We can take our lead from the apostles when they were arrested and put in prison for their preaching. They never retaliated or said a bad word against their oppressors. Jesus didn't either. He quietly went to his death as an innocent man. Christian martyrs have done so all through history.
On a personal level, we can also take our example from Jesus. The times when opposers wanted to do him bodily harm, he simply left the scene. He could have commanded 12 legions of angels if he'd wanted to, but he didn't. We can defend ourselves to an extent, but never could we deal someone a blow that might take their life. We would be as guilty as they were.
We can often do better by just being submissive. If they are unchallenged and we speak mildly to them, then sometimes it diffuses the situation and they will leave us alone. This has been the experience of some of my brothers.
Jesus said....
“You heard that it was said: ‘You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 However, I say to you: Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may prove yourselves sons of your Father who is in the heavens, since he makes his sun rise on both the wicked and the good and makes it rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those loving you, what reward do you have? Are not also the tax collectors doing the same thing? 47 And if you greet your brothers only, what extraordinary thing are you doing? Are not also the people of the nations doing the same thing? 48 You must accordingly be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:43-48)
God's law to Israel meant that justice demands equivalency.....not so much literally as I don't think I have read anywhere in the OT that God's people had their eyes put out or their teeth removed as punishment, but it was a principle that meant that the punishment should fit the crime. For example, when men were involved in a fight and a pregnant woman struck in the process so that she miscarried her baby and it died, the person who caused the child's death was then sentenced to death...a life for a life. (Ex 21:22-25)
Jesus' teaching about 'loving our enemies' is not just forgiving them but not raising a hand in retaliation. We are to "return evil for evil to no one". (Rom 12:17-21)
An "eye for an eye" was part of the law God gave to Israel, which is no longer binding on Christ's followers. Jesus fulfilled it and took it out of the way with his sacrifice. (Col 2:13, 14)
We are now under the 'Law of love', which means that we are to love God with all we have, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Matt 22:35-39)
Conquering evil with good means cancelling out one with the other. When someone does something bad to you...you cannot do something bad back to them. That is returning evil for evil.
You can do that by your words and actions. We are to be peaceable with all men, not just the ones who are peaceable with us.
That is not what Jesus taught. Many Christians have lost their lives to men of violence, but fighting violence with violence is what we were never told to do. Quite the opposite.
Using Israel as an example does not work for Christians. We have no sanction from God to harm anyone, not even an enemy.
Think for a moment why God sanctioned wars for his ancient people.....they had been gifted a good land and it was the envy of their enemies who tried to make war with them and steal what God had given them. They protected their God-given land because God told them to. They had divine sanction to act as his executioners. This had a two-fold purpose...to protect what was theirs, and to show those nations that Israel's God was superior to their own.
Christians live in every nation on earth, so there is no longer any land to protect. Our citizenship as Christians is in God's kingdom, not any earthly one. We were told by Jesus to be "no part of this world". As Paul said...."vengeance belongs to God" not us.
