Welcome back to the course Seeking Jesus. My name is John Hilton. One of my favorite classroom activities is to ask everyone in the room to copy their favorite picture of Jesus Christ and paste it into a shared Google Doc that I've put up on the screen. We then spend some time together letting people share what image they picked and why.
I've done this with hundreds of students and students have shared some very beautiful artwork. But it's interesting, I've yet to have students share an image of Jesus Christ holding a sword. Put differently, we could ask ourselves this question. When you think of Jesus, do you think of the image on the left or the image on the right? My guess is if we took a poll of most Christians, 90 plus percent would select an image of Jesus with children over an image of Jesus holding a sword.
Of course, Jesus does love little children, so it's not that the image on the left is wrong. But today we'll explore an aspect of Christ that maybe we don't spend as much time with, and that's the Savior with the sword. This video is based on ideas shared by Dr. Kerry Muehlstein.
There's a link in the description to his article on this topic. Let's first explore a scriptural pattern that appears in the Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants. In Isaiah 66, we read, For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many. Jesus says, Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mormon tells latter-day readers, And when ye shall see these sayings coming forth among you, then ye need not any longer spurn at the doings of the Lord, for the sword of his justice is in his right hand. And behold, at that day, if ye shall spurn at his doings, he will cause that it shall soon overtake you. Doctrine and Covenants, section 1, verse 13 says, And the anger of the Lord is kindled, and his sword is bathed in heaven, and it shall fall upon the inhabitants of the earth. These are not the only verses that we could have picked. There are many other passages that show this clear theme of the Savior with a sword.
To be clear, I don't think that Jesus is walking around with a sword all day. Just as Jesus isn't a lamb, although he's called the Lamb of God, there's symbolism in the idea of a Savior with a sword. Perhaps in the sword we see a symbol of Christ's justice and power.
It shows us that he is mighty and can conquer all our foes. Come with me to Exodus chapter 15. This is one of the oldest parts of the Bible. and in it we hear a song that Moses and other Israelites sang after they crossed through the Red Sea on dry ground. They had just experienced an amazing miracle in which the Lord defeated the Egyptian army.
Starting in verse 1, we read, The Lord is a warrior. The Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army he cast into the sea. His picked officers were sunk into the Red Sea. The floods covered them.
They went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power. Your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy. This is an image of Jesus Christ that we don't always think about, but Moses and other Israelites are celebrating.
Or consider Isaiah 42 verse 13. The Lord goeth forth like a soldier. Like a warrior, he stirs up his fury. He cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes.
We see the Savior as a warrior, the Savior with a sword, in one of his titles, which appears 309 times in Scripture. I'm referring to his title, the Lord of Hosts. The Lord of Hosts doesn't mean the Lord of people who host guests or have parties. If we were to go back to our friend, the Blue Letter Bible, which we've used in previous videos, the Hebrew word that's translated as hosts is armies. So more than 300 times, Jesus is referred to in scripture as the Lord of armies.
Here's one example. As David challenges Goliath, he says, you come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Consider one more example of the Savior as the Lord of armies from a lesser known Old Testament story. The nation of Judah was being attacked by multiple nations.
The numbers of those who opposed them were a great multitude, and Judah was powerless to stop their advance. King Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast throughout the nation and sincerely prayed to God. He said, We have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are on you. What a powerful prayer! When we don't know what to do, we can turn to God and say, Our eyes are on you.
After Jehoshaphat prayed, a spiritual impression came to a member of the congregation who said, King Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you. The Savior with the sword would fight Jehoshaphat's battles. The next day, the Lord set ambushments against Judah's enemies.
The different nations who had assembled to attack Israel began fighting with each other. The Lord of Hosts delivered Jehoshaphat and his people. Clearly, there is a theme in Scripture of Jesus Christ as a divine warrior, the Lord of Hosts.
Take a moment and think to yourself, why might this aspect of the Savior matter today? Perhaps one application is to remember that Jesus is powerful. In the past, in the future, and now in the present, He will help us fight our battles, whatever those may be. No matter how bad things look, Jesus will be victorious. For me, thinking of Christ as a warrior gives me hope for the future.
