THE PROBLEM WITH A HARDENED HEART

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord." So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians—something neither your fathers nor your forefathers have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now.' " Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh. Pharaoh's officials said to him, "How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?" Then Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. "Go, worship the Lord your God," he said. "But just who will be going?" Moses answered, "We will go with our young and old, with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the Lord." Pharaoh said, "The Lord be with you—if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil. No! Have only the men go; and worship the Lord, since that's what you have been asking for." Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh's presence. And the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts will swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail." So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the Lord made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts; they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again. They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail—everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me." Moses then left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. And the Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea. Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt—darkness that can be felt." So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, "Go, worship the Lord. Even your women and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind." But Moses said, "You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the LORD our God. Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind. We have to use some of them in worshiping the Lord our God, and until we get there we will not know what we are to use to worship the Lord." But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, "Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die." "Just as you say," Moses replied, "I will never appear before you again." Exodus 10:1-29


This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Pharoah had subjected his nation and its people to a series of plagues, inflicted upon Egypt by God because of Pharoah’s stubborn disobedience and sinful disrespect toward God and His people of Israel. Waters had turned to blood. There was an onslaught of frogs, gnats, and flies. All people and animals of Egypt were afflicted by festering boils. All Egyptian livestock had been killed and the land had been laid to waste by destructive hail. Anything that remained was consumed by the swarms of locusts that followed. And for three days, Egypt was cast into darkness…a darkness that reflected the dark evil within Pharoah…a darkness that can come from one who has a hardened heart.

I would like to take a few moments today to explore what happens when we decide to have a hardened heart. And if God hardens our heart, it’s not that it wasn’t hardened already in the first place. Rather, God has allowed us to our own devices. Indeed, He could change us from the inside out if he wanted to. He is God. But what lessons would we learn about willful reverence and respect toward the Almighty father if He did the changing for us. No…the change must be made willingly and joyfully within the heart of every believer.

Through the last several chapters of Exodus, God has been trying to get Pharoah to change his heart…to willfully turn and honestly repent of his sins and then show obedience by turning away from his past wrongs. Instead, Pharoah turned to deceiving lies and empty promises, only seeking to have God change the circumstances around him while never truly being interested in changing his sinful ways. Yes, a hardened heart carries with it so many consequences. Here are a few:

1. A hardened heart rejoices in the things that are not of God. In other words, anything sinful.

"Therefore say: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.' "Therefore say: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.' "They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord." Ezekiel 11:16-21

In this passage from Ezekiel, the Lord is speaking to Israel via the prophet. Note that as Israel returns to their land and removes all the "vile images and detestable idols", they are obediently adhering to God’s commandment to have no other gods before Him. And the reward for their obedience is "an undivided heart and…a new spirit in them." A "heart of stone" removed and a "heart of flesh" put in its place. One of the symptoms of a hardened heart is a willful disobedience of God’s commands and expectations…one that rejoices in the things that are not of God.

2. A hardened heart is prideful and arrogant…able to do all things without God.

"O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. Because of the high position he gave him, all the peoples and nations and men of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes. Daniel 5:18-21

Daniel is speaking to King Nebuchadnezzar’s son and predecessor, Belshazzar, explaining what happened to his father and making specific mention of the ways that he had failed during his rule. You’ll recall that Belshazzar had witnessed some rather ghostly fingers write into the plaster of his palace and had summoned Daniel to explain what had happened…and his news was not good for Belshazzar had not learned from his father’s failures. He soon would be slain.

In Daniel’s words, we see where God doesn’t favor a hardened heart filled with pride and arrogance. He abused what God had blessed him with and, as a result, was "stripped of his glory." Where do you stand in the matters of pride and arrogance? Are you ready to learn from the errors of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar?

3. A hardened heart has no regard for the welfare and goodwill of others. Instead, it adopts a selfish attitude that says, "It’s all about me."

"And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: "This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.' "But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry. Zechariah 7:8-12

God wanted the people of Israel to adopt a caring spirit toward others, especially those who were less privileged. He encouraged "true justice" to be administered and exhorted the people to "show mercy and compassion to one another." The widow, alien, poor or fatherless were not to be oppressed and no one was to think evil about another. But the people didn’t listen. They refused "to pay attention", stubbornly "turned their backs" and "made their hearts as hard as flint." And if that weren’t enough, they "stopped up their ears" and "would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets." The end result? "The Lord Almighty was very angry."

What does God see when He looks inside your heart? A compassionate, caring, unselfish one or one that is as hard as flint?

4. A hardened heart fails to understand the Word and Will of God, His Son and the Holy Spirit.

"Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand. Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened." Matthew 6:41-52
"The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. "Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod." They discussed this with one another and said, "It is because we have no bread." Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?" Mark 8:14-18

In both of these passages, Jesus had tried to teach His disciples but they could not grasp what He was saying to them. Why? Because their hearts were hardened. Jesus knew right away what was wrong because He could see deep within them…just as He can see deep within us. When we harden our hearts, we harden our minds as well and close ourselves off from the wisdom and guidance the Lord wishes to impart upon us. We have "eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear." And we find ourselves "amazed" at the things of God even though His word promised us He was capable of doing them. Do you find yourself having difficulty understanding what God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit is trying to teach you? Try to soften that hardened heart and mind within you and see if understanding doesn’t enter in.

5. In closing, nothing good comes from a hardened heart. As the Proverb below tells us, it only gets us in trouble.

"Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble." Proverbs 28:14

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com