Reading the Bible – Heb. 4:12
Servant
School
October
14, 2021
Introduction
Welcome to our “Reading the Bible” class
We are on a journey that I hope will lead you into a lifelong habit of
reading your Bible every day.
Today I’d like to share
a short study from Hebrews 4:12 and talk about the nature of the Bible.
But before we look at the actual verse, let me set the stage of where this
verse occurs in Scripture.
The author of
Hebrews has been teaching his readers by pulling principles from Psalm 95.
He does this
throughout Hebrews 3&4.
Psalm 95 is
about how the Israelites in the wilderness had lacked “faith”, and that’s why one entire
generation did not make it into the “rest” which would be found in the promised
land.
Then the author gives a summary lesson from what he’s been teaching about
with Israel in the wilderness:
(Hebrews 4:11 NKJV) Let us
therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the
same example of disobedience.
It’s at this point that we get another gem from the author, reminding them
where he got his exhortation from, from God’s Word itself (Psalm 95) -
:12 For the word of
God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and
is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
We’ll take it apart phrase by phrase…
:12 the word of God
word – logos
– of speech; a word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or
idea; what someone has said; discourse; doctrine, teaching
What is the “word of God”?
It is what God speaks, including:
The Bible
Last week we looked at:
(2 Timothy 3:16–17 NKJV)
—16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, 17
that
the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
New Testament
The New Testament has the same
power, even more, than the Old Testament.
We see it in the Gospels, in the
actual words of Jesus:
(Matthew 7:28–29 NKJV) —28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the
people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He
taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
We see it in the writings of Paul.
Peter wrote that
he considered the writings of Paul to be on the same level as the rest of
Scripture. (2Pet. 3:15-16)
(2 Peter 3:15–16 NKJV) —15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is
salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to
him, has written to you, 16 as also in
all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things
hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their
own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
Prophetic words
Even though we primarily think of the Scriptures as being the “word of
God”, God still speaks today through the gift of prophecy.
Prophecy isn’t just about predicting things in the
future. It is primarily speaking for
God. God knows the future, so sometimes
the future is mentioned, but it is primarily speaking for God.
Paul wrote about what would happen to a visitor if the
entire church learned to “prophesy”:
(1 Corinthians 14:3 NKJV) But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and
comfort to men.
(1 Corinthians 14:24b–25 NKJV) —24b …he is
convinced by all, he is convicted by all. 25 And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling
down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among
you.
The danger of
prophetic words comes when we do not do our responsibility, which is to “judge”
the words spoken and make sure they are truly from God.
(1 Corinthians 14:29 NKJV)
Let
two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.
Just as in the days of the Old Testament, people will
claim to speak for God and exercise authority to tell you what you should do,
when God in fact hasn’t spoken.
We need to be careful and discern these things.
:12 is living
and powerful
living – zao –
to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead); to enjoy real
life; to live i.e. pass life, in the manner of the living and acting; metaph.
to be in full vigour; to be fresh, strong, efficient,; as adj. active,
powerful, efficacious
word – logos
– word
powerful – energes
(“in” + “work”) – active
Lesson
It’s alive
You might
relate the “word of God” to your Bible.
And your Bible is just a lifeless batch of words on printed pages, right?
The Word of God
is “alive”
What's the connection
here?
The passages in Hebrews 3-4 talk about diligence, watchfulness, being
careful about hard hearts, entering into God's rest, etc, and they all come from Psalm 95.
Psalm 95
may be an old passage to the readers, but it was still alive in their day.
It even has the power to
transform lives today.
God says,
(Isaiah 55:10–11 NKJV) —10 “For as the rain comes down, and the
snow from heaven,
And
do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to
the eater, 11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My
mouth; It shall not
return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall
prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
If you don’t already
have a habit of picking up and reading your Bible every day, shouldn’t you
rethink that?
Do you want God to be at work in your life every day?
Get the Word of God into your heart.
I find that even when God’s Word was speaking about something 3,000 years
ago, there are times when it leaps off the page and speaks to me, convicts me,
encourages me, builds me up.
:12 sharper than
any two-edged sword
sharper – tomoteros
– sharper.
A comparative form of temno,
“to cut”. This is “more cutting”, the
idea that with a single stroke you can cut more than lots of hacking with a
dull blade.
any – pas –
individually; each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things,
everything
It’s not just “sharper than a
two-edged sword”, but “sharper than ALL two-edged swords”.
two-edged – distomos
– having a double mouth as a river; used of the edge of the sword and of
other weapons, so has the meaning of two-edged
Lesson
Use it
sword – machaira – a large knife; a small sword
There are several types
of swords mentioned in Scripture.
