Peace on Earth

Reading Amount:

Micah 4:1-13

Central Verse:

He shall judge between many peoples.

And shall arbitrate between strong

nations far away;

they shall beat their swords into

plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against

nation,

neither shall they learn war any

more;

but they shall all sit under their own

vines and under their own fig

trees,

and no one shall make them afraid;

for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. - Micah 4:3-4 NRSV

Central Truth:

We long for peace in our world yet we are surrounded by people who seem to desire war and strife. Peace seems to be a pipe dream. One that will never, ever come true. Here Micah promises peace, eventually, and that peace will be brought about by God's work and by us working (who do you think is going to change your instruments of war into ones of peace)?

Food for Thought: Questions about the Text

Jerusalem and God's temple being lifted up is supposed to be figurative. This is a changing of Israel's position from a beat down people to people who are at the center of what God is doing.

Caution and understanding must be brought to the final two verses of this chapter. These are verses that use the language of holy war. In our society today we tend to only think of Muslims struggling with this issue yet we need to be transparent with what is contained within our own religious texts and within out society.

Connections: Time with our society

So much of our world is devoted to making war. For instance over fifty percent of the US government budget is devoted to defense spending. This is a multi-billion dollar industry that controls a lot of peoples lives. Not only is industry devoted to making war we have ideologies that work toward war. Individuals and groups who believe the only way toward a resolution of conflict is to take up arms and fight. Adding to the problem are other organizations who prey on people's fears. I personally know individuals who are scared of being robbed at any moment so they have permits to carry weapons to protect themselves.

The scripture text isn't against self defense. Its not even against having a military budget but what is in the text is a total end to all things related to war. In fact scholars theorize that there was an original saying "beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears, prepare for war!" But the biblical authors stand this on its head, it would be like the cry after the U.S. entered WWII "remember Pearl Harbor," would be changed to "they would remember Pearl Harbor no more." This is a complete revision and re-understanding of what is happening in the world.

Unfortunately our world and our society doesn't seem prepared for this possibility. While this very scripture text is written on the walls of the UN building in New York we have church people who believe this is only possible when Jesus returns. The reality of peace is that it’s a lot of work on everyone's part. The text doesn't state that God will beat the swords into plowshares, the implication is that there is work that we need to do and participate in order for peace to come.

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