It's been 45 years...

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

On August 16, 1980, My Sweet Babboo and I said our vows,  exchanged the rings,  cut the cake, and then took off on the first adventure as Mr and Mrs.

After the trip, we settled in The Rocket City, about an hour and a half out of Chattanooga.  

And for the next 45 years, we kept saying we should go to Chattanooga and do the stuff.  So, last weekend being the anniversary of that trip down the aisle, we booked a hotel near downtown and did...a lot of the stuff, lol. 

We had three days;  Day 1 was the Aquarium

Two pavilions and a 3-D Imax theater.  And lots of walking, especially since we walked over to it.  Definitely worth it.

Saturday, we had tickets for an excursion train.  

Three hours at an average of about 13 MPH, lol, but gorgeous views along the Hiwassee and  Ocoee rivers, with a stop for lunch at  a split town...Copper Hill, TN/ McCaysville GA. Ate some fantastic brisket, did a bit of shopping,  then hopped back on the train for the return trip.  My Sweet Babboo is already looking for tickets to do it again in the fall...

Saturday was our anniversary, and I woke up with 'The Top of the World' by Karen Carpenter stuck in my head.  But it was appropriate; we took the incline railway up Lookout Mountain.  

On the top of the world, indeed....

We  walked down to the historical sites and watched the multi-media presentation about the battle of  Chattanooga; lots of interesting things to learn.  The railway is a great way to get up the mountain...but it's a bit awkward to walk to and from seats in the car, due to the slant of the floor.

We didn't manage to see Ruby Falls or Rock City; maybe another time, lol.  

It was a great weekend away...but I still don't know how 45 years have gone by so fast...

Blogging Bible Study: The Heart of the Matter - Isaiah, Part 5

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

So we are in the latter part of Isaiah in our look at 'Heart/ Hearts' through the NIV 84 translation; starting in chapter 46 today.

"Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels."  -- Is. 46:8; 'Heart' is the Hebrew word that has been translated as 'heart', Strong's H3820, Leb - inner man, mind will, heart, understanding.

God is speaking here, and is about to reiterate to the audience who he is and what he does. And he is exhorting them to pay attention and remember it....cause, like, it's kinda important.  Might help their decision making..

The next verse refers to the time when God's people are restored to their land and flourishing; referring to children born in a time of bereavement but have grown up to prosperity:

"Then you will say in your heart, 'Who bore me these?  I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected.  Who brought these up?  I was left all alone, but these -- where have they come from?'" -- Isaiah 49:21; 'Heart' here is the second most common Hebrew word translated as 'heart'.. Strong's H3824, Lebab - Inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding. 

This is an inner amazement at the way things have turned around.  After a time of such extreme hardship, now not only are the people prospering but their children are as well.  It's almost too much to take in.

Still talking to the restored remnant here:

"Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts:  do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults."  -- Isaiah 51:7; 'Hearts' is H3820 again.

That's a the foundation of knowing and doing what is right...having the law of God in the heart.  This isn't just learned information; this is fundamental identity. What is in the heart determines how an individual lives his or her life.

The rest of the verses we'll look at this week are in chapter 57..the first part of the chapter describes folks who are following their own ideas of right/ wrong and ignoring God, with two verses using 'Heart/ hearts':

The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. -- Is. 57:1; 'Heart' is H 3820 again.

This verse kinda slapped me.  Righteous folks were dying...or being taken into captivity...and God says it was to spare them from evil.  And no one was considering the pattern or wondering why.  The point isn't what God was doing to protect the righteous from the evil that was coming...the point is that the hearts of the folks were so far removed from following God that they failed utterly to consider what it might mean.

God goes on to iterate the wickedness of those who were left in the land to bear the coming evil.  Sorcery, rebellion, idolatry...it was bad.

Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me, and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts? -- Is. 57:11; 'Hearts' is H 3820 again.

Who is bigger, more powerful, more to be reverenced and in-awe-of than God?  But the people of God had apparently considered another to be more worthy of fear and reverence, as they abandoned the worship of God to follow other practices.  And, again, did not consider the impact of this.  Kinda like Scarlett O'Hara...they shrugged it off, no doubt to 'think about it tomorrow'.

Nothing good can come of putting off considering God's viewpoint on things.

The end of chapter 57, however, shows the value of repentance, and the last verse from today comes from that section.

For this is what the high and lofty One says -- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite." -- Is. 57:15; 'Heart' is, once more, H 3820.

I did a quick search for a definition of 'contrite' and this is what popped up first...feeling or expressing remorse or penitence; affected by guilt

The one who recognizes his/her wrongdoing for wat it is and is repentant...that is a contrite person.  And this person is one that God will make his dwelling, to revive the heart and the spirit.

So...once God's word, God's laws, God's character are taken into consideration and pondered in the heart, the response should be repentance...and that brings God and his blessings near.

Blogging Bible Study - The Heart of the Matter: Isaiah, part 4

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Halfway through Isaiah in our look at 'Heart/hearts' in the entire Bible (as reported in the NIV 84 Exhaustive concordance), we have some very meaty verses in today's section.

Starting with the first.  I could probably do a whole post on just this one...

The LORD says, "These people come near to me with their mouths, but their hearts are far from me.  Their worship is made up only of rules taught by men."  -- Is. 29:13; 'hearts' is the most common Hebrew word translated 'heart' -- Strong's H 3820, Leb - inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.

Friends, this is social religion.  Doing the thing because, well, it is what one does.  Doesn't matter if that thing is leaving a bit of one's possession along a walking path so as to not go farther afield than what has been determined an appropriate distance to travel on a particular day, or going through the motions of a church service...of whatever doctrine/denomination...without actually engaging in what is happening.  And that can describe someone in a two-stepping rambunctious worship set just as much as in a  stand-up-sit-down responsive reading.  It's not a question of what, exactly, one is doing during a time of worship; it's a question of where one's heart is positioned.  Am I regarding the voice of the Spirit?  Listening for correction and encouragement; thankful for all the grace I have been shown?  Or am I thinking about...something else?  It's easy to fall into routine and giving everyone around us the impression that I am being pious, or am abandoning myself to uninhibited worship...when, in fact, I am more concerned about the opinion of other people...not God.  Sort of like Barnabas bringing the proceeds from a property sale to the church...and Ananias and Sapphira deciding they wanted the same good opinion Barnabas got, only they didn't want to give it all up.  Just look like they did.  (Acts 5).  And...let's just say it kinda backfired.  Because God knows our true motives.  Even if we lie to ourselves and pretend really well that our motives are altruistic.  God knows the truth.

Like I said, I could do a whole post on that but I gotta keep going.

