Hard Hearts
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Notes
Transcript
A. Rapport for the time
Why would our hearts fail to acknowledge God? What does the bible say?
B. Reading of the text
C. Review of the text
D. Relevance of the text
I. I can Fix it myself
I. I can Fix it myself
1 The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.”
We saw in the passage in 1 Samuel 5 the leaders of the Philistines move the Ark from place to place because of the trouble they had with the plagues. They even came up with the idea in
11 They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there.
They understood that what was happening to them was not what they wanted. They had conquered the God of Israel but he seemed to be fighting back and they just wanted the judgment of God to stop. Understand that is exactly what his happening to them. For their failure to recognize God as good they are now experiencing HIS wrath on earth. It is out of the goodness of God that He pronounces judgement upon people like the philistines.
They want the pain to go away but they do not want to recognize that it is their own hearts that have caused this Judgement. Instead...
3 They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you.”
verse 3 is really an amazing verse as the Philistines are acknowledging 2 things about God. First, they realize they have dishonored the God of Israel. Their gods have not been able to do a think with the one true God and they are acknowledging that they are lacking. Secondly, they know that this is a judgement from God and he is sovereign in a way that their gods are not. Don’t you find it interesting in this place the philistines are willing to acknowledge God but are not willing to come to a place or repentance and faith in God. They believe in him obviously but will not repent and place their faith in him.
4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords.
They desire to submit a guilt offering before the Lord. The smartest people they can summon come up with the idea of 5 golden tumors and 5 golden mice. Who had to pose for tumors? And why the mice? This is why some believe that it must has been a plague that ravaged the land during this time. Flees on mice could have spread the bubonic plague but we know God can use anything. Understand this is the best they can come up with to offer the Lord. This is their best thinking of what might appease him and make him stop. They are trying to control God. Can you imagine trying to control God by telling him what is good or what his standard should be? God established how he was to be worshiped and honored and it does not include gold tumors or golden mice…Appeasement vs. worship
Guilt offering are in Leviticus 5:14-6:7 and then again in
1 “This is the law of the guilt offering. It is most holy.
2 In the place where they kill the burnt offering they shall kill the guilt offering, and its blood shall be thrown against the sides of the altar.
3 And all its fat shall be offered, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails,
4 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys.
5 The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering to the Lord; it is a guilt offering.
6 Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.
7 The guilt offering is just like the sin offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with it shall have it.
8 And the priest who offers any man’s burnt offering shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering that he has offered.
9 And every grain offering baked in the oven and all that is prepared on a pan or a griddle shall belong to the priest who offers it.
10 And every grain offering, mixed with oil or dry, shall be shared equally among all the sons of Aaron.
Expository Commentary---
The priests reading of the situation seems to be that the deity associated with the ark has been offended by being taken from his land and placed in a subordinate position to Dagon. The offering will appease the anger of the God of Israel, and he will withdraw the plague he has inflicted on them. If the plague then ceases, it will be obvious that relief had not come earlier because they had not made reparations for their offense.
Difference between needing to appease God vs worship of him!! Do you understand as the redeemed that you life is an act of worship not appeasement?
5 So you must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you and your gods and your land.
6 Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed?
vs. 5…perhaps you can appease this God this way. Maybe he will respond to gold as if that is what he needs. God will like me more if I ___________
Hardened their hearts!! They don’t even know what they just said...
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go.
15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.
The Lord send the plagues on the Egyptians so that they might know he is he Lord
5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
From the worldly point of view they don’t want to repeat what happened to the Egyptians in Exodus 5-14 they want to do something now before this God unleashes more upon them. THEY WANT TO DO>>>
T.S.
II. Maybe This God is real?
II. Maybe This God is real?
7 Now then, take and prepare a new cart and two milk cows on which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them.
More in the way of the Philistines seeming to know God is real but not wanted to admit it to themselves is how they go about discerning who God is to them.
A. the ark is to be conveyed on a “new cart,” probably one with four wheels, as it is to be pulled by two cows, Being “new,” it will not be contaminated by any previous use.
B. The cows are to be used are to be ones that have never been yoked to a cart before. While this might be an instance of propriety in a sacred function, here it also means that the animals drawing the cart will be performing a task for which they have not been trained
C. The “milk cows” are ones that have recently given birth, and they are now to be separated from their calves. (Expository preaching)
How bout that! Put as many things in the way as you can think of so that the God of the Israelites won’t be successful in making this happen and you can say all this was one big coincident or just bad timing that the events unfolded this way.
8 And take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side the figures of gold, which you are returning to him as a guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way
9 and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”
vs. 9—coincidence…not really the power of God. Strange that these leaders have said to not harden your heart but that they already have hardened hearts toward the ways of God.
T.S.
III. There is an Active God
III. There is an Active God
10 The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home.
11 And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors.
12 And the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh.
You mean their is and active God in the universe one not made by man? Not only that but he alone is worthy of all worship and praise far greater than anything you can think of or pursue?
7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,
8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
10 and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face.
11 You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.
10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
This means God judged them!!!
Application:
A heart that says you can fix it yourself, that does not acknowledge that God is real in our life and still active in the day to day operation of our life is a heart that is hard. Do you realize this morning that part of your heart as christian living a life being sanctified may have been hardened to the things of God. It may be a person or something you have just decided you will do yourself. You are telling God that you are sufficient and you know that is a lie! You are not and never will be apart from the work of God in your life in the power of the Spirit of God.