The Biblical Hear - Part One

The speaker discusses the biblical concept of the heart and how it differs from our usual understanding. They explain that the heart, in biblical terms, refers to the whole person and not just the emotions or feelings. The mind, on the other hand, is seen as the seat of logic and discipline. The speaker emphasizes the importance of guarding one's heart and thoughts, as well as understanding God's heart. They also touch on the idea of fairness from a human and divine perspective. Well, good evening, everyone. Happy Sabbath to all. Yes, tonight we're going to talk about the biblical heart. We have different concepts of the heart, but I think you're going to find that what we think of the heart is not exactly what God has in mind when he uses the word heart. And because of the speaking schedules, looks like I'm back-to-back this Sabbath and next Sabbath, so we're going to have a biblical heart part one tonight and biblical heart part two next week. So anyway, hopefully I'm not boring you too much. Remember, we generally separate the heart from the mind. Does anybody remember reading Rudolf Kipling's famous poem, Ganga Din? There's a good movie made out of that. Story takes place in the Raj in India, and it opens up with the least is east and west is west, and ne'er between shall meet. Well, that's how we view the heart and the mind. Heart. Heart seems to be the seat of emotions, feelings, romance, sometimes just madly in love. We even have phrases, oh yes, I'm with you, and thank you from the bottom of my heart. I don't know what the top of the heart looks like, but we say the bottom of the heart, so okay. Well, we sometimes will say, yes, I'm with you with all my heart. These things come, and actually they're Hebraisms, talking about the heart. Now, something I have to have a humorous question to ask you, and I don't know if any of you have ever seen one or have any, but have you ever heard the phrase, I'll ensure one to the cockles of my heart? Anybody never seen a cockroach? Well, if you have, if you've got one, please send it, I'd like to see it, but anyway, that's the heart. Now, the mind, oh, that's different, that's discipline, logic, you gotta think things through, you know, use your head when you, well, that is perhaps best expressed in a song years ago from one of my favorite female vocalists, and I guess I'd have to thank some of you down under in Aussie land, Olivia Newton-John, and I'm sure you're familiar with that name. She came from Australia. She had one of the softest voices of any female artist I ever heard, and tragically, we lost her this last year. But anyway, her song was, in particular, I Honestly Love You. Interesting. She says, come, please, I have something that you really ought to hear. I love you. I honestly love you. But there was something wrong with it, and she expresses it. She says, there you are with yours, and here I am with mine. So I guess we'll leave it at that. Married woman in love with a married man, somebody else. Well, that's the heart and not the head, and in that song, she also says, you must realize it's coming from my heart and not my head. True. But that's not how God sees it. God does not see it this way. In terms, we do believe, but it's true. In Hebrew, there is no such word that expressly discusses the mind. It's not there. Now, you will see in the English translations, like, we're going to look at a scripture or two that talks about that, but that's not what we call the mind. No, no, no. That's the heart. That's what we'll call heart. You see? So God, the heart, or the two-letter word lev, like, you think of it in pronunciation, think of L-E-V, but actually it's a Hebrew word for L and a Hebrew word for the V, the Vetch sign, sound. There is the letter. Lev is the sum total of all that we are. When God talks about the heart, he's not talking about a pump inside, pumping blood. He's not talking about a spiritual heart that's somehow pumping or producing more spirit. No, no, no. He's talking about the sum total of a person, the site, the inter-core, the inner core, everything you are. So when God talks about a good heart, your heart was not right with God. That's the whole person, everything about that person. So let's start out scripturally-wise in Proverbs, the book of Proverbs, chapter 4 and verse 23. And if you've got your faithful version, that's going to be page 775. So, over here, God says, or the author, led by God, he says, Above all, guard the law of your mind, oh, your mind, with diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Now that translation is good. It presents and expresses the meaning of this verse. But do you know, that's not what it says. It's what it means. How many times have I said to myself, well, I read this, I know what it says, but what does it really mean? Well, in this case, we can tell what it means, but that's not what it says. We're going to come back to that in just a minute. Hold