The Sword in The Bible

Introduction

 

Some readers of this essay will know that I recently published a story about the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus. I had entitled this biblical historical fictional novel A Sword Shall Pierce Your Soul. This reflected a certain degree of mystery which helped to propel the plot of the story. That was based on something that was said to Jesus' parents when they went to present him at the Temple in Jerusalem for purification rituals and circumcision on this eighth day. However, I won't say any more of that now, so as not to spoil the plot of that book for any who may not yet have read it or reached that point in their reading of it.

 

Then, in my reading of the Bible this year, I read the book Isaiah, and realized there was a further actual prophecy there about a sword that I had not obviously done adequate research enough to find or it would have made a fitting piece for that mystery. At the same time, over the past year, I have been delving further into the history of The People of God, understood to be the Jews in the Old Testament. In particular, I have been trying to understand really what are the real meanings of the biblical texts that critics point to as characterizing a murderous and bloodthirsty God in the Old Testament compared to the apparent vision of peace that God's son Jesus presented in the New Testament.

 

This has altogether led me to pursue this brief study of the use of the word sword in the Bible. It is a word that appears in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, and in the last book, Revelation. According to the authoritative Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, in the 1990 Copyright Addition, there are 417 references to ‘sword’ in the Bible and 24 references to ‘swords’. Our natural inclination is to think of a sword as a weapon of violence, of warfare, which is indeed what it is most often seen as where these words are used in the Bible. It is in fact, the most commonly referred to weapon in the Bible, which does also refer to sticks, clubs, spears, bows and arrows and slingshots.

 

In preparation for this writing, I did a word search of sword in a digital version of the Bible. This is much faster than the traditional method of looking up the references one-by-one from a concordance. There are many places where the words are used in the same way, so overall, I selected some 117 sample passages to illustrate these different uses. However, even then, I am not going to refer to nearly all of those in this article. I have grouped the appearance of these words into nine categories, which we will now turn to.

 

1.     The sword as a defense

 

Most references to the word sword or swords in the Bible, I will accept, are to its use as a weapon of violence and war. There is no getting away from that. Now the very first reference to a sword is not quite in this category, and I refer to Genesis 3:24: "When he [that is, God] drove the man out [of the Garden of Eden], he placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life." The behavior of humanity had become such that there was no longer any place for them in the peace and order with which God had so carefully created particularly this portion of earth. Therefore, God had placed angels there with these weapons of defense to prevent humanity from returning to the garden. At least, that is the story of Genesis chapter 3.

 

2.     The sword as a threat

 

There are some passages in Scripture where the sword is actually borne by a figure who appears to be a representative of the Lord, an angel, as a warning or threat. One of these is in the story of the seer Balaam and his donkey in Numbers chapter 23. If you are familiar with the story you will recall that Balaam had been hired out by the king of Moab to curse Israel, when he is met on the road by an angel with a sword because this is not something he should be doing against God's people. The donkey sees the sword and repeatedly balks at Balaam's futile efforts to keep it moving, until the donkey speaks to Balaam and his eyes are opened and he sees the angel with the sword. Balaam is it then essentially told that if he had not seen the angel, he would have been killed, but now that his eyes are opened, he can proceed but only on the condition that he bless Israel, not curse it.

 

There are many passages in the Old Testament, beginning already in the second book, Exodus, where the sword is held forth by the Lord as a threat. In Exodus, God was continuing his efforts, begun with the patriarch Abraham in Genesis, at re-creating a people with whom he could once again dwell on this earth as their God. From Exodus through the Prophets, the sword is repeatedly used as a warning of what would happen to God's people if they broke the covenant that they made with God during their wilderness sojourn, as described in Exodus and the following books of the Pentateuch. 

 

There are different elements to this covenant, with correspondingly different threats for failure to keep these different components of this contract. Sometimes this threat is given as a warning if the people of God do not act in justice and righteousness in their lives, for example Exodus 22:22, "You must not afflict any widow or orphan. 22:23 If you afflict them in any way and they cry to me, I will surely hear their cry, 22:24 and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless." You can see in this warning what we sometimes refer to as the eye-for-an-eye type of justice. The guilty party will be punished severely, but in some measure in correspondence with the crime they have committed. If there has been oppression of widows and orphans, children, the wives of the oppressors will become widows and their children would become orphans. Care for widows, orphans and even aliens is an often-repeated command in the Pentateuch and in the Prophets. God reminds the Children of Israel how they were treated by the Egyptians prior to his delivering them from Egypt, warning them not to treat people the same way.

 

There are many passages where this threat is given as a general warning for not keeping any of the commandments and laws that were given to the Children of Israel in this Old Testament period. An example of this would be Deuteronomy 28:15, where it is part of warning about a variety of calamities that would befall the people of God for disobedience: " But if you ignore the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force… 28:21 The Lord will plague you with deadly diseases until he has completely removed you from the land you are about to possess. 28:22 He will afflict you with weakness, fever, inflammation, infection, sword, blight, and mildew; these will attack you until you perish." 

 

3.     The sword as protection

 

There are other instances of the use of the word sword where Israel is being reminded of how their God protects them, e.g., Deuteronomy 33:29 "You have joy, Israel! Who is like you? You are a people delivered by the Lord, your protective shield and your exalted sword." Here we already have an instance of where the word is used more as a figure of speech than as a reference to an actual use of the sword as a weapon. 

 

4.     The sword as a weapon of offense

 

This is where the discussion of sword in the Bible becomes for some more difficult. I refer particularly to the use of the sword in what is sometimes described as The Conquest of Canaan by the Children of Israel. To begin with, the Israelites were instructed to offer peace to the cities in their path. However, as we read in this passage from Deuteronomy chapter 20, if that was refused, the consequences were severe: "20:12 If it does not accept terms of peace but makes war with you, then you are to lay siege to it. 20:13 The Lord your God will deliver it over to you and you must kill every single male by the sword." This appears to be a clear command by God to Israel to carry on typical warfare as they take possession of the land.

