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Change of Allegiance  /  Yahweh is a Warrior  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 10
Dean insists the apparent shift between “Yahweh is a man of war” (Ex. 15:3) and Jesus’ commands (“resist not evil,” “the Son of Man has not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them”) is not a change in God’s character but in “mission, method, and weapons”; what concrete “weapons” do you actually rely on when threatened (arguments, money, influence, lawsuits, force, reputation-management), and what would it look like this month to live as “sheep among wolves” armed only with eternal life and obedience to Jesus?
Another way to ask: When you feel threatened, what “weapons” do you really use—arguments, money, influence, lawsuits, force, or protecting your image? What would it look like this month to live like “sheep among wolves,” trusting eternal life and obeying Jesus instead?

Direct Answer Dean’s teaching presses believers to identify the “earthly” tools we default to for self-protection and to embrace New Testament “marching orders” that reject retaliation, trust God’s vengeance, and overcome evil with good—even when it feels defenseless.

Support from Transcript:

  • Dean admits the Old Testament portrays God as a warrior: Exodus 15:3, “Yahweh is a man of war,” which “shook” him and had to be faced honestly.
  • Yet he contrasts Old vs. New orders: “in contrast to the Old Testament marching orders to destroy men’s lives, we now instead have a new order to save them.”
  • He summarizes New Testament weapons/method: “our weapons are not to be made of earthly things,” “we do not war in the flesh.”
  • He cites Romans 12 ethics: “Repay no one evil for evil,” “do not avenge yourselves,” “if your enemy is hungry, feed him,” “overcome evil with good.”
  • He describes Christian posture as “battle defenseless as lambs before wolves… sheep before the slaughter,” and victory not by bombs but “by the blood of the Lamb… testimony… love not our life.”
Discussion Follow-ups The transcript doesn’t list modern scenarios, but it implies practical steps: refusing revenge, choosing peace “as much as depends on you,” and actively doing good to an enemy—actions that expose what ‘weapons’ you truly trust.

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