Hebrews 4:12 compares God’s Word (logos) favorably to a double or two-edged sword. While God’s Word is not a double-edged sword, it is sharper than such a sword. Now some might take this text as an encouragement to weaponize God’s Word (logos; Hebrews 4:12), or Scripture (graphe; 2 Timothy 3:16). We must never weaponize God’s Word where we use it to demean, condemn or destroy someone else. Rather, we must hold God’s Word like a scalpel. The Holy Spirit does not use a sword to perform surgery on the heart, but rather a scalpel. Although cutting, convicting and challenging are involved, the purpose ultimately is to restore people to spiritual health.
“Knife” connotes danger. A knife is a weapon associated with mutilation and death, whereas a scalpel implies security associated with healing. The knife can be used by anyone, but only a surgeon can use a scalpel. The scalpel is an essential part of the surgeon’s actions, and it is an instrument that demands respect. When properly used, the scalpel can perform miracles. Its misuse can cause catastrophes.
John Piper maintains that the word often translated “judge” (kritikos) in Hebrews 4:12 does not mean “condemn,” but “assess.” The Word of God assesses what’s in the deepest regions of our hearts to determine if what is there is good or evil. F. F. Bruce writes, “That the word of God probes the inmost recesses of our spiritual being and brings the subconscious motives to light is what is meant.”[1]
Our own approach to wielding or handling God’s Word should model the approach taken by the author of Hebrews. The writer includes himself as being subject to assessment. In Hebrews 4:11, he writes “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest.” In Hebrews 4:13, he writes, “we must give account.” Here is the full context, including verse 12:
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 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. (Hebrews 4:11-13; ESV).
Given that the author is including himself in the exhortation and instruction (i.e., “Let us”; “we”), I doubt very much that he is seeking to perform open heart surgery on himself, or engage in battle with himself. Rather, he makes clear that the Word performs this action on its own, coming from the very mouth of God. It is the work of the Spirit of God to convict of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). Our job is simply to share God’s Word and permit God’s Spirit to perform surgery on us using the Word.
I have a good friend who shares God’s Word well, as if he is using a scalpel. He is not a medical doctor by trade, but he could be an open-heart surgeon the way he asks penetrating, biblical questions. His questions are like laser beams that get right to the heart of an issue, penetrating one’s own thoughts and heart motives. I never feel condemned, but I do feel assessed, even though he includes himself in his exploratory questions. His desire is always pastoral, though he is not a pastor. Actually, he’s a lawyer by trade. Now how many lawyers do you know who are pastoral?! This one certainly is. My friend’s probes as he shares God’s Word are redemptive, as was true for the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews.
The author of Hebrews desired greatly that his listeners would not be like the people of Israel who wandered aimlessly in the wilderness rather than enter the Promised Land. The writer of this epistle exhorted his people to trust in God’s Word and hold firmly by faith to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of their salvation. The Israelites had failed to trust and obey God’s Word to take the land. They did not enter God’s rest due to unbelief. Adding insult to injury, they later tried to go up to take the land even though Moses warned them that they would not succeed because God had already closed the door due to their unbelief and disobedience. As a result of their presumption, many of them fell by the sword when they went up to try and take the Promised Land (Hebrews 4:1-3; see Numbers 14:41-45).
In closing, we must not weaponize God’s Word. Rather, we must share it skillfully as if it is a scalpel. We must ask the Spirit of God to assess our hearts well so that we might all trust and obey God’s Word and thereby enter God’s rest.
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[1]F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, revised edition, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1990), page 113.
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