Yes, I'll experience hardships and failures, but ultimately, at the end of the day, Christ is there, and if I'm on His side, everything is going to work out. Just before the song we saw in Exodus chapter 15 is the account of the Israelites being trapped. between Pharaoh's army and the Red Sea.
Can you imagine their terror as they thought they would be slaughtered? Moses said to them, fear ye not, stand still and see, the Lord shall fight for you and ye shall hold your peace. With the Savior fighting our battles, we can find peace.
He's helped people in the past and he's going to help you today. No matter how bad things look, things are going to work out. Here's another application to contemplate as we ponder the Savior with a sword. This concept can remind us of how much Christ lowered himself to come to earth and redeem us from sin and death.
Consider this scenario. Imagine I told you I would pay you a sum of money if you lost your ability to walk, talk, and think. You would have to slowly regain all these abilities over a period of years like a baby does. How much money would I have to give you for you to agree to this transaction? I posted this question on social media and found that most people wouldn't make this trade for any amount of money.
and those who would wanted millions or billions of dollars. And that makes sense, right? It would be very challenging to lose abilities you've become used to having. Think about this scenario in terms of Jesus Christ. In his premortal life, he was an all-powerful divine warrior.
Consider what he gave up to be born as a baby in a manger. Let's turn to Philippians chapter 2. As you know, Paul's epistles are the earliest written texts that we have about Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Moreover, some scholars believe that in Philippians chapter 2, Paul quotes from an earlier Christian hymn.
Paul wrote to the Philippians in about 60 AD, some 30 years after the death of Christ. So, if Paul is quoting a Christian hymn, it had to have been composed sometimes between Christ's resurrection and the time the epistle was written. That could make this text one of the earliest New Testament statements we have about Jesus Christ. We read that Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name. And every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Consider how much power Jesus Christ had.
He was in the form of God, but he emptied himself to take on human form. He would have to learn how to walk and talk like other babies. None of us would want to lose the meager abilities we have, even for a couple of years.
Christ gave up immense power and glory to come to earth. There's so much that's embedded in the phrase, he emptied himself. Perhaps we sometimes take for granted that Christ was willing to come to earth, but when we remember what Jesus was willing to give up, it can increase our gratitude for him. On another occasion, Paul wrote, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. Our Savior was willing to give up his divine power to help you and me.
So far today, we've seen a pattern of the Savior with the sword and explored some applications of this aspect of Christ's character. He models humility and can help us fight our battles. Let's look at a related pattern across the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price.
In Ephesians chapter 5, we read, Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Al-Mu'tat, if ye persist in your wickedness, your days shall not be prolonged in the land, for the Lamanites shall be sent upon you, and ye shall be visited with utter destruction, and it shall be according to the fierce anger of the Lord. Doctrine and Covenants 63 states, I, the Lord, am angry with the wicked. I am withholding my spirit from the inhabitants of the earth. And in Moses chapter 5, we read, God cursed the earth with the sore curse and was angry with the wicked, with all the sons of men whom he had made.
These verses demonstrate a clear pattern that Jesus Christ is angry with the wicked. That's probably not a theme we frequently focus on. Most of us probably think of Jesus as being loving and kind and don't connect him with anger.
After all, didn't Jesus teach in 3 Nephi to avoid contention and anger? How do we reconcile that we shouldn't get angry with the Lord being angry with the wicked. One possibility is that Christ's anger is qualitatively different than what we think of as human anger.
This divine anger, sometimes referred to as righteous indignation, describes feelings that are different from our concept of anger. Christ's divine anger may be related to his feelings of frustration or disappointment when people hurt others or reject his teachings. Sometimes I've had students who have asked, how can a person have divine or righteous anger?
My response is always, I'm still working on developing the gift of charity. Once I have charity and I've mastered being loving, then I'll start working on how to have righteous anger. Although we're supposed to be like Christ, emulating Him in terms of righteous anger could easily become a slippery slope to where we have the type of anger that He's forbidden.
In some sense of the word, the Lord is allowed to be angry with people because He has a position of power. It's His right, it's His prerogative to judge and to punish those who need it. We can't apply this because we don't have any right to do that to others. We can also note that these passages talk about the Lord being angry with the wicked who consistently choose not to repent. It's not like the Lord is angry because someone cut him off in traffic, or that the Lord is angry with somebody who made a mistake but is trying.