The next verse is from a passage describing Israel's rejoicing when God's deliverance comes

And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival; your hearts will rejoice as when people go up with flutes to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel. -- Is. 30:29; 'Hearts' is the second most common Hebrew word translated 'Heart',  Strong's H 2834, Lebab -- inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding.

There is something so...joyful...about a rejoicing heart.  This verse reminds me of a couple of dreams I had years ago.  One was just a simple outing...as I recall, our church choir was on a picnic in the fall.  We were making piles of leaves and jumping in them like we were little kids, having an absolute ball.  That's what stood out to me when I woke up; that child like sense of just pure fun.  The other, which I don't remember happening particularly close to the first one, also involved some of the choir, only we were taking a perilous journey; the feeling I had was that we were fleeing government agents who were  rounding up believers.  We clambered through mountainous terrain, over old ruins, along chasms, and finally arrived at a massive amphitheater that was in the top of a mountain...like an extinct volcano crater.  I'm not sure why that was safe, but it clearly was as thousands of other believers were pouring into the amphitheater from all directions, worshiping as we gathered.  Again, I woke up with a sense of joy and wonder and, yes, a glad heart.

Those were good dreams, lol.

Here's another verse about God's deliverance; encouraging those who are giving up:

Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong and do not fear; your God will come with vengeance; with divine retribution, he will come to save you."  Is. 35:3-4; 'hearts' is H 3820 again.

I had never considered those two verses together; I'd always just focused on verse 3, about strengthening arms and knees.  But verse 4 explains WHY the arms and knees are weak; the hearts are fearful.  But if one really knows that rescue is coming, soon...that's hope that brings strength.

Isaiah 40 is the basis for some of the most recognizable bits of Handel's Messiah, and our next verse shows up there as well...at least, the King James version of it,

He tends his flock like a shepherd:  He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those who have young. -- Is. 40:11; 'Heart' is a word we have only seen once so far, Strong's H 2436, heq -- bosom, hollow bottom, midst.  KJV renders this 'carries them in his bosom', which, technically, is 'close to his heart', which is the phrasing that makes the most sense to our modern ears.

Messiah as shepherd is an imagery that Jesus himself used (John 10)  -- the Good Shepherd who truly cared for his sheep...and the sheep knew his voice and followed him.  Of course he would carry the lamb near his heart.

Getting the previous verse here, for context...

Who handed Jacob over to become loot, and Israel to plunderers?  Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned?  For they would not follow his ways; they did not obey his law.  So he poured out on them his burning anger, the violence of war.  It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart. -- Is. 42:24-25; 'Heart' is 3820 again.

Punishment, judgement,  consequences...all descended upon the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, because of their idolatry, but they put it down to anything BUT God.  They did not do any kind of self - appraisal, because that would have led them to repentance.  It is dangerously easy to convince ourselves that events are caused by circumstances outside our control...when, in fact, they are simply consequences of our own behavior.  Cain, for instance, had his error laid plainly before him by God.  Yet...he didn't take it to heart, and killed Abel instead.  It really is inescapable...what we sow, we will reap.  Unless there is genuine repentance.  Which means taking God's word to heart.

One more.

This one is in a passage discussing the uselessness of idols

He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, "Is not this thing in my right hand a lie? -- Is. 44:20; 'heart' is H 3820 again.

'His deluded heart misleads him....'  Is there a better description of the larger part of our western society today?  Walking around with a deluded, deceived heart...to the point that lies are not even detectable any more.  That is a sad state of affairs.  

And all that's necessary is...to take the warnings to heart.  Serve God whole-heartedly.

It starts with paying attention to Him.

Blogging Bible Study: The Heart of the Matter - Isaiah, part 3

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Our cruise through the Bible looking at the words translated 'heart' or 'hearts' in the NIV84 has brought us to Isaiah 19,  which is a prophecy against Egypt.  Let's just list out the verses that contain 'Heart/hearts' and look at them together:

An oracle concerning Egypt:  See the LORD rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt.  The idols of Egypt tremble before him and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them. -- Is. 19:1; 'Hearts' is Strong's  H3824, Lebab - inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding.  This is the second of the two Hebrew words most commonly translated as 'heart'.

The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.-- Is. 19:3; 'Heart' here is Strong's H7307, Ruah -- wind breath, mind, spirit.  This is the 5th time (if I have recorded everything correctly) that the NIV has translated this word as 'heart'; the King James never does. That 'dynamic equivalence' thing again, that 'losing heart' is more understandable to modern readers than 'losing spirit', I suppose.

The workers in cloth will be dejected, all the wage earners will be sick at heart. -- Is. 19:10; the word translated 'heart' is Strong's H5315,  nepes - soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion.  The King James (which is the translation the Blue Letter Bible has linked to the interlinear)  translates this verse quite differently; I had to double check to verify I was looking at the right verse.  To be honest, I think the NIV has a better rendering this time.  But we have seen nepes translated as 'heart' several times before; after the main two words, it's probably the next most common...although it is a very distant third.

In that day there will be am altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border. - Is. 19:19; 'Heart' is Strong's H 8432, tavek - midst, middle

Four verses, four different Hebrew words all rendered 'heart(s)' in English.  The first three are in the passage describing the judgment to come to Egypt; all of them indicate that the event will have an emotional toll on the people.  Lose heart, be sick at heart, have a heart that has melted...all carry the same connotation.  No strength, no hope.  The fourth verse is in a description of the repentance that comes from the fear of judgement at the hands of God's people; that the folks will turn to the Lord and be healed, in which there will be physical structures representing service to God.

The next verse concerns a prophecy against Babylon, but the verse is describing the prophet's reaction to what he has seen:

My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight that I longed for has become a horror to me. -- Is. 21:4; 'heart' is H 3824 again.

I think the prophet is having a visceral reaction to the horror of the fall of Babylon; the next verse describes the state of the Babylonians when the judgment fell...they were utterly unaware that it was upon them...which is exactly what we see in the account in Daniel. (Daniel 5).  Even though Babylon was the oppressor, the prophet staggered under the judgment against them.

I had to come back a day later; I realized I missed something in that verse.  'The twilight that I longed for' kinda puzzled me when I read it, then I got focused on the prophet's reaction and forgot about it.  As I was reading it over again this morning, it struck me that 'the twilight' he longed for was the fall of Babylon; the end of that oppressive regime.  But now that it was happening...he was horrified.  

Just had to make that point, lol.  Back to the originally scheduled broadcast.

One more verse today; this one taken from a prophecy about worshiping God in the restored land of Judah:

Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. -- Is. 26:8; 'hearts' is H 5315 again.

Not their own fame, success, prosperity...the name and renown of the Lord.  When that is a joint desire of a community of hearts...that is revival.

