The Heart Of A Woman
by
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid
(December 8, 2019)
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”(Jeremiah 17:9-10 King James Version [KJV]).
Greetings In The Holy Name Of Jesus Yahshuah,
My sisters and brothers, I speak to the issues at-hand that behoove me to beg the difference in how we think—deeply in contemplation about the times we live in. For the delicacy of a woman is more than the scent of a woman. For example, in a crime scene in a court case in a courtroom—-the courthouse completely packed, heard the voice of an unusually tall-gaited woman speak volumes, “He called me ugly! That’s why I said it was rape!” Is this merely fantasy —- a fictional tale of make - believe with fairies and rulers of dark kingdoms? Could the unusually tall-gaited woman be the forebearer of a crimson tale with the devil in the details?
Hereby, we think we heard her say, what we thought we heard her say but did we actually hear what this woman said? In THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH, we find in Judah’s captivity for sin that the heart lies, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” [17:9, KJV]. Now, we consider that “Jeremiah, one of the four major prophets’ writings covered the 7th Century, B.C. along with Prophets Zephaniah, Nahum, and Habakkuk.
The Jews considered the historical books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings as prophetic in purpose thereby placed them in a group called the Former Prophets. However, Jeremiah, one of the four major prophets was placed in a group called, Latter Prophets or Writing Prophets, which was the second part of the prophetic collection, which then included Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of Twelve, which compiled the Minor Prophets from Hosea to Malachi. By the end of the third century those writings, organized in eight scrolls; four for the Former Prophets and four for the Latter Prophets became recognized as standing with the Law in religious authority.” [Holy Bible, n.d.].
Hence, we look to prophecy to seek the answer to the question, Can a woman give consent for sex? Nowadays, we must consider, consent for sex, inside marriage and outside marriage. We know we tend to politically think that they are all in bed together. This fogginess, in sincerity boggles the mind and leaves us in a much deeper threatening clarity of truth, in God’s love.
In reflection, Jeremiah dealt with the apostasy of his own people as spokesman for God during the decline and fall of the southern kingdom, Judah. Jeremiah had a lot on his hands for not one among the prophets had a more difficult task of standing alone, yet Zephaniah, another seventh century prophet prophesied the Scythian invasion (626 B.C.) on all the nations taught Israel and Judah judgment and salvation, pleading with them to repent for God would dwell in the midst of the righteous remnants; Nahum prophesied the downfall of Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, in which he according to the meaning of his name tried to comfort his people who had long-lived under the oppression of harassment from Assyria; Habakkuk, a true book of prophecy, constructed differently from the other prophetic writings, in a dialogue which contained the prophet’s complaints (questions) and God’s answers (replies) to the questions. In such a method of writings Habakkuk finds what he seeks: the doorway leading from questioning to affirmation, through which he entered into faith that enabled him to affirm, “I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength,...”[Habakkuk 3: 19-20, KJV]. “As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied. As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.”[Proverbs 27:19-21 King James Version (KJV)]. Henceforth, in prayer, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”[Proverbs 4:23 King James Version (KJV)].
Most importantly, we seek the details, for the devil is in the details to find why a woman full of the passion of Christ Jesus is still not able to give consent to sex, in marriage and out of marriage, in the midst of the overtones in life—- the influences of life that lead astray. With that said, according to Apostle Peter of Jesus Christ, in The First Epistle General Of Peter [3:3-4, KJV] that admonished the people to a life of purity, of godly living, for steadfastness and faithfulness, “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” Circumspectly, we heard a man in the courtroom, standing at the case say out-loud, You mean the woman with a nose that can hold a thousand men in it! Howbeit, this truth is only real in the heart of the believer who received it because in a false case there lies truth and the unraveling of the truth as you seek it, could take the blindfolds off the eyes of all nations to pray to God, I clearly see, for the intent thought of as gravely foreboding is casting off its light-of-day. In, The First Book Of Samuel Otherwise Called The First Book Of The Kings [16:7, KJV], the Lord spoke, “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
More importantly as we seek to find truth in our own hearts, in The Book of Psalms [20: 4, KJV], we find the prayer of King David, “Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.” More fervently in prayer, in Psalm [51: 10, KJV], we find King David, after he had gone in to Bathsheba, when Nathan the Prophet came unto him, pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” And, in Jeremiah [29:13, KJV], God spoke to Jeremiah when The Jews are reproved, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” More so, in THE PROVERBS [3: 3-4, KJV], King Solomon, the son of King David and Bathsheba prayed about the benefits of wisdom, “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee:
bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.” King Solomon continued in prayer, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” [Proverbs 3: 5-6, KJV].
Moreover, The New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, The Gospel According To St. Matthew [22:37, KJV], “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” King David prayed, “Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” King Solomon prayed, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:
but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” [Proverbs 17: 22, KJV]. We find King Solomon, now in prayer, in the Proverbs of Solomon pray, “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
For length of days, and long life,
and peace, shall they add to thee.” [Proverbs 3: 1-2, KJV].
In closing, the “taken” seemingly, compels the actual act of sex to justification of cleanness, bearing in mind and heart the deceptive quality of the changeable heart but the woman bears the burden of just what all of what happened is, in her behavior still, giving man still apparent willful conduct, unproven [“With regard to any case that starts as rape and ends willingly, even if she ultimately says: Leave him, and she further states that if he had not forcibly initiated intercourse with her, she would have hired him for intercourse, she is nevertheless permitted to her husband. What is the reason for this? The evil inclination took hold of her during the act, and therefore she is still considered to have engaged in intercourse against her will.
???? ?????? ???? (????? ?, ??) ???? ?? ????? ????? ?? ????? ????? ??? ?? ???? ???"? ??? ????? ????? ????? ?? ?? ?????? ????? ????? ?????
It is..,” Ketubot, The William Davidson Talmud, 51b, sefaria.org].
More often than not, bridging the gap, between the workplace and home, in sexual escapades leaves someone pointing the finger, It is your fault! Of course, someone is blamed, I did not say she was ugly, I said she has a nose that could hold a thousand men in it! Somehow, the devil in the details casts the shadow of darkness but the light of Jesus, is still apparently there as we read the Words of God, in the prayers of both, King David and King Solomon, father and son. Christ be with you!
Let us pray to God for our forgiveness from our sin. “But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. “ [Joshua 22:5, KJV]. Accordingly,
“I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.” [Psalm 119: 7, KJV]. God be with you! Walk with God.
Amen.
