Mike,

Do you believe if someone breaks into our home we are to not defend ourselves and our loved ones? Some people would say, “we are not to trust in guns, but rather trust in God for safety. However, even when the Israelites were (right with God), they still used weapons for defense didn’t they? Some say we must simply love our enemies and not defend ourselves.
I know that ultimately they could have no power over us, except that which is given to them from above.

J____

Hi J____,

It is given to but few to receive, but the simple answer right from the mouth of our Lord is:

Mat 5:38  Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

It is true that ancient Israel defended itself and for that matter even conquered other nations “when they were right with God.” But Israel also stoned to death people who gathered sticks on the sabbath, and who committed adultery “when they were right with God.” But Christ “changed the law” and made it virtually impossible for the natural man to keep. He changed the law that said “love your neighbor and hate you enemy” into “love thine enemies.”
If God has it written in His book that our families and our belongings are to be destroyed by disasters and by outsiders, the story of Job demonstrates there is little we can do about that:

Job 1:13  And there was a day when his [ Job’s] sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:
Job 1:14  And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
Job 1:15  And the Sabeans fell [ upon them], and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job 1:16  While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job 1:17  While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job 1:18  While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters [ were] eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:
Job 1:19  And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job 1:20  Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Job 1:21  And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

You were agreeing with Christ who set us an example of how we should handle a private invasion for the purpose of doing us and our loved ones bodily harm. You were actually quoting Christ when you said

I know that ultimately they could have no power over us, except that which is given to them from above.

Christ put Himself between the Jews who came to apprehend Him and His disciples. But he did not “resist evil,” and Christ reprimanded Peter for doing so. Mind you, Jesus Christ was a much better reason to resist evil than Peter’s wife and family and all the wives and all the families of the world combined, and still Christ told Peter:

Mat 26:52  Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

Just a few hours later, when Pilate was playing the part of the robber rapist in your home, claiming that your life and the life of your children are in his hands, Christ replied to Pilate:

Joh 19:7  The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
Joh 19:8  When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
Joh 19:9  And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
Joh 19:10  Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
Joh 19:11  Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power [ at all] against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

Those words are just as applicable for a burglar or rapist or a murderer in your home and mine as they were applicable to Christ and Pilate.
I hope this helps you to see that everything we think we choose to do is actually God working in us, and that it was all written in His book, every day of our lives, before there were any of them.

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Our will is controlled by God. If we are given faith in God’s protection, then we will not fear what the world can do to us. If not, then we may well take up arms to defend God, family and country, and the moment we do so we have just lost the protection that God gives us, when we trust in Him. That does not mean that no man of God ever lost his physical life because he trusted in God. Christ lost His physical life because he trusted in God, but Christ found true lasting life because He was willing to lose His physical life in order to obey God.

Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: a nd he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Yes, we can and must defend our wives and children, but that defense is best when it teaches them to depend upon the Lord for their protection, and not upon the flesh. Greater is the man who trusts in God than the man who trusts in his own strength. No one on earth has power over us that is not given them by God.
Your brother in Christ,

Mike