Lenten Reflection: The Sword of My Mouth

The following is the fourth in a series of reflections on the letters to the seven churches in Revelation.

For more reflections on these letters, check out the hub page for the series.

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The Sword of My Mouth

A Reflection on the Letter to the Church in Pergamum

And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword:

I know where you are living, where Satan's throne is.  Yet you are holding fast to my name, and you did not deny your faith in me even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan lives.  But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel, so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and practice fornication.  So you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.  Repent then.  If not, I will come to you soon and make war against them with the sword of my mouth.  Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.  To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.

Revelation 2:12-17 (NRSV)

When all around me starts to fall

And when my faith it seems so small

Even in my darkest hour

I will believe

Even if the sun begins to fall

Even when I feel nothing at all

Even if I'm all alone

I will believe

From "Believe" by Mainstay

Christ acknowledges that many of the Christians in Pergamum have remained faithful to Him, even though they live "where Satan's throne is."  N.T. Wright notes that Pergamum was both "a major centre of the imperial cult of Rome and it's emperors" and "the seat of the Roman governor of the whole region."  People who lived in such a city would naturally feel a lot of pressure to participate in Roman civic religion, in which the Roman gods and Roman emperors were worshiped.¹  Christ highlights a faithful witness named Antipas, whose execution has surely caused believers to become anxious about standing out in Roman society.

Christ goes on to note that there are some Christians in Pergamum who have followed the teachings of the Nicolatians, whom he compares to Balaam.  In the Book of Numbers, we read that Balak, the king of Moab, commissioned the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites.  As a prophet, Balaam could only speak the words that God gave him, so he ended up blessing the Israelites instead.²  Because Balaam could not curse the Israelites, Balak resorted to using the women of his country to seduce Israelite men into worshiping their false god Ba'al.³  Balaam is later revealed as the one who gave Balak this idea.⁴

Similarly, some of the Christians in Pergamum have apparently been "seduced" into compromising their faith.  In this letter, perhaps Balaam represents, among other things, falsehood, specifically the false teaching that one can faithfully follow Christ while also serving the "gods" of the surrounding culture.

Christ tells the people who have started following this false teaching to repent and warns them that, if they fail to do so, He will come to them and "make war against them with the sword of [His] mouth."  In this letter, Christ is identified as "him who has the sharp two-edged sword."  Remember that, when John describes his vision of Christ at the beginning of the Book of Revelation, he says that "from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword."⁵  Toward the end of the book, Christ is depicted riding into battle on a white horse, and, once again, there is a sword in His mouth.⁶

The prophet Isaiah spoke of a day when people "shall beat their swords into plowshares" and when "nation shall not lift up sword against nation."⁷  Christians believe that this is what the world will be like when Christ returns to reign, yet, numerous times in Revelation, Christ is depicted with a sword.  It is worth noting that the sword is always in His mouth and never in His hand.  The sword then must be a metaphor.  In the message to the Hebrews, the writer states, "Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."⁸

The war Christ is threatening to wage is a war against the lies that people have started to believe, and His weapon of choice is the truth He speaks.  Jesus is our Lord and Savior, and, when He walked the earth, He was a teacher and a healer.  He was also a prophet, and the job of a prophet is to speak the truth, thereby combating the falsehoods that harm people.

In the Gospel, Jesus says, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you."⁹  Since enemies tend not to be people we love, maybe Jesus is telling us not to have enemies at all.  Jesus follows His own teaching on the Cross, where He prays for the very people who have just crucified Him, saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."¹⁰  Basically, Jesus is saying that His killers are acting out of ignorance.

If we follow in Christ's footsteps, then we must never view other people as our enemies.  Mahatma Gandhi, a prophet of his own day, once said, "Your enemies are just victims of misinformation as you have been.  Don't kill, hate, or abandon them.  Bring them truth in love relentlessly.  And in the process, your own soul will be ennobled and enlarged."¹¹

Paul writes, in his letter to the Ephesians, that "our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."  He goes on to state that, for this spiritual battle, we need spiritual armaments, which he calls "the whole armor of God."  These armaments consist of "the belt of truth," "the breastplate or righteousness," shoes that prepare us "to proclaim the gospel of peace," "the shield of faith," and "the helmet of salvation."  Paul tells us to take as our weapon a prophetic word from God, which he calls "the sword of the Spirit."¹²

As followers of Christ, we are indeed engaged in a battle against evil, but our battle is not against evildoers but against the lies that drive their behavior.  With the sword of truth, such lies can be vanquished and those held captive by the lies can be liberated.

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Questions for reflection:

• If people are not our enemies, then who or what is our enemy?
• What kind of falsehoods in our world must we battle with the truth?

Notes:

1. N.T. Wright.  Revelation for Everyone.  2011, Westminster John Knox Press.  pp. 20-21
2. Numbers 22-24
3. Numbers 25:1-5
4. Numbers 31:16
5. Revelation 1:16 (NRSV)
6. Revelation 19:11-16
7. Isaiah 2:4 (NRSV)
8. Hebrews 4:12 (NRSV)
9. Luke 6:27-28 (NRSV)
10. Luke 23:34 (NRSV)
11. Mahatma Gandhi as quoted by Mel White in his contribution to A Man's Journey to Simple Abundance.  2000, Simple Abundance Inc.  p. 202
12. Ephesians 6:12-17 (NRSV)

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