War and peace

There has always been war. Since the fall, there has been nothing but unrest in the world. Cain rose up against Abel, and Abraham had to rescue his nephew Lot out of the hands of the enemy (Genesis 14). The Israelites were attacked by Amalek (Exodus 17). After they had come into Canaan, the Jews began to serve idols. God punished them by letting the surrounding nations oppress them. Each time He sent a judge, who was to deliver the people. Then there was fighting, followed by longer periods of peace.

   David and Solomon   

In the time of the kings there was at first no organized army. In 1 Samuel 11:6-8 you read that King Saul was able to gather 330,000 soldiers in a short time. David could do the same; with his army he even managed to enlarge his territory considerably. He also had foreign hired soldiers. We read in 2 Samuel 15:18 about the Gittites, who came from the Philistine city of Gath. David's bodyguard probably also consisted of Philistines: the Cherethites and the Pelethites, under the command of Benaiah.

Solomon was the first to have a real army. He reigned in a time of prosperity. Through trade he had become rich enough to maintain a large army. He gathered 1,400 chariots and horsemen, we read in 1 Kings 10:26. He also built fortified cities to keep the roads safe. All this was not meant first of all for waging war, but to make the enemy afraid to attack. After all, Solomon is known as the "king of peace." Just think of the Hebrew word shalom (= peace).

   The army   

What did an army look like? Artillery as we know it did not exist yet, of course. Or... think of the archers, who could shower the enemy with a rain of arrows. Archers often stood behind a large shield held by another soldier. In the time of King Uzziah they even had something like a catapult, which could shoot stones (2 Chronicles 26:15).

Much more important was the infantry, the foot soldiers. The shield the soldiers carried was usually made of wood covered with leather. It had to be rubbed with oil regularly to keep it from cracking (Isaiah 21:5). Protective clothing was also needed, such as armour or a coat of mail. You read about a coat of mail in 1 Samuel 17:5. It was a kind of "vest" made of metal scales that overlapped one another. The Israelites probably followed the "fashion" of the Assyrian army a little, because they were very impressed by it.

   Weapons   

A sword was worn on the left side of the body, so that it could be drawn quickly, except by a soldier who was left-handed. We read this of the judge Ehud (Judges 3:16). The javelin was for throwing; the spear was used more in hand-to-hand fighting.

A fearsome weapon was the sling. A good-sized stone (sometimes as big as 5 cm) was placed in a small pouch. Once it was slung, it could do serious damage. The king of the Moabites was certainly very afraid of it (2 Kings 3:25). The 700 slingers from the tribe of Benjamin were remarkable. They were left-handed and could hit their target with the greatest precision (Judges 20:16).

► Jerusalem taken    image: FreeBibleimages

When besieging a city, the enemy often built a sloping ramp of earth up against the wall. Up this ramp they pushed siege towers full of archers. The battering rams ("engines of war," Ezekiel 26:9) were also feared. The defenders tried to set these huge machines (often made of wood and leather) on fire. When the city could no longer be held, the enemy climbed the walls with scaling ladders. The fate of the inhabitants was often terrible. The Assyrian armies in particular were known for their great cruelty: many people were tortured or killed.

Jerusalem also went through sieges. In the end the Babylonians succeeded in conquering the city. After a severe famine the Jews had to give in. The city and the temple were destroyed; many were carried away to Babylon.

   The Romans   

In the New Testament, people had to deal with the Roman army. It was divided into legions, and these in turn into cohorts. Each province often had its own cohort (KJV: "band"). These had a number or a name. You read of Cornelius that he was a centurion (a commander over a hundred soldiers) "of the band called the Italian band" (Acts 10:1). The Roman army consisted mostly of professional soldiers; they served for 20 years or even longer. They were very well paid. But their conduct sometimes left something to be desired (Luke 3:14).

God's command is to seek peace. Peace is not only the absence of war. The Bible shows us that all is truly well only when we have peace with God and with our neighbour.