The Lord is angry with those who are persistently wicked. To me, this is a reminder that sin is real and Jesus doesn't like it. A phrase we hear in the world today is, you do you.
You-to-you is certainly okay if we're talking about the hobbies you enjoy, the way you develop your talents, or your favorite way to eat a Reese's peanut butter cup. But when it comes to keeping the commandments, Jesus does not say, you-to-you. He says, be like me.
Here's one other thought on the Lord being angry with the wicked. This idea can sound harsh, especially if I'm worried that I'm one of the wicked and I don't want God to be angry with me. But imagine if you or someone you love has been the victim of a wicked act and you feel deep hurt or betrayal. It might bring peace to your heart to know that Jesus isn't okay with those wicked acts. He has said, vengeance is mine, I will repay.
To know that there's a powerful Lord who does not like wickedness and will make wrong things right can bring healing when we face painful situations we cannot resolve on our own. Let's explore one more related pattern. In all four of the following passages, we hear the voice of Jesus Christ himself.
In Matthew 13, we read, the Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all the people of the all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. In 2 Nephi 28, the Savior warns, O the wise and the learned and the rich that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms and pervert the right way of the Lord.
Woe, woe, woe be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell. Mosiah 26 says, When the second trump shall sound, then shall they that never knew me come forth. and shall stand before me.
And then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, that I am their Redeemer, but they would not be redeemed. And then I will confess unto them that I never knew them, and they shall depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. In modern times, the Savior has declared, The righteous shall be gathered on my right hand unto eternal life, and the wicked on my left hand will I be ashamed to own before the Father.
Wherefore I will say unto them, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the everlasting fire. prepared for the devil and his angels. There are many other verses we could add.
Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni all conclude their Book of Mormon writings with a message about final judgment. In the Book of Matthew, Christ gives five extended sermons, and each one ends by speaking of judgment. For example, in Matthew, Christ concludes his final discourse by saying that those who haven't served others shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.
Or, at the end of his parables discourse, he says, At the end of the world the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. These are some challenging teachings from the Savior.
Why does he consistently emphasize judgment, including the wicked being cast into fire? Perhaps one reason is that at different times we have different motives for being good. For example, when I was about 10 years old, I was a bit naughty at times.
One Monday night, we had a family home evening and we read from 2 Nephi 9, which has several verses about hell and fire and brimstone. I'll be honest, I was a bit scared and I decided to change my ways. I know I'm not just making up this story because on that Monday night, my grandma was visiting us from California. Later, she wrote me a letter saying, I noticed how seriously you took that family home evening.
You changed afterwards. Now, I'm not suggesting that I was an evil 10-year-old or that the best reason to be righteous is because we're scared of fire and brimstone. Hopefully, over time, I've progressed that I don't think, well, I better be good so I don't go to hell.
But instead, I choose to be good as a manifestation of the love I feel for Jesus. At the same time, I don't think it's necessarily a linear progression, like I used to have one motivation and now I've graduated to higher levels. Perhaps for some of us today, we're following Jesus for all the right reasons, but one day we'll experience a massive temptation.
It may be in such a moment, it's beneficial to remember. Even though this looks really tempting right now, hell is real, so I'm not going to give in to sin. I'm certainly not suggesting that that's the best reason I should obey in a moment of temptation, but for some, it might be a valuable motivation in a moment of need. This principle also reminds us that there are consequences for evil actions.
God's love does not equal everyone returning to live with him. As Elder D. Todd Christofferson taught, Some are wont to say, the Savior loves me just as I am, and that is certainly true. But he cannot take any of us into his kingdom just as we are, for no unclean thing can dwell there or dwell in his presence.
Our sins must first be resolved. Another aspect of this principle is that it reminds us of Nephi's teaching that in the last days, one of Satan's strategies is to claim, there is no hell and I am no devil. In contemporary media, we frequently see messages telling us that God is not real, there is no devil, and there are no consequences for doing wrong.
Even Elsa says, no right, no wrong, no rules for me. I'm free. It's tempting to give in to whatever we want to do, but Jesus'consistent teachings on judgment remind us that there is no hell. is a devil and there is a hell. There are absolute rights and wrongs.
