Hard Hearts
“‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the LORD Almighty. 14 ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land was left so desolate behind them that no one could come or go. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’”
The further result of the people’s hard hearts was that when they called on God, he wasn’t available. Prayer is an invitation to talk to God. “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me” (Psalm 50:15). This is the invitation from God, and the Second Commandment tells us how to use God’s name rightfully. But the fact remains that for those who refuse him, there will come a time when they will call but he will not answer. He stands ready for a long time, but even a long time comes to an end. There is that awful time when the prayer, no matter how sincere or urgent, is not heard anymore. There is that awful, aching echo of nothingness that Jesus felt when he said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
Verses 13 and 14 describe the desolation caused by a hard heart. As a hurricane scatters, this is what happens.
“This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.” This was the manual to self-destruction. This was how a person acted to change life into a howling waste devoid of anything pleasant. The way of the sinner is hard. It leads to a scorching land where the sky is bronze and the earth is brass.