Zechaaiah 7:12 - They made Their Hearts As an Adamant Stone | Speak His Word Only
.jpg)
Zechariah 7:12 is a strong warning about what happens when people repeatedly resist the Word of God.
The progression is especially important: they refused to listen, turned away, stopped their ears, and finally hardened their hearts.
Zechariah 7:12 KJV
“Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.”
Opening Summary
Zechariah 7:12 reveals the danger of deliberately hardening the heart against God's Word.
The people did not suffer from a lack of revelation. God had given them His law and had repeatedly spoken through His prophets. Their problem was that they refused to hear and obey.
The verse describes a frightening progression: God's Word was spoken, but the people hardened themselves against it.
Their hearts became like an adamant stone—hard, resistant, and unwilling to receive correction.
The warning is clear:
Repeated resistance to truth can produce increasing hardness of heart.
The Context of Zechariah 7
The chapter begins with people asking whether they should continue certain fasts they had practiced during the years of captivity.
But God turned the discussion from their outward religious practices to the condition of their hearts.
God reminded them that what He had always required included:
true judgment,
mercy,
compassion,
and proper treatment of the widow, fatherless, stranger, and poor.
The problem was not simply whether they fasted.
The deeper question was:
Would they obey God?
Religious activity cannot substitute for an obedient heart.
“They Made Their Hearts”
Notice the wording:
“they made their hearts...”
This describes deliberate resistance.
God had spoken.
The prophets had warned them.
The law had instructed them.
But they continually refused to receive what God was saying.
Zechariah 7:11 describes the progression:
“But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.”
First they refused to listen.
Then they pulled away.
Then they stopped their ears.
Then their hearts became hardened.
Hardness of heart often develops gradually through repeated resistance.
“As an Adamant Stone”
The adamant stone pictures extreme hardness.
The point is not merely that the people failed to understand God's Word.
They had become resistant to it.
There is a difference between:
“I do not understand.”
and
“I do not want to hear.”
God can teach a person who does not understand.
But a person who deliberately refuses truth is resisting the very means God uses to correct them.
A hardened heart says:
“I have already decided what I am going to do, regardless of what God's Word says.”
“Lest They Should Hear the Law”
This phrase reveals their intention.
They hardened their hearts:
“lest they should hear the law.”
They did not merely fail to hear accidentally.
They did not want God's Word interfering with what they had chosen to do.
This is one of the dangers of spiritual hardness.
Sometimes people avoid Scripture because they already know Scripture will confront something they do not want to surrender.
But refusing to hear God's Word does not change God's Word.
It only changes the condition of the person refusing it.
“And the Words Which the LORD of Hosts Hath Sent”
God had not remained silent.
He had repeatedly spoken.
The people had:
the law
and
the words of the prophets.
Their judgment therefore came after repeated opportunities to hear and repent.
God had warned before judgment came.
This demonstrates both God's holiness and His patience.
“Sent in His Spirit”
Zechariah makes an important statement concerning prophetic revelation:
“the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets.”
Notice the order.
The LORD sent the message.
His Spirit was involved.
The prophets were the human messengers.
The prophets were not supposed to manufacture their own messages and attach God's name to them.
God was the source.
The Spirit communicated.
The prophets spoke.
This connects with the principle we studied in Deuteronomy 18:18:
“I...will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.”
True prophetic ministry originates with God, not human imagination.
“By the Former Prophets”
Zechariah was reminding the returned exiles why their ancestors had experienced judgment.
God had sent prophets before the captivity.
They warned the people.
They called them to repentance.
They reminded them of God's covenant.
But the people repeatedly refused to listen.
Therefore, the captivity did not happen because God had failed to warn them.
The warnings had been given.
The problem was the people's response.
“Therefore Came a Great Wrath”
The verse concludes:
“therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.”
The word “therefore” is important.
Judgment was connected with persistent rebellion.
God had spoken repeatedly.
They repeatedly resisted.
Eventually consequences followed.
The lesson is sobering:
God's patience should never be mistaken for God's approval.
The fact that judgment does not occur immediately does not mean God has changed His mind about sin.
His patience provides opportunity for repentance.
Religious Activity Cannot Replace Obedience
This is one of the central lessons of Zechariah 7.
The people were asking about fasting.
God answered by talking about obedience.
They were concerned about religious observances.
God was concerned about their hearts.
We can:
pray,
fast,
attend worship,
study Scripture,
teach,
and participate in ministry,
yet still resist God when His Word confronts something we do not want to change.
Religious activity is not a substitute for surrender.
Connection With Ezekiel 11:19
This verse provides a striking contrast with the passage we just studied.
Zechariah says:
“they made their hearts as an adamant stone.”
But Ezekiel 11:19 records God's promise:
“I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh.”
Human rebellion hardens.
God's transforming grace gives a responsive heart.
This is why the prayer of the believer should not merely be:
“Lord, change my circumstances.”
It should also be:
“Lord, keep my heart tender toward You.”
Do Not Harden Your Heart When God Corrects You
Correction is not always pleasant.
Sometimes Scripture confronts our attitudes.
Sometimes it exposes pride.
Sometimes it challenges our traditions.
Sometimes it reveals unforgiveness.
Sometimes it corrects something we sincerely believed but misunderstood.
The important question is:
How will I respond when God's Word corrects me?
A teachable heart says:
“Lord, if Your Word shows that I am wrong, change me.”
A hardened heart says:
“I will not hear it.”
Spiritual maturity requires remaining teachable before God.
Personal Application
Zechariah 7:12 invites serious self-examination.
Ask:
Is there something God's Word has repeatedly shown me that I continue to resist?
Have I become defensive when Scripture corrects me?
Am I listening only to teaching that agrees with what I already believe?
Has disappointment caused my heart to become hardened toward God?
Am I practicing outward religion while resisting inward transformation?
When the Holy Spirit uses Scripture to convict me, do I respond or pull away?
A tender heart does not mean we understand everything immediately.
It means we remain willing to hear.
The safest prayer is not:
“Lord, prove that I am right.”
It is:
“Lord, show me what is true, and give me a heart willing to obey it.”
Zechariah 7:12 reminds us that the condition of the heart determines how we respond when truth comes.
Therefore:
Keep your heart tender.
Keep your ears open.
Remain teachable.
Receive correction.
Obey the Word.
And never allow repeated resistance to turn a heart of flesh into a heart that behaves like stone.
Comments
Post a Comment