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Pope Says Building Walls Is ‘Not Christian.’ So, What Does The Bible Say About Walls?

Administrator
Staff Member
Found this article, thought it was interesting coming from a non-Christian believer but Bible positive writer. It's full of truth here regarding building walls, glad I found this.

9BSEB1U.jpg


By: Ben Shapiro / Pope Says Building Walls Is ‘Not Christian.’ So, What Does The Bible Say About Walls?

Pope Francis said on Wednesday, “a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel. As far as what you said about whether I would advise to vote or not to vote, I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that.”

Francis’ defenders claimed that Francis was speaking figuratively, but that’s highly unlikely; the day before, he campaigned for open borders from Ciudad Juarez, and the question that prompted this response explicitly cited Donald Trump.

So, is Francis correct? Is building walls in defense of sovereignty as “un-Christian”?

Well, let’s start with the behavior of the Vatican. As I pointed out yesterday, immigration policy to Vatican City is highly restrictive; so is security. Historically, the Vatican hasn’t been anti-wall, either. The picture above shows the giant wall surrounding Vatican City, originally erected in 852 C.E. in order to prevent another attack like the one by Muslim pirates who damaged St. Peter’s Cathedral in 846. Those walls were expanded under Pope Paul III (1534-1549), Pope Pius IV (1559-1565) and Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644). Paul III’s and Pius IV’s expansions were directed toward preventing another Muslim sack of Rome. (This Pope, it is worth noting, continues to maintain that Europe ought to increase levels of Muslim immigration into the heart of Western territory.)

Then there’s the Bible. As I’m no Christian, I’ll leave the New Testament to those better versed. I will note, however, that the Old Testament – the Tanach – is replete with references to the usefulness of walls. God allowing enemies to breach the walls of Jewish cities is seen as a brutal punishment in Deuteronomy 28:52; similarly, in Nehemiah 2:13, the prophet laments “the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down”; Isaiah, too, laments the “day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains”; the same holds for Psalms 80 and 89, as well as several chapters in Lamentations, as well as the warnings of Ezekiel.

In 2 Chronicles 14, we learn of the good king Asa, who did “what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord; he “built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace…’Let us build up these towns,’ he said to Judah, ‘and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side.’ So they built and prospered.”

In Psalms 51, David specifically prays that God “do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion; build thou the walls of Jerusalem.” In Psalm 122, David prays, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; ‘May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.’” In Psalm 144, David prophesies that “There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets.”

In Proverbs, Solomon writes, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, without walls.”

Isaiah repeatedly references walls: in chapter 26 (“In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts”); chapter 49 (“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me”); chapter 54 (“I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones”); chapter 58 (“Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings”); chapter 60 (“Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you” and “you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise”); chapter 62 (I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night”). Amos says the same: “In that day ‘I will restore David’s fallen shelter – I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins – an d will rebuild it as it used to be.’” So too says Micah: “The day for building walls will come, the day for extending your boundaries.”

Needless to say, God doesn’t seem particularly perturbed by the idea of walls in the Bible. They’re necessary for defense, and they’re often necessary to draw boundaries between people who live by the Living Word, and people who do not.

Suffice it to say, the Pope’s Biblical exegesis here seems rather weak.
 
Loyal
Found this article, thought it was interesting coming from a non-Christian believer but Bible positive writer. It's full of truth here regarding building walls, glad I found this.

9BSEB1U.jpg


By: Ben Shapiro / Pope Says Building Walls Is ‘Not Christian.’ So, What Does The Bible Say About Walls?

Pope Francis said on Wednesday, “a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel. As far as what you said about whether I would advise to vote or not to vote, I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that.”

Francis’ defenders claimed that Francis was speaking figuratively, but that’s highly unlikely; the day before, he campaigned for open borders from Ciudad Juarez, and the question that prompted this response explicitly cited Donald Trump.

So, is Francis correct? Is building walls in defense of sovereignty as “un-Christian”?

Well, let’s start with the behavior of the Vatican. As I pointed out yesterday, immigration policy to Vatican City is highly restrictive; so is security. Historically, the Vatican hasn’t been anti-wall, either. The picture above shows the giant wall surrounding Vatican City, originally erected in 852 C.E. in order to prevent another attack like the one by Muslim pirates who damaged St. Peter’s Cathedral in 846. Those walls were expanded under Pope Paul III (1534-1549), Pope Pius IV (1559-1565) and Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644). Paul III’s and Pius IV’s expansions were directed toward preventing another Muslim sack of Rome. (This Pope, it is worth noting, continues to maintain that Europe ought to increase levels of Muslim immigration into the heart of Western territory.)

