Saturday, April 17, 2021
“And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go” (Exodus 4:21 KJV).
Exactly what is “spiritual cardiosclerosis?” How can we avoid this invisible, destructive malady?
Despite having God’s revelation, Israel herself became spiritually hardened once she exited Egypt. As touching her wilderness wanderings, Psalm 95: “[1] O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. [2] Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. [3] For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. [4] In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. [5] The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. [6] O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
“[7] For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, [8] Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: [9] When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. [10] Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: [11] Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.”
Centuries later, when the Philistines stole the Ark of the Covenant from the Jews, the LORD God judged the Philistines most harshly: “Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?” (1 Samuel 6:6). Hundreds of years after this, King Zedekiah of Judah also fell prey to spiritual cardiosclerosis: “And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel” (2 Chronicles 36:13).
We now get to Christ’s earthly ministry….
333 Words of Grace 