“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” Matthew 11:12 KJV
I first heard this phrase in a church, a prayer meeting. It was one of the prayer topics meant to fight the enemy. And since then I have listened to it time and again being used to approve the notion that God wants us to attack the enemy violently; wage a war with the powers that work against our destiny. I found it hard to understand that concept. So let’s take a look at what the Bible says. This phrase was taken from Matthew 11.
John the Baptist had sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the Chosen One or if they were to expect someone else. After Jesus sent John’s disciples on their way with a response for John, He began to speak with the people about John. He told the people that no one born of a woman was greater than John, and in the verse 12 Jesus said this.
The Amplified Bible Version puts it like this:
From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize].
Matthew 11:12 AMP
The Message Version gives a little more clarity:
Let me tell you what’s going on here: No one in history surpasses John the Baptizer; but in the kingdom he prepared you for, the lowliest person is ahead of him. For a long time now people have tried to force themselves into God’s kingdom. But if you read the books of the Prophets and God’s Law closely, you will see them culminate in John, teaming up with him in preparing the way for the Messiah of the kingdom. Looked at in this way, John is the ‘Elijah’ you’ve all been expecting to arrive and introduce the Messiah.
Matthew 11:11-14 MSG
Jesus was telling the people about how all these actions (the attempts at a violent take-over of the kingdom of God) come together eventually to support John’s mission on earth: announcing that the Savior, Jesus was coming to the Earth. And not for us as Christians to “fight back the enemy violently”. The phrase was used in a context that has been misconstrued for years.
The NIV Version puts it like this:
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.
Matthew 11:12 NIV
There was a (violent) raiding of the Kingdom of Heaven but even that was in some way orchestrated such that the Word was fulfilled. Is it wrong to attack the enemy and fight him violently?
The Bible is clear that we must not fight against the enemy with violence. Instead, we must take on spiritual warfare, using prayer and faith to overcome the enemy. We must trust in God to fight for us and protect us. With that in mind, we can use this phrase to encourage us to stand firm in faith and trust in God to take back what belongs to us. We must not let fear and doubt hold us back, but instead exercise faith and trust in God’s faithfulness, knowing that He will deliver us from any situation, no matter how impossible it may seem.
We must not forget that the Lord has already won the battle. He has already defeated the enemy, and it is our job to stand firm and trust in His promises. We must be willing to put our trust in Him and follow His commands, even when it seems impossible. We can take this phrase as an encouragement to be bold and courageous in our faith and to never give up, no matter what the situation may be.