“Is not My word like a fire” says the LORD,
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”
Jeremiah 23:29
Jeremiah is known as the “weeping prophet” who was rejected by the king of Judah and who lived through the taking of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.
In this portion of Jeremiah’s writings, he records the Lord speaking out against. false prophets. Ones that say their words are from the Lord but are not. God relates to Jeremiah the power and strength of His word. It is like a fire; it is like a hammer.
When I think of these two physical references to His word, several things come to mind. Fire can be thought of as that which destroys, or it can give warmth. A hammer that can be used to beat rocks into pieces, destroying them, but can also be used to build up something!
The word of God can be used like a fire to destroy the false notions concerning our relationship with Him. The fire of His word can set ablaze our sin, revealing it to us, making us aware of the destruction that will occur if we do not escape. But the fire of His word also reveals to us the Cross where Gods Son suffered the flames of our sin giving us a way of escape.
It can also be a means of testing of where we are in our relationship with Him. But also, the fire of His word can give us warmth in our daily walk. It can light the way and draw us closer to Him.
What about his word being like a hammer? The hammer of His word is the means by which He breaks down our resistance to His will for us. How many times was the “word” used to guide us to salvation and we rejected. The hammer of his word continued to chip away at our rejection until we could reject Him no more. The hammer of His word breaks away our rejection. But the hammer of His word also builds us up, driving truth into our very soul. The hammer of His word has placed us on a firm foundation.
“Is not My word like a fire” says the LORD,
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”
Jeremiah 23:29
His word is like a fire and a hammer! Just a thought for the morning.
Carl