 

Indeed, when the nation finally arrives in the promised land, with Joshua having taken over as the role of the leader Moses on his death, the first thing that happens, according to Joshua 5:13, is that he looks up and sees " a man standing in front of him holding a drawn sword. Joshua approached him and asked him, “Are you on our side or allied with our enemies?” 5:14 He answered, “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army. Now I have arrived!” Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground and asked, “What does my master want to say to his servant?” Joshua is told to take off his sandals as he is standing on holy ground. Some see this as symbolic of the promised land being prepared as the new home for God to dwell among his people, hence holy ground. However, in spite of the apparent representation of this figure as a military commander, no further instructions with regards to warfare are given at this point. We do know though, that according to the biblical record, Joshua and his soldiers essentially invaded the land, conquering a number of key Canaanite cities and putting many to death with the sword. 

 

We also do know though that there were a number of instances where victory over Canaanites was not achieved by Israel's military might but by the direct intervention of God. An example of this is given in Joshua chapter 10 where Israel was fighting the Amorites and they "fled from Israel on the slope leading down from Beth Horon, [and] the Lordthrew down on them large hailstones from the sky, all the way to Azekah. They died – in fact, more died from the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword…"

 

Another example of this is the unlikely but familiar Sunday school story of Gideon's delivery of Israel from the Midianites in Judges chapter 7. After God had instructed Gideon on certain steps to take in selecting his army, he was down to 300 men against a multitude of Midianites. Then this happened: "7:20 All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right. Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 7:21 They stood in order all around the [Midianite] camp. The whole army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away. 7:22 When the three hundred men blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swords throughout the camp." There are other examples in the Bible whereby God's command in situations like this or direct action on his part, invading armies are apparently entirely discomfited without Israel lifting a finger. In this instance though, Gideon's army is joined by a number of other tribal troops and they give chase to the Midianites who survived this initial mutual slaughter of one another and dealt with them in the usual fashion for warfare of the day (Judges 7:23-25).

 

On a number of occasions throughout the Old Testament then, God reminds Israel of this: "I sent terror ahead of you to drive out before you the two Amorite kings. I gave you the victory; it was not by your swords or bows (Joshua 24:12)". On the one hand, this can be seen as God warning Israel not to become too proud of what they might want to believe they accomplished on their own. Others use such passages to argue that God might have indeed been doing what he believed was necessary to create a new place of order and rest for his people and himself, and that the apparent military exploits of Israel were not nearly as extensive as the hyperbolic repeated descriptions of how they annihilated cities and put everyone to the sword. Those who have studied the culture of this time including other writings from this time state that these descriptions in Joshua parallel the exaggerated descriptions given by other kings of the era to describe their prowess, but that the actual events were not nearly as thorough, in terms of what might appear to be ethnic cleansing in the eyes of some, as the literal accounts suggest.

 

There is a somewhat interesting annotation in the book of I Samuel that could also cast a question on how well-equipped the Israelites actually were with swords throughout this time. They had now finished the so-called conquest of the land and had been settled in it for some years. However, as we know from numerous mentions of the fact, the children of Israel had never actually annihilated all the Canaanites, which the readings of some passages would suggest they were supposed to have done. So, during the time when Israel finally had their first King, Saul, and a group of Canaanites known as the Philistines were the problem, we read this in respect to an occasion where Israel was going to attack the Philistines: "A blacksmith could not be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “This will prevent the Hebrews from making swords and spears…. 13:22 So on the day of the battle no sword or spear was to be found in the hand of anyone in the army that was with Saul and Jonathan. No one but Saul and his son Jonathan had them (I Samuel 13:19-22)." However, we again appear to see the direct intervention of God on behalf of what would appear then to be the poorly armed, by secular standards, Israelite army: " Saul and all the army that was with him assembled and marched into battle, where they found the Philistines in total panic killing one another with their swords (I Samuel 14:20)". 

 

We get another view of God's view of the use of the sword in the infamous story of King David and Bathsheba. After David has arranged for the killing of Bathsheba's husband Uriah, leaving it possible for him to take Bathsheba as his wife, the prophet Nathan was sent to David with this message: "Why have you shown contempt for the word of the Lord by doing evil in my sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and you have taken his wife as your own! You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 12:10 So now the sword will never depart from your house. For you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own (II Samuel 12:9-10)!’" 

 

Still another window into God's view of trusting in your army versus God comes to us in the story of when King David, in his older years, decides to take a military census (II Samuel 24 & I Chronicles 21). No sooner had the task been completed then David realized his error. Just the same, God exacted a penalty against the nation for the pride of their king by sending an angel to begin to kill its citizens. When God sees the sincerity of David's repentance, the sword of the angel is stayed, leading David to buy that plot of land on which the punishment stopped, to offer a sacrifice of atonement and then designate the spot as where the first Temple was built by his son Solomon.

 

5.     The sword as punishment

 

We know that in the administration of justice, as it is often referred to, serious punishment is sometimes meted out. We still have capital punishment, execution of persons found guilty of certain crimes. If we know our history of Israel we know that the sword was the method of severe punishment in those days. It probably comes as a shock to us when we learn that this sword-wielding punishment was sometimes carried out not by rulers or their aides, but by priests and their associates and even the judges. Of course, the judges were seen as the earthly rulers before Israel had kings, so we must bear that in mind. 

 

There are some dramatic examples of where such punishment is meted out. The first stories come from when Israel was on the way from Egypt to Canaan.  When the Israelites had once again rebelled against the leadership, which actions would rest with Moses, we do not read of him carrying such out himself. However, he instructs the Levites and priests to exact such murderous punishment on their kin! According to the story, as told in Exodus 32, ostensibly, this is even told as a command coming from the Lord: “32:26 So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” All the Levites gathered around him, 32:27 and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Each man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’” 32:28 The Levites did what Moses ordered, and that day about three thousand men of the people died.” What might sound just as strange to our modern ears is the recognition that ensues: “32:29 Moses said, “You have been consecrated today for the Lord, for each of you was against his son or against his brother, so he has given a blessing to you today.” These Levites, which was the tribe of the priests, are blessed for having carried out this purging slaughter!

 

Then we have this action by that man of God, Samuel, in I Samuel 15, the judge who began his career as a little boy serving in the temple. Samuel reminds King Saul that he has a mandate to deal with the Canaanite tribes, in particular in this instance, the Amalekites. They were to be punished for their unprovoked attack on Israel, the first the people experienced after leaving Egypt. Saul and his army carry out this action but spare the king and a good deal of livestock, versus annihilating everything as they were to have done. Samuel is very displeased with this and pronounces judgment on Saul for this disobedience, as he refers to it. Then he calls for the spared king and hacked him to pieces himself!

