11.11.26 – It's a Heart Issue

In this week's Torah portion, we find a conflict between two brothers who represent two nations, which ultimately points to the current and future redemption of all mankind—the ascension of one and the demise of the other (Mal. 1:4).

Within our own lives, we probably have the same conflict. Let me show you. 🤔

Proverbs 3:5–6 tells us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.

Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that "the heart is deceitful above all things and it is incurable. Who can know it?"

How does this work? How can I trust the Lord with something that is deceitful? Let us look at the latter and then address the former.

We do not think of the heart as an inside scheming deceiver. After all, we know ourselves pretty well, do we not? We know when we lie and when we tell the truth, so why does Yahweh (He is the One speaking here) contradict our own conscience? We view the problem more akin to a bout with the flu. Sure, we know that there are times when our inner ethical perspective is sick, but we also manage to struggle along with the illness, operating under the assumption that taking a couple of spiritual aspirin will make everything better by morning. It just does not seem right to say that our hearts are the worst of all faculties of consciousness. But that is what Yahweh says, and He knows what He is talking about.

Maybe we had better take a closer look. What does this Hebrew word really tell us? What if it paints a picture that we really do not want to see? What if the deceitfulness of my heart is really a problem about trusting my inner self? What if saying that my heart is desperately sick is really a way of saying that living according to my own inner sense of conscience inevitably leads to death and disaster? What if that inner voice that so subtly suggests actions is really something inhuman, speaking to me from the corrupted earth? It is time to find out.

The Hebrew word for deceitful (aqov) is very odd. It is really the combination of two adjectives, both implying something about footprints and heels. You will see how it comes to mean "deceptive" when you realize that the Hebrew idiom for traitor is someone who lifts up his heel against the king (Psalm 41:9). The same idea resides in the famous passage about the head of the snake (Genesis 3:15). Finally, this word is connected to the name Ya'akov (Jacob), as the one who grasps the heel (the supplanter). It is a word that implies grasping, traitorous acts in an effort to take control. Now that sounds like a heart without Yahweh's grace.

The real distinction between men and animals is that men are capable of ignoring the voice of instinct and choosing to live by the external command of the Creator, while animals hear only the inner voice of God in instinctual direction. When we "follow our hearts," we move in the direction of animal consciousness, away from guidance by the external Word of Yahweh. That is why the heart is so deceptive. You see, human beings are aware of instinct too. In the case of animal behavior, instinct is the way Yahweh guides. But that is not true of human beings. We are to be directed by hearing and obeying, not by listening to the inner voice. We are to depend on the Word of the Lord as it is manifest to us externally. The way of the heart is exceedingly and subtly dangerous because it pushes us in the direction of animal existence.

Now let us make the final connection. Yahweh's word is externally manifest in the life of His Son. Yeshua is the embodiment of the external direction for living. That is why He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. If you ignore what He says, you automatically assert the priority of your own inner voice—and you move in the direction of becoming an animal. When man is the measure of all things, he connects himself to the animal world. But when Yahweh gives man directions, man is elevated toward the sublime.

Which voice do you hear and obey (2 Kings 23:25)?

Shalom, shalom!
Alan

www.lightintorah.org

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

12 21 25 – At the End

Then it came to pass, at the end   (miketz)   of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream (Gen. 41:1) I have often said that before you begin a project, you have to finish it. That is exactly how the Lord our God is. Before He begins a project, He already has the blueprint completed, the funding necessary, and everything is prepared before He sets the timetable in motion. We see here at the beginning of the Torah portion,  Miketz  ("at the end"), after thirteen years of stagnation, the Lord brings about an end to Joseph's wait. And we should all have hope in the extremity ( ketz ) of something. We should all have hope that the Lord will finish what His preparation works and proceed with it with a blessing. This is the Hebrew understanding that when God brings an end to something, when He cuts something off, He actually has something in store for us—often a blessing, the paradise of our inheritance. And whatever that time of awaiting has been, it always proceeds with ...
Read more

7.16.25 ~ New Heights and Depths

Good morning! I am back in Michigan and have access to the internet again. Good morning! Though you haven't received studies over the past week, you have been prayed for and I hope your passion for the Lord is daily rising to new heights. The first generation of the wilderness journey were passive; recipients of God's goodness around every bend. Since their passing, the second generation has been called to action! The final temptation before entering into the Land has come and gone. Some passed the test and 24,000 failed. Prior to Phineas heroic gesture, in stopping the plague, the sexual and idolatrous debacle had already been active through the encounter at Baal-Peor, the Moabite women, and Balaam's suggestion initiated, where God commanded Moses to take the heads of the leaders and hang  the heads of all the participants towards the sun so that God's wrath will be turned away (Num. 25:1-5). The average person would think that adverse response to Israel's rebellio...
Read more

4.4.26 ~ Can You Count to Three?

Image
Today, Saturday 4/4/26, many will celebrate the day that Yeshua was visibly seen risen from the grave (John 20:1; Matt. 28:1–10; Luke 24:1–10)! The day after His resurrection, Yeshua would be out ministering to the doubts of His disciples, helping them realize that He is alive and that the purpose of His resurrection would be catalyzed by their lives. For the disciples closest to Yeshua and those who stood at a safe distance away, it was a time of doubt. The enemy was in hot pursuit. They were fearful for their lives, but just at the God-appointed time, their salvation appeared.  Does that sound vaguely familiar? It should. Earlier this week, on the day after Passover—the 15th of the first month—the natural-born Israelites and those who joined them through the blood of the Lamb exited Egypt and headed toward the sea. In just a few days, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pharaoh would not be happy that he let the Israelites go; he felt betrayed, and he was hot (Ex. 14:5–9). Mose...
Read more