Choosing the right brings happiness and choosing the wrong brings misery. Before we conclude, I want to turn to one final topic that relates to the Savior with the sword and it's a difficult one. It's something that Christians have struggled with for hundreds of years. We're not going to solve a centuries-long wrestle in a few minutes, but I want us to at least think about it a little bit.
The challenge is why did Jehovah, the premortal Jesus Christ, condone violence against the Canaanites and other groups? Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 20. In context, the Israelites were preparing to enter the promised land, but people were already living there. How should the Israelites interact with the people in the land they're supposed to inherit? In verse 16, we read, But as for the towns of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not let anything that breathes remain alive.
You shall annihilate them, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, just as the Lord your God has commanded. You can see how, for believers in a loving, kind Jesus, these verses could be disturbing. How could Christ give this commandment?
Let's look at a couple of possibilities. One is found in the following verse where the Lord says that the Israelites should destroy the inhabitants of the land so they may not teach you to do all the abhorrent things that they do for their gods, and you thus sin against the Lord your God. One reason the Lord gives this command is that the people were so wicked that the Israelites would fall into sin if the inhabitants of the land were not completely destroyed.
That's one possibility. Nephi gives a slightly different response in 1 Nephi chapter 17 as he discusses this same issue. Speaking of the Israelites, he said, And after they had crossed the river Jordan, he did make them mighty unto the driving out of the children of the land, yea, unto the scattering them to destruction. And now do ye suppose that the children of this land, who were in the land of promise, who were driven out by our fathers, do ye suppose that they were righteous?
Behold, I say unto you, Nay. Do you suppose that our fathers would have been more choice than they if they had been righteous? I say unto you, Nay.
Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one, he that is righteous is favored of God. But behold, this people had rejected every word of God, and they were ripe in iniquity, and the fullness of the wrath of God was upon them. And the Lord did curse the land against them, and blessed unto our fathers. Yea, he did curse it against them unto their destruction, and he did bless it unto our fathers, unto their obtaining power over it. Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited, and he hath created his children that they should possess it.
And he raiseth up a righteous nation and destroyeth the nations of the wicked. If we were to summarize what Nephi just said in six verses into one sentence, perhaps he's saying that the current inhabitants of the land had become so wicked that the full wrath of God was upon them. And God commanded the Israelites to destroy wickedness to make way for righteousness.
It may also be that the Lord was speaking to his people at that time in a language they could understand. While to us talk of annihilating nations sounds horrific, maybe in that time and place when such conquests frequently took place, it meant something different to them than it does to us today, especially since it seems that in some cases the nations actually weren't destroyed. Another possibility is that we just can't understand why Christ would command this. In Isaiah 55, 8, and 9, the Lord says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Perhaps from the Lord's eternal perspective, this looks very different than it does to us. For me, I see someone dying and it feels like a very harsh consequence. But maybe for God, who sees people both in this world and in the next, it feels different. Perhaps to him it's more like, okay, you're in timeout now.
I'm going to have to send you to another room to give you the opportunity to reset and start over. I'm not saying that's exactly the case, but maybe there are some different ways that God is thinking that we just don't see. Here's another example of God's greater perspective. In the days of Noah, the Lord destroyed the wicked with a flood.
We might view this as being a cruel action, but perhaps the people had become so wicked that from the Lord's perspective, he thought, why would I send all my precious babies to homes where they're going to grow up in an evil environment? We just need to start over. We've explored a few possibilities, and some of us might feel like the Lord's actions with the Canaanites still don't make sense.
It's okay to struggle with this topic. People have been wrestling with it for centuries. But even in our struggles, we can have confidence in the Lord's goodness.
Let's conclude our discussion of the Savior with a sword with one more scriptural passage. In Isaiah 27, verse 1, we read, In that day the Lord, with his sore and great and strong sword, shall punish Leviathan the... piercing serpent. He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea."I love the reminder from this verse that the Lord can and will fight our battles. What's the Leviathan in your life right now? What's the sea monster that you're battling? We can find great comfort knowing that Jesus Christ, the Savior with the sword, will help us fight our battles. When we're on His side, things will work out. Thanks for staying until the very end. I want to make sure that you know there are pre-class readings for each of these videos in the course. as well as additional resources like PowerPoints and quiz questions to explore. Click the link in the description to access these additional learning resources.