Isaiah 6:9-10 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 ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Mark 8:17 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?

Ephesians 4:18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts (Emphasis mine).

Why the heart is critical in the perception and understanding of spiritual truth becomes obvious when we grasp the meaning of the term. In biblical thought, the “heart” includes that part of us that processes information and reaches conclusions:

1 Kings 3:9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. . . .

Proverbs 2:2  . . . applying your heart to understanding

Proverbs 14:33 Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning . . .

Proverbs 15:14 The discerning heart seeks knowledge . . .

Matthew 9:4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? . . .”

Ephesians 1:17-18 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened . . .

Given the importance of the heart in understanding anything, here is a truth that haunts me:

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

How disturbing it is to consider that the “heart” is the human factor most critical in determining one’s ability to understand, and yet it is treacherously unreliable! We have parts of us deep within that – ably assisted by our spiritual enemy, the Deceiver – are in constant danger of deceiving not just other people, but ourselves.

Psalms 36:2 For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.

Proverbs 30:12  . . . are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth

Proverbs 16:2 All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD.

Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

We keep tending to think that it is only non-Christians whose heart deceives them. This is most certainly not so:

Revelation 3:17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

1 Corinthians 4:4-5 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. . . .

1 John 3:20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

How difficult it is to get in touch with what is deep within us is perhaps hinted at in this Scripture:

Deuteronomy 8:2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. (Emphasis mine)

Moreover, Bible readers are particularly open to self-deception.

James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. . . . (Emphasis mine)

There is nothing like a head knowledge of Scripture for so blinding us with pride that we suppose we have arrived when we haven’t left the starting blocks.

1 Corinthians 8:1  . . . Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

Both knowledge and love make a person seem bigger but one is nothing but hot air.

Love is manifested by putting Bible knowledge into practice:

John 14:15 If you love me, you will obey what I command.

Romans 13:9 The commandments  . .  are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Breakthrough

We gain God’s heart as a branch slowly gains fruit – by remaining spiritually connected to the Christ, the vine and by allowing God to “prune” us. To the inexperienced, pruning seems a cruel and senseless waste of parts of the branch that have great potential. Despite appearances, however, pruning increases fruitfulness. I believe pruning can come in the form of trials for which Scripture tells us to be thankful. When teaching about the vine, however, Jesus emphasized the role of his Word in pruning us (John 15:3). By obeying God’s Word we let him cut off our favorite sins and our favorite theories. We gain God’s heart by maintaining intimate oneness with Christ and letting God’s Word “remain” in us (John 15:7) by heeding what it says. This is why Scripture says:

James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (Emphasis mine)

We have noted that the Bible frequently cites a “hard heart” as the reason for an inability to comprehend spiritual truth. This must be important, but what exactly is a “hard heart”? Although in modern English we often speak of having a hard heart, basic hermeneutics rightly affirms that how a figure of speech is used in modern English does not necessarily reflect what it meant when the Bible was penned. The most accurate insight into the precise meaning of an expression is obtained by examining how the Bible uses that expression and related concepts.

Surely sin is a factor:

Romans 2:5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day . . . (NKJV)

Neither of the next two scriptures mention “heart,” but they seem relevant:

Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily,  . . . so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

New King James Version chosen in this instance because it happens to provide a more literal rendering of a key word.

Scripture links a seared conscience with being theologically deceived:

1 Timothy 4:1-2 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

If sin is involved, does any particular sin predominate?

Matthew 19:8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. . . .”

This is vague but it hints that a selfish failure to love as God loves could be a factor in having a hard heart. This suggestion is further strengthen by this incident:

Mark 3:3-5 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.” (NKJV)

Jesus kept clashing with people who, in zeal for upholding the law of God seemed faultless, but in loving as God loves were seriously flawed.

I’m reminded of how the disciples’ reaction to the man born blind differed from Jesus’ reaction:

John 9:1-2 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

What an intriguing question! That would keep theologians in fever pitch for years. Instead, Jesus healed the man.

It is so easy to find ourselves delighting in theological and intellectual discussion, rather than being moved by compassion for needy people. Remember in the parable of the Good Samaritan the priest and the Levite, perhaps on their way to holy duties in Jerusalem, walking on the other side of the road when confronted by human need.

Again, “heart” is does not appear in the following, although it might be implied:

Matthew 25:24 Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

The context suggests a “hard man” to be the opposite of someone we would call tender hearted. He’s the opposite of Jesus who was so easily “moved with compassion.” To harden one’s heart would seem to mean making oneself unresponsive to God and/or people. Though one might remain fervently religious and completely self-deceived about one’s spiritual state, to harden one’s heart is to become the exact opposite of Jesus. It is the breaking of what Jesus pronounced to be the essence of the entire old covenant: loving God and loving man (Matthew 22:37-40).

How much they needed to pray the prayer made famous by Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision: Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God. This is a vital – and often forgotten – key to Bible interpretation.

When encountering gays, prostitutes, child molesters, abortionists, liberal preachers or fallen pastors we might be exceedingly zealous in upholding God’s standard of righteousness, but do we uphold God’s standard of love and grace? How tender our heart is towards those who have failed morally is at least one measure of the hardness of our heart. How much our eyes are filled with God’s compassion is an indication of how likely we are to see biblical truth through God’s eyes.

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© Copyright, Grantley Morris, 2005. For much more by the same author, see www.net-burst.net These writings may be freely copied provided they are not placed in a webpage, nor in anything that is sold and provided this entire paragraph is included. For use outside these limits, written permission is required. Freely you have received, freely give.