Blogging Bible Study - The Heart of the Matter: Isaiah, part 2

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Our look at 'heart/ hearts' through the NIV '84 is now edging into Isaiah; we're up to Chapter 10:

When the LORD has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, "I will punish the King of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes." -- Is. 10:12; 'Heart' is  Strong's H 3824, Lebab - inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding.

Previously in chapter 10, we read of how God used Assyria in judgement against the idolatry of Israel and Judah, but the Assyrian king was not content to punish but went out with a will to obliterate.  Furthermore, he believed his success against the nations was a result of his own ability; he disdained all the gods of the countries he attacked and believed the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to be no more significant than any of the idols of the other countries he had defeated.

Pride of his heart, indeed.  He was no more than a tool used by God for a purpose...and his pride of heart would be his downfall.

We have a similar passage discussing judgement against Babylon in chapter 13.

Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.  Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man's heart will melt.  -- Is. 13: 6-7; 'Heart' is H 3824 again.

We are not looking at the cause of the judgment against Babylon here, but at its effect.  Judgement against Babylon would be swift, and would cause all those under that judgement to lose strength in the inner man, mind, will, heart, soul and understanding.  Fear, confusion, indecision...disaster incoming.

There is a passage in Isaiah that, strictly speaking, is addressed to the king of Babylon but has long been considered to have a double meaning, describing the fall of Satan, due to the details included, and the next verse is cited as the core of that rebellion

You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."  -- Is. 14:13-14; 'heart' is H3824 again.

This is one of the passages (Ez. 28 has the other) that is used for the narrative of the backstory of Lucifer, the fallen.  The king of Babylon, also exalting himself, followed the path, but the ultimate rebel is the one who actually wanted to surpass God.  And that decision was first made in the heart.

That's where rebellion starts. 

Chapter 15 shifts the focus from Babylon to Moab; 16:6 implies the pride of Moab is the cause of the downfall...

Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out, and their hearts are faint.   My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the way to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction. -- Is. 15:4-5.  "heart" in verse 5 is the familiar H 3820, Leb - inner man, min, will, heart, understanding. ...but 'Hearts' in verse 4 is apparently an idiomatic translation.    "And their hearts are faint'   H 5315, nepes - soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion' is the word likely translated as 'heart'...we have seen it done before...but the second word is H3415, yara- to be broken up; figuratively, to fear; to tremble.    King James translates it 'his life shall be grievous unto him.'  "Their lives are broken" would be fair, I think.  

It is a disaster upon Moab, to be sure, and the prophet is actually grieving over the situation.   Chapter 16 is more declaration of disaster, and the prophet continues to mourn.

My  heart laments for Moab like a harp.  My inmost being for Kir Hareseth. -- Is. 16:11; 'Heart' is, to my surprise, not H 3820.  It's H4578, Mee - internal organs, inward parts, bowels, intestines, belly.  We saw this same word translated 'Heart' back in Song of Songs; which, I guess as the center of one's being it works, but the truth is this is a gut-level cry.  It's true that the Moabites were distant cousins of the Hebrews, descended from Abraham's nephew Lot (Genesis 19, for that dismal story), and I wonder if that relationship had anything to do with the grief expressed here.  Moab had not been friendly to the Hebrews; it is interesting that the prophet is mourning instead of experiencing schadenfreude at Moab's downfall.  How many of us would truly grieve over judgement falling on those whom we find ourselves on opposite sides of an issue?  

Hmmm? 

Blogging Bible Study: The Heart of the Matter - Isaiah, part 1

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

It just seems like an interesting coincidence that, in our cruise through the NIV 84 exhaustive concordance listings for verses containing 'Heart/ hearts', we have come to Isaiah, which has 66 chapters, on the day that happens to be my 66th birthday, lol.

After spending 11 months in the books of poetry,  it will only be a slight adjustment to ponder the prophets.  Both types of literature use poetic and allegorical language, although there is also some narrative included in the prophetic books.

For some books, we'll spend several weeks working through; once we get to the Minor prophets, we may have more than one book in a post.  It's going to be, as it has been, rather unstructured.

But I'm looking at the first five verses in my Isaiah list today, starting right off in chapter one...

Why should you be beaten anymore?  Why do you persist in rebellion?  Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted.  -- Is. 1:5; 'heart' is Strong's H3824, lebab,  our second-most-frequently used Hebrew word for 'heart' -- inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding.

Isaiah is writing in the years leading up do and including the exile of the northern kingdom of Israel (Samaria), and the invasion of the southern kingdom (Judah) by the Assyrians.  Judgement has been declared for Judah, but it has also been delayed, giving the people time to repent.  But, as we shall see over and over in the prophetic writings, the people do NOT truly repent; even when they do follow a godly king, once that king's influence has ended, they revert right back to their idolatry.  Isaiah's word  right in the beginning...why do you keep doing the things that ultimately hurt you?...is a question that reverberates through the prophets as well.  Obedience kept them in God's protection.  Idolatry moved them from it.  Yet they persisted in thinking they knew better than God did.

Adding verse 9 for context here:

He said, "Go and tell this people:  'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'  Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.  Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their hears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."  -- Is. 6: 9 - 10;  'heart' is the most frequently seen Strong's H3820, leb, -- inner man, mind will, heart, understanding ; and is actually a form of lebab...which is the word translated as 'hearts' at the end of verse 10.

This once more crosses over into that discussion of the 'hardened heart' that we have had from time to time.  Taking into account the poetic nature of this passage, I read this as a description of the people; Kind of  'ok, do what you want and see how that turns out; but you could still listen to me and be ok' sort of thing a parent might say to a kid who's determined to do things his own way, even when the parent can clearly see it is not going to work...and is determined to let the kid experience the consequences of the decision (which, as a parent who's raise four kids, is FREAKING HARD).

We next have a bit of historical narrative

Now the house of David was told "Aram has allied itself with Ephraim"; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.  Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman's Field.  Say to him, 'Be careful, keep calm and don't be afraid.  Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood -- because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.  -- Is. 7:2 - 4; hearts/ heart are both H 3824.

Ahaz was the king of Judah (grandson of Uzziah); the news was that Ephraim and Aram were marching against Jerusalem/ Judah.  The king and the people were scared; God told the prophet to reassure them that their enemies would not prevail against them, concluding the message with a phrase that's worth remembering, even if it doesn't contain the word 'heart'... "If you do  not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all"  (Is. 7:9b)

The last reference for this week is more of the same message, but I've got to get quite a bit in here for context:

The LORD has sent a message against Jacob; it will fall on Israel.  All the people will know it -- Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria -- who say with pride and arrogance of heart, "The bricks have fallen down , but we will rebuild with dressed stones; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars."  But the Lord has strengthened Rezin's foes against them and has spurred their enemies on." -- Is. 9:8-11; 'Heart' is H 3824 again.