your place there if you would. And now turn to 2 Corinthians for just a very, very quick read. Because God has something to say here. In 2 Corinthians chapter 10, 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and we've got it in about verses 4 and 5. There we go. Verse 4. For the weapons of our warfare are not powerful, but mighty through God, through the overfilling of strongholds. Verse 5, the key verse, casting down vain imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought and to the obedience of Christ. Now, that is a tall order. That is much easier said than done. Well, back to, excuse me, back to Proverbs 4. Now, to really look at this, look at verse 23 and you'll see a star there. That star can be found in the center margin, all about maybe just a 10% down. It says verse 23. Alternate reading is, guard your heart. Well, that's not reading the alternative reading. That is the reading. That is what it says. Well, it wouldn't make much sense in English. How do you guard your heart? When God's talking about the line here, he's talking about the whole thing. Guard your heart, everything about you. So we're talking about guarding one's heart, but yet you think through the heart, not the mind. Now, in English, we normally really think through the mind, the brain, we speak through the mouth, but you see, God describes that whole thing as limb, heart. Go up a couple of verses here to about verse 20. And we're in 423, go up to verse 20. My son, attend to my words, incline your ear to my sayings, lift them left apart from your eyes, keep them in the middle of your heart. See, the heart, the heart is everything. So now, we are going to try to take a look, if we can, about God's heart. Because God does have a heart. But what's his heart? Well, the same thing as the human heart, in a sense, the sum total of all that God is. His thoughts, his actions, again, what he says, what he does, how he thinks. And so often, I've come to the point where I have to pray, my father, help me see as you see, help me understand as you understand, not as I understand. I could easily get led astray. One thing I like about the Israel Bible Center, which I'm in close communication with, and I learn a lot. Well, this is their philosophy, they'll say, we don't look to what Protestant Christians say. We don't look to what Catholics say. We don't look to what the Jewish rabbis say. We look to the word, the text. What does the text say? Doesn't matter what we think it may say, look to the text. And I remember a rabbi years and years ago who would say to us, stand back, ask yourself, what is the Torah trying to tell us? Well, I added a little twist to that. What is God trying to tell us through the Torah? Because this is his word. This is the knowledge that he wanted handed down. So first of all, we talk about the heart, all right? Let's look at, I'm sorry, Acts 13 verse 22, there we go. Acts 13, and I, in another chapter of Acts, during the stage of stick to my fingers, you'll have to forgive me for that, but 22, and what we have here, talking about David, Acts 22, after rewarding him, will of Saul, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also gave testimony saying, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. Interesting. David was a man after God's own heart. Well, guess what it is, it was a man after God's own heart, except what he wasn't. You shall remember a woman named Asherah, and a man, a soldier named Uriah. No, God wasn't, David wasn't following God at that point, but his whole being basically was. He repented bitterly. If you want to see what David thought in his attitude, turn to Saul. Turn to the book of Saul. Psalm 42, actually, Psalm 42, and what is it that David's saying? As the heart pats after the water flows, so my soul pats after you, O God. Verse 2, my soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? Well, that was David. He did seek after God. He tried with all his might. So now, we're going to look a little bit about the heart of God. Remember, God's heart is the sum total of all he is. And we're going to see just about God. But I have a question for you. Is God fair? Is he? Across this country, and for that matter, many countries in the world, you will hear people saying over and over again, that's not fair. That's not fair. We want fair play. God never talks about being fair. He never declares himself to be fair. And actually, from a human point of view, he is not fair. Because fairness, that's a human concept. Humans develop fairness. It's subjective. Remember, what's fair to thee and fair to me may not be fair to the guy behind the tree. So we have that. Now, let's look at an example. And you judge for yourself. Think of it from God's point of view. Also think of it from a human point of view. Turn to Matthew, chapter 20. Let's look at Matthew. Now, most of us are familiar with this case. There is a Lord, 28. It says here, verse 1, The kingdom of heaven shall