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Excerpt from The Holy War in America Today: Some Observations on Abortion Rescues by James B. Jordan.

In the Old Covenant, after God set up the Tabernacle and constituted Israel as a nation, there were two kinds of war, first was Holy War, and the other was what we can call normal warfare.

Holy War (or herem warfare, as it is sometimes called, after the Hebrew for “ban”) was prosecuted in a special way, and only against certain people. There were five aspects of Holy War that made it different from normal warfare.

First, Holy War was fought only at God’s initiation and command. The Israelites were not free to make Holy War against any nation except those specifically singled out by God. God listed the Canaanite tribes that were to be extinguished (Exodus 23:23; Deuteronomy 20:17). No other peoples were to be fought in the Holy War fashion: not the Philistines, or the Syrians, or the Ammonites, etc.

This feature of Holy War makes it clear that in the New Covenant there can no longer be any literal kind of Holy War. God has not given us any list of nations to be wiped out.

Second, Holy War was aggressive. The children of Israel were told to make Holy War against two groups of people: the Canaanites and the Amalekites. They were not to sit back and wait for either of these groups to attack them, and then fight defensively. Rather, they were to assault and conquer Canaan, and they were to attack and destroy Amalekites whenever they encountered them (Exodus 17:14-16; 23:23-33; Deuteronomy 20:16-18; 1 Samuel 15:1-3).

This was the reverse of normal war. The Israelites were forbidden to have an army of horses and chariots, because horses and chariots were used exclusively in aggressive warfare (Deuteronomy 17:16). Rather, the Israelites were enjoined to have strong walls, because these were the essence of defensive war. The Israelites were thus forbidden ever to be aggressors, except where the Canaanites and Amalekites were concerned. Any other war they got into had to be started by someone else.

The third aspect of Holy War was that it was necessary because of certain forms of aggravated immorality and blasphemy. It was because of their unspeakably despicable behavior that the Canaanites and Amalekites were to be exterminated. By way of extension, God commanded that if any of the Israelites imitated the deeds of these people, they should be exterminated in the same way. Thus, Holy War could be extended to any people who deliberately identified themselves with the Canaanites (Numbers 31; Deuteronomy 13: 12-18; Judges 19- 21).

The fourth aspect of Holy War was that it involved the use of fire from God’s altar. This was fire that He Himself had ignited (Leviticus 9:25; 2 Chronicles 7:1). This fire was taken by the priests and used to burn up the cities conquered under Holy War (Numbers 21:1-3; Joshua 6:15-19; Judges 1:17; 20:40). As Deuteronomy 13:16 states, such cities were turned into whole burnt sacrifices to God, and thus it had to be His fire that was used. It was, after all, His judgment. (See also Leviticus 20:14; 21:9.)

Since we no longer have any altars with God-ignited fires on them, literal Holy War is no longer possible in the New Covenant.

The final aspect of Holy War was that it involved the total extinction and eradication of the enemy. No mercy was to be shown, no quarter given, no women or even animals spared (Deuteronomy 20:16). By way of contrast, normal war at its most extreme only involved the killing of all the men (Deuteronomy 20:10-15).

In summary, Holy War: 

1. Was initiated by God;
2. Involved aggression, as a means of conquest and transition into a new society;
3. Was God’s reply to extreme, aggravated immorality;
4. Involved the sanction of God’s holy fire; and
5. Eliminated all future succession for the enemy.

Since we have no list of enemies to wipe out today, and we have no altar fire to burn them with, so perhaps the example of Holy War is irrelevant to us in the New Covenant.

Or is it? The altar in the Old Covenant was but a symbol for God’s people (1 Kings 18:31), and so we can see that the fire that fell upon it finds its answer in the tongues of fire that fell upon God’s people-altar at Pentecost (Acts 2). Indeed, Christians believe that Old Covenant Holy War finds its fulfillment in the Great Commission today.

 The Gospel is God’s Holy War today. Like the Holy War of the Old Covenant, the Gospel:

1. Is initiated by God;
2. Involves sending God’s warriors aggressively out into the world to change it;
3. Is made necessary because of man’s Original Sin and actual sins;
4. Brings the judgment of Spiritual fire to man’s life and cleanses him; and
5. Delivers men from the futureless fires of hell into the glorious inheritance of the saints in light.

It is important for Christians involved in the anti-abortion movement to bear in mind the primacy of the Holy War. Important as political action, non-violent street theater, passive doorway blockage, and other things may be, the fact remains that Holy War has primacy over all kinds of normal war. God is terribly concerned that we fight evil and injustice, but the primary weapon in that battle is the Gospel.

The Gospel is implemented through the Church: preaching and teaching, sacraments (the gift of food from God), and community life Gospel aggression means rebuilding the Church in all three dimensions, so that she shines as a light to the world. The preaching in the Church shines out as evangelism to the world. The sacrament in the Church shines out as charity to the world. The community life (discipline) in the Church shines out as Christians rule over their employees righteously and influence their neighbors to righteous behavior. Thus, the first order of Holy War is always the continual re-creation of the Church, as the Holy Spirit proceeds into time from eternity continually bringing new life and energy to God’s people.  

Available as part of the complete James Jordan collection from wordmp3.com