“But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered 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 7:11-12
One of the biggest misconceptions about our world today is that it is somehow different. We believe and are readily told that somehow this modern world has progressed. That as modern humans we have evolved more than any other era of sapiens, finding some self-proclaimed pinnacle that no other generation has been able to locate. We have technology, we have unlimited sharing of data, we have more space travel than ever before, we are more globally connected with each other than any other period in history. And as we pat ourselves on the back for such grand achievements, we also pat ourselves on the back for progressing beyond those other inferior past generations. We associate technological achievement with spiritual, emotional, and social progression, and folks, it is one of the single biggest and well sold lies that has ever existed. The truth? The DNA that exists within the human race has not changed one iota. We are still the same reprobate sinners that have existed since a prideful Adam and Eve were called out of hiding. And this ideal cannot be summed up any better than the way in which it was stated by the wisest man that has ever graced this planet, Solomon.
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecc 1:9
The old testament portion of the Bible plays out like a broken record, skipping, crackling, and repeating the same story over and over. God's people rebel against Him by rejecting His law, worshiping idols, and embracing their own sinful, prideful, perverse ways. God then delivers His Word through prophets to remind the sinful people of His laws, His deeds, and the covenant agreement of their ancestors. Then, in rebellious lack of repentance, God delivers His righteous judgement upon the sinful people. This sickeningly repetitive formula plays out time and time again from Genesis to Malachi, an estimated 1500 years of human history. So if we have this 1500 year history of human behavior at our fingertips, why do we assume that we have somehow graduated from this behavior? Are we as people now more perfect than those we read about in the old testament? Have we advanced ourselves beyond the human condition, now elevated above sin and the broken record it produces before Almighty God? Friends, just look around at our world today to see that we have not in any way moved out of sin’s grasp, but are instead following the downward spiral of sin. We are instead riding it to its completion.
The God-given words that Zechariah delivers to the Israel nation in our study verses above, are chilling. Recall that these people are a remnant that had just been released from 70 years of harsh Babylonian slavery, the judgement of God for their rebellious and sinful attitudes towards Him. Yet within a short 15 years back in Jerusalem, that broken record is once again spinning the same message. And at the core of the message of their stubborn rebellion and rejection of His law and words, God cuts to the quick and identifies the real problem…the human heart.
Yes, the human heart in its physical condition is soft flesh but in its unchanged original spiritual condition, it is as the Lord says here, “hard as flint.” Due to our inherited sin nature we are born with hard hearts. We are prideful, arrogant, egotistical and as a result, have little room for a God that will only want us to give up the throne of our heart which we have naturally claimed for ourselves. Yet when we are truly convicted of our sin, a miracle moment happens. When we realize that our sin will not take us to the peak of the mountain, but instead to the darkest valley, our hearts move into a direction of transformation. And it is the Lord that will do the transforming. This heart-transformation is beautifully and eloquently summed up in the book of Ezekiel:
“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.” Ezekiel 36:26-27
The natural spiritual state of the heart is hard as stone, sparking and reacting like flint against a world that is just as hard. But friends, that is not the heart God intends for His children. God desires a heart that is tender, soft, kind, and good. A heart that deeply yearns for peace, harmony, and goodness. A heart that beats after the Son of God that walked this planet over 2000 years ago. If you’ve come to abhor that big piece of flint in your chest that drives you into your sin today, it’s not hopeless…it can be changed in the blink of an eye. Simply admit that the heart you carry is irrevocably contaminated with sin and that you need a radical heart-transformation. Call out to Jesus and ask Him to save you from the eternal death that your sin brings, and instead give you the eternal life that comes through His redemptive work upon the cross. Jesus Christ came here to live a sinless life, die as your substitute, and be resurrected…all just for you. All you need to do is reach out and in great faith, embrace His forgiveness. And folks, as you do, a miracle moment will ensue, just as it did for me and countless millions around this globe. Your heart of stone will be turned into a heart of flesh. You will be a new creature driven by a new heart. And, as I can personally attest, life will never be the same living with a God-given heart of love.
I pray today that you refuse to live one day longer rejecting God, turning your back on His Words, and covering your ears to His call. But instead, you open your eyes and ears to a message that transforms hearts.
Blessings for a soft and tender heart in this day ~ Dan
“Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Romans 10:9-10
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