Template:Two swords

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There is no reason to think that the apostles did not normally carry swords. Having a sword in itself neither qualifies as evil nor as violence.

Two swords

There are many false exegeses used by modern Christians to rationalize personal doctrines to fit more comfortably into the modern Churchianity eschatology instead conformity to Kingdom eschatology. Jesus preached the kingdom and appointed it to His called out.

Kingdom Eschatology is the study of the nature of the Kingdom of God.

The kingdom is not for the dead but for the living.[1]


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The kingdom of God was a real government, that was at hand but was supposed to be separate from the world.

Jesus declared that he was going to take the kingdom[2] from those who sat in the seat of Moses[3] who were making the word of God to none effect and appoint it in real time to the little flock he had called out.

Because people often focus on what they think about God, imagining that is the definition of religion, they fail to attend to the weightier matters, another practice for which Christ condemned the Pharisees.[4]

Many even fail to practice Pure Religion unspotted by the world neglecting to seek the kingdom of God, his form of government, and the simplicity of the righteousness of God which often leads to works of iniquity.

The myriad of false prophets and false teachers[5] of the world who do not know what the kingdom is like[6] only contribute to the problem.

The modern Christian is given a historically filtered view of the early Church and how the community of Christians worked together to survive in a hostile world. The problems they would face in a none violent revolution that would change the world would call for extensive and even the ultimate sacrifice by many. This lack of knowledge concerning the details of the practical day to day ministration of a Christian community keeps the modern church from fully grasping how Christ had turned the world upside down.[7]

Christians were consistently and willingly excluded from the free bread offered by the welfare state of Rome. Early Christians were even persecuted for their separate system of Private welfare supported by the charitable Corban of Christ through the love of the people and the services of His Church.

Buy a sword

This lack of knowledge has led to many pseudo-doctrines that are not the doctrines of Jesus and sometimes promotes a false Christianity that does not comply with the Doctrines of Jesus. Jesus' directive to His apostles and disciples to buy a sword is no exception.

Was he talking to all the apostles and even others like the appointed 70 or the 120 we find in one accord in the upper room? Or did he just want them to have a couple of swords to fulfill a prophecy from the Old Testament as suggested by some?

Let us examine the text in context:

"And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing." Luke 22:35

Is Jesus speaking of metaphorically buying swords?

Or is he speaking of a real event?

Matthew 10:9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,

Matthew 10:10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.

Mark 6:8 And commanded them that they [twelve] should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:
Luke 9:3 And he said unto them [twelve disciples], Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece.
Luke 10:4 [Seventy] Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.


Jesus originally did not send the disciples nor the appointed 70 out as lone individuals but in pairs[8], what the Jews called Tanna and with the Holy Spirit. There were numerous conditions to follow meant to test the seventy disciples he chose to put their hand to the plough.[9] Jesus was getting lot of excuses from people who liked what he was saying but were putting off doing the work.

Blood and upheaval

Before Jesus began his ministry there had been a great upheaval in the government of Judea. No one sat on the throne in Jerusalem after the collaboration with Rome and the Roman form of government during the dictatorial rule of Herod the Great.

Menahem the Essene and many others walked out from the Sanhedrin. According to the Chagigah documents the Sanhedrin was illegitimatized when a majority "stalked out" to follow " the King's service, and there went forth [out] with him eighty pairs of disciples" with a royal covering.[10]

What Menahem appears to have done was follow after The Way of John the Baptist and Jesus who was the highest son of David, the Messiah, the Christ, the king of the government of God which he took from the Pharisees and the apostate Jews[11] and appointed it to the Jews who eventually were called Christians.


Institutions of men change over time. There is a vast difference between the early Church and the Modern Church. There is also a difference between the institutions of Moses[12] and those professed and established by the Pharisees or Sadducees.


Transgressors

Was Jesus' call to buy a sword just props to appear to fulfill of prophecy?

  • Luke 22:36 "Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. 37 For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end."

