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Thoughts of...Hard Hearts
While meditating on the passage of Scripture for this Sunday’s study, I marveled at the hardness of man’s heart toward our loving, gracious, and merciful Creator. Fallen man is born with a rebellious nature (), a dead spirit (, , ), and a hard heart.
Pharaoh is the classic example of a hard-hearted man. Oppressing God’s people in merciless bondage, Pharaoh was commanded by God through Moses on seven occasions to let His people go (, , , , , , ). His initial response was ignorant, arrogant, sacrilegious, and defiant. “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. ()” Pharaoh’s subsequent responses were to harden his heart, in spite of the pain and suffering his disobedience brought him and his people (, , , , , ). After he so stubbornly set his heart, God then hardened Pharaoh’s heart (, , , , , ).
Philistines were hard-hearted, too. When Samuel was a prophet of the LORD and Eli was the High Priest, the Philistines attacked Israel. After suffering an initial defeat, Israel brought the Ark of the Covenant into their camp so God would fight for them (). Aware that the mighty hand of their God had delivered Israel from Pharaoh, the Philistines had a collective “gut check” against God and fought against Him (). Unaware, however, that God was using them to accomplish His work in His people (), their hearts are hardened by their “victory” (). A fallen god, a broken god, hemorrhoids, and a spirited game of “hot potato” left no doubt in their minds that the God of Israel is the LORD (1 Sam 5:3 – 6:8) but those things did not lead to repentance. The hearts of the Philistines remained hard.
Pharisees were the very picture of hard-heartedness during the earthly ministry of our Lord. Along with the scribes and the Sadduccees, the Pharisees were threatened by the powerful words and miraculous works of Jesus Christ. Their response to the Lord’s compassionate healing of the man who had been lame for 38 years was murderous indignation (John 5:1-18). They reacted in the same manner when Jesus healed the man with a withered hand (), when Jesus healed the man born blind (John 9), and when Jesus taught about John the Baptist (Luke 7:19-30). Their hard-heartedness toward the things of God was clearly seen in their response to Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom of heaven (Matt 22:1-15) and the wicked husbandmen (Luke 20:9-20). Having the teeth taken out of their doctrinal traps by Jesus further hardened their hearts (Matt 22:16-46 and Luke 20:21-47 with John 12:37-41).
Phollowers of Jesus Christ can be no less hard hearted. Spiritual dullness and pre-conceived ideas can hinder our faith (Mark 6:34-52, Mark 8:1-21, Mark 16:9-14). May we hunger for the Word and the will and the ways of God, learning from those who are given to us as examples (Ps 95, Acts 7). May we have a healthy fear of God () and a soft, responsive heart to His touch (). May we freely give the truth, the grace, and the forgiveness we have so freely received (, ).
Pastor Doug
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