The Lightsaber

The little boy got a lightsaber for Christmas. He was thrilled! It lights up, makes a wha-wha noise, and looks cool. And, it’s a sword! What’s better than a sword that lights up lime green? The neatest gift ever.

As I watched this particular child showing off his sword, I thought about a sword that lights up.

Light and sword.

Biblical words.

Light

• On the very first day of creation, God created light and separated it from darkness. (Genesis 1:3-4)
• God is light, and in him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5).
• Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105).
• That was the true Light (Jesus), which lighteth every man that cometh into the world (John 1:9).

Sword

• For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
• And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

I think of swords and light together, and the first time it comes to mind is when Gideon’s small army, in the power of God, went up against the huge host of the Midianites and Amalekites. They had a torch in a pitcher in one hand and a trumpet in the other. Light and a sword . . . but this sword was the Lord’s! And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath (Judges 7:20-22).

The Bible says that God gave victories to Israel through the sword and the light from His face: For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them (Psalm 44:3).

So, the next time we see a child playing with a lightsaber, we can think about God’s Word, the victory we have in His power, and the sword of the Spirit. Let’s hold His light high!