Melting a Heart of Stone: A Biblical Look at Hardness of Heart throughout History

By Carol McMurray

If a reporter were tasked with analyzing the state of Christianity today by attending a typical Sunday service, they would probably conclude that all is well. The music is upbeat and joyful, the sermon clear and concise—with the aid of PowerPoint slides and a touch of humour—and visitors are met with plenty of friendly handshakes and greetings. But based on the conversation among Christians in social settings or on the internet, we see a different picture emerging; one of growing frustration and anxiety, and even some bitterness entering into our increasingly negative conversations.
With this in mind, consider the following questions:
1. Do our choices matter to God?
2. Can our attitude affect our destiny?
3. How do society’s attitudes compare with the days before the flood?
4. Is it possible to melt hearts that have hardened like stone?
Melting a Heart of Stone provides a biblical examination of the phenomena of anger, bitterness, and hardness of heart throughout history, delving into its root cause, negative effects, and the only possible solution. God is seeking those who through humility and repentance are willing to exchange their heart of stone for a heart of flesh.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Word Alive Press
• Release date: Jun 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781486618736

Book preview

MELTING A HEART OF STONE

Copyright © 2019 by Carol McMurray

All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

The views and opinions expressed in this publication belong solely to the author and do not reflect those of Word Alive Press or any of its employees.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Print ISBN: 978-1-4866-1872-9

eBook ISBN: 978-1-4866-1873-6

Word Alive Press

119 De Baets Street, Winnipeg, MB R2J 3R9

www.wordalivepress.ca

Cataloguing in Publication may be obtained through Library and Archives Canada

To my mother, Olga Rybka, who first told me about God’s love for me, and who shared with me her devotion to God and her love for His Word.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. The Sovereignty of God and the Heart of Man

2. The Heart of Stone throughout History

3. God’s Part in Hardening (or Softening) a Heart

4. Our Responsibility for Our Heart’s Condition

5. Cultivating a Heart of Flesh

6. The Heart in the Twenty-First Century

7. Healing for a Hardened Heart (Melting a Heart of Stone)

Works Cited

Acknowledgements

I would like to honour Dr. Winston Nunes of Toronto (now with the Lord). For almost forty years, Dr. Nunes was my pastor, my Bible teacher, and my mentor. His exposition of the scriptures gave me a hunger to examine the Word of God and, even more than that, a passion to know the God of the Bible in a close and personal way. Like Moses, I desired to be a friend of God.

A number of authors have significantly influenced my life: Judson Cornwall, Rick Joyner, Thomas Horn, and Joel Rosenberg in particular, along with others. To these people, I extend my gratitude.

I would especially like to acknowledge and bless my dear husband, Arthur, who always supported my quest to know God more fully, and who encouraged my efforts at teaching and writing. I love you, Art!

I am also grateful for the ladies in my various Bible study groups who shared my passion to study God’s Word and to know Him more fully.

Special thanks to Ruth and Paul Wilkinson and Sue Eby for their helpful suggestions and encouragement.

Finally, to my wonderful children and grandchildren: You are my legacy and my delight. My greatest desire would be for all of you to develop a passion for God and His Word, and a willingness to share that passion with others, no matter the cost.

"‘For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord, who has mercy on you" (Isaiah 54:10).

Introduction

When God created us in His own image and likeness, He built within our DNA a capacity to draw near to Him, to try and discover who He is, why He made us, and what is to come for us in the future. Although many long to know God, or at least to know about Him, many others have no desire to discover their origins or ponder their destiny. Some have the audacity to claim that God doesn’t even exist (except when they want to blame someone for every natural or self-made disaster in their lives).

Unfortunately, many people have become so secularized and antagonistic, they’ve literally closed their minds to any evidence of God’s concern for their destiny. Their eyes refuse to see, and their ears no longer can discern truth. Their hearts figuratively have become as hard as stone.

One biblical character who consistently hardened his heart was the Pharaoh of the Exodus. He stubbornly refused to release the children of Israel from bondage, even when his own people began to suffer the consequences of his obstinacy. Interestingly, both the interlude in Egypt and the release of the Israelites from slavery four hundred years later were predestined by God and foretold to Abraham (later reaffirmed to his great-grandson Joseph in Genesis 50:25) centuries before the actual event:

… Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

—Genesis 15:13–14

Did God harden Pharaoh’s heart to precipitate the events leading up to the exodus, implying that God in His sovereignty predestines our individual futures? If so, might we conclude that Pharaoh actually had little to say about his own destiny? On the other hand, could it be postulated that Pharaoh and the Egyptians hardened their own hearts through jealousy, bitterness, or rebellion against God? Could it be that God used this circumstance to free His chosen people from bondage, and at the same time to show Himself strong on their behalf, as His glory was then displayed through magnificent signs and wonders?

We live in a fallen world, one that doesn’t generally espouse a biblical worldview; consequently, Pharaoh was just one of many Bible characters who allowed their hearts to harden into intractable bitterness and unforgiveness, often leading to their own demise. Saul and Nabal in the Old Testament, and Herod and the Sanhedrin in Jesus’s day, are prime examples that we’ll later examine in greater detail.

Jesus was aware of the hardness of heart of His opposition. In fact, He clearly explained to His disciples that He deliberately spoke in parables so that those with ulterior motives wouldn’t understand the life-giving message and then be eligible to receive forgiveness of their sins (Mark 4:10–12). Centuries earlier, this same strategy was prophesied by Isaiah, who uttered a strong warning to anyone who deliberately hardened their hearts against the truth:

Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.

—Isaiah 6:9–10