A Time to Kill

Sounds like a movie doesn't? Well, it is a movie! And guess who stars in it? Yup... Samuel L. Jackson. I'm sure it is utter rubbish of the highest quality. I should see if it is on Netflix. But not only is A Time to Kill a movie with one of the coolest actors of all time in it but it's also a passage of scripture. It's a passage that has been brought before me countless times by folks who don't accept that Christians ought to embrace nonviolence. Many claim that Ecclesiastes 3 teaches "here are times that it is proper to kill, hate and make war." Below is Ecclesiastes 3:1-3 & 8 (the portions of the chapter relevant to the question).

"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
...a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace."

Solomon wrote a beautiful piece of poetry when he penned this. People often read Ecclesiastes 3 and take away that Solomon is saying that there is an appropriate time to kill, hate, and make war when he more likely saying that there are times of killing, hate, and war. I use to think it was only the latter but now I believe both are true. However, these verses are not granting people permission to make war or to hate just as they don’t grant permission to be born or die (after all who needs permission for birth or death). A sober reading of this text will show that Solomon is speaking predominantly of the way the world and history is and not what is appropriate action for believers today.

If we say that this passage is an allowance for hate, killing, and war for believers today then we must also say it grants allowance for every activity under heaven (aka on earth). That would be consistent right? Of course it would. Hopefully we would all also agree that not every activity under the sun is permissible for Christians (or ancient Jews). Is Solomon stating that there are acceptable times for all kinds of activities? Yes. Most likely. Is he right? ...Pretty much. Yes. We'll get back to that. We know that there is a difference between what was expected from the Jewish people and what is now expected from Christians. We also know that what God was doing specifically with Israel is different that what he is doing with the Church today. That is to say that God has always been seeking to bring all people to Him through his people but he has used different methods through time. It is my belief that these methods are connected to the amount of revelation God's people had concerning him. Like a child grows to know his or her father so humanity, predominantly Israel, had to grow to learn about her Father in heaven. Through miracles, rescue out of Egypt, Law, deserts, prophets, big fish, kings, weather, judges, and more God revealed more and more of Himself to His people through the Old Testament. Christ is the pinnacle of God's revelation for in Christ we see the very face of God that was cried out for (Psalm 80) as he did and said only what the Father instructed him (John 5:19) and as He is God Himself (John 1:1-5).

Therefore, something that must be considered when reading this poem is that Solomon lived before Christ lived and died and lived again on earth. The resurrection of Jesus is an enormous factor in Christian ethics. We must always look to the cross and victory of Christ Jesus when we seek to apply Old Testament passages to the Christian life. We must look at the scriptures with a cross shaped lens. Solomon couldn't do this. Jesus taught two men how to do this on the road to Emmaus when he revealed to them all the scriptures that pointed to Him (Luke 24:13-35). I know... those dudes were totally lucky. Talk about being in the right place at the right time (historically speaking). Anyway, we must keep in mind that Solomon didn't have the more full revelation of God like we who have come after Christ do. He had more wisdom than anyone else but he didn't have the revelation. That's extremely important in this matter.

All that to say Solomon's words may mean more than what he meant for them too because of Christ. Those dudes on the way to Emmaus would have probably known that. I maintain then that Solomon is primarily communicating that life is full of happenings. There is joy and pain in life. There is good and bad. There is mourning and dancing. Killing and healing. War and peace. Hate and love. Solomon, in his wisdom and creative artistic expression is painting a portrait of the way life is on earth through poetry. That seems to be his intention. He's not writing an essay on ethics. He's not writing doctrine. He's writing poetry. Wise people do that sort of thing. They understand that art is far greater than instruction manuals or position papers. Poetry is often dealing with perspective and observations of the world. This piece is no different. But perhaps in his portrait of the world Solomon was also saying that there is a time of permission for killing and making war. Perhaps that was a view he held. I agree with that. Why wouldn't he hold such a view? He was a Jewish king. Killing kind of came with the territory according to 1Samuel 8. Also, he was pretty good at those things so why would he speak against those sorts of things? And he isn't mistaken. Anyone who has read the Old Testament can attest to the fact that God commanded His people to kill and go to war. To disobey would be wrong. There was, without a doubt, a time for killing and a time for war. However, that time must have an end right? If it has a time to be then it also has a time to not be. That's logical. It's not artistic but it is logical.

Jesus tells us in His Sermon on the Mount that peacemakers are the children of Father God (Matthew 5:9), that if we remain angry and insult brothers we are hell-bound (Matthew 5:24) and that hate ought to be replaced with love (Matthew 5:43-44). Killing, hating, and making war are antithetical to the way of Christ Jesus. There doesn't seem to be any way around that. Even if Solomon were saying there is permission for such things Jesus has rebuked such teachings with His own teachings. Jesus, as being the pinnacle of God's revelation, trumps Solomon. Progression has occurred and Solomon's words are now most true in poetic form. By that I mean that Solomon still shows us the way of life on earth. His words are also now more true in the sense that time has been divided with a very bold line through Christ Jesus' resurrection. There was absolutely a time when God commanded his people to kill and make war and it was right for His people to obey His commands but that was under a more shallow revelation and different methods being used by our Father. Some things change. For instance, Christ informs his followers that the standard of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" (Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19:21) no longer applies but rather enemy love applies. As I've shown in this paragraph Jesus instructs us that we are to be people of peace and of love and of patience. The Gospels do not leave room for the Christian to hate, kill, or war. The time for killing and war seems to have passed. Christ reveals that we who are in His already-not-yet kingdom of heaven are not in the time of killing and war but the time of peace and of love. This is the time of reconciliation (2Corinthians 5:11-21). When Paul tells us this he writes that "the old has gone and the new has come." We live out kingdom ideals on earth since we belong to the kingdom. We live out what it looks like to be a purified, righteous, redeemed creation in the midst of a sinful creation still bent on hate, killing, and war. It's time for change. The old is gone. The new has come. The kingdom belonging to the Prince of Peace has come.

How do we know this is true? The witness of the New Testament. Acts 10:34-43 tells of how Christ came with peace and was killed. It shows conflicting worlds. Jesus believes it is the time for peace and the world around him disagrees (obviously). This passage also portrays Jesus as healing and being brought back from the dead. Jesus is winning in this conflict. His peace and healing is definitely outweighing the killing being done. If people are being healed and raised from the dead and if one of those people being raised from the dead is the Messiah then it is probably true that it is time for healing and peace. I say that because Jesus tells his disciples that he has left his peace to them in John 14:27. What's more, Revelations (the book at the end of the Bible) tells us that the kingdom Jesus said was at hand is going to be fulfilled when He returns and that kingdom is absent of pain. In other words, no hate, no killing, no war. What is present? Peace. Healed creation. Love. This is the same kingdom Jesus says is at hand and it is because this kingdom is at hand that He tells us to "repent." He tells us to change direction. The time has changed. The kingdom has come. Stop hating, killing, and making war. Be lovers, healers, peacemakers! The time is now.