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.
No comments:
Post a Comment