These folks had been embattled, but they still refused to consider their roots and covenant with God, believing that they had the strength in themselves to recover and restore.  But they did not.  Pride and arrogance of heart got them into the situation they were in, and pride and arrogance of heart kept them from the one thing that could actually bring restoration.

One of these days I will do a word study on 'pride'...but that's a ways off.  We're going to be looking at 'heart/hearts' for quite a while, yet, lol.

Blogging Bible Study: The Heart of the Matter - Song of Songs

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Our little tour through the NIV 84 translation of the Bible, looking at verses containing the words 'Heart/Hearts' has brought us to the very PG13-rated book of Song of Songs. Or Song of Solomon.  Or Canticles...all depends on your translation.  A dialog between the Lover and his Beloved, mostly from the viewpoint of the Beloved, with commentary by a Chorus.  Was this a performance piece?  The Lover is implied to be Solomon in the last part of chapter 3 and named as such in the closing verses of the book; whilst the Beloved is referred to only as the Shulammite at the end of Chapter 6.

I have known that the book of Esther does not mention God; I thought it was the only book in the Bible that didn't.  But, unless I missed it as I read through, there's no mention of God in Song of Songs, either.  All the hearts mentioned are human hearts, with human concepts.

The first mention of 'heart' is in chapter 3, and it's a whole little passage:

All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him.  I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves.  So I looked for him but did not find him.  The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. "have you seen the one my heart loves?"  Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves.  I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother's house, to the room of the one who conceived me.  -- SoS 3:1 - 4;  all instances of 'heart' are Strong's H 5315 - nepes - soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion.  KJV uses the word 'soul' instead of 'heart'. 

I wondered what word we would see used in Songs for 'heart', as this is talking about human love.  Notes in my NIV indicate that the Beloved is the one speaking here, which makes sense. We'll see if this same word repeats in the other 5 references I found.  Not surprising that the word used is associated with 'desire, emotion, passion'.  I may just list out all the verses and then see if that pattern continues before making any observations, lol

Come out, you daughters of Zion, and look at King Solomon wearing the crown,  the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, the day his heart rejoiced. -- SoS 3:11, 'heart' here is H 3820, Leb - inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.

This is not a reference to romance or desire but happiness, so I'm not surprised that the word used is the the most common word translated 'heart'. I don't have any notes indicating who is speaking here, but it looks like it might be the chorus, describing either Solomon's coronation or his wedding or maybe a combination of the two.  It was a good day for Solomon, that we know.

Solomon is speaking in the next verse:

You have stolen my  heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. -- SoS 4:9: bot instances of 'heart' is the word I have been waiting to find, H 3823, labab , which is the primitive root from which  H3824 and H3820 are derived.  It's actually a verb; meaning to ravish, become intelligent, get a mind  The Piel tense for the verb is listed as meaning to ravish the heart, encourage, make heart beat faster. 

I wondered when (and if) we would encounter that Hebrew word.  It's only in 4 verses in the whole Old Testament; and this is the only verse in which it it translated as 'heart', which is not surprising, given the wide range of meanings it has (twice translated as 'made cakes' and once as 'be wise').

She gave Solomon the honey glow, no doubt about it.

Oh, I was going to hold comments till the end, wasn't I?

Onward...

I slept but my heart was awake.  Listen!  My lover is knocking: "Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one.  My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night." -- SoS 5:2; 'heart' is H 3820 again.  Not the 'desire, emotion, passion', but the 'inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding'.  She was drowsy and not really interested in getting up to let him in.  Of course, once she herself was fully awake, she was, but by that time he'd gotten discouraged and left.

My lover thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him.... I opened for my lover, but my lover had left; he was gone.  My heart sank at his departure.  I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer. -- SoS 5:4, 6; 'heart' is  H 4578 - mee - internal organs, inward parts, bowels, intestines, belly  in the first occurrence, and H 5315 again in the second.  It's an interesting translation...that 'dynamic equivalency' is going for what we would say in a similar situation now...if I'm reading the lexicon right, the actual translation is closer to my belly began to growl.  Doesn't carry the same connotation now.  In any case, she was ready to open that door...and the moment was lost, because he was gone. 

I do have a marginal reading that translates the phrase in verse 6 as 'My heart had gone out to him when he spoke', which is somewhat different than what is listed in the main text.  The actual verb is H 1696 - dabar - to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing, although the Hiphil tense does  imply to lead away, put to flight so that may be why we have the translation that's listed, although I have to say the marginal note makes more sense to me.  Especially since 'heart' there is Nepes and we're looking at 'desire, emotion, passion' at that point.

One more verse to consider.

Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave.  It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. - -SoS 8:6;  'Heart' is H 3820 once more. the word 'seal' is H 2368 - hotam: seal, signet, signet-ring.

That's a new thought for me; I'd always thought of 'seal'  in that verse like, you know, Tupperware or something.  Seal it in.  But, no...it's 'seal' , like, official mark of ownership or authority.

I had a whole little thing I wanted to say about Song of Songs in general, but I have said it in other places at other times and that's not really on topic for this series;  in this series, I'm looking at 'heart' and how it's used, so, my opinion on Song of Solomon will have to wait for a more opportune moment.  I will just say that, yes, it is a lovely description of marital love and leave it there.  I will be good.

So, back on topic, we have four different words for 'heart' in Song of Songs  ... three nouns; one dealing with the heart: inner man, one dealing with the desire or passion, and one dealing with, paraphrasing, the gut... and one verb,  making the heart beat faster.  Pretty much covers the emotional range here as we see how the heart is involved in a marriage.

We have officially finished the books of poetry...the Writings.  It's been exactly 11 months to the day since my first post on Job.  I am going to have to adjust to the Prophets, lol.  Next week, being July 4th, probably will not see a post so we'll jump in to Isaiah when the festivities are behind us.

Blogging Bible Study: The Heart of the Matter - Ecclesiastes, Part 4

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi 

Now, at the end, I can confess that Ecclesiastes is, by and large, my least favorite book in the Bible, which, I suppose, is no surprise.  It does have its good moments (the first bit of chapter 3) but, by and large,  it's just...a depressing read. 

I will also say it is the perfect example of the need for context; some verses in Ecclesiastes, taken out of context and without the understanding that they were written by a jaded, cynical fellow who tried and failed to find significance in life in every way but being devoted to God, could really mess with sound theology. For one thing, the Teacher apparently had no concept at all of eternal life, as we will see in the first verse in chapter 9 that mentions 'heart':

This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.  The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. --Ecc. 9:3;  the first occurrence of  'hearts' is Strong's H3820, Leb,  - inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding; but the second is Strong's H3824, Lebab,  inner man, mind will, heart, soul, understanding, Leb is actually a form of Lebab.

