No. God does not hate war. War is not a bad thing. Let us examine some verses refering to war, and examine exactly what is being said. We'll begin with a beautiful passage which seems to advocate pacifism.
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which dispitefully use you, and persecute you; that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and unjust." Words of our Christ, Matthew 5:44-45
At first glance, this passage appears to condemn violence of any kind, requiring you to pray for your enemies and do good to them. The key point, however, is rather simple and often ignored. We are never told to make peace with our enemies. In this passage, Christ gave us four orders with regards to those who would make war on us; we must love, bless, do good to, and pray for them. Examine them carefully.
1. Love your enemies. Never stop hoping that they will find Christ and God, and never stop trying to help them do so. When you walk away from him, plot no revenge, but hope that he will find God and hate you no longer.
2. Bless your enemies, and do good to them. God shines the sun on the wicked and rains on the unjust, and so you must do the same. If your enemy is hungry and comes to you, give him food. If your enemy does not wish to fight, do not fight. In a more recent example, if you enter a country to do good and they spit on you, do not turn around and leave. Even if they slap away your hand, attempt to bless your enemies, for that is what God would do.
3. Pray for your enemies. In Christ, there is always hope. Pray that they will end their hatred for you, pray that they will come to know Christ. Best of all, pray that, through you, God's will shall be done in this person's life, even if he is destined to die without knowing Him. Do not claim God to be cold or cruel because men die without knowing Christ. Every man dies, and whether he knows Christ or not will be determined in his life. Grieve not for those who fall in a true war, for they knew the risks and had already given themselves to the fate they would have.
Never once is peace required between yourself and your enemy. Not one single word necessitates nonviolence over violence. If men hate you, and want to take away the gift of life which God has given you, you are right in defending yourself. If an injustice is done, if people are dying at the hands of those who rule them, how can we claim that we love those people and leave them to suffer? How can we claim to love those who kill their subjects and allow them to wallow in the filth of their own sin? Now, I know no man can claim judgement over another, but the Bible makes it perfectly clear what is and what is not acceptable behavior. If sin, especially murder, is the policy of a government, ruler, or any force of men, it is the duty of those who can intervene to do so, with force if necessary.
On the other side of things, a part of David's 110th psalm is, arguably, the one piece of scripture most often referenced, quoted or repeated in the Bible.
"Sit Thou at My right hand until I make Thy enemies Thy footstool."
Look closely. Both "Thou" and "My" are capitalized. This is because this verse is not a depiction of speech between God and man, but God and his Risen Son (centuries before Jesus actually arrived, mind you).
Now, Trinitarians know that the Godhead exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Father existed in the Holy Tabernacle during the years leading up to 4 B.C., the birth of Christ. For the next thirty-three years, the Son was present on Earth and, as biblical historians will tell you, many of the indicators of the Father's presence vanished. When Christ ascended He fulfilled John the Baptist's promise that one would come to baptize "in the Holy Spirit," for as we know the Holy Ghost is now the moving force of God in the world today.
When Christians state that they "have the Holy Spirit," it is nothing blasphemous. The Holy Ghost works through individuals and groups, not through physical application. The Father was a great wielder of the elements, and would call fire from the heavens and open up seas and rivers. The Son was a miracle worker, expelling demons, curing diseases, and conquering death. The Holy Ghost has Its methods as well, and It works in the hearts and minds of every human for whom Christ died. The Holy Spirit is everywhere, and It works through people.
How can we say, then, that we must let God save those who are in need? How can we possibly sit back and wait for a column of heaven's fire to consume the oppressors, when the Holy Ghost within us is calling our men and women to do God's work? God still controls the chaos of our world, and God still cures diseases and casts out demons, but the evil works of men are a direct result of their free will. God cannot deny us our free will, and so He relies on the influence of the Holy Ghost. He relies on us to do His work.
God's work is not one lacking in violence. "The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name." (Song of the Lord's Victory, Exodus 15:3) If the Lord's will is for violence, we cannot deny Him that. We are a force of God in this world, an honor we are not worthy of, and for which we are neither prepared nor qualified. It is clear, then that we must rely on the knowledge that God's strength is applied through us. We cannot use our own reasoning to win any victory or solve any puzzle. Our own reasoning tells us war is bad. God tells us that war is another part of existance, and it will continue to be until the Prince of Peace is made King.
Now, clearly, atrocities are committed in wars today. Horrible things are happening all over the world, often to people who have no desire to fight at all. How can you say to them that war is good?
Again, look carefully. I am not here to say that war is, within of itself, good. Many horrible things can happen in war, especially in wars that are fought for the goals of men and not those of God. Horrible things will always happen, in both war and peace, and so neither is better than the other. I am not here to claim that war is good. I will simply point out that war is not an evil, necessary or unnecessary, but simply another state of being to which we may be called.
To those who would be pacifists, I ask: If God called you to war, would you fight? Are you so confident in God's pacifism that you choose not to answer, claiming that such a scenario would never occur? If that is what you think, I submit that God WILL, eventually, wage war against the wicked, and that you must decide by then whether you believe He is right in doing so.
