Is Your Heart Hard or Soft Toward The Word?

O. T. #2298  "Is Your Heart Hard or Soft Toward The Word?"

Oct. 12, 2022

Zechariah 7-Part 3

LET IT GLOW

The Jews were religious, went through a ritual, but their hearts were far from God, and they were a disgrace to Him. (verse 12) The first message Zechariah was given for the Jewish returnees to Jerusalem was that obedience is better than fasting. (verses 1-7) 

Now the second message of four is disobedience leads to severe judgment. (verses 8-14) Israel was told (before the captivity of 70 years) to execute true judgment, show mercy, and have compassion on every man to his brother. They were not to oppress the widow, the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor. They were forbidden to show imagined evil in their heart against their brother. 

What were the Jews to do? 

• Hear the words of the prophets and the Law and obey it; not pulling away the shoulder nor stopping up their ears (put fingers in their ears).
• Do not harden their hearts as an adamant (from its keenness for scratching; a gem, probably a diamond) stone; hard as a diamond. 

The Jews had rejected God's righteous standard-worship only Him, obey His Word, love God. He used the heathen nations of Assyria and Babylon to remove them from their Promised Land. They were told to not let history repeat itself. Stay true and faithful to their God was the challenge. 

LET IT GROW

If you visit Israel, you will find desert from Jerusalem to Jerico and the Dead Sea. It is as bad as the desert in Arizona. They are using water from the Dead Sea to irrigate fig trees, which will eventually run dry. there are a few fertile fields north of Jerusalem, due to irrigation, where crops are raised. But the land has not totally been restored. Taxes are high there. they do not have a retirement system to take care of the elderly. Yet, one day, Jesus will return to Jerusalem, set up His kingdom, remove the unbelievers, and bless the land.

LET IT GO

May we hear God's Word, study it, and obey it for His glory. May it be Truth. The world needs to hear it and repent of their sins, love only the True Living God, not false gods that are manmade.LET IT GO