GOD’S SPOKEN WORD HAS POWER
STUDY TIP: See THE POWER OF GOD’S LOVE IN ACTION and GOD DOES ONLY ONE KIND OF MIRACLE for understanding of the way God uses his power.
It is well understood that human words have power. The power of spoken words is even greater when God speaks as we see in these scriptures:
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
COMMENTARY: That God’s power is in his spoken word is made very clear in this verse.
The two-edged capability of God’s word is explained in these two comparisons:
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- soul and spirit
- joints and marrow
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This does not help much, however, unless we understand the symbolism of these words:
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| joint | The joint is a symbolic reference to the physical body and the religious activity that is conducted in the flesh. |
| spirit | The spiritual life is the inner life of a clean, pure heart that God establishes in us when we are born again. |
| marrow |
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When we understand the symbolism of these words, we interpret Hebrews 4:12 to mean that God’s spirit has the power to divide/separate religious life from Godly spiritual life. Another way to interpret Hebrews 4:12 is that God’s spirit has the power to change hearts from evil and impure to clean and pure. Or, another way to say it is that God’s spirit has the power to change people so that they will choose pure religion over defiled religion.
Psalm 29:4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
COMMENTARY: Again, the power of God’s word is made very clear here.
Religious people like to say that God is all powerful. When they say this they do it with the understanding that he can and will exercise his power to do miracles in the physical world if people pray for him to do that. They wrongly believe that he will intervene in nature or in the affairs of men to if people pray for such interventions. They do not understand signs, wonders and miracles or prayer. They do not understand that he does only one kind of miracle and that he does that miracle with his spoken word.
Psalm 68:33 To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.
COMMENTARY: The heavens here are the clean, pure hearts of New Covenant disciples. God sends out his powerful voice through anointed true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, witnesses and warriors.
Deuteronomy 5:24 And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.
COMMENTARY: God shows his glory and greatness when he speaks. God’s glory is his spoken word. Since God speaks to our hearts, the fire is in our hearts when we hear his voice which is a refining fire.
The Hebrew word translated as talk is dabar which is a verbal commandment.
The word “with” does not appear in the original Hebrew text. It is a word inserted by Bible editors. By inserting this word, editors wrongly convey the idea of two-way communication between God and man. When God speaks to the heart of man, God’s purpose is to refine the heart of man (i.e., change it from evil and impure to clean and pure.
This is the one kind of miracle God does when he speaks. He changes hearts and minds. When God speaks and man listens to his voice, man is transformed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive (i.e. he liveth).
1 Corinthians 14:11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.
COMMENTARY: People who do not know how to hear God’s spoken voice are like foreigners (i.e. barbarians) who do not understand God’s language. Similarly, they are foreigners in God’s view also.
Job 37:1-5 “At this also my heart trembles, And leaps from its place. 2 “Listen closely to the thunder of His voice, And the rumbling that goes out from His mouth. 3 “Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, And His lightning to the ends of the earth. 4 “After it, a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard. 5 “God thunders with His voice wondrously, Doing great things which we cannot comprehend.
COMMENTARY: Hearts that hear God’s voice tremble and shake uncontrollably. When God speaks, his word flashes fast like lightning in the heart followed by loud thunder. It all happens so fast that comprehending what was heard is hard to do.
STUDY TIP: See this link for more descriptions of what God’s voice is like.
Isaiah 40:9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
COMMENTARY: Zion and Jerusalem represent the community of New Covenant disciples whom God sends as prophets to speak for him. Every word they speak is the true gospel of God which is a good tiding. They say, in effect, listen to our voices and know God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-4 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
COMMENTARY: Paul the Apostle was a prophet sent by God to speak for God to people who did not know how to hear his spoken voice. The words Paul spoke were not his words but God’s words. Paul’s preaching was a demonstration of God’s spirit working through him with the power to change hearts.
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
COMMENTARY: The tongue is another way of saying “voice” or “word” of God. God is a tree of life and his words give new life to people who quit eating from trees of knowledge of good and evil (i.e. religious leaders) and listen God’s spoken voice. New Covenant disciples love to eat (i.e. listen to) the fruit (i.e. voice) of the Tree of Life (i.e. God.)
It is also important to understand that the words of false prophets also have power. Their power, however, is to produce death in those who listen to them. Old/First Covenant religionists love to hear and read the words of their religious leaders (i.e. Trees of Knowledge of Good and Evil.)
The power of God’s spoken word to heal and save from sin may be best understood when we understand that blood is a symbolic representation of God’s word.
STUDY TIP: See this link for understanding of blood as a symbolic term for God’s word.
The power of blood to raise from the dead, set prisoners free, and save from God’s wrath is revealed in the following verses:
Hebrews 13:20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord ,
COMMENTARY: See this link for understanding of peace as God’s spoken word.
Zechariah 9:11 As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
COMMENTARY: Since blood is a symbolic term for God’s word, the blood of God’s covenant means the word of his covenant. The waterless pit is religion. Religion is waterless because it lacks the healing, refreshing water of God’s word.
Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
COMMENTARY: See JUSTICE MAKES THINGS RIGHT for understanding of what it means to be justified. Justification by Jesus’ blood means justification by God’s words spoken by Jesus.
Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
COMMENTARY: The blood (i.e. words) of any messiah — not only Jesus — has the power to change evil, impure, religious hearts into clean, pure hearts.
Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood
COMMENTARY: Jesus was a messiah and a witness. It can be said that he is the firstborn of the dead because he was religious before he was anointed. Messiahs are rulers of kings because their words have the power to change the hearts of religious people — even the hearts of religious leaders (i.e. Kings, Queens and Princes.)
Jesus’ blood is not physical blood of a human person. Blood is a symbolic reference to God’s spoken word which has the power to Blood is a symbolic reference to God’s spoken word which has the power to change hearts of religious people so that they will stop practicing the sin of religion.***
These verses all clearly state the power of God’s spoken word.