Peace, human destruction of

Because of human sinfulness, God's provision of peace is always under threat. Scripture shows that this breaking of peace has implications for the whole of creation.

Causes of the destruction of peace

Sin and self-centredness

Isaiah 57:21 See also Genesis 11:4–9; Isaiah 59:7–8; Luke 19:41–44

“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Idolatry

Zechariah 10:2 See also Exodus 32:7–10; 1 Timothy 6:9–10

For idols speak deceit and diviners see illusions; they tell false dreams and offer empty comfort. Therefore the people wander like sheep, oppressed for lack of a shepherd.

Fear and anxiety

John 20:19 See also Joshua 7:3–5; Proverbs 29:25; Jeremiah 30:10, Jeremiah 46:27; Matthew 6:31–34 parallel Luke 12:29–30

It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you!” He said to them.

The sins of ancestors

Leviticus 26:36–42 See also Genesis 3:16–19; 2 Kings 23:26–27; Jeremiah 31:29; Ezekiel 18:2

As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them. They will stumble over one another as before the sword, though no one is behind them. So you will not be able to stand against your enemies. You will perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies will consume you. Those of you who survive in the lands of your enemies will waste away in their iniquity and will decay in the sins of their fathers. But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me— and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies— and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

Friends

Jeremiah 20:10 See also Lamentations 1:1–2, Lamentations 1:19

For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.”

Enemies

Psalm 35:19–20 See also 2 Kings 9:14–28; Lamentations 1:16

Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice. For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land.

The consequences of the human destruction of peace

Humanity suffers

Deuteronomy 28:53–57; 1 Kings 2:5–6; 2 Kings 6:24–29, 2 Kings 25:2–3; Ezekiel 13:10–16; Revelation 6:3–8

Nations suffer

Jeremiah 49:31–32 See also Ezekiel 38:14–23

Rise up, advance against a nation at ease, one that dwells securely,” declares the LORD. “They have no gates or bars; they live alone. Their camels will become plunder, and their large herds will be spoil. I will scatter to the wind in every direction those who shave their temples; I will bring calamity on them from all sides,” declares the LORD.

The land suffers

Jeremiah 25:37 See also Exodus 8:12–14; Leviticus 26:27–35; Isaiah 1:7, Isaiah 36:16–20

The peaceful meadows have been silenced because of the LORD’s burning anger.

The whole creation suffers

Revelation 6:3–4 See also Genesis 6:5–7; Isaiah 24:1–5; Romans 8:22; Revelation 8:7–13

And when the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” Then another horse went forth. It was bright red, and its rider was granted permission to take away peace from the earth and to make men slay one another. And he was given a great sword.