Good day Saints in Christ Jesus. You are all welcome to another new day. We thank God for the gift of life.
In our today’s episode 558 of studying and understanding the Bible, we shall be looking into the book of Ezekiel Chapter 21 titled:
New Covenant Reality! This Is What The Sword of God Means
In a bid to describe the fate of the people of Jerusalem and Judah as a result of their incessant stubbornness, Prophet Jeremiah decided to use another figurative expression called a sharp and bright sword. Reading the whole chapter, you will think it was God doing the killing using the sword, but if you have been consistently following our teachings and expositions on this blog and on our social media page, you will discover that it was not God doing the killing.
Ezekiel simply used the word “sword” to describe how the enemies would invade their land and kill many people, because they refused to listen to Ezekiel and several other prophets before him and they have disregarded every warning from God regarding their wickedness and propensity for idolatry.
The sword within that context represents the attack that would come upon them from the Babylonian forces.
That’s why he says in verse 11 that the sword is being sharpened, polished and ready for use in the hand of the killer (Nebuchadnezzar).
As a matter of fact, this judgement was not for the people of Judah alone, it was also for the Ammonites for their vulgarity and immoral acts (verses 28-32).
As new covenant believers, we were not instructed to apply the happenings in the old testament books as our church doctrine. Why? Because they did not portray the true nature of God.
Then why are we reading and studying the old testament books if we cannot adopt all of them as church doctrine or practice them?
The reason is simple…we study old testament books to find the Word (Christ Jesus).
Let me shock you with this truth…
If you pay attention to how Jesus Christ was teaching people around him, He did not use the entire scripture to teach. The Bible says, He only picked those ones that prophesied about God’s Salvation plan for humanity which He came to fulfil for us. That’s why all these enemy must die doctrines; Jesus did not preach any of them.
That’s why Luke 24:27 says that Jesus explained to them only those things that were said concerning Him, starting with the books of Moses (Genesis to Deuteronomy), The Psalms and the writings of the prophets. Luke 24:44-45
In other words, anywhere that does not reveal Christ in the Old Testament, trash it. It’s not relevant.
Using the entire Bible to form church doctrine is like consuming the entire local rice produced in Africa without properly destoning it (i.e removing the stones). You will end up eating both rice and stones together, which is not good for your health.
In the same way, before you swallow what was written in the Bible, you need to divide it properly and rightly. That’s what Apostle Paul told Timothy in 2Timothy 2:15
Now, before I explain the meaning of Sword using new testament lenses, let me quickly give you an example of the danger involved when you are consuming the old testament books hook, line and sinker without first rightly dividing them.
In 2Kings 1:10, we read where Elijah commanded fire to consume a captain of fifty and his fifty men to proof that he was a man of God. Imagine a Prophet proving a point to those he should be preaching Salvation to.
Was this necessary? Was this a right approach to reveal yourself and your God to people? Did you know that many Pastors and ministers generally, have been using this to threaten their supposed enemies and anyone that does not agree with their opinions? Yes, it has happened in various forms.
Well, let’s hear what the Master has to say about this, and His Word is final.
Did you know that the disciples of Jesus Himself wanted to propose the same method as their own way of proving superiority over those resisting the Gospel?
In Luke 10:54, James and John requested that they should do exactly what Elijah did. It means these people too have been consuming the scrolls (Old Testament Books).
What was the Master’s response? We will see it right there in the verse that follows.
In verse 55, He rebuked them and said you do not know what kind of Spirit you belong to…and then He led them into another village to continue their Gospel campaign.
Honestly, we would not blame the disciples totally at this stage, because they were not yet born again. They were only following Christ. They got born again after the resurrection, when they were gathered in the upper room at Pentecost. Acts 2
Jesus was telling them that the spirit that led Elijah to take that terrible decision was not of God. He simply followed his flesh. Any man or Pastor that threatens to kill anyone or probably has killed anyone, is not led by the Spirit of God. He is simply canal and possibly wicked knowingly or unknowingly.
The above is just one of the many examples of how dangerous it is to be using old testament books as yardstick for church doctrines or Christian living.