 

Years later, we are told of an even more gruesome action of this nature carried out by a prominent prophet, Elijah. You might recall the story (I Kings 18). Elijah has staged a showdown between himself, as the representative of the God of Israel, and 400 prophets of the Canaanite god Baal, whom the royal family had officially drawn the nation into worshipping. The prophets of Baal fail the test miserably and we are told the people then turn on them at Elijah’s command and he executes the lot of them! Hard to believe – one man killing 400?

 

Then, when the prophets begin to warn Israel about their apostasy and the judgment and punishment coming their way because of this, the sword is not only threatened, as we noted earlier, but actually used by invading armies. This took place first with the Assyrians, mainly against the Northern Kingdom or Samaria, then the Babylonians against the southern Kingdom or Judah. Examples of numerous such warnings can be found in the writings of the Major Prophets Isaiah 1:20, 3;25, Jeremiah 5:17, 9:16, Ezekiel 5:12, 6:11 and the so-called Minor Prophets, such as in Hosea 13:16 and Amos 7:17.

 

6.     The Sword as Figure of Speech

 

We are familiar with the use of the sword as a figure of speech for the use of words but this does not occur in the biblical record until we come to the Psalms, although there is a leaning in this direction in Job already: 5:15 “[God] saves from the sword that comes from their mouth, even the poor from the hand of the powerful.” The context indicates that this is referring to aggressive behavior towards the poor that begins with the language directed against them.  Examples from the Psalms include these: 55:21 “His words are as smooth as butter, but he harbors animosity in his heart. His words seem softer than oil, but they are really like sharp swords,” 57:4 “I am surrounded by lions; I lie down among those who want to devour me; men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are a sharp sword,” and 64:3“They sharpen their tongues like a sword; they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge…”

 

Not surprisingly, the Proverbs also use the word sword in this way, as in Proverbs 5:3 “For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her seductive words are smoother than olive oil, 5:4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword,” 12:18 “Speaking recklessly is like the thrusts of a sword, but the words of the wise bring healing” and 25:18 “Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow, so is the one who testifies against his neighbor as a false witness.”

 

7.     The Disappearance of the Sword

 

We have already seen that God, even in the matter of Israel entering the Promised Land, often took matters into his own hands instead of leaving all the battles to be won by Israel’s military ability.  This could raise the question of when can humans be trusted to make decisions about when to use the sword appropriately, if at all. We have also read of how God reminded Israel of this fact so they would not think they could depend solely on their military power. Indeed, when Israel was following God appropriately, it seems there was more of their leaving their defense or the punishment of their enemies to God. We note, for example, that in the Psalms, David and other writers generally do not speak of taking matters into their own hands when it comes to lamenting action others take against them. They are constantly pleading their cause with God, asking him to act justly by them, for whatever they perceive they are suffering from. The language is still pretty graphic to our Western ears, but they are honestly expressing their feelings to God, which most of us need to feel freer to do.

 

Then we begin to come to the passages that point to the end of the use of the sword. These are the texts that we resonate with more, especially as Anabaptists, who try to adhere to an ethic of non-violence.  There are two statements we are familiar with, which sound alike, which makes one wonder if one of the writers was familiar with the other, and quoted him. There is also one in Hosea we are not as used to hearing. I refer to these passages:

i.               Isaiah 2:4 He will judge disputes between nations; he will settle cases for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not take up the sword against other nations, and they will no longer train for war…”

ii.              Hosea 2:18 “At that time I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creatures that crawl on the ground. I will abolish the warrior’s bow and sword – that is, every weapon of warfare – from the land, and I will allow them to live securely…”

iii.            Micah 4:3 He will arbitrate between many peoples and settle disputes between many distant nations. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not use weapons against other nations, and they will no longer train for war…”

 

We cannot ignore in this context though, this contrasting verse from Joel: 3:9 “Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for a holy war! Call out the warriors! Let all these fighting men approach and attack! 3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears! Let the weak say, ‘I too am a warrior!’”

 

As always, we need to interpret the verse in its context. The whole passage (Joel 3:9-21) is a shout out, to use a modern term, to the nations to prepare for God’s final judgment. So, it is speaking of a use of the sword, figuratively, that is again somewhat out of our realm of concern when it comes to our use or not of such. It is speaking of God’s use of the sword, or at least a use of the sword involving God and his plans, not a human endeavor. We will have more to say below about what might have been meant by the sword in this instance.

 

8.     Jesus and The Sword

 

What did the Messiah himself, Jesus, have to say about the sword? On one hand we have the pronouncement that he came not (Mathew 10:34 ff) “to bring peace but a sword. 10:35 For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, 10:36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. 10:37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 10:38 And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life because of me will find it.” We fairly readily understand that Jesus is not here saying that he has come to cause the use of a death-dealing physical sword between family members.  Such has indeed happened when family members in some parts of the world become Christians, and he can be referring to this. Generaly though, this is understood as bringing division because of family members’ differences because of the faith or lives of some not being like the faith or lives of others. The result can be dissension and strife among family members.

 

Jesus also refers to the sword in a prophetic sense in some of his discourses, not unlike how it was used by the Prophets who came before him. An example of this is when Jesus appears to be speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70: Luke 21:20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near… 21:23…  For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people. 21:24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away as captives among all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

 

Then we come to another strange instruction Jesus gives his disciples: “Luke 22:35 Then Jesus said to them, “When I sent you out with no money bag, or traveler’s bag, or sandals, you didn’t lack anything, did you?” They replied, “Nothing.” 22:36 He said to them, “But now, the one who has a money bag must take it, and likewise a traveler’s bag too. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one. 22:37 For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, ‘And he was counted with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me is being fulfilled.” 22:38 So they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” Then he told them, “It is enough.” The context gives us the understanding here, as it so often does. This is spoken just prior to Jesus and the disciples leaving the scene of their last Passover meal together to go to the Garden of Gethsemane where he was arrested. Jesus, to be able to take away our penalty for sin, which was what he accomplished by his sacrificial death on Calvary, had to, as we are wont to say, take upon himself the sins of the world, i.e. be “counted among the transgressors.” Could he be suggesting here that to possess a sword is one mark of a transgressor? I believe we would readily agree that to have and use a physical swordin the manner for which it is meant, is not what Christ wants. Indeed, scarcely hours later, I think we gain further understanding of this odd exchange of Jesus and the disciples.

