Total Eclipse of the Truth

Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

Jeremiah 29:32 ESV

therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the Lord, for he has spoken rebellion against the Lord.’ ”

Numbers 14:29 ESV

your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me,

expectation of judgment - uninhabited salt land

Deuteronomy 29:23 ESV

the whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and wrath—

it’s a voluntary curse - whose heart turns away from the Lord

God is abundant

the roots are sent - again this is voluntary, willful choice

sustenance is given - by water, not in a dessert

so is assurance - he does not fear (~100 times in Bible)

In this contrast, the believer’s heart, meaning the affections, the passions (or the collective of the congregation) is FOR God, His Word, and His Cause

Psalm 1:3 ESV

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Psalm 1:2 ESV

but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

The Bible never paints a picture of someone whose heart is for God, but not His word/His people

Jonathan Edwards A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections (1746)

“True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections”

“the more vigorous and sensible exercises of the inclination and will of the soul”

Let me never be mistaken to advocate for Christianity that does not involve feeling, emotion, energies, excitement, and passion for God; His worship, His glory, His Word, or His Church.

Our hearts ought to be ALL IN for The Lord

Heads and Hands for God -

Biblical Christianity has more to do with right thinking and right doing than how we feel about any of it in our hearts.

Doubling Down:

The Bible never says that Jesus saved you so you wouldn’t go to Hell. If you are saved, you won’t go to Hell, but you were saved for the purpose of doing good and right things.

The heart is deceitful - v9

Not solved in rebirth

Romans 7:15 ESV

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

Things confessed to me with no lack of peace:

Adultery

Theft

Lying to a congregation

Not the ground of our faith

1 Corinthians 15:16–17 ESV

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

The only mention of feeling in the entire case Paul makes for the grounding of our faith is in v19 where he says if what we know about the truth claims that Jesus is risen are wrong, others ought to pity us.

Matthew 16:15–17 ESV

Matthew 16:15–18 ESV

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

matt 16:15-17

God revealed = granted knowledge and understanding, and THAT rock, not Peter’s emotions is sufficient to build a church. Feeling is not.

Not a master to be obeyed

“I cannot contain what is in my heart”

1 Corinthians 14:32 ESV

and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.

Some read this to say the utterances and words spoken by one prophesying are to be judged by others who hear it; both in content and manner.

I believe that is true, but believe that Gill more captures Paul’s intent:

An Exposition of the New Testament, Volumes I–III Chapter 14

they can refrain themselves and be silent, and wait till they have proper opportunity of speaking, being not like the prophets of false gods, who are acted by an evil spirit, and observe no order or decorum, but with a sort of fury and madness deliver involuntarily what is suggested to them: but such is not the case of true prophets that are influenced and directed by the spirit of God, who will give way to one another; one will be silent while the other speaks, and by turns prophesy one after another; and where there is not such a subjection, ’tis a sign that the spirit of God is not in them, for the reason that follows.

Ver. 33. For God is not the author of confusion,

We have as Missionary Baptists for more than a generation been imbalanced in our over-emphasis and enthroning of how we feel, which has in too many cases eclipsed the import of the plain teaching and understanding of God’s Word.

Believer in Christ, there is both a sense that your heart of stone was replaced with a heart of flesh when you were born again AND that your heart presently is deceitfully wicked and a weakness that must be guarded against. These are parallel truths; not conflicting positions.

God gives according to ways; deeds -v10-11

Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Romans 2:6 ESV

He will render to each one according to his works:

Revelation 20:11–14 ESV

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:11–12 ESV

Entrance is based on the book of life; judgment is based on the books.

“If my heart isn’t in it, I may as well not do it”

WRONG! If a thing is right, but your heart is not in it, the right thing to do is to do the right thing and beg God in His mercy to move and change your heart to match!

When a man or woman senses they are distant from their spouse, the best thing to do is to start LOVING them. Following the choice and action, they will start feeling love for them.

This is no less true for the believer. The more time we spend with God, His Word, and His People, the more we will be inclined to them. In this way, our hearts fill out the experience without us being enslaved to them.

Matthew 5:14–16 ESV

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

While no one is saved by seeing good works, they are a witness to the truth and power of the gospel; the lure with hooks for fishing for men

Relying on our hearts is foolish, and making flesh our strength - v11 & v5

While the Psalmist asks God why the wicked seem to prosper in this life, God is clear that in the end; only righteousness; righteous deeds will be rewarded.

“in the midst of his days they will leave him, and at his end he will be a fool.”

The tragedy of it all is to realize that relying on our hearts in an imbalanced way is the epitome of making flesh our strength

Jeremiah 17:5 ESV

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.

Without taking away from the truth that every bit of our heart ought to be for God; passion, preference, love, desire, and emotion all invested in God, His Word, His People, His Church, let us be awakened to the reality that our own hearts, even as believers, were never intended to be the sure compass guiding our paths, that we have been and will be deceived by them, and that we need God to renew our minds and illumine our understanding that we begin to make the Word of God a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path; that our hands and heads would be for God even if and when our hearts are not.

A Praise for God -

Even while delivering a prophecy of judgment and justice against Judah, Jeremiah completes this poem with a verse of praise. While I will not seek to exegete these last 7 verses per se, after dwelling on demands (hearts ought to be for God & Hands and Heads ought to be for God) let me praise God and offer gospel for all of us cut by these.

Jeremiah 17:12 ESV

A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.

2 Peter 1:3 ESV

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

1 Corinthians 15:28 ESV

When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

God has provided and preserved his Word to teach us His ways.

God has sent, and currently sends His Spirit to give understanding.

God will turn our hearts if we ask Him to and do what He has said.

This is a secure truth. This is something to take sanctuary in. God help us to take this to our heart, and our head!

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