be compared to a man, a master of a house. Who went out early in the morning to hire workmen in his own yard. He needs work done. And after agreeing with the workmen of silver coins in the way of wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Well, that's nice. He hired them. They got a chance to earn a bit of a living. And when he went about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, What I'm showing to the field work for me, and I will give you what is right. Okay. They went and they went. And when going out after the sixth hour, about the sixth hour in the ninth hour, the eleventh hour he went out and he found still others. And he said to them, Why do you hear idle? And they said, Because no one gets hired enough. And he said, Go also to my vineyard, and whatever is right you shall receive. In comes verse 8. And meeting again, the Lord of the vineyard said to his steward, Call the workmen. Pay with their hire, beginning from the last to the first. And look what happened. And when those who were hired, about the eleventh hour came, they each received a silver coin. Well, that's nice. Yeah. But when the first ones came, they thought they would receive more. But they worked more. They worked harder. They worked longer, maybe. Maybe, yes. And they also received a silver coin. And he complained about it. They said, You're not fair. We've worked longer, and you're only paying us this much. We're going to report you to the labor relations board. We're going to lodge a complaint. Well, we had a lot of labor relations more in those days. Why would God give this? Contract. See, fairness has nothing to do with it. Look what he says. Look in verse 15. But he answered and said to them, Friend, I am not willing you wrong. Did you not agree with me on the silver coins of the day? Take what is yours and go. For I also desire to give to the last ones exactly as I gave to you, is it not lawful for me to do what I will with which of my own? Is your ideal evil because I am good? See, God contracted with each group. There's going to be a silver coin. Now, the fact that some of them worked an hour or two and others worked maybe seven or eight hours, irrelevant. They all agreed to a contract. And God believes in keeping contracts. He believes in keeping his word. But we don't look at it that way, do we, as humans? No, fair, we say. Turn to please, if you would, Leviticus chapter 11. And we see what God says here in Leviticus chapter 11, verse 44, in comparison to fairness. See, God is many things. And we'll see that he is many things. But 11 and verse... Where are we here? Here we go. Here we go, verse 45. For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. Ye therefore shall be holy. For I am holy. God is also righteous. He seeks justice. But you'll notice something. Neither in this verse nor in any verse of the Bible does God ever say, Be thou fair, because I am fair. The answer is no. He's not fair. Fairness is irrelevant. God says pursue justice. Pursue righteousness. And when we read in some of the... We'll see four or five scriptures describing God, what he's like. Oh, what a great God. What a magnificent God we have. Well, now, one more example. One more level. First Chronicles chapter 13. First Chronicles chapter 13. Now, this is truly a tragic story. But it's real. And there's a reason why it happened. First Chronicles chapter 13. And we can pick it up in verse 7. This is a joyous time. This is a great time. We are going to bring the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem. And when they drew to the threshing floor at Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to hold the ark for the ark to stumble. Oh, the ark's in trouble. Come on, the ark's going to fall down. It might fall to the ground. He's got to protect that ark, right? That's what our weapon was trying to do. Now, how did God respond to that? Well, in the anger of the Lord was castled against Uzzah. And he struck him because he put his hand into the ark and he died there before the Lord. David was displeased because the Lord had broken forth from Uzzah. And he called that place the Ridge of Uzzah as it is to this day. Verse 12. David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God to me? Now, later on, a couple chapters later, you'll find out that David didn't realize what he did. The fact that Uzzah was struck dead is unbeaten because God gave explicit instructions as to how to carry the ark and who was to carry the ark. That ark should never have been put in a cart. It doesn't matter that Uzzah tried to protect it. From a human point of view, I would say, God, you are not there. What you did to Uzzah. Now, God's going to make it right. He's going to change it. Uzzah's going to come up with a resurrection. And he'll receive a reward. You bet he will. But you see, God instructs of God. God said, who was to carry the ark? Who was to handle all the implements of the utensils of the tabernacle later on? The temple. The Levites. Nobody else. Just the Levites. And how were they supposed to carry that ark? Well, there were rings on each side of the ark. The Levites would take coal, put the coals through the ring on their shoulders, carry that ark. We'll find out in 1 Chronicles 15. Let's turn there. 