VISION OF THE SWORD AND THE SERPENT
BY L. VERE ELLIOT
This is the
vision/revelation: I was in the midst of a great meeting hall (a church), and
the walls and ceilings were covered with jewels and ornaments, and the windows were made of colored glass (a typical cathedral
or church). The hall was full of people, some rich, some poor, some sick and crippled, mute and blind; but all had chains
on and were hand-cuffed, and no one was free (a picture of today's church, they're in church but they're not free).
In front of
the meeting hall was a large platform, with a pulpit on one side and a large cage on the other, with a huge green serpent
in it; and hanging over where the speaker would stand, was a great sword suspended by two strings horizontally; and on the
platform were several ministers, 8 or 10, clothed in clerical robes, sitting
one behind the other, one seated just a little above the other.
The assembly
looked upon these men and they looked upon the church. There was silence for
a while, until a thundering voice sounded from the pulpit, as if it came directly from God, saying, Who will declare the whole
counsel of God? And the first clergyman arose with a Bible in his hand, and when
he did, the old green serpent uncoiled and stretched out hissing against the man with sparkling eyes and protruding fangs;
and the man of God, falsely so-called, sank back into his seat and placed his Bible under the chair. And when the serpent stretched up his head and touched the sword, he said to that man, “Anyone who
obeys the voice of God, I will kill with this sword.” And for a little
while, there was silence again.
And then the
Voice sounded from the pulpit again, “Who will declare the whole counsel of God?”
And then the second man in clerical robes arose as if he would step forward, and again the serpent uncoiled against
him, and he tumbled back with fear and sat down and placed his Bible under his chair (hiding the Word). The serpent again touched the sword, and with the same remark said,
“I will kill you, if you obey the voice of God.”
And for the
third time the Voice from the pulpit thundered, and a third man arose and sat down like the two before him. And again and again the Voice sounded until each of the clergyman had had an opportunity to resist the
serpent, but fear overcame them all, like the first three had been overcome. And
the serpent smiled with his evil smile. And then the Voice sounded again from
the pulpit saying, “Oh if there were a man, Oh if there were a man; Oh
if there were a man who would declare the whole counsel of God, that these chained men might be set free! Is there not one man?”
Then a man
of little stature (meaning he was nothing in the sight of the world), ascended the platform and stood under the sword, and
he lifted up his eyes toward heaven and said, “Into Thy hands, O God, I commit my spirit.” Then he opened the Bible and read. He didn't add anything
to it, and he didn't take anything from It; he read the Word, and spoke as a man having authority. And when he had finished, the old serpent stretched up to the edge of the sword and cut off one of the
strings holding the sword in place, and the sword swung down and missed him and passed over his head; because he was a man
of "little stature"; and the weight of the sword made the other string to break, and the sword swung back and pierced the
hearts of those clergymen who were lined up and nailed them to the wall. And
a great scream of despair sounded from the pulpit; but an even greater cry of joy sounded from the assembly, for every man's
chains were loosed and they were set free! (By the word they were set free).
When this
vision had vanished, I saw another vision of the Savior in a cloud, just above my head.
He spoke saying, “Hear my son the meaning of these things. The meeting
hall which you saw is the secularized church, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. They are all covered with the jewels of the joys of this world, and there is no end to their silver and
gold. The people, which you saw, are those for whom I died, but My people are
destroyed for lack of knowledge; they have eyes, but they do not see; they have ears, but they cannot hear. They are truly in bondage and must be set free!”
“The
platform in which you saw, on which the clergymen were sitting: The platform is the preconceived ideas, having their origins
from the pit of hell. The pulpit is the throne of God; and the serpent, old Lucifer
himself. The sword which you saw is the Word of God; and the strings on which
it was hanging, mean the power of the Word to give life or the power of the Word to take life.
Life was given to the man of little stature and life taken from the clergymen that did not preach My Word! The clergymen that you saw, are men (& women) from every church who pretend to know Me, but they teach My people things which are not written in the Book of life; and their pride
and their presumption, and their worldly spirit force them to obey Satan, who is a liar and the father of lies; and each of
the clergymen try and exceed the other in elegance, in extensive writings, argumentation and the like; but they only consider
the" letter" of the Word, and leave out the "spirit" of the Word. And the day
will come and now is at hand, when they shall all perish, just like these.”
After having
considered this horrible scene, the Lord spoke again with these words, “Do you remember My words in the prophecy of
Jeremiah chapter 23, as well as My words in the prophecy of Ezekiel chapter 34?”
Jesus said, Read it. And I opened my Bible and read, “Woe unto the
shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture, saith the LORD” (Jer.23:1).
“In the prophets I have seen a horrible thing, they commit adultery and they walk in falsehood: (a perversion
of the Word of God), and strengthen the hands of evil doers” (Jer.23:14).
Jesus said,
“At the end of days you shall understand this. Woe to the shepherds that
feed themselves, should not the shepherds feed the flock!” (Ezek.34:2). “The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed the sick, you've not
bound up that which was broken, and neither have you sought that which was lost; but with harshness and with rigor have you
ruled over them” (Ezek.34:4). “I will destroy the fat and the strong
shepherds; and I will feed them with judgment” (Ezek34:16). Then He said to me, “That these false shepherds shall in no wise escape when the sword falls upon
them. But My sheep must be warned, they must be set free!” And again He
said, “Do you remember My words in the prophecy of Jeremiah in the latter part of chapter 25? Read it!” And I read these words, “And the slain
if the LORD shall be in that day from one end of the earth, even to the other end of the earth” (Jer.25:33). “Howl ye shepherds, for the day of your slaughter is come!” (Jer.25:34).
Then He said
to me, “These days shall come quickly, the shepherds shall howl, yea, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth;
but when the sword has fallen it will be too late forever. The man whom you saw
who was of little stature, is every man and woman who will humble himself or herself, and be obedient even to the death of
the cross, putting his or her trust in God, and going forward declaring the whole counsel of God! Oh, if I could find such a man, can you tell Me where there is one?
With such a man I could shake heaven and earth, saith the LORD.”