‘AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH TRANSGRESSORS

Some will try and tell people that Jesus wanted them to get a few swords only to fulfill this messianic prophecy. They even say the word “transgressors” could be bandits, thieves, criminals, etc. It is true that the Greek word in the text is anomos [13] which in the Greek can mean "a violator of the law, lawless, wicked". But if this is the fulfillment of the prophecy From Isaiah 53[14] then the definition of the word needs to comply with the meaning of the Hebrew word for transgressors.[15]. The Hebrew word is pasha‘ which means "to rebel, transgress, revolt."

Pompey

Judea was occupied by the Roman troops in 6 BC even though 60 years before Pompey had been invited into Judea to settle the question of who was the rightful King of the Jews.

Back in 66 B.C. Pompey the head of a Roman army had been invited to Judea to help settle a civil war between two brothers. Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II were fighting over the Kingdom of God. One brother got the idea to invite Pompey and his legions for aid to settle this dispute.

Aristobulus had made the request to Rome seeking to use its might as a world police force. Pompey eventually sided with Hyrcanus and Pontius Pilate who eventually answered for Rome sided with Christ, Nailing it to His cross.[16]

Sicarii

The presence of Rome had led to a variety of revolutionary Messianic movements, and a desire for the Messiah. Some thought the Messiah was to be a great war leader not a propagator of peace. One political group, the Sicarii[17], emerged with a focus on the militant Zealot solution. These resistance movements targeted Romans and any collaborator. Their victims included Roman soldiers, tax collectors, Jewish women who fraternized with Romans or merchants who traded with them. Josephus writes that such a group attacked the Essene village of Jedi murdering hundreds of civilians.

Gordian knot

Alexander the Great divided the Gordian knot by pulling out his sword and cutting the rope in two pieces. This method left the rope useless and divided. Judea and the whole world was in bondage. Liberty was bound in a legal Gordian knot of Rome which dominated all forms of government with force and covetous practices.

Jesus said he was going to bring a sword. This was a metaphor but a sword did come which divided the people, the goats and the sheep.

Jesus was counted by some as a revolutionary attempting to overthrow the legitimate government of Judea. He did come to take[2] the seat of government away from those sitting in the seat of Moses[3] as the legitimate king the kingdom of God. But the kingdom of God is not like the governments of the world that use force to exercise authority one over the other. There is no central bank[18] or professional standing army[19], no legislature making more and more laws.

In the Kingdom of God every elder of every family is king in his own home.[20] For the kingdom to function every elder must attend to the weightier matters as listed by Christ

Roman Emperors feared the “union and discipline of the Christian community that was networking in the heart of the Roman Empire.”[21]

The early Christians were recognized by Rome through the proclamation nailed to the cross by Pontius Pilate. When Jesus rose from the dead to stand again upon the earth, so did His Kingdom which he appointed to his apostolic disciples.

No command to disarm

Did Jesus prohibit the use of arms in self-defense as claimed by some?

In translations of Tertullian's Apology we may read, “When Christ disarmed Peter, He disarmed every soldier.”

Is Tertullian correct about this?

What did he actually say?

Read it again.

Tertullian is talking about disarming soldiers using a term for professional soldiers. In governments where men rule one over another those who are called soldiers serve the ruler.

The five prohibitions for Kings of Israel including not having a professional army.

Remember, in the kingdom of God there are no kings, soldiers, legislators, ruling judges, tax collectors, etc. because every man is king and priest in his own house. He is the legislator of his own heart and tax collector in his own family through freewill offerings in free assemblies. Samuel, the prophet, made it clear that any king who forced an offering of the people to support a professional army had "done foolishly" because in the kingdom of God every man was part of the militia commanded to attend to the weightier matters.

Jesus never told the people to get rid of their natural right and means by which to defend themselves and others. His command to Peter was to put it back in His sheath, not throw it away nor disarm yourself.

He did not rebuke the Roman Centurian nor did John the Baptist tell soldiers to lay down their weapons nor leave the army.[22].

Doing violence is "to extort" unjustly "by intimidation". Doing violence is not the same as using the power of your arm or other tools to stop or restrain people from doing harm to others is simply attending to the weightier matters.

Being armed or holding at bay with a gun or sword a murderer bent on killing innocent people does not qualify as violence. Stopping someone with the use of physical force about to kill others is not violence either. Not doing something which you could do to stop murder makes you complicit in the murder and may qualify as violence by neglect.