 

What happened when the emissaries of the Jewish authorities then did accost Jesus in the Garden? What does Matthew write: 26:51 “But one of those with Jesus grabbed his sword, drew it out, and struck the high priest’s slave, cutting off his ear. 26:52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back in its place! For all who take hold of the sword will die by the sword. 26:53 Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions of angels right now? 26:54 How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled?” In the preceding paragraph, we see the disciples announce that they do have swords, and Jesus says it is enough. Do we think two swords wielded by fishermen from Galilee would be enough against the trained police and accomplices that found Jesus in the Garden? It’s almost humorous to see how ineffective the one swing of the sword was. In John 18:10 we see that the sword-wielding disciple was, perhaps not surprisingly, Peter, who often seemed to be somewhat rash in his sayings and actions.  Once again, Jesus had to rebuke him. Then he turns and heals the wound Peter inflicted! Jesus was certainly not supporting the use of the sword here.

 

9.     The Sword of the Mouth

 

Then we come to an unusual image, a sword in or protruding from the mouth. This is not the same as “the sword that comes from [the] mouth” as we saw above in Job 5. Nor is it a metaphorical use of the word. It refers to an actual image of a sword linked to the mouth. It is particularly noteworthy that this image actually first appears in Messianic prophecies, texts foretelling the coming of the Messiah or speaking of activities tied to his appearance.

 

This can be seen first in Isaiah 49: “49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people who live far away! The Lord summoned me from birth; he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. 49:2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword, he hid me in the hollow of his hand; he made me like a sharpened arrow, he hid me in his quiver. 49:3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.” If we look closely at this entire passage and compare it to other similar ones that we encounter in the Prophets, we see that the ultimate meaning of who the servant is, is the Messiah. So, what does it mean then that his mouth is made like a sharp sword? The answer becomes apparent when we come to the New Testament, where, of course, the Messianic predictions begin to be fulfilled.

 

Paul and the writer of Hebrews give us clues as to where this is going. This is Paul describing the ‘armour’ we are to put on when we battle the opposition we face in our lives: Hebrews 6:13 “For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground… 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. We have become used to this use of the word sword, which is further elaborated on then in Hebrews: “4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart.” However, are we prepared also to extend this meaning of sword to its use in the references that follow in the last pages of our Bible, in Revelation?

 

When the writer of Revelation, understood by many to be the Apostle John, has a vision of the resurrected Jesus, come to give John a message to the churches, this what he sees: one (Revelation 1:13) “like the Son of Man”, who Revelation 1:16 “…held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His face shone like the sun shining at full strength.” What has Jesus come to do at this point? He has come to bring a word, a message to ‘the seven churches’ named for seven cities in Asia Minor, now Turkey, where the Church first really took a foothold. It is a strong word, a sharp word, not unlike what the writer to the Hebrews described, as referred to earlier. Jesus has not come to do anything requiring a physical sword. However, Jesus does say this of himself later in this passage in addressing one of the churches: ““This is the solemn pronouncement of the one who has the sharp double-edged sword… 2:16… repent! If not, I will come against you quickly and make war against those people with the sword of my mouth.” What is Jesus saying here? It seems clear he is telling us that his word will be what convicts and judges the churches. He is not referring to a metal weapon. Remember again that quote from Hebrews. 

 

Then we come to the last use of sword in our Bible. This is the vision in Revelation 19 of the victorious resurrected Jesus: 19:11 “Then I saw heaven opened and here came a white horse! The one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice he judges and goes to war… 19:13 He is dressed in clothing dipped in blood, and he is called the Word of God. 19:14 The armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, were following him on white horses. 19:15 From his mouth extends a sharp sword, so that with it he can strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he stomps the winepress of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful. 19:16 He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords… 19:19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army. 19:20 Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. 19:21 The others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh.”

 

Ever since the dispensational interpretation of scripture that took hold in the 19^th century, this has been a passage beloved of those who see in Revelation a detailed description of events of the end times. This vision is indeed one showing Jesus as victorious over the forces of evil in a final way. It is couched in language that is really foreign to us, but familiar to those familiar with the Jewish writings of the time when this was written, the apocalyptic literature. Not only is the imagery unfamiliar, we even misunderstand the layout of this letter. We are so used to think in the linear, cause and effect way of looking at things that comes to us from the Greeks and Latins, and on through our own civilization’s intellectual movements. However, that is not how this was written. It depicts the same scenes, the same events of salvation history from different perspectives, from the past, present and future, sometimes seemingly all at once. We see the same events from the vantage point of earth and then heaven and then earth again etc. 

 

This is the case with this passage. Jesus has already gained the victory over evil in his death on the cross. With his resurrection, he clinched that by defeating death. Now, we live in what some describe as the ‘already, not yet’ stage of the development of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of our Lord. At the end of time, Jesus will reappear as the Conqueror he is to execute a final judgment on the forces of evil and death. 

 

Note that Jesus’ robe is already bloodied. He has not yet even engaged in battle (19:13). It is the blood of the cross. He is called “the word of God”. He and his followers are dressed in “white, clean, fine linen (19:14)”, scarcely earthly battle attire.  The sword extends from his mouth, further reinforcing that it refers to nothing other than the Word of God. Jesus’ judgment against the world, the conviction of the Spirit, has always been through The Word. He is called ‘Faithful’ and ‘True’ and goes to war and judges with justice. Such judgments are meted out with words. There is no talk here of a literal Armageddon battle. The forces of the world that want to do battle with our Lord are already defeated and are now, with the arrival of the time of final judgment, simply sent to their final destination.  They are killed, sentenced to their punishment, “by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse (19:21).” This is the explanation Jesus gave to his disciples, and this is the message we have too. Thanks be to God for The Word made flesh who now lives and reigns above!

                                                                                                                                                                                    

 

This essay is written to explore the appearance of the sword in scripture. To that I must add that it is not about every documented use of the sword by humans, such as when Levi & Simeon massacred the men of Shechem for allegedly raping their sister Dinah (Gen. 3:25-5). It is about where God or his agents mention the sword or are described as carrying or wielding one.

 

Righteousness is a big word.

