The heart of this people has become dull

Acts 28:11-31 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

At the end of three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead. ¹² After we put in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. ¹³ From there we sailed around and arrived at Rhegium, and a day later a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. ¹⁴ There we found some brethren, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and thus we came to Rome. ¹⁵ And the brethren, when they heard about us, came from there as far as the Market of Appius and Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶ When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.

¹⁷ After three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “Brethren, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. ¹⁸ And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there was no ground for putting me to death. ¹⁹ But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation. ²⁰ For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, for I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.” ²¹ They said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you. ²² But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³ When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. ²⁴ Some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe. ²⁵ And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, ²⁶ saying,

‘Go to this people and say, “You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;
And you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; ²⁷ For the heart of this people has become dull, And with their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes; Otherwise they might see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them.”’

²⁸ Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.” ²⁹ When he had spoken these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves.

³⁰ And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, ³¹ preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.

For the heart of this people has become dull    Paul quoted the prophet Isaiah regarding the turning of the people of Israel away from God, His teaching and the revelation of Jesus Christ the Messiah. There are many references to similar collective hardening of hearts toward God and His word. In speaking about the time at the end of the age in Matthew 24:11-12 Jesus says:”Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”     Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:3-4:     the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,  and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Dull hearts, lawlessness, cold love, not enduring sound doctrine turning away from truth to myths. While this certainly could be said to be an accurate description of the state of our culture and society today, it really is nothing new. It simply describes the natural fallen state of man. The hearts of men are dulled when they are focused on self fulfillment. Greed immorality and addictions have been with men from the beginning. Lawlessness, good and evil, obedience and disobedience finds its beginning in the garden of Eden. Cold love; when there were only two brothers, Cain killed Abel. Turning from truth to myths also finds its roots in the earliest civilizations. So none of this is new, yet certainly it describes the condition of our current society.

What is the answer to this circumstance, we find ourselves in? In regard to the dull hearts of the Jewish people, Paul says:   “Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.”     When one group of people no longer wants to hear the truth, move on to the next group as God leads. In Matthew 10:14, when Jesus was giving instruction before sending out the disciples, He said:    “Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.”   We are not responsible for the results of the gospel message. We are only responsible to share it wherever God leads us.

In regards to the lawlessness and cold love, Jesus says: “See to it that no one misleads you... See that you are not frightened… they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.  At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another…the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.  This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations”     Those who trust and believe in Christ are to remain steadfast, to not be mislead, to not be afraid,  to endure even through persecution and betrayal. The gospel of the kingdom will be preached to the whole world. Jesus taught us to pray: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”     The truth and the realities of heaven are to define the realities of earth. Too often we reverse this and we try to define God and the realities of heaven by the way we see and understand from our world view. In the end God’s reality will prevail. We need to live in the heavenly realities, the kingdom realities now.

Paul’s instruction to Timothy regarding the preference of unsound doctrine:    I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:  preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction…be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.     We are not to change the message, to adapt it and make it acceptable. We are to reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience, with instruction. We cannot just flatly say we’re right and they’re wrong. There needs to be instruction and exhortation, there needs to be patience and love if we expect our words of reproval and rebuke to be received at all. Our methods may well need to change, the message though should not change.

In today’s text it says:  And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him,  preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.     Paul had more freedom to preach the gospel as a prisoner of the Romans than he did among his own people. Today it is possible that there is more freedom to preach the gospel in prison then there is from a church pulpit or even at our own dinner tables. Surely there is more freedom to share the gospel in prison than in our public schools or our workplaces. That’s a sad commentary on our nation and culture. It doesn’t mean though that we stop sharing, it only means we, like Paul, go where God sends us and we say what the spirit tells us.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; Holy Spirit Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.    Amen