Main news for 1 January 2026

From the mouths of both Moses and other prophets there came more than once words about Yahweh, who Himself fights for His people in the wars the people have to wage. So what then: does God love war? And does that mean holy war is truly God's work?

There were times in Yahwist history when the matter was viewed exactly this way. In the age of Joshua and the Judges, the leaders of the prophetic movement had no doubt that holy war not only had a right to exist, but was directly pleasing to God, who blesses those who go to destroy the enemies of the true faith, and not only blesses them, but Himself marches at the head of His army. The idea of holy war is close to many people at the beginning of the spiritual path; neophytes are often quite militant and intolerant, but in the normal case this passes in the process of spiritual maturation.

And yet: can the words of Moses and the other prophets contain only a human view limited by historical circumstances? That is not characteristic of the Bible. What, then, is the matter here?

War is a consequence of human sinfulness and one of the forms in which it is manifested; hardly anyone who has read the Bible attentively will argue with that. It would be better if there were no wars in the world at all. But in the fallen world things cannot be that way: for them to be that way, the world would have to be created anew, while God wants to save the one that exists.

And it would have been better for the people of God if they had been able to take part in no wars at all: after all, even a fully just war is still a serious spiritual trial and always acts destructively on the soul. That is why the Torah allows a person "weak of heart" to refuse to take part in war: a person's soul is more important than his military exploits. The issue, of course, is not the physical heart.

But God wanted to bring His people to the land He had appointed for them; He wanted to give it to them. Without war it was impossible either to receive that land or to hold it. It would have been possible to do without war only if God had decided to settle His people somewhere beyond the Arctic Circle or even on the Moon, but that was not part of His plans.

Therefore the people of God would inevitably have to fight, even though war is not God's choice. He would have preferred to do entirely without war, but since that course of events was impossible, all that remained for Him was to support His people in the wars in which this people would have to take part. Not only for the people's sake, but also for the sake of the plan in which they had to play a unique role, one that could be entrusted to no other people.