為何仍舊硬心不願聽從神的命令？（耶44章）

那些住在埃及地巴忒羅知道自己妻子向別神燒香的、與旁邊站立的眾婦女聚集成群、回答耶利米說：「論到你奉耶和華的名向我們所說的話、我們必不聽從。」（耶 44：15-16）

這段經文中，當時百姓的誇張反應，令人想起一段經文：

我說：「你們當順着聖靈而行、就不放縱肉體的情慾了。因為情慾和聖靈相爭、聖靈和情慾相爭．這兩個是彼此相敵、使你們不能作所願意作的。但你們若被聖靈引導、就不在律法以下。」（加 5：16-18）

讓我們想像：一個人的生命若是像一個容器，容器內卻裝滿了情慾時，這時聖靈就裝不進來了。因為聖靈，就是「真理的聖靈」，也就是真理本身。一旦聖靈進不來，真理也進不來。經上說：

我還有好些事要告訴你們、但你們現在擔當不了。〔或作不能領會〕只等真理的聖靈來了、他要引導你們明白〔原文作進入〕一切的真理．因為他不是憑自己說的、乃是把他所聽見的都說出來．並要把將來的事告訴你們。（約 16：12-13）

聖靈不是可以勝過情慾嗎？但是情慾卻阻擋聖靈在門外，加上情慾是污穢骯髒的，聖靈不喜歡污穢骯髒的容器，所以也不願意進來。如聖經所說的：「情慾和聖靈相爭、聖靈和情慾相爭．這兩個是彼此相敵。」

讀到這裡恍然大悟，難怪耶利米當時逃到巴忒羅的人斬釘截鐵地說：「論到你奉耶和華的名向我們所說的話、我們必不聽從。」神都已經這麼明白地在刑罰他們，甚至連國家都沒了，但是他們還是決定不聽神的話。即使所遭遇的刑罰強度已達國家滅亡、生靈塗炭的境地，這樣痛苦的經歷難道還無法喚醒他們沈睡的靈？因為他們心中的情慾阻擋神，使他們不能相信神。

想一想：當時人們為何要執迷不悟對偶像天后燒香、獻祭？因為「拜偶像」本身就像是交了壞朋友一樣，壞朋友一定會對你甜言蜜語，博得你的好感。你對神任何的不滿、抱怨，他一定都會挺你，站在你這邊。但是他卻會吸乾你的血，且對你一點幫助也沒有，可是他有甜言蜜語，我們會甘心被他利用，甚至被騙光了一切所有，包含生命而不自知。然而「信耶穌」，我們的天父就像我們無法割捨的父母一樣，但是天父真神對我們的愛，卻感覺好像就只會嘮叨、管東管西，可是卻是真心地為我們好。甚至在必要的時候，還會管教我們，讓不明白主愛的我們不開心。

生身的父都是暫隨己意管教我們．惟有萬靈的父管教我們、是要我們得益處、使我們在他的聖潔上有分。凡管教的事、當時不覺得快樂、反覺得愁苦．後來卻為那經練過的人、結出平安的果子、就是義。（來 12：10-11）

最近有主內的朋友求助，說到他已經青少年年紀的孩子不聽話、也不聚會敬拜神，整天跟壞朋友鬼混，行為不檢。他說：有時候都會覺得想叫主耶穌乾脆狠狠地管教他一下，看會不會回頭？聽到這裡，總覺得：為何不聽神的話？為何不遵行聖經真理？但是事實上，當人的情慾不願意除去時，真理就進不來，人的心就會是剛硬不聽真理的。這好比我們已在危險之中，這時，即使身邊的人都已經大聲疾呼、聲嘶力竭要救我們，然而當事人卻還是堅定地說：「我不想聽」！

主耶穌說得不錯：人必須要先捨己，才能願意接受真理，願意認真聽從真理的命令，也才能真正成為主的門徒，藉此得平安、享永生。這裡的「捨己」，就是要捨去「情慾」之意，要願意放下自己所想要的、所喜歡的想法與做法。當捨己之後，神的生命之道，才能真正進入我們的生命。

於是耶穌對門徒說：「若有人要跟從我、就當捨己、背起他的十字架、來跟從我。」（太 16：24）

By Isaiah Kao

Why Still Harden  Hearts and Will Not to Listen God’s Commands? (Jeremiah 44)

August 10, 2026 

All the women who stood by, a great assembly, and all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you!” (Jer. 44:15–16)

This reminds us of another passage of Scripture:

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.” (Gal. 5:16–18)

Imagine that a person’s life is like a container. When that container is filled with the desires of the flesh, there is no room for the Holy Spirit to enter. The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth”,that  is, the truth itself. Once the Holy Spirit cannot enter, the truth cannot enter either. Because:

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” (John 16:12–13)

Is it that the Holy Spirit is unable to overcome the desires of the flesh? No! Rather, because the flesh is unclean and corrupt, the Holy Spirit does not delight in an unclean and corrupt vessel, and therefore does not enter it. The Bible says: “For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another.”

When we come to this point, it is not difficult to understand why the people who had fled to Pathros in Egypt could say so decidedly to Jeremiah, “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you!” God had already made His judgment so clear. Their nation had even been destroyed, yet they still decided not to listen to God’s word.

The severity of the punishment they experienced had already reached the point of national destruction and widespread suffering. Could such intense suffering still not awaken their sleep spirits? The reason was that the desires of their hearts prevented them from believing God.

Think about it: Why were the people at that time so stubbornly determined to burn incense and offer sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven, their idols?

Because worshiping idols is much like making friends with bad people. A bad friend will always flatter you with sweet words. Whatever dissatisfaction or complaint you have against God, he will always side with you. But in the end, he will drain your very life and give you no real help at all.

Yet because he speaks flattering words to us, we are willing to be used by him—even to the point of being deceived into losing everything we have, including our very lives.By contrast, believing in Jesus is somewhat like having parents whom we cannot bear to leave. Our heavenly Father, the true God, may sometimes seem to us as though He is always nagging us and telling us what we should or should not do. Yet He truly has our best interests at heart. When necessary, He even disciplines us, causing us to experience things that may make us unhappy.

“For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our benefit, so that we may share His holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems not to be pleasant, but painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (Heb. 12:10–11)

Recently, a good brother in the Lord came to me for help. He said that his teenage child had become disobedient, no longer attended church services or worshiped God, and spent all day associating with bad friends.He said that sometimes he even felt like asking the Lord Jesus to discipline his child severely, just to see whether the child might turn back?

Hearing this, I could not help but think: Why do people refuse to listen to God’s word? Why are they unwilling to obey the truth of the Bible? But the fact is that when people are unwilling to put away the desires of the flesh, there is no room for truth to enter. The human heart becomes hardened and refuses to listen to the truth.It is like being in the midst of danger. Even if the people around us are shouting at the top of their voices, desperately trying to save us, the person in danger may still stubbornly say, “I don’t want to listen!”

The Lord Jesus said it well: A person must deny himself in order to be willing to accept the truth, sincerely listen to and obey the commands of truth, and become the Lord’s disciple. Only then can he receive peace and eternal life.This “denying himself” means denying the "desires of the flesh", letting go of what we want and what we like, and putting aside our old ideas and ways of doing things.

Only then can God’s word of life enter our lives.

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.’” (Matt. 16:24)

By Isaiah Kao