THE FIERCE, GREAT, POWERFUL SWORD OF THE LORD

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In that day, the Lord will punish with his sword—His fierce, great and powerful sword—Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; He will slay the monster of the sea.

Isaiah 27:1

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

If we needed to describe the nature of the Lord to someone, it may end up being a daunting, extensive task unless we find some working summation to share. I believe the following three key points serve to help us to this end.

1. The Lord is omniscient.

This fact speaks to what the Lord knows and to say He is omniscient is simply saying He is all knowing. Indeed, the Lord knows all things because He is knowledge and truth. No one on earth has the depth of understanding that the Lord has. No one.

No one is smarter. No one is wiser. No amount of scholarly pursuit in one’s life will bring a person anywhere close to the knowledge the Lord possesses. In fact, we need to always keep in mind that we know what the Lord wills for us to know. He is the author of all that we are to include our intellect.

And so, when we thing of the Lord, we need to think of Him as knowing all things.

2. The Lord is omnipresent.

The Lord is everywhere. There is nowhere we can go that He isn’t present. We are never out of His sight even when we think we are in hiding, physically or emotionally. The Lord views every action we take, whether in public or alone. He hears every word that we utter, whether someone is around or not, whether cried out or whispered. The Lord is also aware of every thought that we think. He knows our every thought and notion.

In the end translation, nothing is concealed from the Lord. Nothing can be hidden. Nothing.

Ravi Zacharias, the great Christian apologist, said essentially that it is the omnipresence of the Lord that should frighten every person in creation for no sin escapes the eyes of the Lord and it is sin that brings us into a place where His judgment and discipline reside. For the Lord hates sin and will correct anyone who chooses it over His righteousness. It’s this punishment from the Lord that leads us to His third primary nature.

3. The Lord is omnipotent.

Perhaps we see this quality of the Lord portrayed more than any other in the scriptures for the power of the Lord always seems to be on display. It definitely is not kept concealed, that’s for sure. But it’s not just that the Lord has power. It’s that He has unlimited, inexhaustible power. That’s what we all need to remember most for there is nothing beyond the work of the Lord’s hands. Nothing.

The Lord uses many instruments to display His immeasurable power and volumes could be written about how He used it and what He used it for but for today’s purposes, I would like to look at the Lord using His power through the sword, an instrument we see central to our scripture verse today at the opening to Isaiah, Chapter 27:

In that day, the Lord will punish with his sword—His fierce, great and powerful sword—Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; He will slay the monster of the sea.

Note here the use of the sword to punish and bring judgment. This was no ordinary sword for one would not expect the sword of the Lord to be like any other. No, this sword of the Lord is described as fierce and great and powerful, a sword that easily vanquishes anyone who would become an enemy of the Lord. In this instance, it is the nations who rose against the Lord and His people Israel, the nations depicted symbolically by the Leviathan or monster of the sea. No one can stand against the Lord when He brings His sword of judgment against them.

And lest you think the Lord would not levy penalty on His own people, look at these verses from the Book of Ezekiel:

 “I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I the Lord have spoken. When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the Lord have spoken.” Ezekiel 5:14-17

The Israelites were the Lord’s chosen people and yet they were going to experience the judgment by way of His fierce, great, and powerful sword being brought against them. You see, no one is immune from the Lord’s wrath if they choose to sin against Him, disrespecting and dishonoring His precious and holy name. No nation is free from His judgment, from coming under the consequences of His omnipotence. Every nation on earth should keep that in mind.

There are two other ways the fierce, great, powerful sword of the Lord is depicted in the scriptures that I would like to mention today.

The first is for guarding and protecting. Look at this from Genesis:

After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:24

Immediately following the fall of man as Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the couple was forced to leave the garden and to ensure no one ever went to the tree again, the Lord used a flaming sword to guard and protect it. Indeed, the Lord would go on to use the sword to protect and guard those He chose to protect, whether He wielded it or He used His omnipotent power to use others to carry out His work by way of the sword. The bottom line is that we serve a Lord who protects and guards, doing so with a power that is unmatched and unrivaled. We are blessed to have such a Lord to serve and worship.

The final portrayal of the fierce, giant, powerful sword of the Lord comes as an analogy, for we can look at the sword of the Lord as a physical representation of a sword but we can also see the words of the Lord referred to His sword for His words have a way of cutting through the things that would attack and afflict our spirits as we live this thing called life. Look at these two scripture passages, this time from the New Testament:

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:10-17

Why do we need to be disciplined in reading our bibles every day?

Because to not do so leaves us vulnerable and unarmed as we head out onto the battlefield of life.

The word of the Lord is the sword of the Spirit, the fierce, great, powerful sword we need to combat the temptations of Satan. Had Adam and Eve only trusted in the word of the Lord that commanded them to not eat of the tree, then maybe sin never enters the world. Instead, they allowed Satan’s temptation to trump the Lord’s word. The same thing can easily happen to any of us as well if we’re not careful. We need to come to the word of the Lord each and every day, hungering and thirsting for what it has to say to us. For when we grant the word of the Lord the authority in our lives it truly deserves, we find ourselves transformed as it penetrates into every part of our being, judging the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts and minds.  

Need an example of how the word of the Lord, the sword we are to carry for protection, works?

We only need to look to Jesus to find out. Look at this excerpt of His life story from the Gospel of Matthew:

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The tempter came to Him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give You,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.  Matthew 4

Three times Jesus was tempted by Satan while He was at His lowest point after 40 days and nights in the wilderness. And three times Jesus rebutted Satan with the word of the Lord, after which we read where Satan left. You see Satan cannot stand when the word of the Lord is used against Him because he cannot stand in the light of truth.

Want to free yourself from the temptations of life?

Allow the only One with the power to do so to help through His Spirit and His word, the fierce, great, powerful sword of the Lord.

If it worked for Jesus, it will work for anyone who believes in Him and commits to live in His ways.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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