 RIGHTEOUSNESS

 

What is righteousness? this word is possibly one of the least understood and therefore most misused among words that some of us are familiar with from The Bible.

 

We tend to think of the word as describing a certain state of being. Someone who is ‘righteous’ is good, better than most, perhaps even more ‘religious’ than most and therefore more ‘saintly’. Some might think it is a state reached with much spiritual discipline and effort.

 

Others might understand the word to mean not something we can gain on our own, but a quality of being that can only be given by God.

 

So, what is it, really? Is there a consensus on a definition? Is righteousness different than righteous? My ancient Webster's New World Dictionary, College Edition, from 1968, has this definition: "1. The quality or condition of being righteous or just… 2. A righteous act, quality etc." If we then look just above that entry, at least in this dictionary, to see what ‘righteous’ means, we read the following "1. Acting in a just, upright manner; doing what is right; virtuous… 2. Morally right or justifiable…"

 

So, this appears to tell us that righteousness does refer to a state of being, or could we even say, a life lived, in which the individual so described lives in a just, upright manner, and does what is right. Of course, we can see that some of these words could lead to even more discussion, e.g. what is 'just' or ‘right’? This does though give us a general understanding of this word as it is used in our world, as we all have some concept of what is just and right.

 

This word comes to our vocabulary from religious language that goes back as far as humanity kept records of their religions. There are ancient Near Eastern and Middle Eastern religions, including that of the Greeks, that deal with this concept. However, no group gave it as much attention as the Hebrews, the Jews. To really look at this then, we, who belong to the Judeo-Christian tradition, ought obviously to examine the original Hebrew (and Greek, as some texts where written in Greek) texts of The Bible for this word. 

 

Where we need to start then is with the Old Testament. When I really began studying the Bible in my college days, I was introduced to an Old Testament scholar named Gerhard von Rad. I believe he gives us a good explanation of this word, its origins, how it was understood and used. I will therefore be drawing heavily on his work for the rest of this essay. 

 

He writes, and I quote from page 370 of his Old Testament Theology, Volume 1: "There is absolutely no concept in the Old Testament with so central significance for all the relationships of human life as that of righteousness. It is the standard not only for man's relationship to God, but also for his relationship to his fellows… indeed, it is even the standard for man's relationship to the animals and to his natural environment. Righteousness can be described without more ado as the highest value in life, that upon which all life rests when it is probably properly ordered."

 

Von Rad then explains that we have misunderstood this word because of our own Western presuppositions to refer to "a man's proper conduct over against an absolute ethical norm, a legality which derives its norm from the absolute idea of justice." He gives credit to C. Cramer, writing in a German publication in 1901, for introducing us to what he believes is a more proper understanding of the term. He writes on page 371 of his volume, that "ancient Israel did not in fact measure a line of conduct or an act by ideal norm, but by the specific relationship in which the partner had at the time to prove himself true." Quoting Cremer, he writes "every relationship brings with it certain claims upon conduct, and the satisfaction of these claims, which issue from the relationship and in which alone the relationship can persist, is described by our term righteousness." Cremer concludes that "Righteousness is out and out a term denoting relationship, and that it does this in the sense of referring to a real relationship between two parties… and not to the relationship of an object under consideration to an idea." This is a quoted from Cremer's writing of 1893, again in a German publication.

 

We then begin to understand that what happens in the relationship, what is acted out, defines righteousness. Von Rad goes on to say it "And over and (going on to page 372) above all these, there is a relationship which Yahweh had offered to Israel… Here to the same holds true - the just man is the one who measures up to the particular claims which this relationship lays upon him." He describes the use of the term is being "employed in a transferred sense, that is, with reference to the effects of Yahweh's faithfulness to the relationship…" Yahweh is the only perfectly righteous person, so only Yahweh, as the Creator, has the power to determine the righteousness of his created beings, mankind. But still, von Rad adds, (now on page 373) "Yahweh's righteousness was not a norm, but acts…" Israel always understood God as acting in history. When their teachers expressed religion at its finest, it was not a set of laws and presuppositions. Those concepts came to us from the Greeks, and have had a severely negative effect on our understanding of God and true religion. So much for "systematic theology." To truly understand the New Testament, we must also see it as salvation history, as New Testament scholars such as Oscar Cullman describe it.” The New Testament writers were really not trying to create a systematic body of knowledge as the basis for our faith. Our faith is based on relationships and the acts which occur within those relationships, as von Read himself further develops  on this page when he writes "Nevertheless it cannot be held that this Old Testament concept of righteousness is specifically forensic, for it embraces the whole of Israelite life, wherever men found themselves in mutual relationships. And in particular, conduct loyal to relationship includes far more than mere correctness or (now page 374) legality, that is righteousness and our sense of the word. Such dependence upon one another demanded the showing of kindness, faithfulness, and, as circumstances arose, helpful compassion to the poor or the suffering." We can certainly see these connections when we read the laws of the Pentateuch, in the Psalms and also very much so, in the writings of The Prophets.

 

Ultimately, Israel came to understand that righteousness was something that originated with Yahweh. To be sure, obeying the laws, as they often are referred to, does allow humans to act righteously. At the same time, Yahweh's "commandments were not indeed any absolute law, but a kindly gift rendering life orderly."

 

I really like the way von Rad then describes this understanding at the top of page 375, it was "Israel's conviction that her whole community life was sustained by a constantly forthcoming righteousness which flowed over upon her" from Yahweh. This is a wonderfully poetic vision of God giving his righteousness to his people.

 

This understanding of righteousness as finally being only a gift from Yahweh, is something that is even more fully developed in the New Testament by writers such as Paul. He makes it clear that we cannot attain righteousness on our own, but that it is a gift of God. To use his clear language, we have “all sinned and come short of the glory of God,”(Romans 3:23), so it is impossible for us to attain righteousness by our own efforts. However, here we come to understand that what really makes humanity righteous is the saving act of Christ's sacrificial death. With this, if we believe this, it is possible for us to move from our imperfect state to one which God regards as perfect. Certainly, we know that we are still not perfect as long as we are alive in the Earth as we know it now. However, again, we understand further from the teachings of the New Testament, there will come a day when heaven and earth will be renewed, and with that our righteousness will become complete, pervasive, and eternal. We will have been restored to the state in which we were first created. What better news is there for mankind than that? It is simply up to us to decide whether we want to accept this gift or not.

