“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 joints and marrow…” Hebrews 4:12
“Now out of His mouth goes a sharp, two-edged sword, that with it He should strike the nations..” Revelation 19:15
What do these two scriptures have in common? Well, we know that they both obviously talk about a sword. More than this, It talks directly about Jesus. The Hebrews passage says, “the word of God” and we know from John 1 and Rev. 19:13 that Jesus is called the word of God. The Revelation passage is directly talking about Jesus’ rulership of the nations and His complete Lordship of them (see Psalm 2). But more than that, the conclusion I am drawing from the juxtaposition of these two passages is that they are literal in their application and in their fulfillment. “Piercing even to the division,…..joints and marrow.” How many times have I read this passage with a ho-hum interpretation that I have spiritualized so much that I don’t even get to the fruit of what it’s saying? Well, when I read the Revelation passage, it clicked. He really will strike the nations (and the armies thereof) with His words of judgment and they really will be divided, physically, from joint and marrow. Whoa, this is intense. And if there is any question about it we have other passages like Psalm 2:9, Isa. 63:3, and Rev. 19:15 that tell us just how intense this Man is in His fierceness and judgments. He really is the great Judge of the earth and the nations are His inheritance. I believe this is what the prophet Zechariah saw with his own eyes and I believe we will see it again, with our own eyes and I really want to be on His side when it all goes down and History comes to its fullfilment.
“And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet , their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.” Zechariah 14:12
“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account…………………seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” Hebrews 4:13-14
Nothing is hidden from the all-knowing God. There is nothing unknown by the unknown. He who first made us, sees us. He understands all things and all things have understanding only by Him. His eye sees every thing that had been even before any thing was made. No thing is hidden from His all piercing, all knowing, all powerful foresight, foreknowledge, and foreordination. And it is to this everlasting being that we must give an account, an explanation for our lives, breathed into existence only by His unending mercy. How will I speak of anything worthy in my life on that day if indeed I lived in an unworthy manner? This is pure dread, terror beyond reason, to know that He has seen everything in my life and that I am responsible to explain myself before Him. Surely this is a weighty thing not to be flippantly trivialized. Oh, but for His grace that we see in the very next verse. It is of His unending goodness and compassion that the next verse gives us insight. If fear and trembling starts the soul moving in verse 13 then love and gratitude keeps it steady in verse 14. We are cleansed by our great high priest!! We can stand without fear if truly we belong to Him (Jesus) and “hold fast our confession” of Him. Beloved, He bought us in perfection of His own nature by sacrificing it upon the altar of perfect obediance and submission to the Everlasting Father!! His account before God is perfect, irrefutible and this has become our confession. We are hidden in Christ, we are His possession forever. Therefore:
“….come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
Who would’nt love this man? Why would’nt sinners turn to Him? Where are those who preach Him thus?
