The Sword of the Spirit

Paul described the armor of God in Ephesians 6:13-18 and in verse 17, he talked about the sword of the Spirit. Ever wondered what Paul meant by that? For a long time I had the impression that the sword is the scriptures since Paul also tells us in 2Tim 3:16 that the scriptures are inspired by God. So for many years I went around struggling to memorize bible verses so that when I am tempted I have a verse to counter the devil with.

Bible scholars have this principle called "the principle of first mention" and as we study the bible, we need to take the meaning of particular key words from the first time that word appears in the bible. For example in Genesis 2:2 the word 'rest' was mentioned for the first time and it was in the context of the seventh day and so bible scholars associate the number seven with rest.

Now the first time the word 'sword' appears is in Genesis 3:24 where it is mentioned that God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and He place cherubim at the east of the Garden and then a flaming sword which turned every way to 'guard' (or protect) the way to the tree of life. So the word 'sword' is to be taken to mean 'protection'.

So this afternoon as I was pondering over this word 'sword', the Holy Spirit brought my attention back to Eph 6:17 and in particular the sword that a believer is supposed to use as his defense against the devil. Do you notice that the sword is the only visible piece of armor that is offensive in nature? the rest are all passive pieces. So my initial thought of memorizing the scriptures immediately sprang to my attention. But the Spirit took me further - back to John 16:7-11. This is the first time Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit by name and the first time He appears in person in the New Testament.

In these 5 verses, Jesus gave us the job description of the Holy Spirit and we better pay close attention to what He is supposed to do for us. He has 3 job functions
1. convict the world of sin
2. convict us (believers) of our righteousness
3. convict (or remind) the devil that he is judged.

When I read that again, suddenly it all makes sense to me. You see, many Christians out there are still trying to declare war on the devil and they go around literally on a 'witch-hunt' looking for the devil and when they do find his disciples, they start to quote scriptures to the evil spirits. No wonder many of them do not see results. Do you know that the devil and his fallen angels also know the scriptures? better than you and I and they even twist and turn the scriptures to their advantage and turn the tide back against some Christians.

No, what the Spirit told me this afternoon was so powerful that I must share with all of you on this blog today itself and not even wait until the morning (it is now 11PM). As the sword is to represent protection and since this sword is the Spirit's, we are to be protected by the Spirit (go back to His job description). When the devil comes against us, we do not need to go 'ra, ra' but we just have to stand our ground and remind him with conviction that we, as children of the most High God, are the righteousness of God in Christ and that he (the devil) has been judged and he cannot touch us. When the devil realizes that you know your ground, he will have to back off and not trouble you again.

Wow, what a tremendous revelation the Father gave me today - this is my manna for today and I am so grateful to Him for this affirmation. Glory to our Lord Jesus for His Word in season, so fresh. Hallelujah!!