Then there’s the Bible. As I’m no Christian, I’ll leave the New Testament to those better versed. I will note, however, that the Old Testament – the Tanach – is replete with references to the usefulness of walls. God allowing enemies to breach the walls of Jewish cities is seen as a brutal punishment in Deuteronomy 28:52; similarly, in Nehemiah 2:13, the prophet laments “the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down”; Isaiah, too, laments the “day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains”; the same holds for Psalms 80 and 89, as well as several chapters in Lamentations, as well as the warnings of Ezekiel.

In 2 Chronicles 14, we learn of the good king Asa, who did “what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord; he “built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace…’Let us build up these towns,’ he said to Judah, ‘and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side.’ So they built and prospered.”

In Psalms 51, David specifically prays that God “do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion; build thou the walls of Jerusalem.” In Psalm 122, David prays, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; ‘May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.’” In Psalm 144, David prophesies that “There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets.”

In Proverbs, Solomon writes, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, without walls.”

Isaiah repeatedly references walls: in chapter 26 (“In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts”); chapter 49 (“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me”); chapter 54 (“I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones”); chapter 58 (“Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings”); chapter 60 (“Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you” and “you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise”); chapter 62 (I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night”). Amos says the same: “In that day ‘I will restore David’s fallen shelter – I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins – an d will rebuild it as it used to be.’” So too says Micah: “The day for building walls will come, the day for extending your boundaries.”

Needless to say, God doesn’t seem particularly perturbed by the idea of walls in the Bible. They’re necessary for defense, and they’re often necessary to draw boundaries between people who live by the Living Word, and people who do not.

Suffice it to say, the Pope’s Biblical exegesis here seems rather weak.
LOL Read the description of the New Jerusalem...Look at those walls! Is God not 'Christian'?
 
Loyal
But some walls do need to come down. Consider Jericho! Perhaps we should let God build the walls as needed and let God tear them down as needed.
 
Administrator
Staff Member
In this day and age with terrorists in our homeland here in USA and globally for that matter, with influx of illegal immigrants it is more necessary to build proper walls for security than ever before. Every nation has it's right to defend itself and secure it's borders. There's nothing hateful or "racist" about that at all. Just like you might secure your home with fence, alarm system, and perhaps guns in case of intruders.
 
Active
The beautiful issue with walls is that they create an impasse. It's great for keeping others away, but what if you want to go to them? That great big wonderful wall now works against you as much as it works for you. I have a letter from a friend sitting on my desk. In the letter, she expresses the thought that Syrian refugees are allowed to enter Canada. As always, there will be some bad mixed with the good. What she fails to appreciate is that they are coming here so we do not have to go there. One would have to be completely stupid to miss the opportunity which presents itself.

Pope Francis also mentioned building bridges. As long as we're hung up on building walls, no bridges will ever be built to cross over to the other side. Have it your way. Is it God's way?
 
Loyal
The beautiful issue with walls is that they create an impasse. It's great for keeping others away, but what if you want to go to them? That great big wonderful wall now works against you as much as it works for you. I have a letter from a friend sitting on my desk. In the letter, she expresses the thought that Syrian refugees are allowed to enter Canada. As always, there will be some bad mixed with the good. What she fails to appreciate is that they are coming here so we do not have to go there. One would have to be completely stupid to miss the opportunity which presents itself.

Pope Francis also mentioned building bridges. As long as we're hung up on building walls, no bridges will ever be built to cross over to the other side. Have it your way. Is it God's way?
LOL I think that's why they put gates in the walls.
 
Member
Being that Vatican City is a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the pope's comments are quite ironic.
 
Loyal
False argument. The Pope did not say building walls was not Christian. He said that a person who thinks only of building walls and not bridges is not Christian.
 
Member
The Catholic Church doesn't recognize borders, but looks at the entire world as the "kingdom".
They promote free "migration" of people. In the U.S. the Catholic Church promotes the "welfare society"
and those politicians that promote it, but it's not the Church that is "footing the bill" for welfare, it's the U.S. taxpayer.
 
Member
Suffice it to say, the Pope’s Biblical exegesis here seems rather weak.

The Bible talks about walls, and a surface reader of the Bible will only consider walls to mean physical walls. However, this is not what the Bible is pointing to.

We read: " salvation will God appoint for walls"

and again: "but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise."

Does God delight in the strength of a horse?! Does he consider physical walls the place of security?

