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Revelation 13
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. (NKJV)
If any man sends others into prison, into prison he will go: if any man puts to death with the sword, with the sword will he be put to death. Here is the quiet strength and the faith of the saints. (Revelation 13:10 BBE)
He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity
For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7:2)
I believe it is important to challenge some of our initial reactions when we read things like this. It can be easy to assume that God is behind many of the things described in the Bible, which is why He is so readily blamed for nearly anything and everything, even creating evil. What we need to come to appreciate is the design of how God made creation itself based on principles that have inherent power and that govern how reality functions. We often call them laws, but I prefer to differentiate them from artificial laws that too often work mischief and lead to death. 'Laws' are empty when it comes to self-enforcement power which is why additional law-enforcement measures have to be added in order to provide incentive to keep laws, while principles are self-enforcing so there is little question as to the cause of pain or death if one chooses to violate them.
What is described here is a principle. Threats are what artificial laws rely on to intimidate people into compliance. Threats are counterfeits of warnings. God warns people of the consequences of violating principles while those immersed in the counterfeit system invented by Satan use threats of violence as punishment against those who fail to comply with the demands of society.
What we are seeing here is a description of the operation of a principle, the principle of reciprocity, but not to be mistaken with the disposition of retaliation or revenge. Since God never takes offense of any kind, the fear of God punishing us is misplaced and immature. That is not to suggest there is no real dangers, for there are extreme dangers in violating principles. But God does not rely on artificial law enforcement as the means by which to gain compliance to His principles; the principles themselves are inviolable, meaning that natural consequences are unavoidable unless God intervenes to suspend them or use other principles to override them. The reason it is important to make this distinction is because what we believe about the cause of such things affects what we believe motivates God's decisions towards us. That is why Christ is who He is and how He does things.
Woe to you who destroy, but you weren't destroyed; and who betray, but nobody betrayed you! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have made an end of betrayal, you will be betrayed. (Isaiah 33:1)
But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him one hundred denarii, and he grabbed him, and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!' "So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will repay you!' He would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay back that which was due.
Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?' His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him. (Matthew 18:28-30, 33-34)
This story is most often misunderstood to imply that this lord forcibly caused this debtor to come under the power of the tormentors. Yet the truth is that the word used in the Greek means just the opposite. It indicates a releasing, not taking control and forcing someone but a letting go and allowing natural consequences to take place without interference or intervention to prevent it. When this story is understood correctly in its context, the truth revealed here is that it is our own sins that come back to impose their punishments on us with a vengeance and without mercy when we choose to authorize them to have control over our lives rather than live under the protection of God's love and mercy.
The peoples will take them, and bring them to their place. The house of Israel will possess them in Yahweh's land for servants and for handmaids. They will take as captives those whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. (Isaiah 14:2)
The Lord's servant must not quarrel, but be gentle towards all, able to teach, patient, in gentleness correcting those who oppose him: perhaps God may give them repentance leading to a full knowledge of the truth, and they may recover themselves out of the devil's snare, having been taken captive by him to his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26)
This last passage contrasts the two systems we must choose between. Satan's system involves pressure, force, quarreling, fighting and trying to control others against their will. When we relate to others in this way we are giving authority for the forces in charge of that system to enforce their rules and are exposed to the dark justice of Satan's kingdom that scorns mercy and honors law-enforcement.
On the other hand, if we choose the path of gentleness in the face of evil, force and violations of God's design, we embrace the principles revealed clearly by the Lamb who is the champion of gentleness, kindness and compassion to the point of allowing Himself to be violated and even slaughtered brutally while never deviating from the principles of unconditional love and forgiveness. This is the kingdom of heaven that has infinitely more power than the forces of darkness that seek to make us afraid to bring us under their control. In short, our only real choice is which kingdom with its principles of operation will we choose to embrace, trust and live under – the kingdom of law and force and punishment, or the kingdom of humility, kindness, compassion, vulnerability and intimacy? There will be suffering no matter what we choose, but the long-term outcomes will be opposite each other with one leading to eternal joy while the other ends in eternal non-existence.
