The Violent Take it By Force

Matthew 11:12 (KJV)And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

For years the church has used this scripture to inspire, to pump up the people, and used it as validation that possessing something by faith is something you have to do rather than just something you have to believe God for. I mean just imagine if you’re believing God for something and you hear a message being preached saying “take what you want from the devil by force”. I mean that sounds pretty good don’t you think, you get to beat up the devil and feel spiritually strong at the same time.

The more and more I mature in God I don’t think that this scripture is being used in the right context that it has been taught in. First of all it says the violent take it by force, I never understood how we as followers of Christ associate ourselves as being violent in any manner (Luke 3:14). Also, why do I have to take something by force when all things are given to me freely by God (Romans 8:32)? It just doesn’t add up to me.

Secondly, in the greek translation the meaning in context of the word “it” in that particular scripture is “them”. So the scripture can be read as; “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take them by force.”

When Jesus refers to the kingdom of heaven suffering violence He is not saying that we are a violent people that posses things by the force of faith. What Jesus is referencing to is that violence has come upon the preaching of the kingdom of heaven because of the conviction of sin it brings and in turn for a person looking for a better way, the freedom that is gained (the worlds system is designed to keep you in bondage, or in today’s terms in debt). The violence intent is to shut up the preaching of the kingdom.

If you study the history of many of the ministers preaching the kingdom, the first one to begin preaching the kingdom was John the Baptist. He is regarded as the one sent to prepare the way. Before John the Baptist the only reference to the kingdom of God and Jesus was through prophecy and prophetic events that took place. Through the preaching of the kingdom comes immense power and influence which threatens mighty worldly systems that are not of God’s design. In turn the result is that the stewards of those systems try to silence the message from being preached, because it also threatens the traditional of a way of thinking, culture and what people have believed to be true for so long. In North America it is hard to bring that home because persecution is something that we don’t regularly face here for the gospel of Christ. But in many other places on the globe followers of Christ are being persecuted regularly just as the Bible recorded thousands of years ago.

I can almost guarantee you that if the North American church really united as one. I’m not just talking about “Christians” attending weekly and Sunday services, but if everyone that professes to be a follower of Christ actually started to live what they confess than you would see an uproar in our system also. Right now the governing systems here don’t feel threatened by the church because the church has very little influence. Sure the church does a lot of good here in North America but I honestly believe the world views North American Christians as hypocrites and a shifty people. You may disagree but this is just my own personal thought. What I believe will happen is this. The church will begin to take its position and not just here in North America but on the earth in general. Once this happens we will begin to see positive change, worldly systems will topple and the kingdom of God will visibly reign on earth. As a result of this there will be a great addition of people into the kingdom of God. Will there be push back from the world, absolutely! But I believe it will have no effect on the progress of God’s plans.

So the main intent of why persecution comes towards followers of Christ is to plainly silence the message from being preached. Before Saul became Paul this was something he took pride in.

Acts 26:10 (NKJV)This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

Nothing will ever be able to silence the Truth from being spread because it’s not a message created by man but by God.

Acts 5:39 (KJV)And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; 39 but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.”
So now that we have just a little insight on the context of the scripture next time I will go deeper into how that scripture is represented in the Bible, scripturally.

I pray that this has been a blessing.

Daryle Houston II
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org