Marrow in the Bones

At the end of the Word of Wisdom the Lord gave us this promise: “And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones” (D&C 89:18).  I’ve been thinking today about what the Lord meant by “marrow to the bones.”  The language here is taken from the book of Proverbs where we read, “Fear the Lord, and depart from evil.  It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones” (Proverbs 3:7-8).  What is the Lord promising when He says we will receive marrow?  Bone marrow is the “flexible tissue in the interior of bones” and it apparently produces 200 billion new red blood cells every day.  Disorders related to bone marrow are associated with types of cancer such as leukemia, and clearly it plays a crucial role in our body.  Perhaps that’s the message of this passage that receiving marrow to the bones is symbolic of our bodies being able to function properly.  Isaiah used the word marrow in this way: “And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined” (Isaiah 25:6).  Here marrow seems to represent general goodness that the faithful receive from the Lord.    

               There’s another way in the scriptures that the word marrow is used.  Paul wrote to the Hebrews, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).  The sense of the word in this context is very different; the Lord seems to be saying that He will cut through our lives to the very core.  This language is found in numerous places.  In the Doctrine and Covenants we read, “Behold, I am God; give heed to my word, which is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, to the dividing asunder of both joints and marrow; therefore, give heed unto my word” (D&C 12:2).  The Lord again repeated these words nearly verbatim in D&C 6:2, 11:2, 14:2.  Another passage puts it slightly differently: “Open ye your ears and hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, whose word is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow, soul and spirit” (D&C 33:1).  Perhaps the key word in understanding what the Lord means is “discerner” as Paul put it.  The Lord can see inside of us and knows the “thoughts and intents of the heart”; he knows and understands us so well it is as if he could open up our bones and pull out the marrow.  The metaphor helps us to remember that the Lord doesn’t just look on the outside appearance but sees our hearts and will judge us accordingly.  So the idea of “marrow” in the scriptures teaches us both that the Lord will strengthen us with what we needs most, but at the same time the Lord also knows us inside and out.