No, God is a spiritual one. When he talks about gates he means spiritual praise. True believers enter into Christ, his spiritual city, with praise (his kind of gates). Furthermore, when someone is in Christ, they are saved. This is what God calls walls. The fact that salvation is there, not physical walls. Are you really so dull?

When the walls of Jericho fall it is simply a picture being painted of salvation falling from the congregations of the church age at the time of tribulation. Then, Joshua and his people (Jesus and the true believers) possess the true city of God. Jericho was the city of the righteous (of palms) and of the law (the moon) and it had salvation (walls), but that falls and salvation is not found in the congregations. Spiritually speaking salvation falls there. The walls called salvation fall. Then, only Jesus and the true believers have salvation, so they continue to have spiritual walls. They are secure spiritually. It is not a physical thing, see.
 
Loyal
The Bible talks about walls, and a surface reader of the Bible will only consider walls to mean physical walls. However, this is not what the Bible is pointing to.

We read: " salvation will God appoint for walls"

and again: "but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise."

Does God delight in the strength of a horse?! Does he consider physical walls the place of security?

No, God is a spiritual one. When he talks about gates he means spiritual praise. True believers enter into Christ, his spiritual city, with praise (his kind of gates). Furthermore, when someone is in Christ, they are saved. This is what God calls walls. The fact that salvation is there, not physical walls. Are you really so dull?

When the walls of Jericho fall it is simply a picture being painted of salvation falling from the congregations of the church age at the time of tribulation. Then, Joshua and his people (Jesus and the true believers) possess the true city of God. Jericho was the city of the righteous (of palms) and of the law (the moon) and it had salvation (walls), but that falls and salvation is not found in the congregations. Spiritually speaking salvation falls there. The walls called salvation fall. Then, only Jesus and the true believers have salvation, so they continue to have spiritual walls. They are secure spiritually. It is not a physical thing, see.

So, Little Bird, do you think God only deals with the supernatural? Or that He does not care about the physical? Do you have scripture for that?
 
Member

Mir

In this day and age with terrorists in our homeland here in USA and globally for that matter, with influx of illegal immigrants it is more necessary to build proper walls for security than ever before. Every nation has it's right to defend itself and secure it's borders. There's nothing hateful or "racist" about that at all. Just like you might secure your home with fence, alarm system, and perhaps guns in case of intruders.

I agree! Walls may be used for our protection & helps to keep our nation separate, as the globalist would like us to tear down our walls to implement their new world order (doing away w/ our constitution) which according to the scriptures will be headed by the Anti-Christ. Read Revelation Ch. 13 & Daniel Ch. 7 . We can look to Europe and see all the havoc (rapes & crime) that has been imposed upon the citizens by bringing in masses of refugees....do we really want this for our country.
 
Member
So, Little Bird, do you think God only deals with the supernatural? Or that He does not care about the physical? Do you have scripture for that?

Hi Bendito. Thanks for asking about walls in terms of the spiritual and the physical. The question at the beginning of the thread asked: So what does the Bible say about walls? I posted saying that the Bible uses the word 'walls' to talk about salvation. I used the following scripture: "salvation will God appoint for walls". This scripture is showing that the term 'walls' is meaning salvation, not physical walls. I further quoted a scripture that says: "but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise". This scripture is showing that when God talks about gates he is not talking about physical gates but is instead talking about praise. That makes sense, because to enter into the city of God (not a physical city on the map (but the group of saved persons), we have praise for God for saving us. A person can go through a physical gate or get behind physical walls but that does not guarantee spiritual salvation in Christ. It would not affect whether we are spiritually saved or unsaved. In similar manner, I could drink physical water and that would not guarantee salvation one way or the other. But the Bible says to come and to drink water from the wells of salvation. That would be drinking the gospel in the spiritual sense, and would affect salvation. When we want to really know what the Bible says, we should be prepared to see the surface text of the Bible as pointing to parable meaning. These meanings are not just the surface text we read. There is an interpreted meaning. The Bible, God's law book, is called a parable: "Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.I will open my mouth in a parable". He clues us in again to this truth in Mark 4:34: "But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples." Thorns, for example, mean "such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful." - not physical thorns. Sheep in the Bible are really God's people - not actual sheep, and so forth. It is the same with walls. Jericho had walls, meaning that salvation was there for a time. The New Jerusalem has walls meaning that salvation is there. It is parable language describing the fact. There are no physical walls in the city being described. It is parable language.

