Sharp Sword , Part 1

May 22

Read: Hebrews 4:12-13

Sharp Sword , Part 1

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (v.12,13)

The majority of the time that we hear this verse it is disconnected from the larger section of scripture that it occurs in. It is more often than not reduced to being simply about the bible. The reality is that when we stumble upon this passage in the midst of reading the scriptures we realize it is MUCH bigger than simply a verse telling us we should “read the bible”, or that the “the bible hits us in the deepest parts of who we are”, or anything else like that. Lets look at where this passages pops up. (This is “in context”)

The image embedded into this entire example is the people of God having come out of slavery in Egypt and finding themselves at the entrance to the promised land. They were scared. They were afraid of the unknown…of the giants… of their enemies / Pharaoh. God had good things in store for them in the promised land; but the lack of confidence, belief, and trust in God combined with fearing the “giants of the land” more then God Most High led an entire generation of people to die in the wilderness. (Except for Joshua and Caleb) This is called “unbelief” here in Hebrews. (cf. 3:19 vs. 4:3) They had come from brutal manual labor and making bricks without the proper supplies. God had called them OUT of that slavery… he had delivered them! Yet they were so scared they wanted to go back to Egypt and the very slavery they had just been freed from. (cf. Exodus 14:10-14) His “voice” was calling them INTO a place of fullness and rest that would give them a taste of the EVEN BETTER future they would enjoy for eternity in the Kingdom of God / on the New Heavens and New Earth. (cf. 3:7,8, 4:1-3) They doubted. They were not “united in faith with those who listened”. (v. 4:2) They knew their own ability / their human strength / their own “works” lacked the power and ability to bring them into the land. They were RIGHT to doubt their own works… it was impossible without God for them to conquer those giants! What God was saying to them was that they should trust in HIM to do the “heavy lifting”… the “work” that needed to be done. They needed to trust God to save them and provide for them. This was his “word” to them. It was a “word” that would lead them into “rest”. (See the last couple devos.) The “word of God” is a word that is described here in Hebrews chapters 3-4 as one that is listened to, believed in, experienced, and acted upon. God was calling his people out of slavery into abundance in the promised land, NOT calling them out of slavery to leave them in the wilderness. This is the backdrop for this “word of God” being spoken of.

What we realize is that those Israelites coming out of Egypt didn’t even have “the bible” the way that we have it. They maybe had the book of Job written by the time they were in Egypt…but that is it. When they are called to “listen to the voice of the Lord” it is not about reading the bible. The point is that the “word of God” being referred to here in Hebrews 4 is definitely greater than simply the bible alone. The word of God for those Israelites was something more mysterious and powerful. It was a word of God experienced in tangible ways - such as through miracles. (In this case, the 10 plagues and God’s protection in the midst of them.) It is a word of God delivered through his people. (In this specific example it was Moses and Joshua.) It is a word of God that is “alive” in us… it is “living and active” word of God deep within us… “where our soul and spirit meet” or where our “joints and marrow” connect.

So we must start - as the people of God - with a broader understanding of “the word of God” as it occurs here in Hebrews 4:12,13. We must embrace the fact that there is a deep and intimate way that God can and does communicate with his people that is IN ADITION to the scriptures… NOT replacing them. The word of God must not be reduced to only the bible. There is a word of God that is “living and active” and it cuts like a sword. It is a word of God that divides the deepest parts of us… cuts to the core. It is a word of God that knows our heart and our intentions and then speaks to us in light of this truth. This is one of the ways that we can discern if a voice speaking to us is indeed the Lord: is it living, active, sharp, dividing the deep parts of us, and speaking directly to our thoughts and the intentions of our heart? Then it is likely the word of God. This is the sort of word that God is giving to his people. It is what he gave to those coming out of slavery in Egypt and it is what he is giving to us coming out of our slavery to sin. “For good news came to us just as to them…” (v.4:2) Sometimes this word of God comes from reading the scriptures, other times through his Spirit within us, and other times through his people. Whatever the pathway, God still speaks to his people. He is calling us out of slavery and into a promised land. It is not his goal to leave you or I in the wilderness. His word will guide us forward. He is speaking today, let us listen. More to come. (Part 2 is on the way) Love you guys! - JDP