My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels. (Psalm 81:11-12)
In the beginning, mankind dwelt in a literal Paradise where they could freely eat the different fruits growing throughout the garden. There was just the one tree that they were told not to eat from lest they die. We all know what happened; Eve listened to the voice of the serpent and was deceived into thinking that the forbidden tree was good for food, pleasant to the eye and desirable to make one wise. For her to reach this conclusion means that, at some point, she focused all of her attention upon this tree, and in so doing, turned her attention away from the other tree — the Tree of Life. It wasn’t long after she ate the forbidden fruit that her husband succumbed to the temptation of sin thus sealing their demise — separation from God.
Centuries later God warned Israel that, upon entering the land of Canaan, they should beware of the false gods they would encounter. He said, “Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, lest the Lord’s anger be aroused against you … and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you” (Deuteronomy 11:16-17). Unfortunately, they did as their ancestors — they turned their affections away from God and toward the beliefs and customs practiced by the inhabitants of the land. And like Adam and Eve, they were eventually exiled from the “good land” given to them by their Creator.
The people demonstrated that their hearts were inclined to follow the ways of the nations and bow to false gods, consequently, God forced the people to live in exile among those nations and serve their idols of wood and stone (see Deuteronomy 4:28). Think about it: if their heart was for the ways of Babylon, why not put them in Babylon? When they turned from Him to embrace other beliefs and practices, it was no different than when Adam and Eve turned away from the Tree of Life to eat the fruit from the Tree of Good and Evil. It is interesting, in fact, to consider that the Hebrew word translated as “counsel” is related to the Hebrew word for “tree.”
The point is this: heeding one’s own counsel is dangerous because, as Scripture reveals, the imaginations of man’s heart leads us away from God. Listening to one’s own counsel has seduced people into thinking that the way of sin is advantageous (it convinced Eve that the forbidden tree was good and that she would not die). When a person heeds the inclination of their own heart, they risk having a distorted image of reality which, in turn, encourages them to fantasize that evil deeds will go unnoticed and unpunished. But if someone chooses to go down this path too long and unrepentant, God will allow them to eat the fruit of their own counsel and discover the harsh truth. So then, the only voice we should hearken unto is the still, small voice that encourages us to deny self and embrace life. As it is written, “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered” (Proverbs 28:26).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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