Human destruction of peace

Causes of the destruction of peace

Sin and self-centredness

Isaiah 57:21 NKJV

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

See also Ge 11:4–9; Is 59:7–8; Lk 19:41–44

Idolatry

Zechariah 10:2 NKJV

For the idols speak delusion; The diviners envision lies, And tell false dreams; They comfort in vain. Therefore the people wend their way like sheep; They are in trouble because there is no shepherd.

See also Ex 32:7–10; 1 Ti 6:9–10

Fear and anxiety

John 20:19 NKJV

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

See also Jos 7:3–5; Pr 29:25; Je 30:10; Je 46:27; Mt 6:31–34

The sins of ancestors

Leviticus 26:36–42 NKJV

‘And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee; they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues. They shall stumble over one another, as it were before a sword, when no one pursues; and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; also in their fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away. ‘But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt— then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land.

See also Ge 3:16–19; 2 Ki 23:26–27; Je 31:29; Eze 18:2

Friends

Jeremiah 20:10 NKJV

For I heard many mocking: “Fear on every side!” “Report,” they say, “and we will report it!” All my acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying, “Perhaps he can be induced; Then we will prevail against him, And we will take our revenge on him.”

See also La 1:1–2; La 1:19

Enemies

Psalm 35:19–20 NKJV

Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies; Nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause. For they do not speak peace, But they devise deceitful matters Against the quiet ones in the land.

See also 2 Ki 9:14–28; La 1:16

The consequences of the human destruction of peace

Humanity suffers

Dt 28:53–57; 1 Ki 2:5–6; 2 Ki 6:24–29; 2 Ki 25:2–3; Eze 13:10–16; Re 6:3–8

Nations suffer

Jeremiah 49:31–32 NKJV

“Arise, go up to the wealthy nation that dwells securely,” says the Lord, “Which has neither gates nor bars, Dwelling alone. Their camels shall be for booty, And the multitude of their cattle for plunder. I will scatter to all winds those in the farthest corners, And I will bring their calamity from all its sides,” says the Lord.

See also Eze 38:14–23

The land suffers

Jeremiah 25:37 NKJV

And the peaceful dwellings are cut down Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.

See also Ex 8:12–14; Le 26:27–35; Is 1:7; Is 36:16–20

The whole creation suffers

Revelation 6:3–4 NKJV

When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.

See also Ge 6:5–7; Is 24:1–5; Ro 8:22; Re 8:7–13