So, why the distinction in the verse?  The only real difference I see is that Lebab also carries the connotation of soul.  So, is the Teacher conveying that the hearts of men are full of evil, and there is madness in their souls?  That mankind is corrupt, 'heart and soul'?   That actually makes the most sense to me...and that does line up teaching throughout Scripture on the state of the unredeemed., the natural man. We, in our own selves and own strength, cannot purify our hearts or souls. And, while it's true that all die; the Teacher seems to think that is The End. Which, I believe, largely explains his gloomy outlook.  The cynical tone of the next verse kinda bears that out:

Go, eat your food with gladness and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do.  -- Eccl 9:7; 'Heart' is H 3820 again.

On the surface, this seems a rather pleasant instruction, but the following verses betray his sarcasm, using phrases like all the days of this meaningless life, all your meaningless days, in the grave where you are going is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.  (from Ecc. 9: 8 - 10).   Now, he is right...we should be glad and joyful in our daily life...but he's missing the point.  And if someone were to pull Ecc. 9:10 out of the context of the Teacher's sarcasm, s/he could use it as Biblical evidence that the Sadducees were right...there is no life after death.  It may have been part of their own argument.  But the actual mindset of the author needs to be considered.  (That raises a point that I'll discuss at the end of the post...)

Chapter ten is, again, a collection of proverbs. There's one that mentions 'heart'...and it has always amused me greatly.

The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left. -- Ecc. 10:2; 'heart' is H 3820  both times.

I am just going to say right off the bat that I really don't know what the point of that was.  It certainly did not apply to American politics.  It could be a reference to the kind of predisposition for anything on the right hand/ right side to be thought of as good, and anything on the left side to be thought of as sinister or shady...one of the reasons left handed kids suffered forced use of their right hand in times past.  But there's no context to help us, so we're just left with this proverb that seems weirdly applicable in some crazy coincidence...even though that application is really beyond reasonable.  But it does make me chuckle, not gonna lie.

One more passage to look at in Ecclesiastes:

Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.  Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things, God will bring you to judgment.  So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless. -- Ecc. 11:9-10;  all three occurrences of 'Heart' are H 3820

Interesting that we have the encouragement to 'follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see'...quickly followed by the caveat that 'God will bring you to judgment'.  After his earlier statements that the heart is corrupted, advising folks to follow their heart sounds...odd, to say the least. I confess, I am getting a brain cramp from trying to wrap my head around this.  Ecclesiastes is a rough thing to handle, even taking the cynicism and sarcasm into account.  For instance,  having said that I don't think the Teacher believed in life after death, he goes and says that 'God will bring you to judgment'.  Which implies an after-death thing, taken in context about what he has said earlier about the  righteous and the wicked sharing the same fate of death; it really appears that this judgment has to happen later.  So...see what I mean?  It's like he hasn't completely made up his mind what he thinks/ believes, but has come to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter anyway.

Which all gets me to wondering...why is the book of Ecclesiastes included in the canon of the Bible?  It's clearly Solomon's...er, the Teacher's...viewpoint and opinion and can't be taken at face value as The Word of God, yet I believe God did inspire him to write...if only to show the complete fallacy of being able to be able to find significance and meaning to life apart from one's obedience to God and gratefulness to Him.  It's a depressing book because living life apart from God is, as the Teacher says repeatedly, "Meaningless, a chasing after the wind."  Can we learn from The Teacher?

Blogging Bible Study: The Heart of the Matter - Ecclesiastes, part 3

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Well, we are halfway through Ecclesiastes in our look at the words 'Heart/ hearts' in the NIV 84, and we kick off with a flashback to Proverbs; as the first 2/3 of chapter 7 is basically just a list of proverbs, and there are a few that do mention 'heart'

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.

Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you -- for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.

Prov. 7: 2 - 4, 7, 21-22; all instances of 'heart' are Strong's H 3820 leb - inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.

Now we are hitting the darker side of Ecclesiastes, in which the Teacher proclaims the doom and gloom that Ecclesiastes is known for.  I mean...'sorrow is better than laughter because a sad face is good for the heart'?  Where did he get that idea?  Unless he's talking about being honest about one's emotions...that an honest sad face is better than a false smile?  But he seems to be saying your heart is better if it is suffering than if it is glad.  That makes no sense; especially when we've already considered Prov. 17: 22... 'A cheerful heart is good medicine...'  The only conclusion that makes sense is that the Teacher has become so disillusioned and disappointed that he is expressing himself in extreme cynicism.  He's wallowing in his misery and proclaiming it a good thing.

Verses 21-22 are interesting; The Teacher basically tells everyone to not put too much emphasis on what other folks say...because, paraphrased, your heart knows how much smack you talk.  And if you talk smack...so does everyone else, so don't take offense.   

The Teacher also clearly has had some...issues...with the women in his life.  And, given that the Teacher is understood to be Solomon, he had a LOT of women in his life. I think the end of chapter seven was likely penned after a particularly unpleasant interaction...because we do know he thought highly of at least one woman, as we'll see in the next book, but on the day he wrote these words he was clearly in a bad spot.  One verse in his complaint has the word 'heart':

I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains.  The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare. -- Ecc. 7:26 ; 'Heart' is H 3820 again.

I have to wonder what happened to Solomon...the king!...that he had that experience.  Did he himself fall victim to a scheming woman...or did he watch someone near and dear to him experience that?  Solomon did have an emotional attachment to at least some of the ladies in his harem and he allowed them to continue practicing their pagan religions, even joining them in their rites at times.   It is a puzzle that Solomon, for all his wisdom and knowledge, was so easily led away from such a foundational boundary. "The sinner she will ensnare" is a pretty clear self-indictment.   But I am also reminded of Frollo in the Hunchback of Notre Dame...who was obsessed with a woman who truly wanted nothing to do with him, and yet whom he blamed for his infatuation.  She did nothing to entice or entrap him...but he held her to be evil and guilty.  Of course, Frollo is fictional, but he is a representation of actual folks who blame innocent people for their own compulsions/ obsessions.   And the truth is...whether the lady Solomon had in mind when he was writing this was running a con or running away, he is absolutely correct in saying that the man who seeks to please God will not get entangled with either a temptress or his own misplaced attraction.       

There are a few more proverbs in chapter 8; we'll look at a couple of them.

Since a king's word is supreme, who can say to him, "What are you doing?"  Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.    --Ecc. 8:5; 'Heart' is, again, H3820.

There is knowledge in a wise heart;  I see two ways that could go.  One is that the intuition of a wise person will be correct; the other might be that a wise heart will make a point to know protocol; the proper way to respond to a command from the king.  But, as intuition comes from having a solid knowledge base, perhaps they aren't so different.  Being proactive in learning what might be expected and the best way to accomplish a task certainly is wisdom...and will go far in knowing what to do when called upon to act.

