 4 different types of this figure of speech, and then there are several different subtypes under each one of those].

Of the Cause. When the cause is put for the effect (Genesis 23:8. Luke 16:29).
Of the Effect. When the effect is put for the cause producing it (Genesis 25:23. Acts 1:18).
Of the Subject. When the subject is put for something pertaining to it (Genesis 41:13. Deutronomy 28:5).
Of the Adjunct. When something pertaining to the subject is put for the subject itself (Genesis 28:22. Job 32:7).

The scriptures listed are not the only ones that are affected by this particular figure of speech. They are simply 2 examples.

On page 548 of E.W. Bullinger’s Figures of Speech used in the bible, in the category of Metonymy of the cause, it says of Matthew 10:34:

“I came not to send peace, but a sword” [i.e. but for war]. That is to say, the object of his coming was peace, but the effect of it was war.”

This is why so many wars seem to be related to religion, which is hypocrisy. As a matter of fact, the phrase “holy war” that we have all heard of in the news, is a contradiction of terms. War is ultimately caused by the most unholy people on earth – those born of the seed of the serpent, the sons of Belial that we have read about earlier. So going out on a killing spree called “holy war” is anything but holy.

It is always unbelief in God’s word by people who are hostile against God that cause wars. These sons of belial have many different names in the bible.  Here are only 2 verses about them.

Psalms 81:15
The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.

Acts 13:10
And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?

Here are some examples of unbelief causing division in the body of Christ and our societies at large.

Acts 6
8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.

Verse 11: definition of suborn:
verb (used with object)
1. to bribe or induce (someone) unlawfully or secretly to perform some misdeed or to commit a crime.
2. Law.
to induce (a person, especially a witness) to give false testimony.
to obtain (false testimony) from a witness.

Here are the effects of bribery, evil acts and devil spirit infestation.
12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

Acts 14
1 And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.

Acts 17
1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
5 But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
6 And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
7 Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
8 And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.
9 And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.

So while world peace [I once saw a bumper sticker that said “whirled peas” :)] is an impossibility, we, as individuals, can still have God’s peace within ourselves.

Romans 1:7
To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:1
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Romans 8:6
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Romans 10:15
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

I Corinthians 14:33
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Philippians 4
6 Be careful [anxious] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth [surpasses] all understanding, shall keep [guard] your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

So now the horrifically sounding verses in Matthew 10 & Luke 12 are not horrific at all!

They are very accurate and are in harmony with all other verses on the same subject.  Furthermore, these verses are very realistic, for all you “realists” out there.

Despite the impossibility of avoiding of wars, people can still have God’s perfect peace in their hearts as they rightly divide the bible and apply it in their lives.