1 Chronicles 15. Verse 1. And David made houses for himself. Take crates, prepare the palace, place for the ark of God, pitch the tent. Key. Verse 2. David sent no one up to carry the ark of God except the Levites. See? He really should have known. He knew here. He acknowledged it. For God has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister to him forever. And they did bring the ark up. The question is, why? Why did God strike Isaac dead? First of all, God was disobeyed. And secondly, that ark was whole. God said, you shall be holy. Remember when we read that in Leviticus 11? You shall be holy. For I, the Lord your God, am holy. Therefore, God's heart says, this whole thing, you have perverted it. You have polluted the ark. Therefore, in righteousness, you pay the price. God doesn't play fair. He plays by the rules. And he's doing by his spirit. Because he is spirit. Okay. So, now, let's look at God. Let's look at God's heart. And we'll look at four or five scriptures. And remember, what is the heart? The sum total of all that a person is. So God's heart is the sum total of everything he is. How he describes him. What he sends. What he gathers. Let's look at four or five scriptures. We'll start in the book of Joel. Jebel. The prophet Joel. And we'll get to the second chapter of Joel. Joel 2. And we'll go to verse 12. Beginning in verse 12. Joel 2, verse 12. Wherefore, even now, saith the Lord, turn to me with all your heart and with fasting. Now, a little sidebar. Turn to me with what? Your heart. Not your mind. Because you see, when he says the heart, that includes the mind. That's the whole being. The entire essence of what we are. I have a tough time myself remembering that. When God says your heart's not right. Or his heart was right with God. He's saying his entire being was echoed in accord with God's instructions. In every way. Right? Yes. Rinse your heart. Rinse your heart. Let your garments. For he, God, is gracious. Merciful. Slow to anger. Great kindness. He repents of the evil. Now, when we realize repents, the word repent means to turn. We'll discuss that a little more when we get to Genesis. And see something very interesting there. But all repentance means, you know, repent. Be baptized. Repent means you're turning. Over and over again. You turn. But we elevate it to a spiritual level. Which we should. When it comes to relationship with God. So he says repent. You must turn to me. And, of course, there's a certain amount of silence. Of remorse. Because we realize we've disobeyed God. We've gone the wrong way. And now we're happy and we're rejoicing. That we're going to receive his spirit. But repentance simply means to turn. So it says here. Who knows if he will return and repent. Change his mind. And leave a blessing. Now, you notice God is gracious, merciful. Slow to anger. Yes, he's slow to anger. He's very gracious. And one of the reasons he's slow to anger. Is God has a long nose. Don't know if you know that. But he has a long nose. Slow to anger. Because, you see, when you anger. God wets his hot in his nostrils. But God has a long nose. Not like Pinocchio now. Forget Pinocchio. So that when his anger goes through his nostrils. Clear out the nose. It's cooling off. And by the time it gets to the end of his nose. He's not that angry anymore. If we're decent. That's how the Hebrew expresses it. When the Hebrew says he was angry. He blurted that. He's slow to anger. Long nose. I'd never do that. I'd never think of that. But that's how the Hebrew describes it. So aren't we glad that God has a long nose. He blurted that. We better be. Alright. Now, let's look at another one. Nehemiah. Nehemiah. You know, there's our Nehemiah. Toward the end of the Old Testament. We're looking at Nehemiah chapter 9. Nehemiah. Chapter 9. And we will put this up in verse 16. Nehemiah 9 and verse 16. The bully and our fathers acted proudly. Harden their necks. Did not harden to your commandment. And were refused to obey. Neither were they mindful of your wonders which you did among them. But they hardened their necks. And their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. Now, here we go. But you are a God ready to pardon. Gracious. Merciful. Slow to anger. Here we go. Long nose again. And of great kindness. And did not forsake them. God didn't forsake them. God is faithful. God is all of this. But he's not fair. Never sets fair. Not once. Now, let's look at a couple of more. Let's look at the book of Numbers. In the Pentateuch. It's the book of Numbers. And this is going to be chapter 14. Book of Numbers. Chapter 14. And we'll pick it up in verse 17. Numbers 14. Do I have it? I'm