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

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Our look at 'heart/hearts' in the NIV 84 has come to the final chapters of Ezekiel.  I probably should have included the first selection in last week's post, but when I saw there were four chapters referencing Egypt/ Pharaoh, I thought it would be too many verses to include; I should have checked the list instead of just skimming ahead.  We have ONE verse out of all four chapters that refers to Pharaoh/ Egypt:

"I will trouble the hearts of many peoples when I bring about your destruction among the nations, among lands you have not known."  - Ez.  32:9; 'hearts' is our most common word, Strong's H 3820, Leb -  inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding

I thought this might be a reference to the battle of Carchemish, but according to internet searches that happened in 605 BC, while marginal notes indicate that the 'twelfth year' Ezekiel mentions would be 586 BC.  That battle would already have happened. So perhaps this a lament for what has resulted.  Egypt had a long history of being A Power in the entire region...but after the battle of Carchemish,  Babylon was the ruling power and included the land of Egypt in her territory.

In Chapter 33 we return to Ezekiel's charge to speak to his own people.

"My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice.  With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain." -- Ez. 33:31; 'hearts' is again H 3820.

Ooooh, does anyone else see a typical Sunday church service, full of folks who come and worship and listen and go out the door and do whatever they want?  Like the house built on the sand, or the people that James referred to as 'hearers of the word but not doers of the word'.  There have always been those amongst the people of God who  rely on formality and religious activity rather than actually taking God's instructions to heart, somehow rationalizing that God's standards don't apply to his/her particular set of circumstances.  Once again...it's what is in the heart that matters.

In chapter 36, we see the prophetic words shifting to the restoration of God's people, and judgement coming to the nations that plundered them

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'In my burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, for with glee and with malice in their hearts they made my land their own possession so that they might plunder its pastureland. '" -- Ez. 36: 5; 'Hearts' here is Strong's 3824, lebab - inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding. 

The next verse may be my favorite out of the whole book of Ezekiel...the promise of what is ultimately a new birth...

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." - Ez. 36:26-27; all occurrences of 'Heart' are H 3820 again.

That's one of the best descriptions of the new birth you will find anywhere...and it's in the Old Testament.  A NEW heart.  A NEW spirit.  And...with regard to a previous verse I listed, it's worth noting that that new heart and new spirit will cause the individual to desire to follow God's laws and decrees, as opposed to someone who shows up for worship and listens to sound teaching but then...follows his/her own desires instead of God's.  One's own desires may not be a licentious lifestyle...it may just be self centered priorities.  It is putting one's own opinions/ desires above that of God.

The last two verses are from a comparison of the Levites who were shirking their duties and/or giving into social pressure vs. Levites who served faithfully.

"Say to the rebellious house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Enough of your detestable practices, O house of Israel!  In addition to all your other detestable practices, you brought foreigners uncircumcised in heart and flesh into my sanctuary, desecrating my temple while you offered me food, fat and blood, and you broke my covenant.... This is what the Sovereign LORD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter my sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites'"  - Ez. 44:6 -7, 9;  both occurrences of 'heart' are H 3820 again.

We are again encountering the concept of an uncircumcised heart; we have seen that God considers an uncircumcised heart to be a greater fault than uncircumcised body.  A circumcised body was a mark of the covenant between God and the nation; a circumcised heart indicates the devotion of the individual.  One who was uncircumcised in heart and body was not subject to the covenant of the nation and had no individual commitment to God.  

It doesn't matter if this individual lives among God's people and knows all the catch phrases and dress code and what not...the covenant matters.  What business has someone with no deep relationship to either God or his people, who is unrestrained in heart and body, to be serving in the house of God?   

I think I'm just going to leave that thought there for something to ponder...

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

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Whoa, buddy, it's been a minute!  I can't believe how fast the time has gotten by me, or how incredibly chaotic life has been...and continues to be...in 2026.  Gonna grab a minute here and push a little deeper into Ezekiel in our look at 'Heart/ hearts' as translated by the NIV 84, even though we've got things coming up that may break my streak again.  Life is lifing, lol.

