Lightning, Swords, and Arrows: Weapons of Judgment Coming on Judgment Day
Introduction
God prefigures Judgment Day in many ways, in many verses, throughout the entire Bible from beginning to end. Some are explicit, and some are more veiled, as we find in the Historical Parable of Judges Chapters 4&5. There, God uses a man named “Barak”, which, in the original Hebrew tongue, means both “Lightning” and “Glittering Sword“, to destroy the enemies of Israel (the Canaanites) in the Valley of Megiddo. Barak is used to “typify”, or “prefigure”, the Lord Jesus Christ when Jesus will come with all of His Saints to destroy the world and all of creation on Judgment Day.
Lightning, Swords, and Arrows Are Terms Used Together to Point to Judgment Day
When we search the Bible we can see that there is a clear connection with Jesus, Being God’s Word, and His association with bringing judgment in the form of “Lightning” (בָּרָק (bārāq)H1300), a “Sword” (חֶרֶב (ḥereḇ)H2719), and “Arrows” (חֵץ (ḥēṣ) H2671), such as we see in Zechariah 9:14, “And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow (חֵץ (ḥēṣ) H2671) shall go forth as the lightning (בָּרָק (bārāq)H1300): and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.” Also please note the particular and unmistakable harmony of these three additional verses that also tie “lightning” with “arrows“, or weapons of warfare like the “sword” (or sometimes “spear“(חֲנִית (ḥănîṯ))H2595), to bring destruction, hence judgment, and in particular, JUDGMENT DAY! (and please also note that the phrase mentioned above in Zechariah 9:14, “the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet“, unequivocally also points to Judgment Day as we read in 1 Corinthians 15:52, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.“)
Habakkuk 3:11, “The sun [and] moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows (חֵץ (ḥēṣ) H2671) they went, [and] at the shining of thy glittering. (בָּרָק (bārāq))H1300 spear (חֲנִית (ḥănîṯ))H2595.
And note the consistency between the Psalm of David as found in 2 Samuel 22:15, “And he sent out arrows (חֵץ (ḥēṣ) H2671), and scattered them; lightning (בָּרָק (bārāq))H1300), and discomfited them.” with what is written in Psalm 18:14, “Yea, he sent out his arrows (חֵץ (ḥēṣ) H2671), and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings (בָּרָק (bārāq))H1300), and discomfited them.”
Psalm 21:12, “Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, [when] thou shalt make ready [thine arrows] upon thy strings against the face of them.” Please note that the preceding verses make clear that the context is Judgment Day: Psalm 21:9-11, “Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men. For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, [which] they are not able [to perform].”
Psalm 64:7, “But God shall shoot at them [with] an arrow (חֵץ (ḥēṣ) H2671); suddenly shall they be wounded.“
Psalm 77:17, “The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows (חָצָץ (ḥāṣāṣ)H2687 also went abroad.” (Note that in this case, the Hebrew word that is translated into English can also be translated as “gravel” or “stones”…and in the context of this particular verse, evidently “hailstones”, which are also used in the Bible in the course of God bringing His Judgment, as we find in Revelation 16:21).
Psalm 144:6, “Cast forth lightning (בָּרָק (bārāq)H1300,) and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows (חֵץ (ḥēṣ) H2671), and destroy them.“
Interestingly, Psalm 78:48 referring back to God’s plagues upon the Egyptians in Exodus, “He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.” The word that is translated as hot thunderbolts is רֶשֶׁף (rešep̄)H7565, which is translated in the King James Bible in the following manner: coals (2x), burning coals (1x), burning heat (1x), spark (1x), arrow (1x), hot thunderbolt (1x). So it would seem that lightning and arrows are intertwined in yet even another, more subtle, manner with respect to the execution of God’s Judgment.
The verse just preceding the one above, Psalm 144:5, makes clear to us that God is unequivocally describing Judgment Day, “Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.” Judgment Day is the Day when the elements will melt with fervent heat and the earth will dissolve, and the heavens will be rolled back as a scroll, as we read in 2 Peter 3:10, 2 Peter 3:12, Isaiah 64:1&2, Amos 9:13, Nahum 1:5, Isaiah 34:4, Revelation 6:14, and Matthew 24:35. Therefore all those people in the world who are counted by God as His enemies will be destroyed, just like the Canaanites in the Valley of Megiddo, but, even worse, they will all be sent to eternal Hell.
Psalm 45 is another synopsis of Jesus coming on the clouds of Glory as KING of KINGS and LORD of LORDS (1 Timothy 6:15, Rev 17:14, Rev 19:16) coming conquering and to conquer (Revelation 6:2) with a “sword” and “arrows” on Judgment Day (the first seven verses) and they Jesus coming to meet His Bride (Revelation 21:2), the Queen, the Eternal Church, to take Her to Heaven with Him (the last ten verses). This Psalm, to a large degree, mirrors what we find also in Solomon’s Song.
