A Biblical Theology of Peace
Written by Justin E. Estrada |
Monday, January 16, 2023
Representatives from “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Revelation 7:9), will open the door so that Jesus might come in to them and eat with them, and they with Him (Revelation 3:20), anticipating that final meal of covenantal peace at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6–8), when Jesus will usher in the new heavens and the new earth, void of brokenness, curse, and want, full of shalom, forevermore.
It was a blustery English day, and—a little late, a lot wet—I hurried into my professor’s office for my Hebrew tutorial. Embarrassed, I offered a cordial but rushed Hebrew greeting, “Shalom.” He watched quietly as I took out materials for our lesson, and then responded: “Justin, shalom is more than a simple hello; it declares the health of our relationship. Draw out the vowels, give the word weight, because we have peace, and that’s no small thing.” It was a kind method of restoration and instruction: we could proceed in peace—he even offered tea and biscuits.
In a world racked with strife, it may seem obvious to declare peace “no small thing”; but the biblical understanding of peace—the word shalom in Hebrew, translated into Greek as eirn—involves much more than the absence of conflict. Shalom expresses wholeness, blessing, and completeness, exemplified by the perfection of God’s creation and the unimpaired, harmonious relationships of God with His creatures and His creatures among themselves. God speaks shalom into existence (Isa. 45:7), and the entirety of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, chronicles His intention to restore it to fallen humanity, that the word issued from His mouth—shalom—might not return to Him empty but accomplish His purpose of peace, blessing, and wholeness.
In the beginning, the God of shalom, perfect in wholeness, blessing, and completeness among His three persons, creates all things in six days, all very good. Creation resembles its Creator, and He invites it to share in His peace—particularly man, whom He makes in His image. He gives Adam a helpmate to complete him, a garden with every good thing to eat, and a purpose to multiply and take dominion of creation so that he might be whole. It is a state of shalom, and you can almost hear the jubilant greetings of “peace be with you” as the Lord descends from His cosmic throne to walk in peace with Adam and Eve through the garden.
Unexpectedly, a frightening scene transpires one day: God’s arrival in the garden for fellowship goes ungreeted. Shalom has been broken through man’s transgression. Adam now fears nakedness as incompleteness; he accuses his wife of harming him rather than making him whole; and he finds the fruit a curse rather than a blessing. Adam and Eve flee and hide, trembling at the expectation of judgment rather than peace (Gen. 3:8–11).
In the face of this misery, God speaks remarkable words of shalom to them. Little wonder that Paul describes the peace of God as passing all understanding (Phil. 4:7); in the midst of judgment against rebellion, God comforts His children with the promise of peace through One who would crush the head of the lying, murderous serpent (Gen. 3:14–15). Man’s sin has turned them away, their fallen condition corrupting harmony into hostility—vividly represented in the exile—but God is determined to bless them through this Seed of the woman and to restore to Himself a remnant—vividly represented by the sacrifice that produces garments to cover nakedness.
God’s pronouncements at the sudden shattering of shalom portend a slow, costly restoration—but nothing will overturn His irenic purposes. Fallen humanity undermines creation’s harmony, but God intervenes (against all reasonable expectation), and His judgments carry forward His program of peace. The flood cleanses a world ailing under a decaying moral order (Gen. 6–9), and the scattering from the Tower of Babel reignites the creation mandate (Gen. 11:1–9). In an aimless world, God plucks up a displaced wanderer, Abraham—bereft of family and home—and gifts him with wholeness: divine fellowship and a son to his barren wife. This restoration of shalom in Abraham is not an end in itself, but an illustration and a means by which God will restore shalom to all the nations through his offspring—the Seed of the woman who will descend from the great nation of Abraham’s descendants (see Gen. 12:1–3; Gal. 3:15–18).
This great nation, Israel, emerges only after a long travail in virtual death in Egypt, for like father Abraham, they will serve as an example and means toward shalom. Their slavery results from the unwholesome curse, their deliverance from God’s power: through Israel all nations will know this. On eagles’ wings He brings them to Mount Sinai, formalizing with them a covenantal relationship of and unto peace, expressed by an invitation for the representatives of Israel to “see” Him and feast with Him without fear (Ex. 24:9–11). He sets a blessed precedent rehearsed regularly in Israel through the peace offering—a sacrifice and feast of covenantal solidarity (Lev. 3:1–17)—as well as through the Aaronic congregational benediction of shalom (Num. 6:24–26).
