Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
Told you we were going to be moving fast...we have FIVE books to look at today, each book has ONE passage referencing heart/ hearts (Micah has none).
This is going to be interesting...
Starting with Amos, who was prophesying during the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam, King of Israel...
Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message too Jeroboam king of Israel: "Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words." -- Amos 7:10, 'heart' is Strong's H 7130, qereb - midst, among, inner part, middle This is literally a geographic reference, that Amos was prophesying right in the middle of the land, not out in some remote setting.
If you read on, you will find that Amaziah rebukes Amos and tells him to go back where he came from; and Amos replies with "I was neither a prophet or the son of a prophet...but God said 'Go prophesy.' " (see verses 12-15)...and he slaps a pretty heavy judgment on Amaziah. I am continually amazed at the number of times folks commanded people who had been sent from God...prophets in the OT, apostles in the NT...to stop proclaiming God's word. If someone is truly proclaiming a word from God...trying to bottle it up is a prescription for disaster. As those folks would find out, time and time again. Problem is...there are a bunch of folks who claim to be speaking God's words who aren't. They make a lot of noise, and it can be hard to discern the folks who really do hear from God and speak what they hear. But we do have the Holy Spirit, who has promised to guide us into all truth, to help discern whether or not an individual is actually prophesying...or just talking.
Obadiah's time frame is debated; some feel it was very early; others think it was as late as the year after the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzer. But his words have always given me a bit of a chill...
"The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, 'Who can bring me down to the ground?' Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down," declares the LORD. Obadaiah, vs 3-4; 'heart' is the familiar Strong's H 3820, leb - inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
Is anyone else disturbed by the thought of being deceived by one's own heart? That hearkens back to Jer. 17:9 - 'The heart is deceitful above all things'... that's not about the heart plotting to deceive others, that's the unregenerated heart deceiving ones self.
That's worth a selah.
Jonah, who had some heart issues, found himself in a nasty predicament and prayed.
"You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me." - Jonah 2:3; 'heart' is, to my surprise, Strong's H 3824, lebab - inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding; inner part, midst is also there. I was expecting to see qereb again, as this struck me as a geographic reference. Now I'm pondering the choice of a word that, as we have learned in the past, carries the connotation of a connection to God's heart. Jonah's ordeal wasn't just so he would ultimately do what God said; it was also to confront a flaw in Jonah's heart. Jonah wasn't just thrown into the midst of the sea, he was also thrown right into the plan God had for his redemption. It seems to me that, given his word choice, he considered himself to have been thrown right into God's heart.
That's another selah.
As Micah has no references to heart/ hearts, our next stop is in Nahum...who, interestingly enough, is prophesying against Nineveh, which, according to Mr. Scofield's intro to the book in my edition. is a sequel to the book of Jonah. Jonah's preaching had brought an awakening to Nineveh in which they repented and honored God, but about a century had passed and they had regressed back to their cruel, pagan ways.
Nineveh is like a pool and its water is draining away. "Stop! Stop!" they cry, but no one turns back. Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! The supply is endless, the wealth from all its treasures! She is pillaged, plundered, stripped! Hearts melt, knees give way, bodies tremble, every face grows pale. -- Nahum 2:8 - 10; 'Hearts' is once more Strong's H 3820.
When God's final wrath falls, and those who had failed to consider him have no recourse. Fear, trembling, despair...without hope. It's a scary place to be.
One more passage to consider today from the little book of Habakkuk, which I find to be quite encouraging; chapter three is a psalm with a triumphant finale. Our passage is JUST BEFORE that ringing declaration.
I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. - Hab. 3:16; 'heart' is a word we've only seen once before, Strong's H 990, beten - belly (seat of hunger, seat of mental faculties, figuratively, depth of Sheol), womb, body . King James actually translates this as 'belly'.
I think this is another idiomatic translation which describes a physical response to fear, rephrased in a more culturally recognized way. Being employed in an organization which, in recent history, has proven to be in a category that is somewhat of a target for violence, we have have training on what to do in the highly unlikely but still possible scenario of a violent attack. One of the first things our trainer told us was that we must keep our heart rate down, because at a high enough rate, a number of unpleasant mental and physical things happen, one of which is the belly becomes uncontrolled, if you take my meaning; he gave us some pointers on that. So the two conditions...a pounding heart, a trembling belly...are both part of an adrenaline dump. Both phrases indicate terror. But the resolution is astonishing; he is going to calm himself and wait in faith.
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, and I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. -- Hab. 3:17-19a