sorry. Do I have it? Verse 6. Chapter 14. Yes. In verse 17. And now I beseech you. This is Nehemiah talking to God. Let the power of my Lord be great according as you have spoken. Saying, the Lord is long-suffering. Great mercy. Forgiving iniquity and transgression. By no means clearing the guilty. That is, those who refuse to repent. Visiting iniquity. Of the fathers upon the sons of the third and fourth generation. Why? No repentance. That's the reason. I beseech you pardon the iniquity of this people. According to the greatness of your mercy. And as you have forgiven this people from Egypt. Even until now. And Moses. The Lord said to Moses. I have pardoned according to your word. Think of the relationship between God and Moses. God said, Moses. I hear you. I speak with you face to face. I have pardoned. But this is the heart of God. This is how he thinks. He's not given to wild outbursts. Unless there's a real reason for it. Yet sometimes there is. But that's what his heart is. His love. His whole being. He wants the love. He wants to forgive. He wants to be gracious. That's his mind too. But remember the mind is part of the heart. And now we'll come to my favorite one. Exodus 34. Now we've all read this I believe many times. Exodus 34. And we'll pick it up. Verses 6 and 7. Exodus 34. Verses 6 and 7. Okay. In verse 5. The Lord came down in a cloud. And stood with him, Moses, there. And proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord. For you have loved him. You have loved him. The Lord God, merciful, gracious, love-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth. That's the heart of God. Truth, justice, righteousness, mercy, compassion, graciousness. What more really will he want in a God than that? All right. Mercifully keeping mercy to a thousand generations. Forgiving iniquity, transgressions and sins. What? Who will by no means clear the guilty. Why? Again, the guilty aren't repentant. Because when one repents in terms of God, you're no longer guilty. Remember that. Who says the guilty, the guilty who have sinned, and who do not repent. Oh, yes. They are going to get some time from God. What's in there? Look where the fathers of all the children, among the children's children. Do you see? That is God. Well, now, I would like to cover a section in Genesis. That often is misunderstood. Genesis chapter 6. Genesis chapter 6. Because we're talking about God's heart here. Genesis chapter 6. The first five verses or so. The first four verses show what men were like. And verse 5 of Genesis chapter 6. And the Lord saw that the wickedness of men was great on the earth. And every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only ego continually. Notice once again. The thoughts of the heart. Not the mind. Their entire being was corrupt. Everything about them was corrupt. And the Lord repented that he had made men on the earth. And he was grieved in his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man who I made from the face of the earth. Okay. And therefore I repent that I have made them. Now that is English. And it's not necessarily wrong. But that is not the meaning and the intent of the Hebrew. And when you read the Hebrew in context, as it flows, realize what God is really saying here. You know, we say context is everything. Well, in Hebrew it is. Well, maybe not everything, but it's an awful lot. Okay. But I will tell you, God did not repent that he made men. He never intended to say that. And does not say that in the Hebrew. But yet, the word of which is translated can give that impression. So let's go back. Let's reread this. And let's look at it carefully. The Lord repented, for example, verse 6, that he had made man on earth. And it says he was grieved in his heart. Now, we need to realize that when it says God repented that he made man, it really means he was sorry that he made man. But he wasn't sorry that he made man. Why was he sorry? He was grieved, it says, in his heart. And grieved means just anguished, pain. What the Hebrew is describing as a God who was just shaking his head and saying, Oh, my people, how could you do this? They were. And what was he repenting of? He was sorry, not that he made man. Remember, what we find in Genesis 1, verses 26 to 28, 29, we don't need the term there. It says, let us make there in our image, my likeness, let them have dominion and rule. Was God sorry he did that? No. And in Genesis 2, verse 7, the Lord God came down in a non-mortified form, make that civilized, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and then became a being, a living creature, living, breathing being. Was God sorry he did that? Was he repenting of doing that? No. God was sorry that man did what he did. That's what grieved God. That's what God meant when he said, I repented. What he means is, I am so sorry that the man and the woman that I found for him, remember, God handcrafted Adam, and he handcrafted Eve, and he said, I'm so sorry