A cleaver is often used by butchers for jobs that cannot be done with a knife. The cleaver is a heavy, sharp-edged tool that can deliver a powerful blow. Such heavy duty cutting tools, however, are not suitable for delicate cutting. Pathologists, for example, must slice very thin slices of tissue for microscopic examination. In fact, the slices are so thin they are almost transparent. To do this they use an instrument called a microtome. This word is composed of two parts, micro and tome, micro meaning small or tiny and tome meaning cut or divide. Many other words use the suffix tom(e). Thus a-tom means not divisible, dia-tom is a tiny sea animal with a bivalve shell of silicon; dia-tomic refers to molecules composed of two atoms.
There are different kinds of swords; epees or rapiers are thin, flexible blades designed primarily for thrusting and impaling; sabers are single-edged, curved blades designed for chopping and thrusting; broad swords are heavy, two-edged blades usually wielded by foot soldiers; scimitars and samurai are very sharp, thin, single-edged, curved blades. The story is told of the confrontation between Richard the Lion-Hearted, leader of the third crusade, and Salidin, the Muslim commander, as they met on the field of battle. Each commander wanted to demonstrate the sharpness of his weapon. Richard used his broad sword and with a mighty blow severed the handle of a heavy war club. "Ah, but that only demonstrated a strong arm," responded Salidin. Then he had a servant throw a silk scarf in the air and as it floated down he held out his scimitar and the scarf parted into two pieces as it fell across the blade. "Now that is sharp," he observed.
The Bible describes the Word of God as a sharp, two-edged sword that is capable of doing a lot of damage, such as cleaving apart joints and bones as well as piercing through the heart. This sword, however, is not applied to the physical body but to the spiritual. It exposes the very thoughts and intents of the human mind; it reveals the secret affections and motives of the heart even to the dividing of soul and spirit. That sword reveals all, nothing can be hidden from God; He sees into our innermost being. Also, Jesus said He had not come to bring peace, but a sword, and this sword would divide sheep from goats and wheat from tares; He said His sword would divide families, parents and children, husbands and wives; His sword would cut across all boundaries of race and culture. His sword of truth is so powerful that it will determine the eternal destiny of humans and angels. The sword of truth in the hands of God is the "divine cleaver."
