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.