The Ancient Light-Saber

Isaiah 55:8-11 

⁸ “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
      “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
 ⁹ For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
      so my ways are higher than your ways
      and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

 ¹⁰ “The rain and snow come down from the heavens
      and stay on the ground to water the earth.
   They cause the grain to grow,
      producing seed for the farmer
      and bread for the hungry.
 ¹¹ It is the same with my word.
      I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
   It will accomplish all I want it to,
      and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

This passage is famous among those in my congregation--at least the thought of verse 11. (They usually quote it in the KJV which says the word will not return void.) It is a powerful declaration of faith in the scriptures. All one needs is to read the Bible and they will have all they need to be saved, right?

God's Word is powerful. It is likened to a sword in other passages. But this sword is not just any sword, it is the sharpest sword ever created. It is so sharp that it does not bother with the physical and cuts right through to the spiritual life.

God's Word is powerful. It is likened to light in other passages. But this light is not just a little candle, it is brighter than the noonday sun. Where the Word shows up, there is no place that darkness can linger. Everything is exposed and compared to the truth. We are left with this decision to make: follow or ignore the truth.

So then we have the Word of God, which I say is a light-saber. Piercing the soul and illuminating the darkness in one package. Not only that, but when it pierces you, it leaves the wound perfectly sterilized. Allowing the victim to heal and come away from the dark side into God's marvelous light.


However, the question is not whether God's Word is powerful. The question is, Does God's Word stand on it's own? The answer is no, it does not.


Troubled? Don't be, just read the context of verse 11 and my argument comes clear. It is not God's verbiage that stands alone, it is God's sovereignty that does.


Why does verse 10 talk about rain and snow? What does that have to do with the Bible? Does verse 8 relate only to God's Word, or is it broader? I argue that it is much broader than just God directing His Word, God is in the business of directing the lives of men.


Consider the rain; when a storm approaches from the horizon it is dark and ominous. Barometric pressures build and release. Soon thunders clash and lighting brightens the world only to leave it back in darkness again. A rainstorm could be a frightening thing. Why did primitive farmers welcome the rain? Because the rain created the perfect atmosphere for the seed to take root and grow.


When literal rain comes into our lives, things change. We take routes that put us under maximum cover. We pull out raincoats and umbrellas. We choose to wear galoshes rather than flip-flops. We drive slower and turn on our lights--or perhaps we choose not to go out at all. Our lives are affected.


So God, in His Sovereignty, brings spiritual rainstorms into our lives to prepare them for His Word. It is too simplistic to think that all one needs is to have Bible verses belted at them. We need a personal touch from a personal God. After all, He is the Master wielding His light-saber.