Bible Commentaries

THE SWORD BATBED IN HEAVEN

‘For My sword shall be bathed in heaven.’

Isaiah 34:5

I. All good struggle in the world is really God’s battle, and ought to recognise itself as such.—Every special victory of human progress—the victory over slavery, the victory over superstition, the victory over social wrong, nay, even the victory over tough matter, the subduing of the hard stuff of nature to spiritual uses—each of these is but a step in the great onward march of God taking possession of His own. Fight your battle with the sword bathed in heaven; so you shall make it victorious, and grow strong and great yourself in fighting it.

II. One of the most marvellous things about Jesus is the union of fire and patience.—He saw His Father’s house turned into a place of merchandise, and instantly the whip of small cords was in His hands, and He was cleansing the sacred place with His impassioned indignation. And yet He walked day after day through the streets of Jerusalem and saw the sin, and let the sinners sin on with only the remonstrance of His pure presence and His pitying gaze. Only in God’s own time and in God’s own way can the battles of the Lord be fought. There is no self-will in Jesus. He is one with His Father, and lives by His Father’s will. His sword was always bathed in heaven.

III. The battle which goes on within ourselves is God’s battle, and is of supreme importance.—If the battle be God’s battle, it must be fought only with God’s weapons. You want to get rid of your selfishness. You must not kill it with the sword of another selfishness, which thenceforth shall rule in its place. Selfishness can only be cast out by self-forgetfulness and consecration. To count sin God’s enemy, and to fight it with all His purity and strength, that is what it means for us that our sword should be bathed in heaven.

—Bishop Phillips Brooks.

Illustration

‘There is no unholy and unrighteous admixture in the Divine wrath. God’s sword is bathed in heaven. It is possible to be angry and yet sin not. The Divine wrath is as absolutely holy as the Divine love. There is no animus against the sinner, but a yearning desire that he should repent and live; and when God strikes, it is in pity for the great world of men whom He rules. We, too, should be capable of moral indignation. It is a pitiable nature that in the presence of the wrong-doing will not flame out. But take care that your sword is bathed in heaven.’