The term “saber rattling” is one of those phrases you hear on the news or perhaps in a college classroom. It sounds sophisticated, but probably confuses half the audience. But you can figure it out using context clues. What is a saber? It’s a sword. Why rattle a sword? As a threat. Dictionary.com offers this definition:
SABER RATTLING, n. A flamboyant display of military power; also aggressive blustering. For example, ‘there had been a great deal of saber rattling between the two nations but hostilities had never broken out.’
Think of ‘Saber rattling’ as trash talk between nations.
The thing about saber rattling is that some threats are not merely threats—Days before the US dropped an atom bomb on Nagasaki, leaflets were dropped from the sky to warn the people:
“TO THE JAPANESE PEOPLE: America asks that you take immediate heed of what we say in this leaflet. We are in possession of the most destructive explosion ever devised by man. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29s can carry on a single mission … If you still have any doubt, make inquiry as to what happened to Hiroshima when just one atomic bomb fell on that city … Petition the Emperor to end the war … EVACUATE YOUR CITIES.”
Again, the thing about saber rattling is that some threats are not merely threats—sometimes parties follow through on their threats. If God were accused of saber rattling, you must assume He does not make empty threats. If your life is so steeped in sin that God begins giving you warnings, you better take it seriously.
“This is what the Lord says, ‘I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off both the righteous and the wicked from you. Since I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked, My sword will therefore come out of its sheath against everyone from the south to the north. So all the people will know that I, Yahweh, have taken My sword from its sheath—it will not be sheathed again” Ezekiel 21:3-5.
The book of Ezekiel contains a great deal of judgment. Some would argue the entire Old Testament contains a great deal of judgment. I would call it a message of love and grace not unlike the New Testament, but the emphasis in the Old Testament is on HOLINESS and FAITHFULNESS. God wants to rid His people of idol worship. He is refining them, growing them, improving them. And yes, He brings serious consequences to those who are engaged in serious sin. We live today under a New Covenant. There are differences. But we too must strive to live holy lives, to be faithful to God above all else, and to flee lust and make good choices. Otherwise, even New Testament believers will reap what they sow.
“God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” Galatians 6:7.
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