Hardness of heart and blackout of the soul enslaves the volition. John 12:39-40. Part 1

John 12:39 For this cause they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,

 

John 12:40 "He has blinded their eyes, and He hardened their heart; lest they see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and be converted, and I heal them."

 

We will look at this verse very carefully because it reveals your true enemy. You have three enemies, the world, the devil, and the OSN, however none of them can affect you unless you allow them to. So really, your true enemy is you. But we don’t categorize you as an enemy because it is your volition that is in view and positive volition is your greatest door towards good. So it is negative volition that brings the most tragedy, and that’s what this verse is all about.

 

The words can and could are often used in the Bible to denote the existence of such obstacles as to make a result certain, or as affirming that while one thing exists another thing cannot follow.

 

For this portion of the Jews who rejected Christ over and over again is, “that while one thing exists another thing cannot follow.”

 

That thing that exists is the desire for the glory of self, honor among men, and the accumulation of as much earthly glory as possible.

 

John 5:43-44

"I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another shall come in his own name, you will receive him. 44 "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?

 

This is the real reason. They only seek glory from men and could care less about God and while that condition exists they are blind. Did God send the blindness? Absolutely; the Father is the source of the blinding light of Christ in that the Father decreed to send Him.

 

The Lord challenged them over and over, teaching for days at a time in the temple challenging them to see Him for who He was and this increased their hardened hearts as they rejected Him over and over.

 

If it wasn’t for the Lord’s challenge then they would not have had to fight so hard to believe what is not true. And what is not true is that glory among men, earthly glory, and occupation with self gives meaning and definition to life as well as lasting happiness.

 

Like Pharaoh, whom they hated, they hardened their own hearts through unbelief to the point where they had said no so many times that they could no longer say yes.

 

God knows the same about these religious Jews. They only seek their own religiosity, their own glory among men and after the final miracle, after the report has been finished, after the final entry on a colt as prophesized by Zechariah, they have said no so many times that they have become blind.

 

Could they change and believe, of course they could. Would they? God who knows the end from the beginning knows that they will not and so the prophecy from Isaiah.

 

While this propensity to seek for honor among men exists, it will effectually prevent your believing.

 

Thus (GEN 37:4) it is said of the brethren of Joseph:

 

GEN 37:4

And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.

 

That is, while their hatred continued so strong, the other result would follow.

 

Also:

 

Matt 12:34

"You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.

 

And even for the believer who seeks spirituality, he can become as blind as a bat when his mind is only seeking his flesh.

 

ROM 8:7

because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so;

 

In the case of the unbelieving Jews gathered in Jerusalem on the day of the triumphal entry of Christ, it means that there was some obstacle or difficulty that made it certain that while it existed they would not believe. What that was is stated in the next verse; and while that blindness of mind and that hardness of heart existed, it was impossible that they should believe, for the two things were incompatible.

 

But this determines nothing about their power of removing that blindness, or of yielding their heart to the gospel. It simply affirms that while one exists the other cannot follow.

 

John 12:39 For this cause they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,

 

“Therefore they could not believe.” Therefore is diaplus the accusative of toutowhich means because of this—because of maximum negative volition at the point of gospel hearing.

 

Continued negative volition creates a vacuum in the soul based upon the accumulation of scar tissue.

 

That opens up a vacuum in the soul, and through the vacuum comes satanic and false propaganda in the form of religion which attacks the heart.

 

The heart is a part of the soul, the right lobe of the soul. It is the command center of the soul and it is the part of man that God wants.

 

A heart filled with scar tissue from accumulated garbage only brings pain, misery, and discipline from the Lord. This is described in the scripture as pride, evil, perverseness of heart, etc.

 

Why? Man was designed to live with God. After man’s fall God restored the potential for that fellowship again. Since man chose to fall man must choose to be saved by believing in Christ as Savior. The believer must continue to choose for life and a healthy heart if he desires what God desires for him, which is abundant life and prosperity of soul.

 

The unbeliever can maintain a form of happiness by living in God’s laws for Divine Establishment. However, that happiness is very limited and their desire for eternal things will continue to go unfulfilled.

 

Life is determined by what is in the heart, and the Scripture is super clear on this.

 

GEN 6:5

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

 

Prov 11:20

The perverse in heart are an abomination to the Lord,

But the blameless in their walk are His delight.

 

Prov 16:5

Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord;

Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.

 

A healthy heart is one free flowing with doctrine, which will only occur with those who make doctrine their top priority.

 

Ps 10:17

O Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble [teachable];

Thou wilt strengthen their heart,

Thou wilt incline Thine ear [doctrinal intake]

 

Ps 19:8

The precepts [doctrinal points] of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment [indicatives of doctrinal points] of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes [perception of God’s essence, yourself, others, the world, your enemies].

 

Ps 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart [joining the compartments of the heart to produce wisdom]

Be acceptable in Thy sight,

O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

 

And like a stress test at the doctor’s office will reveal the strength of your physical heart, the opportunity for application of wisdom from metabolized doctrine will reveal to you the strength of your invisible heart in the soul.

 

Ps 26:2

Examine me, O Lord, and try me;

Test my mind and my heart.

 

To David, his heart was so important that he actually prayed that God test it so that he could see if it was as strong as he wanted it to be.

 

I could have chosen from any of the 726 verses in the Bible that mention the heart. It is an extensive study.