A TWO-EDGED SWORD IS COMING
By: Dr. Stephen Jones Posted On: 08/19/2021
Blog Post Date: 8-20-2021
A few days ago, the Lord gave instructions—and confirmed His word—to read Ezekiel 21 over the land (America). I did so at the 9th hour of the day yesterday, August 18, 2021.
This chapter is about God sending His sword throughout the land of Israel, which, in the context of the prophet Ezekiel himself, was a prophecy of the destruction against “the land of Israel” (Ezekiel 21:2). The sword in his day was indiscriminate, for we read in Ezekiel 21:3, “Behold, I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.”
By that point in time, this sword was unstoppable, even by prayer, for “It will not return to its sheath again” (Ezekiel 21:5). Whatever intercessory work had been done in the past had been complete. Judgment had been delayed for a long time through prayer, but at some point, when the final verdict is rendered, nothing can stop whatever is coming.
The sword is “sharpened and polished” (Ezekiel 21:11), “polished that it may be handled,” and sharpened, that it may be effective.
The Two-Edged Sword
Fortunately, God’s sword has two edges, not just one. Hebrews 4:12, 13 says,
12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart, 13 and there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
God’s tongue is His sword. He does not swing His tongue like men swings swords. He speaks His word, and His word is “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17). The tip of one’s tongue was said to be the point of a spear or sword (in Hebrew metaphorical language). Hence, we read of the “edge” (peh, “mouth”) of the sword in Exodus 17:13, which was used against Amalek.
When God spoke His word as a sword upon the land, He raised up the Babylonians to carry out His word with their physical swords. Therefore, this judgment was carried out according to the Old Covenant in which they had trusted. If the Israelites at Mount Sinai had been able to hear the word at that first Pentecost, they would have received the sword of the Spirit at that time. But the New Covenant sword was delayed for 1,480 years until the disciples received it in Acts 2.
That sword was largely lost once again throughout church history—except for the remnant of grace, who heard and embraced His word with New Covenant eyes. We today have engaged in spiritual warfare for decades. Our swords are tested, sharpened, and polished. The more we understand the word, the sharper it is. To know the word is to know the mind of God and His plan. Such understanding is necessary, if we hope to use His sword effectively and constructively.
I was led to go before the Divine Court and the Throne of Grace to read Ezekiel 21. The double-edged sword of the Spirit thus will have two different effects upon the land. It will no longer destroy indiscriminately, for God will preserve His people this time. In fact, His people are the ones through whom God speaks in the earth. God speaks from heaven; His people speak what they hear their Father say, bearing witness to Him as Amen people.
My understanding is that we have reached the point where divine judgment has been rendered. One edge of the sword will remove the wicked from the land; the other edge will empower the righteous with the Holy Spirit. This was the essence of my prayer in dealing with Ezekiel 21, and God confirmed that this is indeed what He will do. So I am confident that I was praying according to His will and plan.
Application
In that this chapter was supposed to be directed toward this land (America) and not the old land of Canaan, I understand that it specifically applies to America. On the other hand, the broader principle applies universally and will eventually include the land of modern “Israel” and “Palestine.” In fact, Ezekiel 22 applies this prophecy to “the bloody city” (Ezekiel 22:2), which is a reference to the earthly Jerusalem.
We know that the New Jerusalem will not be judged, for it is the heavenly city that Abraham sought. The heavenly Jerusalem is the true City of Peace. It is the city that alone can fulfill the meaning of its name, Jerusalem. The earthly city has been the City of Bloodshed since the days of the prophets. The city was known for killing the prophets (Matthew 23:34-37).
So the children of the City of Bloodshed will have to suffer along with their “mother” (prophetic Hagar, Galatians 4:25). Meanwhile, the children of the City of Peace will inherit the Kingdom along with their “mother” (prophetic Sarah, Galatians 4:26, 31).
Children of the Flesh
Recall that in the evening of August 14 God spoke to me, giving me Galatians 4:29,
29 But as at the time, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.
The next day the Taliban took Kabul in Afghanistan, which shocked the world. Tens of billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment from America fell into their hands. Suddenly, Afghanistan is the most well-armed nation in the region. This changes the entire Mideast landscape. I believe that this was the sign of the fulfillment of the above Scripture. The spirit of persecution in general is yet to be seen.
This time of persecution is not permanent. In fact, it is necessary to give lawful cause for God to issue His command, quoted in Galatians 4:30,
30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.”
Ezekiel 21 tells us the outcome of this persecution. The children of the flesh, who have claimed to be the rightful heirs, have lost their case in the Divine Court. They persecute because they disagree with God’s word. They are reacting to their loss. Hence, His verdict becomes a sharp sword in His mouth, enforcing his decrees by whatever means is necessary.
There are children of the flesh in every nation and in every religion. Islam is rooted in Old Covenant faith, as is Judaism, and organizational Christianity. Therefore, all of these will be “cast out” on some level, leaving the “children of promise” to inherit the earth (Galatians 4:28). The children of promise are those whose faith rests in the promises of God, not upon the promises of men.
The Church’s support of Hagar-Jerusalem concerns me greatly, because so many are trying to become children of the flesh without realizing it. Their claim that Jerusalem is the “mother church” and that her children will inherit the earth can only lead to disaster. My hope (and belief) is that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will cause the church to repent, change its prophetic view, and to change mothers. The time to get off a sinking ship is before it sinks.
The Blind Prophets
For many years I have carried the word of the Lord that runs contrary to that of modern prophets in the church. Few understand the prophecies of Esau-Edom. Few realize that Edom was the first Zionist nation (Malachi 1:4; Ezekiel 35:10, 11) that desired the land for himself. Few know anything about the history of this dispute in the Divine Court.
The reason for this blindness dates at least as far back as Isaiah 29, where the first 8 verses speak of Jerusalem’s destruction through divine judgment. Immediately after this prophecy, God says in Isaiah 29:9-12,
9 Be delayed and wait, blind yourselves and be blind; they become drunk, but not with wine, they stagger, but not with strong drink. 10 For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, the seers. 11 The entire vision [of Jerusalem’s destruction in verses 1-8] will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”
This is why even gifted prophets today cannot read the prophecy in Isaiah 29:1-8 with any real understanding. They have been blinded and put to sleep. The prophecy has been “sealed,” and they have been given no revelation of its contents. The result is that regardless of how literate they are, regardless of how educated they are, they cannot “read” it with understanding. How could they pray to be healed of blindness if they do not even know they are blind in this area? I marvel at the effectiveness of the “spirit of deep sleep.”
Yet the time is soon coming for the prophecy to be unsealed. The time is coming when God will awaken these prophets, open their eyes, and make them sober again. God is rising to the occasion with His two-edged sword. By revelation, we know where we are and where we stand. We know also the outcome. What is less known is the journey from here to there. It will require faith.
Faith is not a matter of thinking positively, nor is it wishful thinking. It is an inner knowing, a confidence that one has when one believes the promise of God and God’s ability to keep it. Anything short of that will be mixed with some level of fear.