that their offspring descended into debauchery, into such bestiality. That's what he was sorry about. So when we look at this, he didn't repent he made man, he was sorry he made man. And grieved is truly pained. It really is. You see, the word for repent is lacham. Lacham. That word means lacham, which means the meaning of breathing heavily. It was as though God was saying, no, God doesn't really breathe that way. But he's pictured as though he did. That's the thing. You see, God is a feeling God. Someday if I can work it out, I'd like to talk about the Elohim of the Torah, and God, as we think of God. For I'm telling you honestly and sincerely, the word and the meaning of Elohim, or El Shaddai, or El Elyon, is not the same as the English word God. Oh, there's so much encrusted upon that name. Because there are things we associate with God. So we know that the Bible never associates with Elohim. Hopefully one day I'll be able to point that out. But this God was great. Now we all think of, you know, the great God. Him screaming? Him almost crying? Yes. Because God has feelings. God has emotions. Remember, heart, love. This is God's love. And when he saw the wickedness of births by, only evil continually. That is, he was sorry that he made man on the earth, and he was grieved. He regretted that he didn't. Look. But what did God resolve? Look at chapters 8. Chapter 8, verse 21. Just a couple of chapters over. And the Lord snows sweet savor, and the Lord said, in his heart, I give the lamb. He said to his whole being, to his whole absence, he was promising himself, as he promised the world. And he said, I will not again curse the ground for man's sake. It are done, or even though, the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, in spite of that. Look, I'm not going to destroy the earth like that. Remember, God plans for this, even though he hated to see it the way it was done. He planned for it. Let's take a quick read in Revelation, chapter 13. A very, very quick read. It's the biggest thing to read. We all know it. We've all read it any number of times. Revelation 13. And you look at there, and I believe you, it should mean, yes, verse 8. Revelation 13, verse 8. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him whose names have not been written in the book of the land slain from the foundation of the world. God knew that was going to happen. See, he knew that the heart of man, the totality of man, without God's Spirit, cannot succeed, cannot be righteous, cannot be pure. He knew that. That was part of his plan to eventually bring man. He was going to bring the true sacrifice, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his blood, and he would give us all his Spirit. Now, with his Spirit, we can truly obtain life. But God knew it couldn't be done. It could not be done. God knew it. So there are things that we have ever done that God doesn't really know about. You know, we say, for example, we have this idea that God's all knowing. He knows everything. He knows you even before you do anything. Well, let's take a look at something that God says. Right here, where he talks about that's me. Yes. He talks about not being, not knowing everything. And I had the three scriptures lined up here, so just give me a minute while I... Wrong page. Now, let's look where God says three times. It's recorded three times. Where God said, my mind never thought of that. It never entered my mind that man would sink so low. Now, God knew everything ahead of time. He would never have written this. And he had it written three times in the book of Jeremiah. So let's turn to Jeremiah. First one is going to be Jeremiah chapter 7. Jeremiah chapter 7. We're with it. And then we're going to have in verse 31. Go to verse 31. Well, I'll pick it up in verse 31. For the children of Israel, Judah, have believed on thy sight, says the Lord. They have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name to pollute it. Would have built the high place in the pulpit, which is in the valley of the son of Hidden, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire. Human sacrifice. Read them that phrase. Which I did not command them, nor did it even come into my mind. Read them. I didn't realize men would sing that low. Even though they would sin, of course. Even though they could be violent, of course. But to sacrifice a slaughter to your own sons and daughters? That's printed three times. Let's go to the next one. Jeremiah 19. Jeremiah 19, number 5. Where did I see the same? Jeremiah 19, number 5. They have also built the high places of Baal to burn their sons with fire for good offerings to Baal with Baal, which I never commanded nor spoke, nor did it come to my mind. No. But even if it didn't come to his mind, he didn't realize men was going to be that bad. Praise the Lord. God's not a liar. See, we have the idea that God knows everything, even before it happens. Well, that's the English concept of God, which