Swords take many forms. Take, for example, a mother’s fierceness in protecting her children. Proverbs 31 speaks of women, clothed in strength and speaking in wisdom. There is fierceness in love which is,
as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away –Song of Songs 8: 6-7
And there are outright acts of spiritual warfare where thoughts are taken captive (2 Corinthians), bound prisoners are set free (Isaiah 61), and demonic oppression is broken (e.g. Mark 4: 36- 5: 15). We see people who “through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight....”(Hebrews 11: 33, BSB). These are ordinary people, clothed in God, positioned in time and in the world, to carry out a mission of loving God and loving people.
This is another version of what we see in Micah 6:8,
And what does the Lord require of you except to be just, and to love [and to diligently practice] kindness (compassion), and to walk humbly with your God. (AMP)
Kindness, love, compassion, justice, humility—these are powerful expressions of the heart of God and powerful acts of His kingdom on earth. It is how we meet the broken, and afraid, the ones who are alone or in need.
