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endowed with the attributes of God, with whom it is identified in the next verse.
The thrust of the passage is that
Gods written word, which tells of Israels fall, must be
heeded. It is no dead letter. It cannot be trifled with (cf.
Deut. 32:46-47). To the contrary, it is living. It partakes of
Gods life; as He is the living God (3:12), so it is the living and abiding word
of God (1 Pet 1:23). It is, therefore,
inherently active, constantly working His will, never returning to Him empty,
always accomplishing His purpose (cf.
Isa. 55:11) (Lightfoot 98).
The form of expression is poetical, and signifies that the
word penetrates to the inmost recesses of our spiritual being as a sword cuts
through the joints and marrow of the
body (Vincent 428).
The sense is, that the truth of God is all-penetrating and
searching; that the real thoughts and intents of the heart
will be brought to light, and that if there is insincerity and
self-deception, there can be no hope of escape (Barnes
103).
CHRIST, SUPERIOR TO JOSHUA 4:1-13
105
Another analysis would suggest that the word of God is
indeed a personal reference to Christ. Let us address first the
crux of the matter and then examine the key phrases of these
two verses. The last part of verse 12 and all of verse 13 speak of
Deity; Deity is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart (4:12b)22 and has a thoroughly penetrating view of us
(4:13a); it is to Deity that we are accountable (4:13b). There are
certainly personal references in verse 13 (His and Him), but
the key question involves who in verse 12 is the antecedent, God
or Christ, the Word? Those who maintain that the word of God