The Word - part 2
Last week we talked about the Word of God being like fire. Today we are going to discuss two other symbols represented by God’s Word.
THE WORD IS LIKE A HAMMER.
Sometimes the Word is like a hammer. The prophet Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 23: 29 (NKJV), “Is not my word like a fire? says the Lord. And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces.”
Once when I was in Mexico, I watched a man take a hammer and all day long chisel away at some cement until the next layer was exposed. He hit that cement over and over again, trying to remove the layer of painted cement on the surface. He would pound and pound and all of us sitting nearby could hear, as well as see, that it would take him a long time to complete his task. He had to stop and rest every so often because he was pounding with such great force, trying to chip away the cement.
The Word of God can hit our spirit and soul over and over again until it finally gets an opening to be received. The prophets that Jeremiah was speaking to in chapter twenty-three were not true prophets, as their word did not scourge like a fire or chip away the false from the true. Their words lacked power and only tickled the ears of their listeners.
God’s Word has power to change a life and break down any walls that man puts up to defend or to protect his ego or his sin. The Word, like a hammer, hits the hardness of man’s heart. Sometimes the Word must penetrate the mind, as man has a tendency to put God in a box. That box needs to be hammered at until a side collapses to let a new thought enter.
There are all kinds of hammers. Some are pointed, some flat, some sharp, some dull, but each hammer is designed and chosen for a particular job. God knows what part of His Word to hammer with and just how much force to apply.
In Judges 4: 21 we read that Jael took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand. She secretly went over to her enemy Sisera and drove a peg through his head with a hammer. “Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.”
Sometimes we need to take God’s Word and hammer it into the enemy! Mothers of Nations, pray the Word as though you are hammering it into the situation. Chip away the shells of hardness with the Word. Remember, Jael helped win the battle because she used her hammer!
Now let’s look at another symbol of the Word of God.
THE WORD IS LIKE SEED.
We read in Isaiah 55: 10-11 (NKJV) “10 For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there but water the earth. And make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. 11 So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth. It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please. And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
The “seed” referred to in this Scripture is the Word of God. In Luke 8: 5-15 (NKJV) we are given godly wisdom about the seed of God’s Word.
5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” 9 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” 10 And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.”
11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”
Here the Word of God tells us in the parable of the seed and the sower that the seed of the Word can land on the wayside, the rocks, the thorns, or in good ground. If the seed of God’s Word lands in a heart that hears, but the person does not do anything with that Word, nothing happens. If the seed lands in a heart without any roots in the Word, the person falls into temptation easily.
Some hear the Word, but the cares of this world far outweigh the importance of the seed planted. Others just choose to follow the world and neglect to bear fruit from the seed planted. Fortunately, there are those who God places the seeds of His Word in, and they hear the Word, keep the Word, and bear much fruit. Oh that we as Mothers of Nations would be these people!
Years ago while ministering in the Philippines, a friend of mine shared James 1: 22 with me. “But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only deceiving yourselves.” That portion “deceiving yourselves” hit me like a hammer and placed a seed in me that has been bearing fruit ever since. I realized that I could receive a Word from God through Scripture or prophetically, and if I did not respond to it and create the action needed, I could live out my life having deceived myself.
For example, if God told me to write a book and I said, “Not now, I’m too busy,” years could go by. All along I would have deceived myself as I “heard” but did not “do.” In God’s Kingdom there is no time to waste and no Word can be discarded or ignored. May we always be faithful stewards of what He gives us and what He speaks to us.
As a pastor, sometimes I hear the same prophetic Word over people year after year, yet nothing happens. Why? These people are waiting for someone else to be the doer! Let’s not deceive ourselves Mothers of Nations, but rather be doers of what we hear when the seed of the Word comes to us! That's where the fruit will be!
Dr. Sharon Predovich
