Letter 185 (new heart)
13/06/03
In last week’s letter we began to look at the condition of
man’s heart, which did not make a very ‘pretty picture’. Yes, if we were to
look around us for tangible evidence of an imminent heart change, we would
quickly lose hope. However, in spite of this grim appearance of things, YHVH
has promised in His Word to give us a new heart and a new spirit.
About a year ago I heard a certain rabbi in Jerusalem , read from the Tanach (Old
Testament) many of the wonderful promises that were prophesied about this heart
change. Upon terminating, the rabbi
commented that as of yet he had not seen any evidence of these scriptures being
fulfilled. Those of us in the audience
who were believers in the New Covenant came under conviction at that moment,
realizing that we, who bear YHVH’s name (nature), have not been an effective
testimony of the reality of Yeshua’s holy life in us. Perhaps if we delve into the “heart of the
matter”, we will discover the reasons for this poor witness.
There
is a certain question I had recently posed to the Teacher (Spirit of Holiness):
“When is it that we receive this new heart?”
Almost immediately a picture came to my mind, of Yeshua’s body as He
hung on the execution tree and the centurion thrusting the head of his spear up
through the side and into the heart. I
saw water mingling with blood oozing out of the wound, and slowly running down
His body to the ground (John 19:34). Following this picture, a very tender
thought came to my mind: “Here at the
“cross” is where I removed your evil heart, when you believed and accepted My
Son as your Savior, Redeemer and Messiah. Right then and there you were given
the new heart.” I wept at the compassion
and love that I felt at that moment. I
also knew that I could not have received His Spirit life without this heart
transplant. The new creation spirit man
cannot dwell in the habitation of the old heart; it would be like putting new wine
in old wine skins (Matt 9:17).
Thus says YHVH: “A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the
stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh” (Ez. 36:26). Again He says, "I will give them one
heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of
their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh” (Ez. 11:19). “I will cast away from you all
your transgressions, wherein you have transgressed; and make you a new heart
and a new spirit: for why will you die, O house of Israel
1Cor.
3:16-12). If we were to continue along
the same vein, “flesh” would represent the “outer court”. However, there is still another part of the Tabernacle
that stands between the “heart” and the “flesh” (outer court), and that is the
soul (the Hebrew word is “nephesh”) - “the holy place”.
Last
week I maintained that the heart was comparable to the “Holy of Holies”. But as
I was contemplating this, I realized that “aron hakodesh”, literally the “holy
cabinet” or “box” which is the article in the “Holy of Holies” known as the
“ark of the testimony”, more accurately defines our heart. This cabinet housed the rod of Aaron, the
manna and the tablets of stone. All of
these are symbolic of the presence of Yeshua in the new heart; Aaron’s rod
which budded would be His high priestly calling, and anointing for bring forth
life from the dead. The manna is the “bread of life”, while the tablets are the
living Torah or Word of life. The
Spirit of Holiness, shining in and through Yeshua, is the light (Shekinah) that
emanates above the “mercy seat” and fills the Holy of Holies. Hopefully this
gives us a glimpse into what our innermost being looks like.
However,
our Tabernacle, as we all know so well, is not without its difficulties. In letter 181 (enemies of the cross) this
problem was addressed. Paul describes it
as “something that is at work in our members”, or, to use his own words, “the
law of sin working in my[his] members” (Rom. 7:23). What did the apostle mean by the term
“members”? I believe he was speaking of
the “members of the soul”, that is the mind, will and emotions. We know that the heart of man is not the
soul, as the scriptures do not say that the soul is to be replaced. Rather, it must be renewed or restored.
Psalms 19:7 and 23:3 both tell us that YHVH’s desire is to restore our
soul. Restore it from what? - From the
influence of the old heart condition or spiritual nature, or in other words,
from “the old man of sin”. Our Holy Place has been
desecrated by the “spirits of this evil world”, and even as believers if our
mind (lamp-stand), will (table of showbread) and emotions (incense altar) have
not been renewed, we will continue to behave in the same manner that we did
before our heart transplant.
YHVH’s command or
requirement upon all His people is to: “Fear YHVH Elohay’nu, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and
to serve Him with all our heart and with all our soul” (Deut. 10:12). YHVH has known all along that without changing the
heart, it would virtually be impossible for man’s soul to respond to His
love. He, therefore, by His tender
mercies, initiated and accomplished the first of these promises, and that was
to give us a heart to love Him; but not only Him, also our own self and one
another.
No comments:
Post a Comment