he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword
If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone desires to harm them, he must be killed in this way. (Revelation 11:5)
The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your bondservants the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints, and those who fear your name, to the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth. (Revelation 11:18)
But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise. (Exodus 21:23-25)
I will surely require your blood of your lives. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man's brother, I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image. (Genesis 9:5-6)
It shall happen, when they tell you, Where shall we go forth? then you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity. (Jeremiah 15:2)
He shall come, and shall strike the land of Egypt; such as are for death shall be given to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword. I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captive: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment; and he shall go forth from there in peace. (Jeremiah 43:11-12)
Behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck the servant of the high priest, and struck off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place, for all those who take the sword will die by the sword. (Matthew 26:51-52)
Return to her just as she returned, and repay her double as she did, and according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix to her double. (Revelation 18:6)
This disposition inherited from our fallen nature is so deeply rooted in our psyche that its removal requires infinite patience on the part of God and long endurance until we finally come to the full maturity of Christ. Throughout Revelation we see this desire for revenge emerge again and again even among those maintaining allegiance to heaven. This spirit of payback in kind infected the thinking of heavenly intelligences so that they too need fuller exhibitions of truth about God's heart just as we do. This is the point of the New Song, for the disposition and focus of this Song is the full restoration of the complete light of love with no darkness at all remaining in it just like God. This seems irrational and extreme to many, but only because our standard of measure and reasoning is itself so infected with the subtle ideas invented by Lucifer and propagated far and wide that has darkened the light of truth.
Again, it is not God who is in the payback enforcement business, even when His loyal followers are demanding it. He patiently works with us to raise us above this dark view of justice until we finally come into full alignment with the reality defined by the hero of the war, the Lamb's version of justice.
Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. (1 Corinthians 15:24-26)
The enemies of the Lamb are the contradictory methods of maintaining cohesion in God's creation that violate the principles of freedom, truth and selfless love. Ruling over others with a mindset of hierarchy is contradictory to the spirit of the Lamb. Authoritarian control is opposite to how God relates to His family, and power used to force and compel others violates the will and destroys capacity to enter into relationships of intimacy and trust. Christ reigns not by force or threats or domination but through serving and loving and demonstrating how God's design can operate from within our context. When at last everyone has fully aligned themselves with one kingdom or the other, then the universe can be restored to purity, meaning that all dissonant spirits have been defeated by the principles of love alone, and all who cling to those false principles choose eternal death rather than to live by the principles of love. That is what it means that Christ delivers up the Kingdom to God. He takes all the hits and absorbs all the ill effects of everyone else's violation of the principles of design until there are none left. Then the unified creation can be brought fully back to the sweetness and unity of love originally enjoyed before sin ever began, and the Father's heart once again is the only Source of guidance and the ultimate object of affection and worship by everyone remaining.
Here is the patience and the faith of the saints
We need to be clear here that this faith is the faith of Jesus living inside the saints, not a faith they work hard to produce through their own efforts or willpower. Saints are those who come to live as humans were designed to live originally, as reflectors of God's heart. As they focus on the faith of Jesus, faith is reflected and awakened within their own hearts as is patience and every other virtue. They finally fulfill the stated purpose for which humanity was created as expressed by the Godhead before any human ever existed – to create humans in Their image and to develop a character in Their likeness so that the glory of Their love might be fully expressed and enjoyed in the more physical realm in which they were created on this planet.
Here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. (Revelation 14:12)
For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps, who did not sin, "neither was deceit found in his mouth." Who, when he was cursed, didn't curse back. When he suffered, didn't threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously; (1 Peter 2:21-23)
looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don't grow weary, fainting in your souls. You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin; (Hebrews 12:2-4)
I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can't tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false. You have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake, and have not grown weary. (Revelation 2:2-3)
I know your works, your love, faith, service, patient endurance, and that your last works are more than the first. (Revelation 2:19)
Because you kept my command to endure, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, which is to come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. (Revelation 3:10)
Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him. Don't fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen. (Psalms 37:7)
For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won't prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won't delay. (Habakkuk 2:3)
Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved. (Matthew 24:12-13)
By your endurance you will win your lives. (Luke 21:19)
But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God; who "will pay back to everyone according to their works:" to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life; (Romans 2:5-7)
Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering works perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: (Romans 5:3-4)
not lagging in diligence; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer; (Romans 12:11-12)
that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy; (Colossians 1:10-11)
May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ. (2 Thessalonians 3:5)
For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by none greater, he swore by himself, saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." Thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise. (Hebrews 6:13-15)
For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise. "In a very little while, he who comes will come, and will not wait. (Hebrews 10:36-37)
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4)
