My last article generated some awesome feedback, affirmations and challenges. I definitely want to address these challenges, and I promise that I will do in my third and final article. (http://christiantoday.com.au/article/jesus-and-the-sword-part-i/17728.htm)
In this piece, however, I feel it is important to focus on representations of Christ and His perceived use of the sword. If we can understand Jesus, who is LORD, as the slain Lamb, we see that the non-violent, self-sacrificial nature of God and His Army remains the same until the end of time. As followers of Christ, we are then called to live in the same way.
One of the greatest scriptural challenges to non-violence thinking is the popular violent interpretation of the book of The Revelation. How do we explain the violent imagery of The Revelation and the seemingly brutal return of the Christ? Rather than being understood as the unveiling of Jesus Christ, Revelation has been read as a window into the future destruction of the world, and the destruction of sinners by Christ.
This final Book is certainly about an epic battle that is to play out when the Christ returns. This battle is not physical, however. It is a spiritual battle. Jesus has already defeated evil on the cross. This battle has already been fought, and the only remaining battle is for man to choose truth over the lies of this world. Revelation is essentially a battle between deception and truth.
Will we follow the ways of this worldlyempire, or the truth of Christ? Greg Boyd Senior Pastor of Woodland Hills Church helps us to see how John ingeniously subverts the many symbols of deception, war and hate in the Book of Revelation. We see that the Army carries palm branches instead of swords, (The Revelation 7 verse 9) for worshipping God. God's Army fights through worshipping, never against flesh and blood, but only to rebuke the spiritual powers and principalities of evil deception.
The Revelation 7 verse 14
"These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb"
The Revelation 12 verse 11
They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
These passages are profound military symbols and helps set the context for the rest of the Book. Usually, when blood is splattered on you, you are made unclean and must wash your clothes. But John subverts it so that the army is washing their clothes with blood...not after a battle but before the battle.
The Army of God participates in the cleansing of the blood of the slain lamb, which is Christ.His Army doesn't fight as the world fights. Putting on the blood of the lamb, not shedding blood, is what makes God's Army victorious in battle.In the same way we are called into battle by representing Kingdom truths even if it causes us to lay down our own lives. Since we are transformed by the cleansing blood of Christ, we do not have to conform to the blood-shedding ways of the world.
The Revelation 19 verses 13-15
He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
This is the battle of Armageddon. It has been dubbed the bloodiest passage of the New Testament which has Christ at the center. How can this be? John helps us to unravel it by using violent imagery in non-standard violent ways. Again, we notice that Jesus is soaked in blood before he goes into battle, not afterwards. This warrior fights not by shedding blood but by letting himself bleed for others. The Army who stands behind him is white and clean from shedding their own blood, laying down their lives for the kingdom.
That's how warfare is done in God's Kingdom (John 18 verse 36). The war is not won by carrying swords for this is not a physical battle. The real war has already been won at Calvary and the Book of Revelation is about manifesting the truth of that victory. It isn't a coincidence that the first ten verses are about celebrating the victory of the lamb.
The battle we read about in Revelation is concerned with who will believe the true Word of God, and who won't. Will we trust in the power of Babylon, or the power of the Lamb?The sword coming out of Jesus' mouth is a commonly used metaphor for word of truth, and in speaking the truth He slays lies. He slays the lies in order to free the people in bondage.
The last part
"He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty." This last part of the verse is making reference to the "eternal judgment" chapter in The Revelation 14 verses 18-20: The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
The idea of Gods enemies (the sinners) being trampled in the winepress of Gods fury is a gruesome image and one that was mentioned three times in old testament. We ask ourselves, would Jesus really trample on all people who are sinful until their blood is as deep and wide as an ocean? No, He would not.As consistent throughout the scriptures, grapes represent the martyrs not the "enemies." The grapes are in fact the ones who have been trampled on by their enemies. Thus, people will be judged by drinking the blood of the martyrs - judgment is in the drinking of God's fury, not the squishing! God's wrath is towards those who now have to drink the blood of those who were crushed, the martyrs who were squished like Jesus.
John uses this metaphor to show us how the sin of people comes back on them. The blood you shed is the blood you will drink. God doesn't crush His foes, instead those who choose evil, will literally reap evil. Drinking blood is a symbol for the sin people are committing, thus they are drinking their own sin. Judgment of sin is built into the sin itself.
Although, God protects us from the consequences of sin, he must, with a grieving heart, withdraw and allow people to face the judgment of their own sin. God withdrew from Jesus at the cross, handing Him over to the wickedness of the world. All the violence and judgment at Calvary was inflicted by others, not God. Jesus suffered the consequences of the sin of the world. The Day of Judgment is a time of truthwhere the veil will be pulled back and we will see God in all His holiness. Those who choose Truth will be purified by the blood of Christ's sacrificial love.
Jesus is the same
How freeing it is to know that the Jesus of The Revelation is the same Jesus of the Gospels. The Revelation must be read through the lens of Jesus on the cross, the slain Lamb. We are all called to love in a subversive, resistant way that defies the powers of the empires of the world. We are to follow the Lamb and trust in His power, not the power of Babylon, military might, guns, or coercion. ALL trust must be in the lamb.
The world may see it as weakness, but in the end, it will be our true source of strength. If it is indeed our fate to be squished with Christ then we get our peace from knowing that we will one day reign with Christ. (2 Timothy 2 verse 12) We will overcome in the way He overcomes, not through power or might, but through the self-sacrificial love of the Lamb that was slain.
Bex Silver is originally from Auckland, New Zealand and is currently living on the Thai-Burma border working to help people displaced by war in Burma. Delicious Thai and Burmese food is a welcomed bonus! She has a Masters in International Development and is passionate about advocating for social justice through her writing.
Bex Silver's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/bex-silver.html