What is on your wrist, where it comes from, and what to say when someone asks.
Sooner or later someone will look at your wrist and ask what the symbol means. You can answer in one breath.
It is the sword of the archangel Michael over the serpent. It reminds me which side I stand on.Fifteen seconds
The rest of these pages is the long answer. It follows the watch itself: the dial, twelve o'clock, the clasp, the caseback.
The sword on your dial belongs to Michael, the archangel. In Hebrew his name is a question: who is like God?
It is a battle cry, and the answer is no one.
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not.Revelation 12:7–8
Notice how he wins. When Michael faced the devil, Scripture says he would not even condemn him in his own name.
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.Jude 9
The strongest soldier in heaven fights in Someone else’s name.
That is why this symbol is a standard to live by. It is not a charm. The watch asks nothing of Michael and promises no protection. It shows a fight, and whose fight it is.
Under the point of the sword there is a serpent. It is the oldest enemy in the Bible, and the first promise in the Bible is about its end.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.Genesis 3:15
The sword points down because the matter is settled.
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.Romans 16:20
Across the sword hangs a scale. For centuries painters have shown Michael holding one.
It is there for the day everything is weighed.
Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.Daniel 5:27
And it is there for every ordinary day before that one: the invoice, the promise, the word you gave.
A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.Proverbs 11:1
A man is measured by the weights he uses when nobody checks.
At twelve, above everything else on the dial, there is a cross.
It stands above the sword for a reason. The decisive battle was fought there, and it was won without one.
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.Colossians 2:15
The man who wears this takes a side in a fight that is already decided.
The night He was arrested, Jesus told His disciples to buy a sword. A few hours later He told Peter to put his away.
He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.Luke 22:36
Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.Matthew 26:52
Both sentences are in the Gospels, and Christians have wrestled with them for two thousand years. Three things are plain in Scripture. Open each.
Many Christians add one more thing. Even a just fight leaves a wound, and a man brings it to God as a wound. He does not wear it as a medal.
Am I defending the innocent, or is this anger dressed as a just cause?
Paul lists the equipment of a Christian. Only one piece is for attack.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.Ephesians 6:17
The rest is armour, and the fight it is made for is not against people.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.Ephesians 6:12
Pick up your sword. It is on your shelf.
Turn your wrist over. Many watches carry a crown on the clasp. Yours carries a cross.
A crown on a clasp says the man wearing it is king. A cross says who the King is.
Open the clasp and you find two words that only you will read.
GOD'S TIME
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.Ecclesiastes 3:1
You close those words over your wrist every morning. That is the whole ritual.
The back of the watch rests on your skin. Nobody else sees it.
STAND FOR THE TRUTH
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.Ephesians 6:14
In Paul’s list truth comes first. It is the belt, and everything else hangs on it. The instruction is to stand. He does not say win.
For centuries soldiers, policemen and paratroopers have carried the image of Michael. They are men whose work is to stand between danger and other people.
A father does the same work without a uniform. That is why this is a watch a father gives a son. It says what kind of man the family expects him to be.
A watch cannot fight for you, and it will not protect you.
You chose to be reminded. Many times a day your eyes go to your wrist. Now there is something there to meet them.
A symbol deserves a watch that lasts as long as it does. This is what yours is made of.