goes back to Greek philosophy and to Egypt and to Babylon. And if you want to see what God thought of Babylon, turn to Romans chapter 1, beginning with about verse 18, and you'll see what Paul says about these pagan philosophers. They've entrusted the name of God with all kinds of stuff that you never see in the Old Testament, in Torah. Now, let's look at the final one. Jeremiah 32, 35. Jeremiah chapter 32 and verse 35. And were built the high places of Baal in the valley of the firmament here to cause their sons and their daughters to sacrifice their sons and daughters. Once again, we have the repetition, which I did not from there, nor did it come to my mind that they should bring this abomination that caused you to sin. Now, that's just something once. That should be enough. But when he has it recorded three times, we get the point. And that shows you God's marvel in his heart. He hates that. He really does. No, God didn't know. Now, just as a bit of a teaser, as we're coming to a close here. In Hebrew, the word for God is Elohim. So, whether we're looking at Elohim or El Shaddai or El Elyon, that's the title. That means Pharaoh, Caesar, Achilles, Kaiser, Generalissimo, to Israel. Now, you'll hear about today the Tetragrammaton. That is a name of God. Because God has caused it to be written more than once. Where it says, it was Elohim, meaning mighty one, but it never says Elohim. It's never connected with being the one. The distant, unknowable, uncaring, mysterious one who knows all things, even before it happens. Now, it's true, God can read your mind, but the reason God can read the mind is because of the physical phenomena. God has a receiver. He has known that the human mind is like the radio station, radio signal, TV signal. It broadcasts. And if you have the right receiver, like for me here in the LA area, I like an AM splitter, killer BC, 790 alarm. So, if I tune in to 790, guess what? I'm going to hear the Lord out in prayer. Well, when you speak of God, it goes out into what we call the universe. It's just out there. And guess what? God has a massive receiver. So, when your thoughts go out, you're a killer student. He knows everything that way because he has this mammoth-sized receiver. Oh, what it's like, how it looks, fearful, I don't know. But he's got that receiver. But before you know it, before you know it, no. How many times have we read where God said, when he went down to Abraham, the son of Gomorrah, I've heard about it, but I'm going to come down to see for myself. What? God didn't know? Well, it was reported to him. And Fred has often pointed out about the seven spirits of God rolling to and from the earth, feeding and alteration. Why would he need the seven spirits if he knew everything that happened all at once, every time? He doesn't. See, that concept is not there. That's the concept of this, the little one. That's not the Hebrew concept of Elohim. It's just not. So, anyway, what we're going to do is we will kind of cut it off there, which we, when we come back, we're going to talk about man, what God talks about the heart of man. And oftentimes when you have descriptions, God uses heart. Letter. Just for example, nobody ever, well, maybe you did, maybe you didn't, see the bloody Braveheart? Mel Gibson, the story of William Wallace, Robert Bruce, Scotland fighting England for its independence, that way? Braveheart. That's Hebrew. When I trophied somebody, I remember watching the television show, The Way of the Earth, because I just was fascinated by his story, Wild West, God shoving shit. Anyway, it had the song, it said, Brave, courageous and bold. Well, the words of the pride, courage of the Bible, bring love, a brave heart. And we'll see, when a man is deceitful, like the Indians used to say, white man speak with what tone? Well, it says, double love. Like the New Testament talks about a double-minded man? What is a man, who, who speaks? Why? It seems deceitful. A double-hearted. He's not speaking straight. And we will see, in the earlier scriptures, how God describes it, using the Hebrew word, love. Love, again, imploring, it is all-encompassing. It sums up the sum total of everything you are, everything I am, everything we've ever thought, everything we do think, everything, every act of ours. It's all called by God, the letter. And so, as we will see next time, we better make sure, that our letter, is truly, right with God. So, I learned a phrase down in the South, my first, what shall I say, is voyage, into below the mason Dixieland, near me, near a store. And, I, was buying something, you know, like my chains, tearing the leaves, and the lady behind the counter says, Y'all come back. Um, what on earth? Who's she talking to? Well, it's me. So come for it, you yoke, come back. Well, that was with the yokes. God, that was naive. I had never heard of that before. But truly, I'm saying to you, with all my heart, all my love, next week, we'll come back for part two.