Clearly, the Bible never forbids a Christian from owning a weapon. We are called to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:10) and certainly, the presence of a weapon in the hands or even just at the side of a good man can and has brought peace where violence was occurring or about to occur.

When we see the account in Luke 22:38 "And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords." it is clear that the apostles did not run out and get two swords. Either one or two apostles already had swords. Jesus undoubtedly knew that but was now instructing those who did not have a sword should get one even if they had to sell their cloke to do so.

And when he said unto them, "It is enough" surely Jesus didn’t intend for two swords to defend 12 men. Remember the swords they were to get were not for that night just as the purses they were going to need were not for then but later.

Jesus made it clear that when he sent them out in groups of two before they didn't lack anything But now, take some money belts, bags, and go even get a sword too. Yes, the prophecy about him would be fulfilled but the instructions were for later.

The statement “It is enough” in Luke 22:37-39 was clearly talking about that moment in the conversation and might not have been talking about the swords at all. He may have been talking about the fact that he was finished with his list of instructions about the appointment of the kingdom of God to His little flock there at that time because he immediately left.


Sound bite arguments

One individual clinging to the idea that a weapon is evil and that its use is always violent asks several questions about when Jesus says:

"don't resist an evil person"

But that is not exactly what he said:

Matthew 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

What does he mean "Resist not evil"?

"do not repay evil for evil"

Romans 12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
1 Thessalonians 5:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
1 Peter 3:9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

Stopping someone from murdering or raping or even just robbing them is not evil. You are doing them and the victim a favor, a kindness.


"turn the other cheek"

Murdering or raping or even just robbing someone is not slapping their cheek.

Matthew 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Luke 6:29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.


"blessed are the peacemakers"

What is a peacemaker?

"Do violence to no one"

Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence[23], and the violent take it by force.
Luke 3:14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence[24] to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

What is violence?

"Violence is an extreme form of aggression, such as assault, rape or murder."

"Pacifist a person who believes that war and violence are unjustifiable."

"love your enemies"

Matthew 5:43 ¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.


"bless those who persecute you"

Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Romans 12:14 Bless them which persecute[25] you: bless, and curse not.

"my kingdom is not of this world, if it were, my servants would fight for me"

Or when Paul says in 1 Corinthians:

"For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds." Or in Ephesians:

"for our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers and principalities"

Or in Romans:

"do not take vengeance for vengeance belongs to the Lord"

Stopping someone from murdering or raping or even just robbing them is not vengeance.

