Hebrews speaks of God’s Word as being “sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.”

Definitely not a relaxing passage that instills a sense of quiet rest. If you were a product of the 1st century you would no doubt have images of bloody and vicious warfare slicing and dicing its way into your mind. For the double-edged sword was the super-weapon of the Roman empire. Few armies had capability or weaponry to contend with Rome’s two-edged, iron gladius or spartha swords. It literally conquered kingdoms and laid waste to cities and towns–including Israel’s own.

It was designed to cut both ways and in particular pierce right through armor and penetrate all the way to the gut. The heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, bones–nothing stood in it’s way. It separated men from their lives by the millions. Lesser quality, one-edged swords of the 1st century were little more than improvised farming tools with an edge and operated more like hacking instruments. More often than not they could be stopped upon contact with bone. But not the Roman, double-edged sword. It could go right through your body–nothing escaped it’s penetrating power to lay cleave to whatever it wanted.

This is the imagery Hebrews is borrowing from. Can one hide from God’s word? Can one remain sequestered behind the hidden sins, thoughts and motives of the heart? Forget about it. When it comes to God’s Word there is simply no place to hide, no refuge to flee to, no citadel of the flesh to camouflage one’s true thoughts and intentions. Many in this world are very adept at polishing the outer life and keeping the sin-darkened inside a safely guarded secret. But even if it seems we can “keep up appearances” for awhile, the message of Hebrews is that in the end all will be exposed. We must all give an account in the end.