What kind of Sword did Yeshua come to bring?

[cgpb]

What kind of Sword did Yeshua come to bring?

There is a misconception based on the following verse that says:

 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ (Matthew 10: 34-36)

Many misinterpret this verse stating that Yeshua  had inclinations of violence and hatred because He taught that He didn’t come to bring peace but a sword.

Firstly it must be understood that Jesus’ first coming wasn’t to usher in an age of peace as many Jews expected. He will do that when He returns at the end of age. First He had to come and deal with sin, make atonement and bring people into a right relationship with God, to give us the message of His Kingdom so that this message could be spread throughout the world.

Yeshua is not speaking here about a sword of division through hatred or violence but the sword of division that inevitably comes between those that want to obey God with those that don’t, which occurs even amongst the closest of relatives.

God has given people free will to choose whether they will love and serve Him. Free will inevitably brings division between those that love and want to obey God with those that don’t, therefore strife is an fruit of division. – even amongst the closest family relatives because everyone has been given free will, and people have different personalities.

Say a husband wishes to spend a portion of his money helping less fortunate people but his selfish wife wishes to use that money for her own selfish gains, like expensive holidays, jewelry etc… isn’t this going to bring strife and arguments between the couple?

And so it is with the Kingdom of God. The plans of God’s Kingdom are rooted in selflessness, righteousness, justice, mercy, love and these are in sharp contrast to the plans of mankind which are often rooted in selfishness, unrighteousness, injustice, greed , ambition ,and hatred. Therefore this is the natural division that Jesus was referring to. A division between those that love and want to obey God with those that don’t .

We even see this division in the Old Testament. Here are a few examples:

1.
We see this when God tells Moses to go down the mountain because the people had become corrupt. Having come down from the mountain, he returns to see the Israelites worshipping a golden calf.

“So he (Moses) stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him. Then he said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’” 28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. (Exodus 32:26)

When the Covenant was renewed, Joshua says:

“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)

Again 1 Kings 11:29-33 tells us that the kingdom of Israel became divided “Because they had forsaken God. . . and not walked in my ways.”


“About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, 30 and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes. 32 But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. 33 I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did.”


If Yeshua came to bring a sword of division through violence or hatred, it would be evident in His actions and speech. The reality is that we see the opposite is true.

Consider these instances:

When the soldiers came with the officials from the High priests and Pharisees to arrest Jesus , His disciple Peter, who had a sword drew it and struck the High Priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. 
Yeshua replied to him

“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." (Matthew 26:52)

And then what does He do? He turns around and heals the man’s ear

And nowhere do we see Jesus or His followers going around killing anyone.

Jesus was put to death by crucifixion and even when He hung on the Cross he said:

“Father forgive them they do not know what they are doing.”

Again He says:

“But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”(Matthew 5:39-42)

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:44-45)

One has to examine all sides of someone’s teachings before making an absolute claim from one statement that has been taken out of context.

History shows us that the ones who were put to the sword (through martyrdom) were His followers as He set the example. He didn’t fight back against the Romans and He didn’t call His followers to fight back.
.
Thus we see that these are not the words or actions of a violent revolutionary.

[alon]

You made some good points, and I can agree with much of what you said. However, like most modern day Christianity it focuses entirely on "God is love" while blocking out the violence God can and does do, even in your own examples.

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ (Matthew 10: 34-36)

There is more than one kind of violence, and family squabbles can demonstrate them all. Families can also be very abusive, and the scars left by families are more harmful and harder to heal than being physically harmed by others. So when Yeshua says He will cause divisions in families, even though He doesn't desire it to be so, He knows there will be hatred and violence directed to many of His believers. And while you are correct that we are typically not to respond in kind, this is not an absolute. We are responsible to shield and protect our children from all kinds of violence, by whatever means is necessary, as one example.

“So he (Moses) stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him. Then he said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’” 28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. (Exodus 32:26)

3000 people put to the sword sounds pretty violent to me. And they were killing brothers, friends and neighbors.

Joshua, at the time of his famous speech that you quoted, had just led a military campaign which was to, at God's direction, destroy everyone in the land they possessed; men, women and children.

And nowhere do we see Jesus or His followers going around killing anyone.

No, but we do see Yeshua taking the time to find the materials, fashion a scourge, and then in an extended act of premeditated violence drive moneychangers, livestock and their sellers out of the Temple. And by "extended" I mean it took quite a bit of time to accomplish this.

“But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”(Matthew 5:39-42)

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:44-45)

This is true for the sake of your witness. However we are told many times that we must resist evil men. Purim was this last weekend- Mordecai resisted Haman, refusing to bow before him, because he was an evil man. The end result of this resistance was a civil war and many men killed because they came against God's people.

One has to examine all sides of someone’s teachings before making an absolute claim from one statement that has been taken out of context.

I agree.

History shows us that the ones who were put to the sword (through martyrdom) were His followers as He set the example. He didn’t fight back against the Romans and He didn’t call His followers to fight back.
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Thus we see that these are not the words or actions of a violent revolutionary.

There I disagree. Yeshua is God, and He does not change. From Genesis, where the earth and almost every living thing was destroyed by God with water; to Revelation where things will be so bad peope will turn to cannibalism and will call on the rocks to fall on them, and where the earth is destroyed by God with fire; the Bible is a book of violence. Love first, absolutely. But in the end love only works when both sides eventually love each other.


Rev 2:6 But you have this in your favor: you hate what the Nicolaitans do - I hate it too. 15 Likewise, you too have people who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore, turn from these sins. Otherwise, I will come to you very soon and make war against them with the sword of my mouth.

God hates sin, and He does make war against those who do sin and refuse to repent. Sometimes He uses us to persuade them before He acts, and historically, as we've seen, He also uses us to act on His and our own behalf.

We live in a broken world, and unfortunately violence is often necessary, even for believers. God commands it of us, and Yeshua did set the example for us.

Dan C