How Should Christians Respond When Their Families and Communities Are Under Persistent Physical Terrorist Attack?
1) Direct Answer
Christians must stand without hatred. Pray, watch, and act wisely. Do not take vengeance. Protect innocent life committed to your care, cooperate with rightful authority, be ready to flee if needed, and keep a clean testimony—loving enemies while refusing evil.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- Pray and trust: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble” (Psalm 50:15). The church prayed under threat and God answered (Acts 12:5). We are told to pray for all in authority “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
- No private revenge: “Avenge not yourselves… overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:19-21). Jesus said love your enemies and pray for them (Matthew 5:44).
- Lawful protection and order: God ordains civil authority as “a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil” (Romans 13:1-4). We may work with rightful authorities for the safety of our families and neighbors.
- Guard and build: Under persistent attack, God’s people watched, prayed, and secured their families while continuing the work (Nehemiah 4:7-18). “They which builded… every one had his sword girded.” They did not launch vengeance; they guarded and kept building.
- Flee if necessary: “When they persecute you in this city, flee into another” (Matthew 10:23). Paul escaped plots rather than answer violence with violence (Acts 9:23-25).
- Spiritual warfare first: “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal” (2 Corinthians 10:4). Put on the whole armor of God—truth, righteousness, faith, the Word, prayer (Ephesians 6:10-18).
- Wisdom and prudence: “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself” (Proverbs 22:3). Joseph prepared in advance to preserve life (Genesis 41).
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- Personal insult? Turn the other cheek. Immediate threat to innocent life? Love protects. Restraining or stopping an attacker to prevent murder is not vengeance; it is stewardship of the lives God placed under your care. But the heart must stay free of hatred and bloodlust; judgment belongs to God and to lawful authority, not to private revenge.
- Those who say “retaliate and repay” contradict Jesus and Romans 12—no private vengeance.
- Those who say “never defend” overlook Nehemiah’s watchfulness and the duty of love to shield the weak. Love does no harm, and love also prevents harm to those entrusted to you.
- If staying means certain ruin for your family, Scripture gives liberty to flee. If staying is required, stand watchfully, pray fervently, and keep your spirit clean.
4) Reinforcing Statement
Now notice, the Bible’s path is narrow but clear: pray much, keep your heart right, cooperate with rightful authority, protect life without revenge, be ready to flee, and overcome evil with good while trusting God to fight for you.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 10:E-18
...of God. You will recall that Balak needed help to keep his kingdom. He called on the most dominant spiritual figure of his day, Balaam. Balaam gave the advice that trapped and destroyed Israel. It was, first of all, to suggest that they all get together and talk things over, and eat together and get things ironed out. After all, understanding each other goes a long way. Once you accomplish that you can go from there. The next step would be worshipping together, and of course, a little pressure from the host usuall...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-61
"I know their blasphemy." Now it isn't the thought here that these liars are blaspheming God, though that goes without saying. But they are blaspheming the true church. It is always thus. The Jews of Jerusalem blasphemed the church at the beginning. The Gentile polytheists did likewise. If anyone is going to be evil-spoken of, it will always be the true seed. In Nero's day the Christians were blamed for every calamity--even for the burning of Rome. In communist countries the little flock is always the first to be e...
The Mighty Conqueror
57-0808 §20
And after Constantine come over and liberated them from under the Roman persecution and united the church and state together... There's where we got Catholic to begin with. And when they did, the church lost more grounds in ten years than it had gained all through the persecution. If there's anything that makes Christians lazy, it's when they're on a flowerbed of ease. We don't have it persecution enough. We don't have it hard enough. Always the chain is the strongest at its weakest link. And a man under pressure i...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 5:E-103
Now the majority of us have the mistaken idea that any and all who call themselves Christians would be the target of the devil and consequently the brunt of governmental tyranny. But not so. This first church had begun to thrive and multiply so in numbers that the emperors and various officials of the government actually favored that church for political reasons. Thus when the leaders of the First Church in Rome found themselves in favor, they took the opportunity to turn the government against the true believers a...
Perseverant
62-0623 §23
And men through all ages that's ever tried to achieve something has been persistent. Men, in order to be persistent (I might quote again), is to know what you are after. And if you do not know, you're not certain of your standing. But when you thoroughly understand what it is, what you're after, and are satisfied you're going to do it, then you can be persistent---get really persistent, holding on. I like the approach. I like people that's persistent when they are... Realize, no matter if the man is wrong, but yet...