 

Losing Our Mother IV.

I am in mourning. That’s what it is. Admit it. Face it. Deal with it. 

 

For what? It’s a ‘for whom’ situation. It’s for my mother (actually, my stepmother but she’s been our mom for a lot longer than our biological mother was). Still, it’s not the same. Particularly when I was turning 18 when she came into our family life. As a young adult who essentially moved out a year later, the bond was understandably never what it was with my real mother, who died when I was just 17.

 

But still. Our father left us 13 months ago today. Our family was all able to process that with a wonderful weekend of closure together 10 weeks later, just before the coronavirus shut everything down.

 

And that’s what makes this so hard. We have not seen our mother since that memorial weekend. We phone, but of course it’s not the same. We could have driven up in the summer before things got worse again. But to drive 5 hours and stay in a motel and only see her through a window or maybe through shields and masks for an outdoor visit on the grounds – not that attractive a proposition. So, rightly or wrongly, it did not happen. 

 

Would I have done it if it had been my ‘real’ mother? Possibly. But is that fair to ‘mom’, as we have called her over the years to distinguish her from ‘mother’? After all she has done and been for us?

 

I have written three blog postings before on losing our mothers (May-June 2019). I have written there of the sudden, unexpected death of our ‘biological’ mother, which was obviously a rather traumatic loss. I have also written about the loss of this mother. It is a loss we were already experiencing because she has slowly been changing from whom she used to be because of dementia. Some of you will resonate with that. This dreadful condition is far too common these days.

 

As such, we have seen the changes over the last five years and then, looking back, realized things we noticed going back over ten years were already signs. We have seen her situation become ever more tenuous in the Assisted Living facility she and father moved into in March 2019 – two years or more too late in our opinion, but we all know ‘old people’ can be stubborn. It’s hard to give up independence. We knew safety was becoming a potential concern.

 

So, it caught me off guard as to my emotional reaction when our youngest sister, mother’s only remaining ‘full’ child (our half-brother died prematurely 6 ½ years ago) informed us by email that mother had been admitted to hospital because of wanting to leave her ‘home’ and that she was not going back. We know and have expressed our appreciation for the ‘second mile’ to which the facility did go to try and keep mother there, as she did like it there.

 

Then I realized a couple of things, actually at least three. One, this is the second such transition in the space of two years for us. In the meantime, our father who made the transition in March 2019, had died in December. So, there’s that loss still, still recent. Secondly, there’s the element of not being able to be there to journey through this with mother at some level, like we could with father to a degree. Neither the Vernon Restholm Assisted Living or Vernon Jubilee Hospital are accepting visitors these days due to coronavirus. I did talk with mother today for the first time since being admitted there on the 15^th. She is frightfully confused, as expected. That’s when we should be there to give her a hug, cry with her and talk her through it all as best we can. But we can’t. We’re grateful the hospital staff takes a portable phone to her for a short conversation. But I think the third point is in some ways the worst. All this is happening to mother because she does not know what she is doing. 

 

It seems so unfair. Not only is she smitten with dementia, which really means we can’t expect to walk her through the transition to any extent approaching what we did so imperfectly even with father. The coronavirus restrictions, and I don’t question the need for them really, don’t even allow us to be there to try and do what we can.

 

But we will do what we can from a distance, with her, with one another, with her staff. The story is not finished.

VII. The Visions of the Wars of Satan - part 3

 Revelation 13:1-8, 11-17

13:1 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, and on its heads a blasphemous name. 13:2 Now the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority to rule. 13:3 One of the beast’s heads appeared to have been killed, but the lethal wound had been healed. And the whole world followed the beast in amazement; 13:4 they worshiped the dragon because he had given ruling authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast too, saying: “Who is like the beast?” and “Who is able to make war against him?” 13:5 The beast was given a mouth speaking proud words and blasphemies, and he was permitted to exercise ruling authority for forty-two months. 13:6 So the beast opened his mouth to blaspheme against God – to blaspheme both his name and his dwelling place, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 13:7 The beast was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. He was given ruling authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation, 13:8 and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed. 

 

13:11 Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but was speaking like a dragon. 13:12 He exercised all the ruling authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed. 13:13 He performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven in front of people 13:14 and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived. 13:15 The second beast was empowered to give life to the image of the first beast so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 13:16 He also caused everyone (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. 13:17 Thus no one was allowed to buy or sell things unless he bore the mark of the beast – that is, his name or his number. 

Now we come to two fearful and bizarre images. Again, we must recognize that these are drawn from previous apocalyptic writings. In them, and here, these beasts stand for world powers. They do not represent one power at one point in time, as so many current predictors of end times would have us believe. They are figures of world powers down through the ages. In older writings, they were seen as referring to Persia and then Greece. It this writer, John, is speaking from the latter part of the first century, he is speaking to his audience about Rome. 

These beasts are earthly powers. They arise out of the sea and the land, respectively. In such writings, the sea is often seen as the source of evil and chaos. However, the dragon, Satan, gives this first beast his power. Remember, Satan has been thrown to earth, so he can do this. He can give authority to the beast to rule and to wage war against the saints and even to conquer them. 

One might well ask, how can God allow this? Look at v. 8: “and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed.” Is this not reassuring? Possible cause for joy? As with Elijah of old, God will preserve a remnant who will not bow down to the beast. They might be conquered, killed, martyred, but they will not have bowed down to the beast as their names ae secure in the book of life. As we have said before, they will be victorious in the end because of their faith in the redeeming work of the slain Lamb.

The multiple heads of the beast point to successive Roman Emperors, particularly those who vainly accepted or even declared that they were gods and therefore demanded worship. Failure to obey could mean death, and indeed it did for many Christians in these times. Note that John writes that one of this beast’s heads appeared to have been killed. This likely refers to a story traveling around the empire round this time. It was said that the wicked Nero, who had committed suicide when deposed by the Roman Senate, had come to life again. He was apparently going to come from the east with a mighty army (Parthian soldiers from beyond Asia Minor?) and retake the throne.

These emperors and their subjects perpetrated varying degrees of persecution against the Christians. It is to these believers that John is writing, passing on what he hears and sees from heaven and its various representatives, whether Christ or angels or the voice of God. He puts what they are experiencing in perspective. He constantly puts it all in the course of history and also includes the salvation history that gives the Christians victory in the end, to give them heart and reassure them. They are challenged to hold fast to the faith, even through death, for they will be victorious, whether alive here, or in the next life.

