For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12 (NASU)
This verse describes the Word of God as being more than a mere “rulebook” or “guide” to godly living, but instead having a true living power of its own.
In truth, it is impossible for man to fully comprehend the ramifications of eternity. We can attempt to use metaphors and illustrations to describe such a concept, but for man, who is trapped in the happenings of time, the concept of limitlessness is beyond our own experience. It is into this realm that God not only promises, but has purposed for His created beings to enter. While we are not eternal beings in the ultimate sense having had a beginning (unlike God who has no beginning), a part of us is created to last beyond the coil of this earthly frame.
In the over eleven years that I lived in California, I was called to jury duty multiple times and sat not on one, but two separate juries! Justice, law, and the rule of order are absolute necessities for a healthy, stable society. However, the demands of justice are sometimes more than man is really ready to face.
The Jewish nation was greatly depressed by being taken into Babylonian captivity. This is no surprise – any people forced to leave their land and endure hardship under a captor would be depressed. However, this depression was affecting the relationship between the Jewish nation and her God, especially in the new generation born into captivity. They had become embittered, jaded, and unwilling to heed the encouragement of the prophet to reform.
The death penalty is a perennial topic of controversy in the world today, as has been such a topic for some time. Individual States in America vacillate between instituting and removing the practice with various election cycles (such a proposition to remove the practice in the State of California was put before voters this year).