Peace! We all need it! Want to have every nerve in your body tingling? Just watch or listen to news for a few minutes. Data centers, water shortages, heat waves, political wrangling, conflict in the Middle East-there’s no shortage of problems around the world and at home. In the West, 7 states are wrangling over water rights to the water from the Colorado River. In New Mexico, the middle branch of the Rio Grand has dried up completely. I just spoke with a friend who’s about to have a small surgical procedure done on her spine. My friend needs God’s peace in her heart that all will go well, that her back will be healed, and that she will be able to get out of the house, attend church, and see friends again. This morning I just learned that we were double-billed for a car rental. Now I must deal with two different agencies, neither one of which wants anything apart from money.
For the next few weeks, we will look at what the Bible says about peace, where it comes from, how to get it, and how to keep it. The Biblical definition of peace is quite extensive.
In the Bible, peace is defined as a state of harmony and wholeness, transcending mere absence of conflict. The Hebrew word for peace, “shalom,” encompasses not only tranquility but also completeness, prosperity, and well-being in relationships with others and with God.
Biblical Context
Old Testament: The concept of peace often relates to relationships among people, nations, and between God and humanity. It is frequently associated with covenants and promises.
New Testament: Peace is also linked to the teachings of Jesus Christ, who is referred to as the “Prince of Peace”. His message emphasizes spiritual peace and reconciliation.
Types of Peace
Spiritual Peace: Inner tranquility and harmony with God.
Relational Peace: Healthy relationships with others.
Social Peace: Harmony within communities and nations.
Genesis 15:1 Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3 You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”
4 Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 5 Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”
6 And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.
7 Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.”
8 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?”
9 The Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. 11 Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.
12 As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end, they will come away with great wealth. 15 (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) 16 After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”
17 After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. 18 So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt[a] to the great Euphrates River— 19 the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
It’s one of the most dramatic moments in the Bible. When Abraham complains that he has no son and that his chief servant is the only one to succeed him, God assures him that He will give Abraham a son, despite Abraham’s old age. Continuing, God also promises that Abraham will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age. To demonstrate the validity of this promise, God cuts covenant with Abraham, a ritual in which the two parties to the covenant swear that they will be faithful or suffer the same fate as the animals cut apart in the ritual. With Abraham in a near-swoon, God is the One who moves among the animal parts, pledging His everlasting unchangeable honor.
God takes this dramatic step, not only for Abraham but also for all believers who will come after Abraham. God makes fantastic promises of the future of Abraham’s descendants, and we know that all those promises eventually are fulfilled. Abraham receives the assurance he will need to sustain him until Isaac, the son of promise, is born and grows to manhood, fathering children himself.
God never does things the same way twice and none of us are likely to experience such a moment. But God knows our weaknesses and our needs, and God wants us to find our peace in Him, no matter our circumstances. In some parts of the world, attending church might lead to violent death at the hands of terrorists; yet, people continue to go because it is through prayer and worship that they find God. And when they find God, they find peace.
Romans 15:13 tells us, “ I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Today, may God, the source of hope, fill you COMPLETELY with joy and peace!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, fill us completely with joy and peace so that we will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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