We have arrived at chapter 25, which is a bit of a shift in focus from the warnings to  Judah to judgment against the nations around them.

The first two verses are similar, although they are aimed at different nations.  Other nations are named in chapter 25, but the verses we're looking at involve Ammon and Phililstia:

"For this is what the Sovereign LORD says:  Because you  have clapped your hands and stamped your feet, rejoicing with all the malice of your heart against the land of Israel, therefore I will stretch out my hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations.  I will cut you off from the nations and exterminate you from the countries.  I will destroy you, and you will know that I am the LORD."

Ez. 25:6-7, speaking to Ammon. Let's also consider the next verse:

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with malice in their hearts and with ancient hostility sought to destroy Judah, therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says:  I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Kerethites and destroy those remaining along the coast." 

Ez. 25:15-16.  In both passages, 'Heart' is Strong's H5315, nepes - soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion.  Nepes is actually the 3rd most commonly translated 'Heart/Hearts'...but it is FAR behind the first two.  Like, this is number 18 and 19 that we have encountered, while the other two (Leb and Lebab) are both well over 100. But, looking at the lexicon, it's pretty clear that this is talking about deep desire...in this case, malicious desire. 

Y'all, that pronounces judgment against both the folks who are attempting to destroy the Hebrews and those that celebrate those attempts.  It was ancient even then.  Sound contemporary much?  I think I'm just going to let that sit there, with an encouragement to think about the significance of malicious, hostile, inner desire.

Chapter 27 is a lament over Tyre, and there is a passage in it that mentions heart, although it is not a reference to a heart of a being...it is a prophecy of judgment:

"The ships of Tarshish serve as carriers for your wares.  You are filled with heavy cargo in the heart of the sea.  Your oarsmen take you out to the high seas.  But the east wind will break you to pieces in the heart of the sea.  Your wealth, merchandise and wares, your mariners, seamen and shipwrights, your merchants and all your soldiers, and everyone else on board will sink into the heart of the sea on the day of your shipwreck."  -- Ez. 27:25-27; all occurrences of 'Heart' are Strong's H 3820,  Leb - inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding but also inner part, midst.  This is the most common Hebrew word translated as 'Heart/ hearts'

Of course, Tyre being located on the coast, it had a seafaring economy, so the imagery of the sea was appropriate...but I honestly believe this is allegorical, describing downfall in the midst of going about the normal business, the very thing that provided the wealth now becoming the destructive force. (Totally irrelevant note...Not gonna lie, 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald' just began playing in my head.  I'm a child of the seventies for sure....).  Tyre's destruction likened to a catastrophic shipwreck, far away from any hope of rescue.

Chapter 28 is still pronouncing judgment against Tyre, but the focus shifts from the nation to the ruler, in a poetic passage that is considered by many to contain an allegorical reference to Satan himself.  We have a handful of verses that refer to 'heart' in that chapter; let's just look at them all together:

"Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "' In the pride of your heart you say, "I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas."  But you are a man and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god."  -- Ez. 28:2; all occurrences of 'heart' are H 3820 again. 

By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud. -- Ez. 28:5; Heart' here is H 3824 - lebab: inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding.  

I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations; they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom and pierce your shining splendor.  They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas." -- Ez. 28:7-8; 'Heart' is H 3820 again.

Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.  So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. -- Ez. 28:17...and, 'Heart' is, once more H 3820.

The first thing that caught my eye as I looked at these verses was the repetition of the 'heart of the sea' imagery, this time as the place where the ruler believes he has set up his throne....which turns out to be the place of his downfall and destruction.  The other uses refer to a proud heart....beauty and wealth led to a proud heart, which lead to...hello, isn't this the same trap that snared Eve?  Becoming god-like?  Taking authority to determine right and wrong for oneself?

It was a lie in Genesis and it's still a lie in Ezekiel.  There is only one God who knows good from evil in a way we mere mortals can never comprehend...so when he tells us what is good and what is...not...we should pay attention.