The final verse in today's selection is Ecclesiastes 8:11 -- 

When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.  'Heart' is, you guessed it, H 3820.

I remember attending parenting seminars when my kids were little; one of the things that stuck with me is that punishment for wrongdoing should be 'swift, severe, and short'...soon enough that the consequence is equated with the action, bad enough to discourage a repeat offense, and over quickly so it doesn't drag out so long that the original issue is lost.  Because we do lose the connection between the cause and the effect if the punishment is delayed too long; the assumption becomes that, if you're careful, or crafty, you can get away with [whatever].  

We'll finish Ecclesiastes next week...

Blogging Bible Study: The Heart of the Matter - Ecclesiastes, Part 2

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Back from last week's trip, it's time to dive back into the look at 'heart/hearts' through the Bible, specifically the NIV 84 translation, which is the basis of my Exhaustive Concordance.  We're in the book of Ecclesiastes, the account of one who has ALL the resources trying to find meaning and purpose in life in every way but following God's commands and decrees.

I personally think chapter three is the highest point of the whole book, with poetry in the first 8 verses that became a hit song in the 1960's. It certainly contains some of the more...positive...thoughts in the book. 

He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. -- Ecc. 3:11;  'Hearts' is Strong's H 3820 , leb - inner man, mind will, heart, understanding; the most common Hebrew word translated as 'heart/ hearts'.

'He has set eternity in the hearts of men' is one of the most profound concepts you'll find related to the heart, I do believe.  That yearning in the heart for the transcendent; to connect to the divine, was put there on purpose.  God is, of course, far beyond our ability to understand or comprehend in anything but the smallest glimpses...but God is the only thing that truly can connect to that spiritual USB port.

I thought in my heart, "God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time fore every activity, a time for every deed." -- Ecc. 3:17; 'heart' is H 3820 again.

There's an interesting thought about judgement in this verse, which is worth pondering, but the focus today is on the heart...as a place of reasoning and insight. It's worth noting that the place of this revelation was in the heart...not the mind, and we know from past study that what is determined in the heart is of utmost importance in God's sight.

Which is probably a good thing to keep in mind while reading the next verse:

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.  God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. -- Ecc. 5:2;  'heart' is, again, H 3820.

Notice that there is a distinction made here about words spoken out loud ('with your mouth') and words that are not ('in your heart')...and that both matter.  We are not just cautioned to be careful what we SAY, but also to be careful how we THINK.  If that eternal place is in our hearts, then the thoughts/ words we hold in that space will affect that connection.  

I am going to list the next two verses in the list, with context, because, you know, there wasn't any kind of division when it was written:

Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work -- this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.  I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men: God gives a man wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead.  This is meaningless, a grievous evil.   Ecc. 5:19 - 6:2 ;  the first occurrence of  'heart' is, once more, H 3820; the second is Strong's H 5315, nepes - soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion.

Looking at the text in my Bible, it seemed kinda contradictory...on the one hand, it was a blessing to have gladness of heart; on the other, it was meaningless to have the heart's desire and not be able to enjoy it, but looking at the Hebrew...it's not quite contradictory.  They're not the same words.   The first is 'heart', but the second is a more idiomatic translation, going with the English 'heart's desire' when, in actuality, it's not talking about desires of the heart, but desires of the soul or the appetite. And you could also infer that the second man died before he could properly enjoy all his accomplishments, so they passed to someone else, but those accomplishments were still not on the same level.   That's worth a ponder...the first guy accepts what he has, and is happy in what he does.  The second guy, to me, seems to be someone who has all this stuff but isn't satisfied.  He can't enjoy it...because, even though it appears to be everything he could want, he still wants more.  He's not content.  And, the passage implies, that contentment is a gift from God.  But...I'm going to pull on the USP port idea; if a person doesn't desire that connection with God, if the source for satisfaction is the stuff and not the gifts of God, then...yeah, there would be no true enjoyment or contentment.

So...a good introspection question...where is my fulfillment coming from?  The stuff I have or influence I've gained...or my connection to God?

A Weekend Split...what I did, but more importantly, what My Sweet Babboo did...

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi.

Last week, My Sweet Babboo and I headed to Florida...for different purposes.

He was an instructor for a Royal Ranger ministry conference, which was held at the Florida State Royal Ranger camp/ conference center near Fort Meade...which was about 15 minutes south of the apartment of The Flute Player and her Hubby The Jokester.  So I planned to ride down with him and stay with the kids whilst he did the Ranger conference.  He had to be there on Wednesday, to prepare for the conference that began Friday afternoon.  The Flute Player took Friday off of work, as both her hubby and her brother (they are all on staff at the same church) have every Friday off, and the Actor's wife just rearranged her work schedule to have Friday off.  The plan was to spend the day resort hopping up at Disney, which is about an hour from the kids.

HOWEVER,  The Flute Player and her hubby up and rented a house about halfway between the church and their apartment and began the moving process on Memorial Day weekend.  So my visit with them was a lot of boxing up things and cleaning.  We did get everything done by the deadline, and we got an evening of poking about Disney Spring and the Boardwalk area, which was fun...despite being exhausted, lol.

But I really wanted to talk about My Sweet Babboo's week...or really, about the Royal Ranger program.

It began in the 1960's as an Assembly of God ministry to boys, modeled after the Boy Scouts, with a much greater emphasis on faith and Bible content.  It has expanded now to churches outside of the denomination, given the issues that BSA have had of late.  But it's so much more than just a ministry to boys.  I have talked a bit about the auxiliary to Rangers, the Frontiersmen Camping Fellowship, in which men and boys research the 16th and 17th century American History and build a character based

My Sweet Babboo demonstrating leather craft at the FCF 2022 National Rendezvous

 on that era (My hubby's character is a Long Hunter).  They camp, do hand crafts, etc., in ways that are true to the period, as well as develop their outfit and accessories/ gear.

And all of that sounds just fine, but that is just the surface level.  At it's heart, it is a true men's ministry, and the guys who commit to it are providing community, camaraderie, encouragement, accountability and prayer support to one another.  They have a motto... 'Mentoring Future Men' to describe what they do in teaching and training boys...but the benefit they get from it is of a nature that's difficult to cultivate in these crazy times.  

And this weekend was a rich one for My Hubby.  He has taken the class before,  but this year he was an instructor, even though he hasn't officially quite finished the instructor training for this level.  This was a national conference, and they had 35 guys there from all over...half a dozen came from New Jersey, several came from Missouri, and of course there were those from the southeast part of the country.  The instructors had some teaching themselves, going into the weekend, and the experience of working with the guys who truly wanted to learn how to reach and teach young men made a deep impression on him.

