Sheath A Sword, Heal An Ear

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In Revelation 13, the Word of God describes the rise of the beast and his power throughout the world. Revelation 13:7-10 tells us:

7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Verse 7 shows us that the beast will be given power, with God’s approval, to make war against and to overcome the saints (meaning to capture and execute them for their faith in Christ Jesus).

Verse 8 tells us that, some believe because of the great fear that this will instill in the people in the world, they will worship him, the beast.

Then, in Verse 9, God says something that should always make our ears stand up when we read it in God’s Word. If any man have an ear, let him hear.

Even when Jesus preached, and when He preached the very deepest spiritual concepts, He would say the same thing - If any man have an ear, let him hear. The Apostle Paul did the same thing after Him, preaching the deeper spiritual things of God, saying I speak as to wise men.....

If any man have an ear, let him hear tells us that what is about to be said can only be understood through the Holy Spirit......in other words, with spiritual ears. So, let’s listen carefully. (Click on the "Read More!" link below)


Based upon what is shared in Verse 7, He says He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Quite simply put, God is saying that, in the midst of this great attack against the Body of Christ, we are not to take any attacker captive, and we are not to kill any attacker. In fact, He is stating that, in the last days, this non-violent approach toward enemies and adversaries - even as they may be killing us - is a sign of the true saints.

Here is the patience and the faith of the saints, He says. Here is the patience, meaning “cheerful or hopeful endurance” through (via the root) “staying under” the mighty hand of God.

Here is the patience and the faith of the saints, He says. Here is the faith, meaning “specifically, reliance upon Christ for salvation.”

These are those who know that they are saved through Christ Jesus and have learned to stay beneath God’s protecting hand to their very last breath. They have learned that they are not to rise up with force against the beast and their enemies and their adversaries, even if it may be in their last moments on earth.

We need only look to Christ’s very own life for the confirmation of the words written here.

In Matthew 26:47-54, God’s Word says:

47 And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.
48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.
49 And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.
50 And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus and took him.
51 And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear.
52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

In Verses 51 and 52, the correlation between this passage and the aforementioned passage in Revelation is quite clear. One who was with Jesus seeks to protect through physical force the literal body of Christ, and attacks the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear. Jesus’ immediate response is two-fold and telling.

First, Jesus said unto his follower who attacked the servant Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword, the exact same statement made in Revelation.

But secondly, we see Jesus do something magnificent in Luke’s account of the very same events, in Luke 22:51:

51 And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.

“Just let me do this”, Jesus asks the very soldiers who will lead Him to His trial and eventual death. And He reaches out and heals the ear of the high priest’s servant.

Then, in Verses 53 and 54, Jesus again turns to His follower who attacked the high priest’s servant and says:

53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

The point here is clear. God could have saved Jesus, but He chose not to because His will was that a greater good that would be accomplished through Jesus’ death. You see, Jesus HAD eternal life! And so do we.

Jesus knew, and we now know that when we “die,” God’s Word promises that we will spend eternity with Him. But there are many around us who, if they died today, would spend eternity in hell and the lake of fire.

Do you think that the high priest’s servant knew that Jesus was something special? You bet he did. Ears don’t just heal themselves, do they? And everyone who saw that miracle knew that Jesus was special, too. Everyone there who might have “had ears to hear” now had the chance to live another day and possibly becoem His disciple.

Because Jesus didn’t fight back and attack, because He didn’t call down angels to destroy His attackers, but rather He reached out to heal His attackers, accepting that His own death was God’s perfect will......others lived another day to have another opportunity to receive eternal life.

We must come to understand our own attackers, enemies and adversaries in the same manner in these last days. We have eternal life. Many of them do not. And we must seek to manifest the love of God like Jesus did, even toward those who would ultimately kill us.

A note in closing:

The Lord led me to share what I have shared here with my two sons, then ages 4 and 5. Every day, they would ask me to share the same story again, soaking in the wonder of Jesus’ love for mankind, even in the face of a horrible death.

Some time after I had begun sharing this with them, my sons and I were discussing the meaning of “trespassing” on someone else’s property. They asked if someone who might come into the downstairs of our home in the middle of the night would be punished with a jail sentence, to which I responded “probably."

My youngest son was thoughtful for a few minutes. Then he said, “If some bad men came into our house in the middle of the night, I would come downstairs and ask them to please leave."

My instinct was to say “Well, son, you should let Daddy take care of that so you will remain safe." But something just told me I should do otherwise, and I instead asked him, “Why, son?"

“Well, Dad”, heh said, “I would ask them to leave right away before the policemen come so they don’t have to go to jail."

You see, my young son got it. He understood the heart of Jesus in all of this. There is eternal life, and eternal “jail," and our desire to see everyone escape that horrible sentence and enter into eternal life must supercede all concerns - even ourselves.

With a constant awareness of eternity, we will be able to sheath the sword of vengeance and extend the hand of healing, because our own lives have already been saved - by Christ.