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The Sword of the Lord

I am a big fan of swords.  My favorite kind of sword (currently) is the Japanese Katana.  I also really like the Bolo swords of the Philippines.

Today, however, I will be talking about how swords are used in the scriptures, both literally and figuratively.

Captain Moroni, as depicted in "Firm in the Faith of Christ"

Heavenly Swords

Chronologically, the first sword mentioned in the scriptures appears when Adam and Eve are kicked out of the Garden of Eden:
"So I [God] drove out the man, and I placed at the east of the Garden of Eden, cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life" (Moses 4:31).

I have always wondered, did the angel actually have a sword, or is this verse a metaphor to emphasize the power that the angel had?  Isaiah certainly uses metaphorical descriptions of angels.  In either case, I think whatever the angel looked like, it was clear to anyone approaching the tree of life that continuing would be a dangerous thing to do.

Apparently God has a sword: "For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea [the world], and upon the people of my curse, to judgment" (Isaiah 34:5).  When a nation or people is being reproved by the prophets, they will occasionally warn them that "the sword of justice" hangs over their head.  I believe this means that they are so wicked, God is just about to destroy them.  Kind of hard to misunderstand that imagery from a prophet.  See also Isa. 27:1, Jer. 12:12, Hel. 13:5, D&C 101:10.  I wonder what kind of sword God has? :)

Prophecies

There are also several prophecies that people will be destroyed by the sword, meaning that other nations will make war against them.  See Ezek. 14:21, Rev. 6:8, Alma 10:22, D&C 87:6.

To emphasize the peace that will prevail during the Millennium, Isaiah says that "they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2:4).  This teaches us that we will need to fight with anyone anymore during this time because of how peaceful it will be.

The Word of God

One of my favorite scriptural references to swords is in the description John the Revelator gives of the resurrected Savior: "out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword" (Rev. 1:16).  This is clearly a metaphorical description - imagine trying to talk with a sword in your mouth!

What does this mean, though?  Because the sword is portrayed coming out of the mouth of Jesus, that means it is the Word of God.  This is echoed in a scripture from modern revelation:
"Behold, I am God; give heed unto my word, which is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, to the dividing asunder of both joints and marrow" (D&C 6:2).

Why is it important that this is a "two-edged sword"?  A two-edged sword can be used for slicing and thrusting, which allows it to inflict damage with every stroke.  Here we see the contrast between a sickle sword, which has one sharp edge, and a Xiphos, which is sharpened on both sides.  You can see how the Xiphos is much better for thrusting than is the sickle sword, because of its more defined point.

 

So what does this mean spiritually?  If we augment the analogy with Paul's teaching of the "sword of the Spirit," this leads us to the phrase "pricked in their hearts" (Acts 2:37).  It is the word of God which has the most "powerful effect" on changing our hearts than anything else (Alma 31:5).  It's good for us to be "pricked in our hearts" once in a while.

Sometimes, this "pricking" may come directly from another person admonishing us.  Perhaps you've been on one, or both, ends of such a conversation.  It is important for us to remember what Joseph Smith said about this: "Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy"(D&C 121:43).  If we are ever moved upon to reprove someone with the word of God, it must be followed by love, or you know it wasn't really the Spirit who told you to reprove them.

The word of God can "divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil" (Helaman 3:29).  We can use the teachings of the scriptures and living prophets to overcome lies spread by the adversary.  The word of God is the standard by which we are to judge the teachings we hear.

Unfortunately, the word of God can also be a very polarizing topic.  Jesus said, "I came not to send peace, but a sword.  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law" (Matt. 10:34-35).  There are some people who will be disowned by their families for following the word of God.  As I cannot empathize with such a plight, all I can say to those people is: they are braver than I, and there is one who does understand - Jesus Christ.

This was kind of a fun break from my normal writings, but I hope you can still learn something (spiritual) from it.

Additional References

An article in the Ensign a few years ago discussed some of the things we can learn about the word of God being a "two-edged" sword. 

A period-accurate depiction of what the "Armor of God" would look like, according to Paul's imagination.

There's an interesting video where someone discusses what the Sword of Laban might have looked like.  It's actually quite well done, much better than some silly pictures of it looking like it came from the Crusades.

Classical paintings of the destroying angel with a sword.

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