Devari, not the Word (davar)

Scripture is not a magic book

I was just looking through images I have picked up for possible future use, and this one struck me. As I looked on it, large and gorgeous in the middle of my Studio Display, the Holy Spirit clearly said in my mind, “Devari!” It sounded familiar so I checked in Perplexity and I found, “Devari is generally given as an Indian name, often linked to Telugu/Hindu usage, with meanings such as “divine,” “godlike,” “belonging to God,” or simply “God.”

To the Spirit and me it also tied in with Holi, the Hindu festival of colors. It’s celebrated in spring with colored powders and water, and it symbolizes renewal, joy, and the victory of good over evil. I’m certain that Satan has an evil chuckle over the little twist to Holy. Plus, the Creep may have connived the devari/davar connection, as well. [There is no connection—though AI tried to infer there was.] Devari is a false God. There is little doubt that the image is Hindu.

Some in the church worship the book, the scriptures, which they call the Word. But that focus on the book is not right and true. Let’s take a look at a couple key verses about all of this:

For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before Him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Hebrews 4:12–13 RSV

The Complete Jewish Bible translation does it a little better.

¹² See, the Word of God is alive! It is at work and is sharper than any double-edged sword —
it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joints meet marrow,
and it is quick to judge the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart.
¹³ Before God, nothing created is hidden, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him
to whom we must render an account.

This is not talking about a book. Notice the connection between verses 12 & 13: The Word of God–––>Before God. In the Hebraic Word Study tool I found:

For Hebrews 4:12: The logos/davar that is "living and active" is not a philosophical abstraction — it is the same covenant-making, covenant-enforcing davar that came to Avram.

Davar is one of the most extraordinary words in the Hebrew language, and English has no equivalent. It means word, thing, event, and matter, all at once. Not as separate definitions that the reader selects based on context. As a unified concept. In Hebrew, a word is not separate from the reality it describes. When HaShem speaks a davar, the thing exists. "Let there be light" is not a command followed by a separate event. The speaking IS the creating. The davar IS the thing. Speech and reality are fused.

A common error is to define logos through the Greek heathen philosophical mess. Yeah, the same nation that took memories of the Nephilim and made gods out of them. In Greek thought, logos was a technical term: the rational principle that ordered the universe, the abstract logic behind all things. It is much more than that. John carefully redefined logos incorporating the living power of davar. It’s more accurate to say that Yeshua obeyed the davar sent within Him.

The davar here is not the Bible—as a book you open. It is YHWH’s directive — issuing from his inner sanctuary (devir), alive and moving, accomplishing what it was sent to do. In the context of Hebrews 3-4 (the wilderness generation, the katapausis/rest), the davar is the same word that called Israel out of Egypt, drove them through the midbar (wilderness), and which they hardened their hearts against. That same living davar now probes the [trusting (faith)-ed.] community — not to condemn but to disclose: Are you entering rest or are you the wilderness generation again?

The sword metaphor (machaira) in Hebrew prophetic context recalls the cherev — the instrument that divides covenant-keepers from covenant-breakers in the camp (cf. Exodus 32:27-28). The davar that divides nefesh (a living being) and ruach (the Breath of the father) is doing the work of covenant discernment, not surgical anatomy.

This is true throughout the New Covenant. The Word is always about HaShem, living and active, accomplishing His work. Yeshua was completely obedient to the Word. That’s why the Sword of the Spirit is the Rhema of God, not the logos, and certainly not merely the book. So also, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the rhema of God.”

The Bible will not save you or keep you safe!

That role has been given to the Messiah, Yeshua, and the Spirit who He has asked the Father to send within us. That Spirit is the Breath of the Father, and it carries the power of Almighty God. There is nowhere that tells us that the scriptures save us. They are wonderful, helpful, wise, but God is much larger than the scriptures—and they (the book) cannot replace Him.

However, the author of the scriptures is the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit)

If you ask the Spirit (the Breath of God) to explain what you are reading, He will do that at a level that will astound you. If you try to figure it out, you quickly get lost. This is the problem with man-made doctrine. Intellectual reasoning is nearly anathema to reality. God’s ways are much higher (far above) man’s logic. After we get our spiritual bodies it will be fun, because we will have much more direct access to Truth—we will be consciously married to Him.

Much of the problem in the church today is manmade doctrine and human policy. Stuff like: God doesn’t talk to people today—or—the Bible is our only source of objective Truth. Spectator church events. Meeting only weekly. Hogwash!

This is why the Father and the Son sent us the Holy Spirit. He gives us direct access to all of Elohim. The Bible is the record written and compiled by the Holy Spirit through men and women of God. That same spirit had Paul write: in the Messiah there is no male or female.

Let’s finish with John 5:39-40. Jesus is speaking:

You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life;
and it is they that bear witness to me; [verse 39}

This is the focus of the evangelical church today—it’s the core of what they talk about. But the strong rebuke that follows is rarely, if ever, mentioned.

yet you refuse to come to ME that you may have life.

Jesus is where life is found. Turn to Him. Devari will not help you. It’s a false god. We need the Breath of the Father (Ruach HaKodesh)—what most translations call the Holy Spirit. The scriptures are meant to cause us to turn to the Lord to find life.