What Is a Hard Heart? - Hebrews 3:7-12
"So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' " See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God."
Hebrews 3:7-12
What is a hard heart? Is it not a heart that turns away from the reality of the Sovereign Lord? Often times when I think of a hard heart, I think of pharaoh and how he continued to challenge the authority and power of the God of Israel. "I will not listen to this God!" I can hear him screaming it. Yet it is interesting to me that the author of Hebrews doesn't bring up pharaoh, but rather God's people! The very same people who witnessed the plagues as bystanders, who were redeemed from the clutches of Egypt, who saw the pillar of fire holding back the armies of Egypt while they crossed the Red Sea with walls of water on the right and their left, who saw the Red Sea swallow the army of Egypt, who witnessed water spring from a rock at the tap of a staff (enough to provide drinking water for a million plus people), who saw army after army being destroyed by God's power, who saw the face of Moses glowing after he meet with God in the Tent of Meeting, who saw the manifested presence of God resting over the Tent of Meeting, and who were the recipients of God's provision, protection, and presence! These were the people with a hard heart! They were the ones whose hearts were hard! They saw the power and presence of God yet refused to trust Him at every turn. A hard heart is an unbelieving heart!!! Pharaoh refused to believe and so did the people God redeemed from Egypt. So the author of Hebrews says to the reader... "See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God."
The issue is faith! Do you really believe that God is truly God? Most of us say "yeah, I believe!" Yet do we really? Do we not struggle with our belief often? Let me probe a little deeper...
- Have you ever prayed about something but all the while your saying to yourself, "My prayer will not make a difference!"?
- Do you worry?
- How often do you think about things and act on things that you know are dishonoring to God?
- Do you ever do something shameful in secret because you think that no one is watching you?
- Do you ever shy away from doing something that God is calling you to do because your afraid?
Let me challenge you with the same challenge that the author of Hebrews offered the people... See to it that none of you have a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God! Your faith is being tested, refuse to fail!
Comments
David Joseph’s Paraphrase
Because of what the Holy Spirit has said referring to the days of Masseh at Meribah we should rest in God knowing the challenges that rebellion has brought to Israel. Forefathers witnessed the miracles of God for almost a half of century then made their own idol which led them to no place in Canaan.
A ministering spirit is only one Holy. Certain ministering spirits discussed earlier refer to this one as holy, holy, holy since they attend the throne of Most High. Suffering from a radiant glow we should be reminded that Adam first walked with God, but who wrote that for a Hebrew audience? What is interesting about this related paraphrase to the Exodus it describes is the Holy Spirit. Moses was close to God’s glory? How close are we to this glory through such a great salvation which the author claims to warn negating? The quandary is certainly faith; however, consider for a moment why a Seraphim would say holy, holy, holy if it was not such a great salvation. Ministering spirits don’t stand idol they rip a temple in two, wake the dead, and walk in Jerusalem. They hold a fiery sword at the gate of Eden and can’t be looked upon from the front lest you want to never see evil again. God’s way has been seen through creation and through alterations of it in miraculous works unexplainable by man. The wilderness was vast, cold at night, deserted, hot in the day, little to eat, and little to drink. Everyday took faith in these ventures as God provided manna. Easy enough for me to claim the words of a crucified Jew that Man shall not live on bread alone. Who is marching through a desert today? Exodus was a real event. Moses was born in a perverse generation as far as I recall. They worshiped gods of the sun, moon, fertility, etc… The pharaohs’ daughter at that time was named Hatshepsut and was perhaps used by evil for God? She was by the Nile river praying to the god of fertility, Hopi, for a son. The Egyptians believed the river to be a god and Thutmose 1 decreed every son of Hebrews be cast in the water; therefore, Moses’ Mom hid him in a box obeying the King’s order. Pharaohs’ daughter conveniently found this Hebrew baby and thought it was an answer to prayer from Hopi. There are a few views of how the story went but I’m not sure of which one really matters all I do know is the fact that God is not Hopi or Nile. Now, one would think the Jewish audience could share this opinion; however, they still find no rest in a new covenant being finished?
3.154
So Moses watered their sheep for them, then went back to the shade and prayed, “My Lord, surely I stand in need of the blessing which you have sent to me.”
28.24
A couple quotes from the Quran, Islam’s holy book. A summery from PhD Jeffery Donely states, “Moses understood what he wrote because God revealed to him the mysteries of creation. He couldn’t of known about Adam and Eve in such detail through any other means, right? Some writings were based on existing documents, personal investigations, or the writer’s individual experience.”. My feeling is if we can learn from a story about pagan god’s such as Hopi and Nile’s why can’t we use the Quran? You do believe your God will protect you from the supernatural, correct? I want to share with you my absolute favorite from Islam’s Quran:
In the Torah there is guidance and light….
5.44
In the Gospel there is guidance and light…
5.46
Glory shines and if anybody wants to go behind the curtain (so to speak) turn the page back to Ebla tablets…