Introduction to Daily Blade Series

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Welcome to the Daily Blade . The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit , the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil . Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson , and they stand ready to equip men for the fight . Let's sharpen up .

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All right , guys , we're wrapping up this week where we have been doing a series of episodes called yeah , that's Not what that Means , so I'm going to cover I ended up covering six this week of the most common misapplied and misunderstood scriptures in all of the biblical canon

Recapping Misinterpreted Scriptures

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. Yesterday I talked about Jeremiah 29 , 11 and Romans 8 , 28 , and we dispelled with the nonsense that somehow these two scriptures prove that our lives as Christians will always be happy and prosperous in an earthly sense . So today we're going to crush the dreams and spirits of pacifist Christians and I'm like super here for it and it's just , I'm just pumped , okay , and I'm pumped about that because we're going to be looking at the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 5 , 38 and 39

Matthew 5:38-39 Examination Begins

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. And it's just insane the number of people that just get this wrong . So let's go to the verse here . The verse is . Here we go .

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You have heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth . But I tell you , don't resist an evildoer . On the contrary , if anyone slaps you on your right cheek , turn the other to him also . So here Jesus is hearkening back to a text that everyone in the crowd would have been familiar with and knew what he was referring to when he said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth , because they would know that that would come from Exodus 21 , verse 24 , leviticus 24 , verse 20 , and Deuteronomy 19 , verse 21 . So Jesus is referring to Old Testament law . And if we back up to Matthew 5 , 17 , jesus says this do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets . I have not come to abolish them , but to fulfill them . Okay , so with all of that combined , you could easily see how someone could surmise that Jesus is telling people that if they are physically assaulted by somebody , that they should not defend themselves , that they should just , you know , turn the other cheek and allow the assault to continue . In a nutshell , the fundamental misunderstanding of these words from Jesus is that people think Jesus was referring to physical assaults . And yeah , that's not what that means , because , in its correct context , jesus is teaching us how we should respond to verbal

Understanding "Turn the Other Cheek"

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assaults . Okay , the original intent of those three passages was to limit the amount . Again , those three passages from the Old Testament we just talked about was to limit the amount of punishment for a crime to that which would be equitable to the original crime so you weren't to give a greater punishment or exact a greater vengeance than the original crime would warrant . Okay , so now let's go to verse 39 , turn the other cheek .

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Jesus commands turn the other cheek , and that has to do with our response to a personal slight or offense . Okay , some situations may call for self-defense physical self-defense , but not retaliation in kind . Okay , the context of Jesus' command is his teachings against the idea of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth that we see in verse 38 . Our self-defense is not vengeful , okay , it's not a vengeful reaction to an offense . Okay , in fact , many offenses can simply be absorbed in forbearance and in love and it's really not that big of a deal . But let's even look at the words here . Most of society's right-handed so sorry to left-handed people out there , but if I'm going to take my right hand and hit someone on their , on their left cheek , I'm going to hit them with my palm right . But if I were to strike them on their right cheek , again , they're looking at me . If I were to strike them on their right cheek with my right hand , I would be hitting them with the back of my hand . So in context we can even see that Jesus is talking about a verbal slight , because you heard about these backhanded compliments or these backhanded words that come from people . That's what's being said here . Okay , so Jesus has recorded in Matthew 5 , is not advocating for us to not defend ourselves or other people , and actually , on the contrary , when you look at the narrative of scripture , we see plenty of examples that point to the opposite .

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Okay , In Luke 22 , jesus told his disciples and let the one who has no sword sell his cloak

Biblical Evidence for Self-Defense

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and buy one . Okay . So , even though Jesus is using metaphor in this passage , it was common knowledge that having a weapon was normal for protection and self-defense in this age . I mean , you wouldn't use a sword to garden , right , and we can surmise that Jesus would not have used this language if he was expressly against the use of a sword for self-defense . Right . And even later on in that chapter , in verse 38 , they acknowledge that they do have two swords amongst the apostles . Right , and I'm pretty sure that Jesus would have made them get rid of their swords if he thought self-defense was morally wrong , right .

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And then , if you go to Luke 11 , jesus says when a strong man , fully armed , guards his own palace , his goods are safe .

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Again , why would Jesus use the language of self-defense in this parable if self-defense were immoral or sinful or wrong ?

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And then go back to again one of my favorite parts of the Old Testament , nehemiah 4 , verses 17 and 18 . Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other , and each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built . Why would this story be held up as a beautiful thing that God's people did when they were ready to fight , ready to kill people ? Right , defend themselves and defend the work that God had them doing , if that were a morally wrong or reprehensible thing ? So if we look at the totality of the ministry of Jesus and of the narrative of the Bible , it is safe to say that when Jesus said to turn the other cheek , he didn't mean to just sit there and take a butt whooping Okay

Episode Closing and Call to Action

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. So , guys , thank you so much for your attention this week . Don't keep the Daily Blade a secret . Share it around with the men in your life . Be back here Monday to hear from Pastor Joby .

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Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go . If you want to help equip other men for the fight , share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review . Stay sharp .