On the whole, God’s covenantal people fail to live under and testify to His program of shalom. He instructs them with His peacemaking characteristics through the Mosaic law, and the sacrificial system illuminates His plan to overcome death, but the Old Testament church time and again shatters shalom by preferring fellowship with false gods and peace with the enemies of God (see Num. 25:1–2). Even David, inheritor of God’s covenantal promises, flees from God into the arms of sin (2 Sam. 11), and his son Solomon—whose name means “peace”—leads all Israel in apostasy and establishes a pattern of sin that ultimately provokes God’s judgment against His people. As the crescendo of sin rises to mute God’s warnings against this Edenesque cycle of destruction, the false prophets preach “ ‘peace,’ when there is no peace” (Ezek. 13:10), and God again sends His people—first Israel, then Judah—into exilic judgment.
By this point, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that even at the exilic breaking of shalom, God speaks words of comfort. Israel has broken shalom and misled the nations, raising the question, When will the Messiah, the Seed of the woman, come and finally establish true shalom? When will the Prince of shalom usher in a new covenant era (Isa. 9), instituting a permanent realm of peace (Isa. 11)? When will God’s people “seek peace and pursue it” (Ps. 34:14) and all the nations come together in this glorious place of rest (Isa. 11:10)?
All spheres of creation give answer to this question at the birth of the incarnated Son of God, Jesus. Zechariah declares that He will “guide our feet into the way of peace”; the angels extol His arrival as “peace among those with whom [God] is pleased!” (Luke 1:79; 2:14). Expectations of the Seed of the woman are not disappointed: what a kingdom of shalom! Jesus addresses physical and spiritual malady alike, proclaiming “liberty to the captives . . . blind . . . [and] oppressed” (Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18). Perhaps nothing identifies Jesus as Prince of Peace more than when He establishes His new covenant of peace with representatives of the New Testament church—the Apostles. He offers food and drink in everlasting fellowship, the bread and wine representing His very body and blood, the means by which His words will take effect: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:27). At the crucifixion, God speaks shalom in its final utterance, for Jesus “was pierced for our transgressions; . . . upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). This pouring out of God’s wrath against sin becomes another flood of cleansing: a river of shalom pouring out from Jesus’ side, the atoning blood of the cross reconciling those for whom He died to their Father in heaven, restoring to them wholeness, completeness, and blessing (see Isa. 66:12; Col. 1:20).
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The End Result for “Religious but Foolish” Men and Women
You shouldn’t be deceived when you become discouraged by how vicious, religious, yet foolish men or women can be. They will always come to a tragic end, for God will not be mocked. A lack of integrity will always be found out.
I have watched my own life and the lives of those around me for 72 years. My particular field of view has been churches and the Christian communities where I’ve ministered.
The church is often, sadly, a microcosm of the world. Many churches contain both wise and foolish men and women. Jesus was the one who declared that there would be both “wheat and tares” even in the church, i.e., people who were genuine believers and those who profess to be believers but are not.
It was the religious but lost people who led the crowd to crucify Jesus because He challenged control of their lives and institutions. If a man has not submitted to Christ (although he professes to be religious), he can be very dangerous and destructive. He is capable of nefarious things while proclaiming his innocence and supposed spirituality.
The End of the Godlessly Religious
The book of Proverbs is filled with contrasts between the wise and the foolish. It tells you exactly what they will do and how they will end.
I have watched small, loud groups of controlling people in many churches. I’m watching one now as they are destroying a church and a good pastor…and they are relentless. And they’re doing it publicly. It is discouraging and disturbing, but it is not the first time.
Most pastors I know (including me) have been on the receiving end of some controlling individuals in a church at some point, particularly when good leaders are trying to bring about needed change. It’s never pretty and is designed by the great Enemy to hinder the gospel and destroy the light of God’s church. What’s particularly disturbing is those in the middle—humble, well-meaning people who get confused by the loud voices of others. And also tragic, is the ammunition a church fight gives to the Enemy as he seeks to keep people in the world away from God and His kingdom.