Que: But the Bible was given by God as standard to follow. Why cant we consume everything in it?
That is another lie we were told in the past. The Bible did not say it was God that gave everything in the Bible or that it was God that wrote everything in the Bible. Believing this means we have not studied the Bible very well.
When 2Tim 3:16 says all scripture is given by the inspiration of God…
Apostle Paul was not saying God wrote the Bible. The Bible was written by men but not just ordinary men. Paul was simply saying God breathed into those who wrote the Bible and gave them the capacity to see in vision and to also remember all that happened in those days. The real meaning of inspiration from the original Greek text is “to breathe into” meaning God breathed into those people the special ability to write all that happened down.
How many of us can write down the entire story of our lives since we were born till now? You will discover that It is not possible, why? Because human mind and our comprehension capability is limited. The brain is porous and cannot pick all the details. It requires and external force to act upon us in an extra ordinary way to jot down those events.
That’s exactly what happened to people like Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc who wrote down what they saw in vision and what happened during their time. Also remember, these people were not born again then, because Jesus had not yet died. Their faith was perfected after Jesus resurrected. You will see this when you patiently read Hebrews Chapters 11 and 12. Although they heard about the Messiah in types and shadows but they did not receive the Promise (Christ), they only believed it would happen. Heb 11:39
That’s why Hebrews 12:2 says we should not focus our attention on what these Old Testament people did but rather, we should look unto Jesus, because He is the Author (originator) and perfecter of our Faith.
So, because these people had limited knowledge of God, they lacked the right words to describe what they saw. That’s why they mostly spoke in parables, figures of speech and so many imageries. When Moses saw the vision of the Messiah after the fall of man, he called Him “The SEED of the Woman.”
Now, if you have not studied that properly, you will be looking for ordinary seed.
Having said much on the above, let’s now explain the meaning of the Sword of God that Ezekiel mentioned in our today’s Chapter under consideration.
New Covenant Interpretation
Let me start with this, the Sword of God first, means the Word of God. Apostle Paul gives us the accurate definition here in Ephesians 6:17.
And then the writer of Hebrews gives us further descriptions and the functions of this Sword in Hebrews 4:12.
12 For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, and revealed to the eyes of Him with whom we have to give account.
Amplified Bible
Contrary to how the Old Testament books described the Sword of God as killing or taking people’s lives, which many people are also using to threaten their fellow human beings, here the writer of Hebrews is giving us accurate definition, descriptions and functions.
Rather than killing lives, it’s saving lives and exposing the intent and thoughts of the hearts of men and turning people to God.
God’s Word has the ability to penetrate the hearts of men, expose it and lay it bare in order to cause a change, a positive change, unlike the physical sword described in the Old Testament used for killing.
This is why when you read about Peter preaching to the crowd after Pentecost experience in Acts 2:37 the Bible says, they were cut to the heart. Note, the Sword did not kill them. Rather, it saved them and about 3000 souls were added to the church membership.
Let me close with another main feature of this Sword. The Bible says it is two-edged. When you have a very sharp double-edged knife and using it to cut a fruit, for example, it’s very dangerous because if safety precaution is not observed, you can also cut yourself with it.
This essentially means that as you are speaking the Word to others, the Word is also speaking to you. That’s why it’s a two-edged spiritual weapon. So, when trying to remove the speck of woods in other people’s eyes, remember, there could also be a log of wood in your own eyes too, which requires your urgent attention first before removing the ones in other people’s eyes. Jesus said it Himself here in Matthew 7:5, which was also corroborated by Apostle Paul here: Romans 2:21-22
To be continued…stay tuned and stay blessed.
Let us pray:
- Please let’s declare this together: I am filled with and empowered by the Word of God. I belong to The Light, everywhere I go, I shine the Light of Christ. Demons and principalities bow and flee before me. I am a terror to the kingdom of darkness, in Jesus name. Amen.
Bible Readings For Today: Reflection time on all the chapters you have read so far from the past six days and covering of missed chapters.
I call you blessed now and always.
Wednesday October 7, 2020 (DDMI)