The second beast (vs. 11 and ff.) can be understood as those world powers that give support to the first beast, which is the government. In other words, those who control the economy, whether it be arams of government, trade or financial institutions. Some have included the United Nations. But who are these beasts in our time? Who or what is it we are to be wary of and not fall prey to. Really, we should not be giving first allegiance to any world power, whether it be the United States, Russia or China. All of these have and do act in accordance with what is described here as the behavior of the beast. Eighty years ago, it could have pointed to the rise of the Third Reich and Hitler. These powers will come and go as others have before them, which we have already referred to. Our allegiance is to Christ and his Kingdom. That is the only one that does what God wants with the world God created. That is the kingdom that will be victorious over all others in the end.

A word about numbers. The beast is given power for forty-two months. This does not necessarily refer to any particular period in history. Remember that seven is the perfect number, whereas six is the opposite, the imperfect, perhaps even evil. So, these powers are allowed to rule for a block of time that will be filled with a lot of evil, whatever period of history it is, however long it really is.

As for the mark of the beast on those who worship it, elsewhere it is identified as ‘666’. Numerologists in the early first century could contrive this number to refer to almost any one of the Roman Emperors at the time. So, what does that say to us about thinking it points to one specific anti-Christ at one point in time. Remember again that 6 is the number of imperfection. Multiply it and it simply emphasizes that this is all evil.

When we look at some of the things the beasts are allowed to do, it’s not a stretch to see those things in present day world powers’ behaviours.  Russia, when at its communist height, tried to eradicate anything to do with God. The Chinese government is determined to root out Christianity and replace it again with a cult of worship of their leader, as happened before with Mao Tese-Tung. What about the language and behavior of the 45^th president of the USA? What about the sometimes-not-so subtle actions that even our so-called democratic governments (Europe, Canada, the USA) and those who support them carry out against Christians when we act and speak as we believe our Lord wants us to? 

Some refer to these beasts as the Anti-Christ. Really, any of these powers can become anti-Christ, as we have already discussed. The powers that be enforce worship of this beast. Some put forward fanciful explanations about this talk of the wounded beast being replaced by an image that could talk as if indeed resurrected.  Some even talk about this as being a very human-like robot. Well, the technology for such is probably here. Just go to Disneyland and listen to Abe Lincoln speak from his seat.

In the end, our Lord has said we are not to get caught up in these details. We are to be alert, watchful, and not fall prey to all these allurements and pressure. As we have seen, these words applied to our brothers and sisters in Roman times, during the Third Reich and when the USSR was a power. Such words of our Lord apply to all time, until Christ returns. What our Lord wants us to her form this letter is that these things will come, so we should be forewarned, and conduct ourselves accordingly. Keep the faith, endure, and we will overcome. So be it.

VII. The Visions of the Wars of Satan - part 2

Revelation 12:12b But woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you! 

He is filled with terrible anger, for he knows that he only has a little time!”

12:13 Now when the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 12:14 But the woman was given the two wings of a giant eagle so that she

could fly out into the wilderness, to the place God prepared for her, where she is taken care of – away from the presence of the serpent – for a time, times, and half a time. 12:15 Then the serpent spouted water like a river out of his mouth after the woman in an attempt to sweep her away by a flood, 12:16 but the earth came to her 

rescue; the ground opened up and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. 12:17 So the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep God’s commandments and hold to the testimony about Jesus.

 

The last section ended in 12:9 with the Devil being thrown down to earth along with his angels after his defeat by Jesus upon his resurrection. We saw how the view in heaven also portrays this as a battle with the angel Michael. In apocalyptic literature, Michael appears in our Bibles in Daniel 10:13-11:1 as an angel fighting the prince of Persia, then going on to fight the prince of Greece. Given that this information came in a vision to Daniel as did John’s vision in our text, one would gather from the context that these are cosmic wars being fought and that these princes are probably demons defending successive empires. Empires all do become evil in time, so this connection need not be surprising. 

 

Indeed, in Daniel 12:1-4, Michael is identified by the heavenly being speaking to Daniel as ‘the protector of your people, meaning the people of God, in this case Israel. The description of the battle in Daniel sounds very much like that in our text from Revelation 12. However, now we understand the people of God to include Christians. It stands to reason that, as people of God, Michael is also our protector, as seems to be the case in Revelation 12.  The only other biblical reference to Michael is in Jude 9 in the New Testament, where he is called an archangel. This is the title given angels such as Michael, and Gabriel who came to Mary and Joseph, because of the key role they play in the scriptures and apocalyptic literature as one of the few named angels.

 

After the Devil is thrown out of heaven, John hears a loud voice in heaven (12:10). Among other things, this voice is heard in 12:12b warning the inhabitants of the earth that Satan is “filled with terrible anger, for he knows that he has only a little time”. Remember, the Devil, Satan, is here described as a dragon. The serpent of Genesis 3 has morphed in apocalyptic literature into a dragon.

 

We see that the dragon is still bent on destroying this child but now that it is safe in heaven, where Satan is not, he turns its attention to its mother. Remember, we said this woman could represent the people of God, past, present and future. Past would include the first human group to be so identified, the Jews. One can interpret what the Jews have suffered all through history, right up to our time, as the result of Satan’s extreme hatred for them because they figure so centrally in God’s plans, and as such, gave birth to the Christ. We saw why the devil wanted to destroy him before he gave his life as the sacrificial Lamb, and so corrected what Satan had done to the world by defeating him with that death and the resurrection that followed.

 

However, we are told again, as in 12:6 that the woman had not only fled into the wilderness as stated there, but been helped to get there by being given the wings of an eagle to fly to the place in the wilderness prepared by God for her. Suddenly the dragon is again a serpent and now tries to flood the woman out of the wilderness, but fails when the earth itself comes to her aid and absorbs the flood the devil created.

 

The dragon then turns its attention away from the woman to focus his anger on her children. Now her children are not one son who was snatched up into heaven, but the many “who keep God’s commandments and hold to the testimony about Jesus.” This could refer still to the Jews, “those who keep God’s commandments”, as well now as Christians, those who “hold to the testimony about Jesus.” This testimony is, of course, that he is the long-promised Messiah, our Redeemer, Savior and risen Lord. 