In answer to your question about whether God cares about the physical: Obviously, God placed people on a physical earth with physical bodies, and with general physical needs for physical things in the realm of the physical. But such things perish with time. God is a spirit, and they that are relying on him are leaning on him in his spiritual kingdom. If God was most interested in the physical, he would not have said: "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." Again, we read: "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." God knows we have physical needs as persons in physical bodies, but the scripture encourages us: "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
 
Loyal
Hi Bendito. Thanks for asking about walls in terms of the spiritual and the physical. The question at the beginning of the thread asked: So what does the Bible say about walls? I posted saying that the Bible uses the word 'walls' to talk about salvation. I used the following scripture: "salvation will God appoint for walls". This scripture is showing that the term 'walls' is meaning salvation, not physical walls. I further quoted a scripture that says: "but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise". This scripture is showing that when God talks about gates he is not talking about physical gates but is instead talking about praise. That makes sense, because to enter into the city of God (not a physical city on the map (but the group of saved persons), we have praise for God for saving us. A person can go through a physical gate or get behind physical walls but that does not guarantee spiritual salvation in Christ. It would not affect whether we are spiritually saved or unsaved. In similar manner, I could drink physical water and that would not guarantee salvation one way or the other. But the Bible says to come and to drink water from the wells of salvation. That would be drinking the gospel in the spiritual sense, and would affect salvation. When we want to really know what the Bible says, we should be prepared to see the surface text of the Bible as pointing to parable meaning. These meanings are not just the surface text we read. There is an interpreted meaning. The Bible, God's law book, is called a parable: "Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.I will open my mouth in a parable". He clues us in again to this truth in Mark 4:34: "But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples." Thorns, for example, mean "such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful." - not physical thorns. Sheep in the Bible are really God's people - not actual sheep, and so forth. It is the same with walls. Jericho had walls, meaning that salvation was there for a time. The New Jerusalem has walls meaning that salvation is there. It is parable language describing the fact. There are no physical walls in the city being described. It is parable language.

In answer to your question about whether God cares about the physical: Obviously, God placed people on a physical earth with physical bodies, and with general physical needs for physical things in the realm of the physical. But such things perish with time. God is a spirit, and they that are relying on him are leaning on him in his spiritual kingdom. If God was most interested in the physical, he would not have said: "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." Again, we read: "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." God knows we have physical needs as persons in physical bodies, but the scripture encourages us: "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
Ok How many other verses do you have where God talks about walls?
 
Member
So here are several verses where kings and prophets built or rebuilt walls and God blessed.....If God is only for spiritual walls why did He bless here?
1 Kings 3:1

1 Kings 9:15

2 Chronicles 27:3

2 Chronicles 33:14

Psalm 51:18

2 Chronicles 32:5

Isaiah 22:10

Ezra 4:12

Ezra 5:8

Nehemiah 3:1-32

Nehemiah 3:8

Nehemiah 3:27

Nehemiah 4:6

Nehemiah 6:15

Nehemiah 7:1

Nehemiah 12:27

Thanks Bendito, for these nice scriptures about walls, in the Bible. God is not against physical walls particularly. In fact, because walls represent salvation, most scriptures are favorable to walls. It is just that these scriptures about walls are in the Bible for a reason. The reason is to point Christians to the interpreted meaning of the surface words. Consider the verse you mention in Psalms 51:18:"Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem." Zion is the people of God, the true believers in Christ. When the verse says to build thou the walls of Jerusalem, it means to build the true believers in Christ (they are Jerusalem) in salvation. Sure you could stick with the uninterpreted meaning, if you didn't care what God was saying. In similar fashion, you could read in Leviticus 14 about how a bird is supposed to be killed under running water and then the blood sprinkled, and say, "God is really in favor of killing birds under running water and then sprinkling the blood". Let's all go do that. Rather, Christians should be looking at how the ritual was a picture of Christ and his sacrifice as the gospel brings pardon for sins. If I went out and did the ritual, would it really be what God wants from me? Would I really be fulfilling scripture and God's will? If we want to answer the question of this thread, 'what does the Bible say about walls?, we can go beyond the surface text to get at the meaning. The other scriptures you mention here are very good ones and have a similar meaning to the Psalms 51 verse, in that they are about building the walls of Jerusalem, which interpreted means to build the true believers in Christ (Jerusalem) in their salvation. I encourage you to take a look at Song of Songs: "We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar. I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour." It is easy to see in this verse that a wall is not just a normal physical wall. A little sister is called a wall. This is the Bible's way of saying that the bride of Jesus (little sister) is saved (is a wall). See how these things work in the Bible.
 
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