The Importance of HEART in the Bible

The Importance of HEART in the Bible

The more I read, study, and reflect on Scripture, the more I realize God is a God of Love and the entire Bible has to be read from the point of view of God’s Love. It’s easy to see this simple point in such parables as “The Lost Sheep” and “The Prodigal Son.” But this theme runs throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

 

We read in Genesis 6 that “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually; and it repented the Lord that He had made man on the Earth and it grieved him in his heart. And the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the Earth, both man and beast and every creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repents me that I have made them.’ But Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord. … The Earth also was corrupt before God and the Earth was filled with violence … for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the Earth. And God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh is come before Me, for the Earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the Earth.’” [Note here that God is a God of Heart and that His Pure Heart is revolted by the pervasive corruption of the hearts of men. He Himself first becomes aware of this, and then He communicates His findings with Noah, “a just man” who “walked with God.”]

The same format appears in Genesis 18 & 19 in the story of the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah. God and two angels appear to Abraham in the form of three men as Abraham sits in the door of his tent in the heat of the day in the plains of Mamre. First, the Lord thinks or says to Himself, “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the Earth shall be blessed in him?” We are then told what God expects from Abraham: “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the Way of the LORD to do justice and judgment.” The key here is the importance of family tradition to ensure a lineage of godly people and a legacy of righteous government. Then God speaks to Abraham: “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which has come unto Me.” Then, most remarkably, Abraham “reasons” with God, Who promises not to destroy the wicked cities if even ten righteous persons live therein. As the story proceeds, it is clear that there are no righteous citizens in the twin towns, so the angels tell Lot, “We will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the Face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” Lot and his daughters flee first to the little town of Zoar and then into the surrounding mountains. “The Sun was risen upon the Earth when Lot entered Zoar. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire … and He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.” But God spares Lot, Abraham’s nephew: “And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.” [“Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7)]

Proverbs 4:23 -- “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” [NIV] Jesus teaches in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart,” and again in 6:21 / Luke 12:34, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” [JHK Note: In Genesis 19:26, Lot’s wife looks back wistfully towards Sodom, longing for the life she is leaving behind, and “became a pillar of salt.” So, too, with the children of Israel who had departed Egypt with Moses, they kept longing for the life left behind rather than believing God’s promises for the abundance that lay ahead.]

Matthew 13:33-37 -- “A tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil things. … By your words, you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Matthew 15:17-20 -- “Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.” [JHK Note: This brief passage is also essential to understanding that Eve and Adam did not “fall” by eating some kind of literal fruit that grew on a tree. Throughout human history, culture, and literature, our sexual organs have often been compared to fruits and “eating a fruit” is symbolic for sexual intercourse. On this note, consider Deuteronomy 10:16 -- “Circumcise the foreskin of your heart.” And Deuteronomy 30:6 -- “The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”]

In Mark 2:6, some of the Scribes are thinking, “reasoning in their hearts.” In Acts 11:23, we read of determination or “purpose of heart.” John 10:9-10 teaches that belief springs from the heart. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:5-6 that we should do the will of God voluntarily and “in sincerity of heart.” Paul prays in 2 Thessalonians 3:5, “May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and the patience of Christ.” Proverbs 23:7 -- “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Zechariah admonishes in 7:10b -- “Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.” James 4:8 urges us to “purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Likewise 1 Peter 3:15 -- “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.”

Hebrews 4:12 declares that “The Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword … and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 -- “The Lord looks at the heart.” Jeremiah warns in 17:9 that “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” Psalm 119:11 counters this with “Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”

God will destroy evil, as He did at the time of Noah and in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah. But God is not a bloodthirsty God! He would much prefer that we turn from our sins and live, as is made clear in Ezekiel 18:31-32 -- “Cast away from you all your transgressions! … And make you a new heart and a new spirit, for why would you prefer to die, O House of Israel? I have no pleasure in the death of those who die, says the Lord God! Wherefore turn yourselves and live!” Indeed, one of the most hopeful of God’s promises is found in Ezekiel 11:19 -- “I will give them one heart and a new spirit. I will take out their stony heart and give them a heart of flesh.” [JHK Note: An early example occurs in 1 Samuel 10:9 -- When Saul “turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart.” * Jonah & Nineveh]