 

These verses show that Jews and Christians alike will not have an easy time on earth. We see that in history and still. However, we have already been learning that we are victorious with Christ. We also know that the defeat which occurred at the cross will be finalized when Christ returns. Knowing that should encourage us, strengthen us and perhaps even allow us to experience joy in the midst of tribulation. That is one of the key aims of this book, this letter to the seven churches, and to us.

VII. The Visions of the Wars of Satan - part 1

Introduction

Blog comment: Some of you will recall that I began to write on The Revelation about a year ago on my blog. My initial efforts faded over time. However, with the lessening of other responsibilities since then, I am taking up the work again. I believe The Spirit prompted this after New Years (2021) and I am excited to dig in and learn further about The Joy of Revelation. Her is what I share about Revelation 12:1-9). My apologies for the alternating 'bold' and 'normal' font. It's a glitch I can't seem to correct, it bears no meaning on importance of sections. 

 

Now we come to some of the most dramatic and climactic portions of The Revelation. These passages recount the efforts of Satan to defeat Christ and his people all through the ages. Some of these descriptions refer to recurring situations the Church has found itself in since Christ’s resurrection. Some point to the future and what would appear to be final battles between Christ and Satan. However, these battles might not be what you have likely been taught to expect.

 

The significance of these wars is evidenced by their being covered in eight of The Revelation’s twenty-two chapters. We have by now come to understand that The Revelation is not so much a chronological account as a record of scenes played out in different settings and seen from different vantage points, as well as in varying degrees of depth and complexity. Some of the passages we will study here seem to be expansions of chapters six, eight and nine. What the seven seals of chapters 6 – 8 and seven trumpets of chapters 8 – 11 introduce, are in some ways dealt with here again, in the sometimes bizarre seven signs or symbols of chapters 12 – 14. Finally, the accounts of the ‘wars’ wrap up in the latter half of chapters 16 – 18 and the latter portions of chapters 19 – 20. 

 

Signs 1 & 2, The Woman in Heaven and The Dragon.

12:1-9

12:1 Then a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars. 12:2 She was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling to give birth. 12:3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns. 12:4 Now the dragon’s tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 12:5 So the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to rule over all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne, 12:6 and she fled into the wilderness where a place had been prepared for her by God, so she could be taken care of for 1,260 days. 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 12:8 But the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, so there was no longer any place left in heaven for him and his angels. 12:9 So that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him. 

 

This is a cosmic description of what began with the birth of Jesus and ended with his resurrection. As with many apocalyptic images, these pictures are drawn from different sources and thus combine different elements. To begin with, the first symbol, the woman, would appear to be Mary of Nazareth. We’ll come back to her description and its meaning later. She is pregnant and about to give birth. She does gives birth to a male child, a son, who is to rule all the enations with a rod of iron. This child must be Jesus.

 

The second symbol, the dragon is none other than Satan. This is the moment he has been waiting for. He knew God had a plan to rectify the damage Satan began to wreak on God’s good creation from the beginning. He sees that this child, the description of which would line up with the human, Jewish, Messianic expectations of the time of Jesus’ birth, has a key part in that plan. So, Satan wants to kill this child. We know he tried unsuccessfully to accomplish this through King Herod, as described in the tragic account in the Gospel According to Matthew, 2:1-18. This killing of all male children in the area of Bethlehem under the age of two is referred to in Church History as The Slaughter of the Innocents. It is still remembered much more in the Eastern churches of our faith family. If you go to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, you will see it memorialized below the complex on which this Church stands.

 

Not to be deterred, Satan tries again and this time succeeds in killing this Son, not through Herod but through the efforts of the Jewish people themselves, with the aid of their Roman overlords, and Jesus is killed, crucified on Calvary. The Child is snatched up into heaven, to God and to his throne. This refers to Christ’s resurrection, his vindication and his exaltation to sit at the right hand of God, as described on numerous occasions throughout the New Testament. Satan is foiled again. 

 

The woman meanwhile, flees to “the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God”. How many times have those who were part of God’s plan not had to spend time in the wilderness. Indeed, sometimes we all feel as though that’s where we sometimes are. However, here this is seen as a place of security. It is prepared by God to protect the woman from Satan. We do well to remember that when we feel we are in the wilderness, God is still there with us. He can still protect us and see us through whatever our wilderness experience is.

 

Indeed, this brings us to see this symbol in another light, referring it would seem, to a different, later period of time. This woman can also be seen on another level as Christ himself, symbolized as a woman, the Mother of The Church. We can now turn to the description of this figure. We know Christ is described as Light. When he showed himself as he really was to his three closest disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration he was so bright they could not look at him. He would be the one entitled to wear a crown with twelve stars, which could stand for his rule over the twelve tribes of Israel as King David’s successor, or, following that, the twelve Apostles representing The Church. The moon is sometimes understood in biblical times as having evil aspects, so it is under the feet of this portent, indicating evil’s subjection (Psalm 121:6: “The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.”).

 

Now, we can see how the comments in the paragraph preceding this last really can apply to us as Christ’s children. The Church is not really fully at home in this world. We can be said to be in a wilderness. We are not lost but we are pilgrims, wanderers, looking for our future home when the Kingdom of God, of which we are already citizens, will fully come into being.  God is looking after us though, just as he did look after Israel those forty years in the wilderness of the Old Testament. Our wandering will end, as did Israel’s.

 

Satan is furious. The war he waged on earth against the Christ is now seen as it appeared from a heavenly vantage point. Satan wages war on a cosmic scale, in heaven itself, with Michael and his forces. Satan loses and is thrown – not the to his eternal punishment, but to the earth with his angels, which we sometimes refer to as demons. This tells us that Satan and his forces are already weakened by the death and resurrection of Jesus. This was meant to comfort and encourage Jesus’ followers at the time this was written. The text is reminding them that although they might be facing hostility, persecution and even death now, they are on the winning side with Jesus, and their vindication and reward will come, as did Christ’s. 

 

We today, in the face of all we as believers see and experience in today’s world, should be likewise heartened and able to feel joy in the knowledge that we too shall overcome through Christ our Lord. As the Apostle Paul writes, we are baptized into his body, so we die and rise with Christ (Romans 6:3-11). Praise be to God!