  1. ↑ Luke 20:38 For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.
    Luke 9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Matthew 23:2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
  4. ↑ Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
  5. ↑ 2 Peter 2:1 "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."
  6. ↑ : Matthew 13:31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
    Matthew 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
    Matthew 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
    Matthew 13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
    Matthew 13:47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
    Matthew 13:52 Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
    Matthew 20:1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
    Matthew 22:2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
    Mark 4:30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.33 And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.34 But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.
    Luke 13:18 Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.
    20 And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
    Galatians 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
  7. ↑ Acts 17:6 And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
  8. ↑ Luke 10:1 ¶ After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.
    The Zugot were pairs, also called Zugoth refers both to the two-hundred-year period (c. 170 BCE – 30 CE) during the time of the Second Temple in which the spiritual leadership of the Jews was in the hands of successions of "pairs" of religious teachers. Tanna were repeaters or teachers while the Amoraim were "interpreters".
  9. ↑ Luke 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
  10. ↑ "17 MENAHEM WENT FORTH AND SHAMMAI ENTERED etc. Whither did he go forth? Abaye said: He went forth into evil courses.18 Raba said: He went forth to the King's service. Thus it is also taught: Menahem went forth to the King's service, and there went forth with him eighty pairs of disciples dressed in silk." Baraita, The Babylonian Talmud, Hagigah or Chagigah, 16b. "MISHNAH. JOSE B. JO'EZER39 SAYS THAT [ON A FESTIVAL-DAY] THE LAYING ON OF HANDS [ON THE HEAD OF A SACRIFICE]40 MAY NOT BE PERFORMED;41 JOSEPH B. JOHANAN SAYS THAT IT MAY BE PERFORMED.42 JOSHUA B. PERAHIA SAYS THAT IT MAY NOT RE PERFORMED; NITTAI THE ARBELITE43 SAYS THAT IT MAY BE PERFORMED. JUDAH B. TARBAI SAYS THAT IT MAY NOT BE PERFORMED; SIMEON A. SHETAH SAYS THAT IT MAY BE PERFORMED. SHEMAIAH SAYS THAT IT MAY BE PERFORMED; ABTALION SAYS THAT IT MAY NOT BE PERFORMED.44 HILLEL AND MENAHEM DID NOT DIFFER. MENAHEM WENT FORTH,45 SHAMMAI ENTERED.46 SHAMMAI SAYS THAT IT MAY NOT BE PERFORMED; HILLEL SAYS THAT IT MAY BE PERFORMED." Talmud - Mas. Chagigah 16a.
  11. ↑ Revelation 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
    Revelation 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
  12. ↑ Numbers 11:24 And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle. 25 And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.
  13. ↑ 459 ~ἄνομος~ anomos \@an’-om-os\@ from 1 (as a negative particle) and 3551; adj AV-without law 4, transgressor 2, wicked 2, lawless 1, unlawful 1; 10
    1) destitute of (the Mosaic) law
    1a) of the Gentiles
    2) departing from the law, a violator of the law, lawless, wicked
  14. ↑ Isaiah 53:12 "Therefore will I divide him [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
  15. ↑ 06586 ^עשׁפ^ pasha‘ \@paw-shah’\@ a primitive root [identical with 06585 through the idea of expansion]; v; AV-transgress 17, transgressor 9, rebelled 6, revolt 6, offended 1, transgression 1, trespassed 1; 41
    1) to rebel, transgress, revolt
    1a) (Qal)
    1a1) to rebel, revolt
    1a2) to transgress
    1b) (Niphal) to be rebelled against
  16. ↑ Matthew 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
    Matthew 27:11 And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.
    Matthew 27:29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
    Matthew 27:37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
    Mark 15:2 And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it.
    Mark 15:9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
    Mark 15:12 And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?
    Mark 15:18 And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!
    Mark 15:26 And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
    Luke 23:3 And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it.
    Luke 23:37 And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.
    Luke 23:38 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
    John 18:33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
    John 18:39 But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
    John 19:19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
    John 19:21 Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.
  17. ↑ Sicarii translates as 'knife-men' and were so named because they carried daggers hidden in their cloaks
  18. ↑ Golden calf
  19. ↑ : John 19:3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.
  20. ↑ Leviticus 25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
  21. ↑ Comment on Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Rousseau and Revolution, Will et Ariel Durant p.801. fn 83 Heiseler, 85.
  22. ↑ Luke 3:14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse [any] falsely; and be content with your wages.
  23. ↑ 971 ~βιάζω~ biazo \@bee-ad’-zo\@ from 970; TDNT-1:609,105; {See TDNT 137} v AV-suffer violence 1, press 1; 2
    1) to use force, to apply force
    2) to force, inflict violence on
  24. ↑ 1286 ~διασείω~ diaseio \@dee-as-i’-o\@ from 1223 and 4579 shake or quake or move; ; v AV-do violence to 1; 1
    1) to shake thoroughly
    2) to make to tremble
    3) to terrify
    4) to agitate
    5) to extort from one by intimidation money or other property
  25. ↑ 1377 ~διώκω~ dioko \@dee-o’-ko\@ a prolonged (and causative) form of a primary verb dio (to flee; cf the base of 1169 and 1249); TDNT-2:229,177; {See TDNT 195} v AV-persecute 28, follow after 6, follow 4, suffer persecution 3, misc 3; 44
    1) to make to run or flee, put to flight, drive away
    2) to run swiftly in order to catch a person or thing, to run after
    2a) to press on: figuratively of one who in a race runs swiftly to reach the goal
    2b) to pursue (in a hostile manner)
    3) in any way whatever to harass, trouble, molest one
    3a) to persecute
    3b) to be mistreated, suffer persecution on account of something
    4) without the idea of hostility, to run after, follow after: someone
    5) metaph., to pursue
    5a) to seek after eagerly, earnestly endeavour to acquire
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