Is not My Word like Fire, and like a Hammer that Shatters a Rock? (Jeremiah 23:29)

Is not My Word like Fire, and like a Hammer that Shatters a Rock?         (Jeremiah 23:29)

These words from the LORD may sound threatening. I don’t believe they are meant to be so. They are being contrasted with the words of the shepherds, priests, and prophets of Israel who are talking out of their own heads, not speaking the Word of the LORD. Their words are likened to straw.

Rather, God’s Word is effective. Yes, God’s Word is effective in that it convicts of sin. Paul describes his use of God’s Word in this way: 2Cor. 10:4 “for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. ⁵ We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” And indeed that can be a painful process in the life of an individual. And yet it is the path to being “a new creature in Christ” (2 Cor 5:17). The point of “fire” and “hammer” in our title verse is not that they are threatening, but that they are effective in bringing about needed change in one’s life. The “straw” of the false prophets, even though preferred by listeners, proves to be useless.

But there is another point for us to apply. The Word of God is effective because it is the Word of God. Christians sometimes think their job is to “burn” people with fiery Bible verses or to “hammer” people with powerful rebukes. That is not the meaning of these images. The Bible simply is powerful. Simply and clearly present the Bible’s teaching to people, and the effectiveness of the Bible will do its own work. We do not need to turn the Bible into a weapon, much less a terrorist tool.

This is similar to images that Jesus uses in the sermon on the Mount immediately after the Beatitudes, that Christians are to be salt and light. Some Christians interpret this to mean that they are to go about spitting in someone’s eye with salty spit, or to “light up” someone with a condemning remark. This cannot be right, since it leads the so-called Christian to abandon the very characteristics that were taught in the previous verses, like meekness and mercy, purity and peacemaking. When Christians behave in this way, they are anything but meek.

No, Christians are simply to be Christians, and the effect will be salt and light as people see and hear the difference in their life and love. And, the Word of God is to be taught and shared, and the very character of the Word of God is effective in and of itself to change lives, having already changed the person who is speaking that Word.