Psalm 45:1-7 “¶ [[To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves.]] My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue [is] the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Gird thy sword (חֶרֶב (ḥereḇ)H2719) upon thy thigh, O [most] mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness [and]righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows (חֵץ (ḥēṣ)) H2671 [are] sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; [whereby] the people fall under thee. Thy throne, O God, [is] for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom [is] a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”
Salvation is also in View for the Saints (Typified by National Israel)
Earlier we saw the Judgment of God on Judgment Day foretold in Zechariah 9:14, but then there is the promise of simultaneous salvation of His people, the Saints…Zechariah 9:15-17, “The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, [and] make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, [and] as the corners of the altar. And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they [shall be as] the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land. For how great [is] his goodness, and how great [is] his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.“
God uses “Lightning/Lightnings” to Describe Jesus and His Second, and FINAL, Coming in the New Testament
Remember how, in Matthew 24:27, we read where Jesus Christ tells us directly that His coming on Judgment Day will appear as lightning, “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Note the harmony with Psalm 77:18, “The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings (בָּרָק (bārāq))H1300 lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.” Clearly this points to Jesus being both the Light of the world and the Judge of the world.
Again, note the harmony with what is provided in 2 Samuel 22:8, “Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he (God) was wroth.” and in 2 Samuel 22:14, “The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice.“
In Matthew 28:3, describing “the angel of the Lord descended from heaven”, we read that, “His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:“ Luke 17:24, “For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one [part] under heaven, shineth unto the other [part] under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.”
Revelation 4:5, “And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and [there were] seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.“
Revelation 8:5, “And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast [it] into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.”
Revelation 11:19, “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.”
Revelation 16:18, “And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, [and] so great.
Finally, back in Deuteronomy 32:41, the same word Hebrew word “barak” is alternatively translated as “glittering sword”, “If I whet my glittering sword (בָּרָק bārāq)H1300, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance נָקָם (nāqām)H5359 to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.” We this also in Job 20:25, where God has just outlined what will happen to the wicked and the hypocrites of the world on Judgment Day, “It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword (בָּרָק (bārāq)H1300cometh out of his gall: terrors [are] upon him.”
Note also the similarity with the above given the military armor context of Isaiah 59:17, “For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance נָקָם (nāqām)H5359 [for] clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. According to [their] deeds, accordingly he will repay, furyto his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.“
This is all describing Jesus on Judgment Day!
More verses to ponder:
Job 38:35 “Canst thou send lightnings (בָּרָק (bārāq)H1300), that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we [are]?“
Job 19:29, “Be ye afraid of the sword (חֶרֶב (ḥereḇ))H2719: for wrath [bringeth] the punishments of the sword (חֶרֶב (ḥereḇ)H2719), that ye may know [there is] a judgment.“
Isaiah 34:5&6 “For my sword (חֶרֶב (ḥereḇ))H2719 shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword (חֶרֶב (ḥereḇ))H2719 of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.“
Ezekiel 21:28 “And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword (חֶרֶב (ḥereḇ))H2719, the sword (חֶרֶב (ḥereḇ))H2719 [is] drawn: for the slaughter [it is] furbished, to consume because of the glittering (בָּרָק (bārāq)H1300):”
Nahum 3:3, “The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering (בָּרָק bārāq))H1300 spear: and [there is] a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and [there is] none end of [their] corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:“
Habakkuk 3:11 “The sun [and] moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows (חֵץ (ḥēṣ) H2671) they went, [and] at the shining of thy glittering (בָּרָק (bārāq))H1300 spear.
The Word of God Is A Sword Out of the Mouth of Jesus!
Ephesians 6:17, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” and Revelation 19:21, “And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which [sword] proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.“
Isaiah 49:1-3, “¶ Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword (חֶרֶב (ḥereḇ))H2719 ; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft (חֵץ (ḥēṣ) H2671); in his quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me, Thou [art] my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.“(See also Psalm 45:1-7)
The Word of God Is Also a Sharp “Twoedged” Sword!
Finally, what do we know about the Word of God in relationship to a “Sword”. Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged 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.” And please note how “the Word” is figuratively protruding out of the Mouth of Jesus in Revelation 1:16, “And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength.” (Note how this relates directly back to Isaiah 49:2)
But why is the “Word of God” specifically identified with a “twoedged” sword? It is because the Word of God brings both life and death, both salvation or condemnation, “comfort” and “vengeance” (see: https://bereansearching.com/2022/07/20/a-christian-perspective-on-the-book-of-nahum-comfort-and-consolation/) . We read in 2 Corinthians 2:14-17, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who [is] sufficient for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.“
Conclusion
When we consider that all of the above verses are talking about Judgment Day, we must conclude that not only does “Barak” clearly and irrefutably represent Jesus Christ, but Barak also represents Jesus Christ as Both The Judge, and The Means of Judgment coming on Judgment Day!
Some other verses come to mind that support this last statement. First in Psalm 7:11-13 we read, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry [with the wicked] every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword (חֶרֶב (ḥereḇ)H2719; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows (חֵץ (ḥēṣ)) H2671against the persecutors.” It is very difficult to begin to understand the might of God’s wrath against the wicked, against God’s enemies, on Judgment Day. But that Sword of Truth is Jesus, and He told us that His Word is what will bring judgment on Judgment Day as we read in John 12:48, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
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