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Good Leaders are Easy to Follow
Faithful shepherding results in enduring happiness for both the shepherd and the sheep. Those who are increasingly conformed to the image of Christ will invariably grow in joy. And shepherds who labor for the joy of others will share in that multiplied joy. Knowing that shepherds will have to give an account to God frees them from the fear of man. Joy is not bound up in accolades, hindered by criticism, or decided by physical circumstances. Instead, like Paul, we can rejoice as long as Christ is proclaimed, people are saved, and the church is conformed to the likeness of Jesus.
If I let my 5-year-old have a can of Coke, a bag of Skittles, and half a dozen Oreos right before bed, I shouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t listen when I say it is time to sleep. Yes, my child would still be responsible for his willful disobedience, but I have set him up for failure. Through my permissiveness of sugary junk food before bed, I have failed him. My leadership and oversight can set my children up for success or failure. The patterns, rhythms, and habits that a mom and dad establish for their family will shape the behavior of their children.
This is also true in ministry. Consider Hebrews 13:17: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
The basic idea of this verse is that believers ought to obey and submit to their leaders — that is, the pastors and elders of their local church — who are tasked with caring for their souls. It is more beneficial for believers to make this a joy-filled job since they will be on the receiving end of their pastors’ care. You don’t want to antagonize the surgeon moments before he cuts open your heart for your quadruple-bypass surgery. A church’s willingness to obey and submit affects the joy and the care they receive from their leaders.
But the reverse is true as well. Leaders can lead in a way that makes obedience and submission easy and happy, or difficult and frustrating. Shepherds shape the habits of the sheep. Patterns of leadership affect those on the receiving end, for good or for ill.
Wanted: Eager and Happy Pastors
A foundational text for leaders is 2 Corinthians 1:24: “Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.” Christian leadership ought not to feel like oppression or the rule of a dictator. Instead, pastor-elders labor for the joy of those they serve. The apostle Peter writes that the task of shepherding and oversight is to be done willingly, eagerly, and by setting an example for others (1 Peter 5:1–4). Begrudging shepherding doesn’t serve the shepherd or the sheep. But joy-filled and eager shepherding results in the joy of those on the receiving end of such care.
Jesus is a happy-hearted shepherd of his sheep. He says in John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” Jesus, full of joy, takes joy in loving his people and desires his joy to fill his people. Similarly, Jesus says, “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24).
Hebrews 12:1–2 gives us another look at Jesus’s own joy.
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The Culture Wars Are Real Conflicts Involving Real People
Trans activists have achieved cultural hegemony and are going after everyone who disagrees — even with doxing, death threats, rape threats, and violence. They are coming after public education, what’s left of the entertainment industry, and will inevitably demand that churches, religious institutions, and all remaining dissenters submit to their demands and play along with their delusions as well. The culture wars are, unfortunately, real conflicts involving real people and the futures of our countries.
There is a certain faction on the Right, especially in the libertarian wing, that poo-poos the culture wars as unimportant. Issues like gender ideology, for example, are dismissed as crass attempts to gin up anger among people uncomfortable with the pace of social change and a mere distraction from more important issues like inflation, house prices, and jobs. These are boutique issues, the thinking goes, and thus the Right would be better off ignoring these issues and focusing on the “things that matter.”
This is wrong-headed for many reasons, but most significantly, those making this article underestimate the radicalism of trans activists. Consider, for example, the fact that J.K. Rowling — a pro-abortion, pro-gay progressive — has not been invited to the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter film. Trans activists are so brazen that Rowling has been almost constantly threatened with violence. Recently, her home address was posted online by activists who showed up in person, and Rowling noted that this was accompanied by ominous warnings:
I’ve now received so many death threats I could paper the house with them, and I haven’t stopped speaking out. Perhaps — and I’m just throwing this out there — the best way to prove your movement isn’t a threat to women, is to stop stalking, harassing and threatening us.
It’s not just Rowling, either. Other liberal feminists are also facing a backlash. As Rowling wrote on Twitter:
Over the last few years I’ve watched, appalled, as women like Allison Bailey, Raquel Sanchez, Marion Miller, Rosie Duffield, Joanna Cherry, Julie Bindel, Rosa Freedman, Kathleen Stock and many, many others, including women who have no public profile but who’ve contacted me to relate their experiences, have been subject to campaigns of intimidation which range from being hounded on social media, the targeting of their employers, all the way up to doxing and direct threats of violence, including rape.
In fact, trans activists are going further than that in attacking those to their Left. Lesbians are being accused of “transphobia” for not being interested in “trans women”— that is, biological men with penises.
