For the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at each breathtaking, heartbreaking description of God’s voice in Ps. 29. Each one is so personal and so universal, and this is no exception:
“The voice of the LORD divides flames of fire”
This verse is translated a few different ways because, even though the word for “fire” is very straightforward, the word translated as “flames” is also associated with the glint of a blade. Some translators get creative and even throw lightening in there. But what’s clear in the Hebrew is that the verb is “divide”.
God’s voice divides.
This isn’t a popular truth, or a pleasant one. I personally prefer the idea of a voice that unifies, and truth we can all agree on.
But God’s voice divides. His word doesn’t just cause differences of opinion, it slices. In fact, His word cuts so deep, it separates joints and marrow. Yeshua is pictured prophetically with a sword coming out of His mouth. He Himself said He came not to bring peace, but a sword.
Looking at my life, I see the swath of healing and destruction God’s word has left in its wake. I see the family and friends who have been cut away, offended by His word. I see times when we were excluded, expelled, or politely asked to leave because of His word.
We don’t just say Jesus is the defining figure in history. He is the one wielding the sword, the scalpel, the pruning shears. His word slices through every distraction, confusion, and excuse, for the healing of His beloved and the destruction of His enemies.
One of the hardest examples is the time He used a racial slur.
Before we go on, please hear what I’m not NOT saying: I’m NOT saying Yeshua was a racist, or that He excused racism under any circumstances. But in His conversation with the Syro-Phoenician woman (you can read about it here) He repeats the same offensive, cutting words she’s heard many times from other Jews.
Can you relate? Do you ever feel like God puts you in situations where you have to hear the same insults or accusations over and over? The more often they’re repeated, the more tempting it is to believe them…
But by repeating these cutting words, Yeshua isn’t saying they’re true. He doesn’t see her that way. He’s inviting her to a new identity (you could call it a test, but I like to think of it as an invitation). Will she take the bait and get offended? Or will she believe the truth about who He is, and who she is?
She rises to the occasion, responding with chutzpah, and with a grasp of the truth few of us have. This woman who had every reason to be offended becomes one of the few people in the Bible commended for their faith. And her daughter is healed instantly.
His cutting words sliced an opening, and she walked through to a new life.
So if you’ve felt Him pare down, prune, or even perform surgery in your life, you are not alone. If you’ve felt His words carve a chasm between you and people you love, you are not alone.
And if you’re looking for a way to distinguish between God’s voice and all those other voices, check the edge. Is it sharp enough to divide, yet heal? Is it inviting you to reach for the truth of who He is, and who you are? If the answer is yes, it’s more than likely His voice.
How have you experienced the cutting and healing edge of God’s voice?