There’s
a “big” sword (romphaia)
Video: Indiana Jones – Sword vs. Gun
The Bible says that Jesus carries a romphaia
(Rev. 19:15; 1:16)
(Revelation 19:15 NKJV) Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He
should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He
Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Then
there’s the “small” sword (machaira)
Video: The Robe – Marcellus Sword Fight
The machaira was designed
for close combat.
It was both an offensive weapon as well as a
defensive weapon.
It could
cut your enemy, but it could also counter your enemy’s blows.
Paul calls God’s Word the sword that each
believer needs to have as part of his spiritual armor.
(Ephesians 6:17 NKJV) And take the
helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
The Bible is a sharp
tool.
Sometimes we are facing a spiritual enemy, and we need an effective weapon.
When Stephen was on trial before the Sanhedrin for preaching about
Jesus, he used the Scriptures for his defense.
Listen how God’s Word worked:
(Acts 7:54 NKJV) When they
heard these things they were cut
to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
Sometimes the situation doesn’t call for a sword as much as for a
scalpel. Our goal should not be to
destroy people, but to see them changed, to see them healed.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and gave a sermon
to the crowd. He quoted one scripture
after another. Look at the response:
(Acts 2:37 NKJV) Now when
they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the
apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
Be careful about not sharing God’s word with a skeptic.
“It’s not going to affect
me”, they say, “I don’t believe it’s God’s Word.”
Let’s say that I might not believe in guns.
If you pull a loaded gun on me and pull the trigger, will the gun do
anything? Even if I don’t “believe”?
Yet God’s word is far
more powerful than any gun. It doesn’t
destroy lives, it transforms them.
The ministry of Billy
Graham was perhaps the most powerful ministry the world has ever
seen. His secret? Listen as he documents his source material in
a message from 1971…
(clips from 14:00,
17:25, 18:50)
Ok,
he also quoted his wife from time to time. :-)
Yet over and over Billy would say, “the Bible says…”, or “the
Scriptures say…”
Take the sword out and use it.
:12 …a discerner of
the thoughts and intents
Lesson
Motivations
piercing – diikneomai
(“through” + “sufficient”) – to go through, penetrate, pierce
division – merismos
– a division, partition; distribution (of various kinds); a separation; so
far as to cleave asunder or separate
soul – psuche
– breath; the breath of life; the soul; the seat of the feelings, desires,
affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.)
spirit – pneuma
– spirit; the third person of the triune God; the spirit, i.e. the vital
principal by which the body is animated
joints – harmos
– a joining, a joint
marrow – muelos
– marrow
a discerner – kritikos
– relating to judging, fit for judging, skilled in judging
intents – ennoia
(“in” + “mind”) – the act of thinking, consideration, meditation; a
thought, notion, conception; mind, understanding, will, manner of feeling, and
thinking
(1 Peter 4:1 NKJV) Therefore,
since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind,
for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
There are three pairs of
things of things mentioned here and they all have the same thing in common – it’s hard to tell
one thing from the other.
The concepts of “soul” and “spirit” are actually quite hard to define. They constantly overlap each other in
definitions and usage in the Scripture.
We might say that a “soul” is our invisible human
“self” containing emotions and personality, and our “spirit” is that invisible
part of us that connects with God … but it’s really hard at times to tell one
from the other.
When we worship and you begin to sense God’s
presence – what is at work? Is it your
“spirit”? Is it your “soul”? It’s actually a bit of both.
The concept of “joints” and “marrow” are the same in the ancient mind. It’s hard to tell them apart.
The concept of “thoughts” and “intents” are likewise hard to tell apart.
The word
for “thoughts” is a bit unusual:
thoughts
– enthumesis (“in” + “passion,
anger”) – consideration; reflection;
can imply what is foolish or wicked
It is
translated “thoughts” most of the time, but in the context of each passage it’s
used in, it’s got a negative connotation (Mat. 9:4; 12:25; Acts 17:29)
(Matthew 9:4 NKJV) But Jesus,
knowing their thoughts,
said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?
(Matthew 12:25 NKJV) But
Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided
against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided
against itself will not stand.
(Acts 17:29 NKJV) Therefore,
since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature
is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.
The “Word” is like a surgeon who skillfully opens you up, then is able to
tell where the tumor is and able to skillfully remove all the cancer and leave
the organs intact.
Ever have trouble
understanding an idea in your own heart?
We often
question the “motives” of others, but we don’t often stop and question our own
motivation.
Sometimes
it’s hard for us to tell whether the “thought” has a bit of wickedness hidden
in it, or whether it’s a godly “intent”.
I hope that whets your appetite to be reading God’s Word every day.