In these passages of scripture, God is calling Israel to give up their idols and to come and know Him..the God of Israel.  Not just “know about” Him based on what they had been told by their fathers but to come “KNOW Him” for themselves.. to have their relationship with Him.

Chapter 17 tells us  sin of Judah. It is idol worship that is engraved upon their hearts with a diamond pointed iron stylus and engraved upon the horns of the altar. The “diamond pointed” stylus indicates a hardened heart..a stony heart.  

The horns of the altar could refer either to an actual pagan altar which means their sin was displayed before God and man flagrantly or it means what God sees upon His altar. The horns of Yahweh’s altar were touched with the blood of the sacrifices but,in this case, when the blood trickled down God still saw the sin because it was “engraved” there meaning there was no repentance and no forgiveness. God still sees it.

As we know in Hebraic thought, this can be both: God sees their pagan altars which are in His Face or “ before Him” breaking the first commandment and He sees their unrepentant sin when they come to make sacrifices on His altar so their sacrifices are vain.   

Jer. 17: 5-8 is a contrast of one who knows Yahweh trusts in HIM and one who trusts in his own strong arm or the “idols” he makes for himself. Just a little Rabbi trail here: the word for idol in Hebrew means “nonexistent thing”. Think about that. They do not exist.

The man who trusts in Yahweh will stand in good times and bad because he looks to the God who is God. The God of Israel is the source of all life just like water is the source of life for a tree. The man who trusts in God will not fear when the heat and drought come ( trials and tribulations) and he will not cease to yield fruit.

 

Messiah said that in the last days men’s hearts will fail them for fear. That’s because they take their focus off God, the source, and put it trials and tribulations. That’s what happened with Peter when he got out of the boat and was walking on the water. Messiah had come walking on the water in the fourth watch of the night in darkness. Darkness is sign of tribulation. When Peter took his eyes off Messiah and focused on the strong winds and the waves, he began to sin. Peter got his focus back on Messiah and he called out for help to the one who could help and Messiah put him back in the boat.  Whatever the problem or trial in your life, let Messiah be your focus not the problem and call out to Him. He will help you.

In verses 9 & 10 God starts talking about the heart but He is not changing the subject because in verse 10 He says:
I, Yahweh, search the heart.
I test the mind
Even to give to each man according to his ways
According to the results of his deeds.
The word we translate “results” in English is the word for “fruit” in Hebrew.

Now look at verse 9 and He says:
The heart is more deceitful than all else
and is desperately wicked
Who can understand it?

In Hebrew the “desperately wicked” means “incurable” meaning no hope.

We have an incurable, deceitful heart but Praise God we have a God who has a cure for the incurable. He has hope for the hopeless…HalleluYah !

What is God’s cure for an incurable heart? A heart transplant..A NEW heart!

Ez.36:2
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

Ez. 11:19-20
“And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.

What was David’s prayer in Psalm 51 after he sinned with Bathsheba? “create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me”. David was a prophet and this was a prophetic prayer. David understood the problem was with his heart.
He longed for a new heart.

How was God going to do this? Through the shed Blood of Messiah.

Yeshua did not die just for our sinful acts for there was already forgivness for sinful acts through the Mosaic sacrifices.  Yeshua’s atonement does two things: His Blood washes away our sinful acts and it also eradicates the sin nature..the stony heart..the evil inclination. It doesn’t mean there is no struggle against sin. Paul talks about this in Romans 7:14 -8:39 but the process begins when we come to Messiah and much gain can be made against the carnal nature.

Most people know there are different words in Greek for love but lot of people do not know that there are 4 different Greek words translated “sin” in English.

1. hamarti ‘on .. sinful acts, offenses
2. hamarti’ahs or hamarti’ah.. proneness to sin, sin nature, evil inclination
3. hamarta’nay or hamarta’nain..a direct sin against someone else
especially“against God”…  and this word is the base word  for
4. hamarta’no..which can mean a great sin that leads to death

Since there are 4 different words in Greek for sin let me show you where this is important in our understanding of scripture.

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4 Greek words for sin from article by Avram Yehoshua Mosaic Sacrifice in the New Testament pages 13 & 14  www.seedofabraham.net

Here are a few examples:

Heb. 12:1
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin  (sinful acts..hamarti’on) which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

1 John 3:4-5
Everyone who practices sin (sinful acts.. hamarti’on) also practices lawlessness  and the sin (sin nature.. hamarti’ah) is lawless.
You know that He, Messiah, appeared in order to take away sins (sin nature ..Hamarti’ah) and in Him there is no sin (sin nature.. Hamarti’ah).

Heb. 10:4
The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin (the sin nature..  hamarti’ahs). The blood of bull and goats cannot take away the sin nature.

The blood of the Mosaic sacrifices took care of the sinful acts but it did not deal with the sin nature. That is what this passage is making clear if you understand the different greek words for sin.

In Messiah, we not only have forgiveness for our sinful acts, we also get a new nature. We no longer have the “sin nature” ... the heart of stone.

2 Cor. 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 

The Tabernacle was constructed starting with the Holy of Holies…The heart of the Tabernacle was where God would dwell.

God constructs His Temple, us, from the inside out. He give us a new Heart and puts His Spirit within. He dwells in our heart the center .

1 Cor. 3:16
Do you not know that you are a temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Through the shed Blood of Messiah and the power of the Ruach HaKodesh, we can walk with Him from a heart that desires to please Him in all things.

Let God have His way…ask Him to do it…and He will give you a heart transplant.