I can't begin to express how proud I am of him for digging into this...or how glad I am he gets to do it.

Even though my experience last week was completely different, lol.

Blogging Bible Study: The Heart of the Matter - Ecclesiastes, Part 1

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Our stroll through the  Bible looking at words the NIV 84 translated as "heart" or "hearts" has brought us to the rather gloomy book of Ecclesiastes.   Sarcasm, cynicism, delusion, and finally recognition of the actual wisdom of living in the fear of the Lord and in obedience to his commandments.

So, we can expect some rather pessimistic opinions as we search through this book; as we are only looking at verses that contain 'Heart/ Hearts', we likely will not see the conclusion at the end.  But we will definitely see the grappling the author (who refers to himself as 'The Teacher' and is believed to be Solomon himself, from the clues about his wisdom, his riches, his building program and, um, other characteristics) did with the Big Questions of Life.

I've split this up into four chunks of roughly an equal number of verses; today, we're looking at chapter 2, which starts right off with a verse containing 'Heart':

I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good."  But that also proved to be meaningless.  -- Ecc. 2:1; 'Heart' is the familiar Strong's H 3820 - Leb: inner man, mind will, heart, understanding. 

The Teacher is not really discussing his searching with anyone else...this is something that is internal.  He himself is asking questions of life, looking for answers and meaning; something that satisfied his heart ('I will test you').

I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces.  I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well -- the delights of the heart of man. -- Ecc. 2:8 the word translated 'Heart' isn't 'heart' at all in the Hebrew...it's Strong's 254, ben, which means  son, grandson, child, member of a group. 

The KJV translates that phrase 'the delights of the sons of men' and 'harem'  is translated 'musical instruments'...but when I looked up that phrase, (Strong's H 7705,sida),  I found that, while the word literally means musical instrument...the usage implies wife, concubine or harem.  A polite euphemism, perhaps?  In any case, these are all things that will delight men in general, so I suppose the implication is that if a thing delights a man, it certainly delights his heart.  But that's an interesting translation decision.  I checked the Amplified, which is probably the plainest of the three in exactly what the delight is: 'I provided for myself male singers and female singers and the delights and pleasures of men -- many concubines.'  As we know, Solomon had a ridiculous number of concubines....

I am going to chase a rabbit here; something that always comes up when I'm looking at Solomon, by looking at the requirements God had for a king, way back in Deuteronomy 17:16 - 20:

The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt t get more of them, for the LORD has told you, "You are not to go back that way again.  He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray.  He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.  When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites.  It is to be with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself  better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left.  Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

I find it rather telling that the Teacher freely admits to failing almost all of these requirements (we also know from other passages that Solomon sent to Egypt for a passle of horses...2 Chron. 1:14, 16); we can infer that he also failed the main one...to make himself a copy of the Law and read it daily.  This was not just a suggestion, but there's no evidence that any king followed that instruction; certainly Solomon didn't or he would have recognized his errors.  I'm just going to link an old post about the value of reading God's word for oneself, then consider that rabbit run to ground and go back to the topic at hand....

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.  -- Ecc. 2:10-11;  both instances of 'heart' are H3820.

He does allow that the delight his heart took in his accomplishments was the reward for his work, but ultimately decided that didn't amount to much in the grand scheme of things.  It didn't last; it had no eternal value.

 He considered living wisely vs. living foolishly or even madly, and concluded that it was better to be wise than foolish...but, again, ultimately it didn't matter.

Then I thought in my heart, "The fate of the fool will overtake me also.  What do I gain by being wise?"  I said in my heart, "This too is meaningless."  For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten.  Like the fool, the wise man too must die!  -- Eccl 2: 15 - 16;  both instances of 'heart' are H 3820 again.

I have written a note in the margin of my Bible here -- 'Not quite ...we all still remember Solomon.  He was not considering legacy.'  Solomon, in his despondency, did not consider all the writings he was leaving behind.  True, he faced the same physical fate as a foolish person, but he is not forgotten; in fact, he still has some degree of influence millennia after he penned those words.  I wonder if he could have seen into the future to know that we are still reading his writings and still learning from his history if he would feel like it was useless to pursue wisdom.  He failed to pass his wisdom to his son, but it was recorded for generations to come.

And because Solomon couldn't see the future value...he wrote

So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. -- Ecc. 2:20; 'heart' is H 3820 again.

I'm going to throw one more idea into this mix; the Enemy had an audience here.  That's his narrative.  'You're no good.  You're useless.  All this work you've done is for nothing.  It's not changing anything."  I dare say every one of us has heard that condemning voice at some point.  It's hard to realize that there might be another perspective...an eternal perspective...a legacy, a lesson that can come from all circumstances.  And if that voice can darken and burden the heart of someone as wise as the Teacher, then all of us need to be on guard against it.

Blogging Bible Study: The Heart of the Matter - Proverbs, part 9

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

I have a ton of work that's all, like, urgent, so I ended up working yesterday (a normal off day) and today to try and get some work cranked out...which means I'm a bit late with this week's installment.  And we're going to be pushing through today but we will catch the last verses in Proverbs that mention 'heart/ hearts'...or at least, the ones translated that way in the 1984 edition of the New International Version.

We're starting in chapter 25 today, which begins with a note that the next batch of proverbs (through chapter 29, if I'm interpreting things correctly) were penned by Solomon, and copied by the order of King Hezekiah.  I'm kind of guessing the original  manuscripts were deteriorating, so Hezekiah had them copied to preserve the writings...but that's just a guess.

As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable. -- Prov. 25:3; 'hearts' is Strong's H 3820, Leb - inner man, mind, will, heart understanding.   If you've been following this study, you know that's the most commonly used Hebrew word translated 'Heart'.

I am wondering what makes the heart of a king more unsearchable than the heart of any other person.  Maybe because their decisions affect so many people?  And the masses don't understand WHY someone would make those choices?  That's the best reasoning I can come up with for that statement...which could apply to anyone in a position of power, not just kings.

Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on soda, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart. -- Prov. 25:20; 'heart' is H3820 again.

As anyone who's ever tried to cheer up a determinedly morose teenager knows...it's  not well received. But beyond teen angst is a heart that's genuinely grieving, and even well intended attempts to help can seem insensitive.  

Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart.  A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but in his heart, he harbors deceit.  Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart.  Prov. 25:23-25;  'heart' is H3820 in verses 23 and 25, but verse 24 is  Strong's H7130, Qereb --midst, among, inner part, middle

Truly evil people have the ability to mask their agenda with a carefully calculated persona that seems to be friends, chums. allies...and then, when it benefits them,  betrayal.  Which can often be disguised further with a disclaimer of a misunderstanding.  An honest heart will not anticipate such actions and may get caught in multiple traps before realizing the truth:  that's a player at work.  And, what struck me there was that,  even if there is forgiveness...'do not trust him'.   Trusting someone who has broken trust is not a condition or characteristic of forgiveness.  A deceitful heart is not trustworthy.

Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel.   -- Prov. 27:9; 'heart' is H 3820.

I chuckled when I read that, because I have a sensitivity to most fragrances, and, generally speaking, perfume and incense bring me a raging headache, lol.  But I get the analogy.  The earnest counsel of a true friend (contrasted with the fake friend above) is a comfort and a joy.  Definitely not a headache.

Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart; then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt. -- Prov. 27:11; 'Heart' is H3820 again.

We have had the thought before that seeing one's children act wisely is a true source of joy to parents; but this goes just a step further...knowing that one's offspring are doing well and wisely goes a long way to handling someone's dismissive or even scornful treatment.  There really is nothing comparable to watching the kiddos do well...or the pain of watching them suffer because of poor decisions.  Both are very nearly physical sensations.

(It was really late Saturday when I was at that point and I hit a wall...it was crazy to stop with only two verses to go but I was done in.  Anyway, starting late and finishing later...)

As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man. -- Prov. 27:19; 'Heart' is H3820...again.

This is an interesting verse because the reflection in water is easily seen, but the reflection in the heart is not so easily seen....but what is in the heart certainly is the core of an individual.

And...the last verse to reference 'heart' in Proverbs is 28:14 - 

Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.  'Heart' is, once more, H3820

We have seen a number of verses referencing hardening ones' heart and I don't think I've said this before...I have come to the conclusion that 'hardening ones' heart' is basically a refusal to see/ hear the truth. Pharoah refused to hear Moses' request to let the people go, for example.  A hardened heart is not teachable.   Being teachable is one of the primary characteristics of personal growth, so one who is not teachable...is going to be rather stunted.  And it could be in just one or two areas...those stubborn places that we just don't want to yield to God.  The structure of the verse implies that the opposite of a hardened heart is the proper fear of the Lord.  Not being afraid...but awe and respect.    The fear of the Lord will protect from a hardened...unwilling, unhearing, unseeing...heart.

A good thought to ponder 

Blogging Bible Study: The Heart of the Matter - Proverbs, Part 8

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Ok, I am going to push it today; I don't have quite enough 'heart/hearts' verses in Proverbs for three more posts but going to make a couple of rather long posts, and I'm only covering two chapters.  Diving in...and including verses as necessary for context.

Do not eat the food of a stingy man, do not crave his delicacies; for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost.  "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you. -- Prov. 23:6-7;  'Heart' is the familiar Strong's H3820, Leb - inner man, mind will, heart, understanding.

I read those verses and saw in my head the old Winnie-the-Pooh cartoon, in which he consumes all of Rabbit's honey, while Rabbit is saying, while shaking his head, "Are you sure you won't have some more?"  This is just fatherly advice here; read the room, lol.

Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.  -- Prov. 23:12; 'heart' is H3820 again.

This is pretty much the theme of Proverbs;  the importance about being intentional to obtain knowledge and wisdom.  It takes intentionality to apply one's heart to anything.

My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad. -- Prov. 23:15;  both instances of 'heart' are H 3820.

As a parent...I can confirm that this is absolutely so.  I have joked that it's harder to be a parent than to be a college student... in college, you study hard, take the test, know immediately if you did well or messed up.  In parenting...it's 20ish years before you find out if you messed it up or not.  Seeing the offspring make wise decisions/ speak wise words is one of the greatest reliefs known, lol.

Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD. -- Prov. 23:17; Heart is H3820 once more.

I would say being zealous for the fear of the Lord is protection against developing envy for anyone...the temporal pleasures they have are all pretty shallow compared to the glory of God.  If the fear of the Lord is valued; the temptation to envy others will not have anywhere to flourish.

Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path. -- Prov. 23:19; 'heart' is, again, H3820.

Once more, wisdom is  shown to be intentionally attained (by listening) and equated with keeping the heart...and by implication, one's life...on the right path.  Of course, this also implies that there are paths that are not right...so that's worth a bit of consideration as well.

And the wise father offers one more way to the son to avoid evil influences:

My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways. -- Prov. 23:26; 'heart' is, again, H3820.

Basically, dad is saying "follow my example".  Of course, that means that dad is confident that his life has been committed to the zeal of the Lord, to seeking wisdom and listening to wise counselors.  If there is no other reason to do those things, setting the example for our kids to follow would be enough.

On to the next chapter....

Do not envy wicked men, do not desire their company; for their hearts plot violence and their lips talk about making trouble.   -- Prov. 24: 1-2; 'hearts' is, once more Strong's H3820.

This strikes me as quite a contrast to the discussion of  'heart' in the previous chapter...that is, the heart that is wise, is applied to seeking wisdom, is following the wisdom of parents...these are hearts that plot violence and whose conversation is about causing trouble.  Confirms that there ARE hearts that are consumed with wickedness.

 If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?  Does not he who guards your life know it?  Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?  -- Prov.24:12; 'Heart' is Strongs H3826, Liba, which is the noun meaning 'heart'.  Like, the actual organ is weighed.

Feigned ignorance will not avail. This has popped up before...God KNOWS our hearts. He knows if we have just ignored something, if we've stuck our fingers in our ears and sang 'la la la' to avoid knowing a thing.  The verse before is actually a reference to rescuing folks who are heading for destruction, but I think it can apply to any area in which we rather artfully avoid confronting and acknowledging truth.

Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice.  -- Prov. 24:17; 'Heart' is H3820 again.

Schadenfreude is a real temptation.  Oh, how glorious to see an opponent...an antagonist...even just someone who has behaved in an entitled manner...get served a heaping helping of humble pie.  But.  You know, sooner or later, every one of us will have that plate set in front of us to consume.  Snarky responses to another's pain...deserved or not...has a way of biting back. Much better to remember that we are all fallible and if that person stumbled this week...it may be me next week.    Rather, pray that they learn something of God's grace while they're down.

One more verse today...and it's in the middle of a long thought.  The author observed the property of someone known to be lazy and lacking in judgement; seeing the thorns and the weeds and the fallen stone wall, he considers the situation.

I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: -- Prov. 24:32; 'Heart' is H3820 again.

Sometimes wisdom comes not just from listening to those older and wiser, but from keen observation of cause and effect around us. The author noted in the next couple of verses that it doesn't take much neglect of responsibility to result in chaos.

One more week in Proverbs, ya'll.  It has been kind of interesting to see that the verses are, by and large, repeating the same themes.