Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
The verse lays bare the condition of God's once-favored people under chastisement, stricken for rebellion yet revolting more and more instead of returning, until the sickness has spread through the whole man with no soundness left from head to heart. Its opening question is a plea to stop inviting further blows, springing from longing to see sinners freed from the burden and penalty of sin by beholding divine love and receiving full forgiveness. Sin is such a deep-rooted and deadly disease that it leaves the whole being spiritually sick and alienated from God, beyond any human power to cleanse or cure by resolutions or outward control. Yet the Lord is the great Healer who is not defiled by touching the defiled, and all who cease rebellion, turn from evil and seek Him in faith while mercy lingers will be cleansed and made whole. The same warning rests on the church when leaders and people resist counsel and the Spirit's guidance until discernment fails and sickness spreads as moral darkness through the living body.
Israel's Rebellion and Sickness
The vision lays bare the true spiritual condition of ancient Israel and Judah as the once favored people called to universal dominion through Judah and Jerusalem, with the scepter given to the seed of David, and it gives the reason for their chastisement in their unending revolt until the whole head was sick and the whole heart faint with no soundness left. The opening question is an appeal to stop revolting and incurring further punishment. It was made from longing to see erring Israel set free from the burden and penalty of sin by one who knew the depths of their fall and their need of a Saviour. That knowledge came through his own experience of seeing his unworthiness, seeing his Lord, glimpsing the loveliness of the divine character, receiving full and free forgiveness, and being changed by beholding infinite love.
Continued discipline had not turned the people back, for though stricken they revolted more and more. They grew more corrupt rather than return, turning further from God despite repeated correction. Further blows will not cure them while they keep turning away, so that continued wrongdoing brings no healing. The sick head and faint heart mean a deep, widespread and total spiritual disease with no healthy part and no soundness left. It is pictured as wounds extending from foot to head, making clear the sickness is pervasive from head to foot. It reaches from leaders to the inner life as head and heart fail, the whole nation portrayed as wholly diseased and faint with corruption throughout.
It describes those who profess to serve God while walking in forbidden paths. It shows them claiming righteousness while transgressing His holy law through misunderstanding His character. Their condition is presented as the consequence of sin. They are regarded by God as a people to be utterly destroyed for iniquities, like those later driven from the temple courts.
Sin's Sickness and Healing
Sin is a deep-rooted, deadly sickness like leprosy that affects the whole person, leaving the head sick and the heart faint throughout the entire being. It is spiritual disease that alienates from God and requires His healing and freedom. Those under it are spiritually sick through and through, with no part left sound.
The sickness is beyond human power to cleanse, and apart from Christ it is beyond human power to please God, because the carnal mind and heart are wholly diseased and weak. Resolutions and promises fail since the carnal heart overpowers good intentions. Outward conduct may be brought under control while the inner heart cannot be changed by self, so restoration requires a complete renewal of nature through yielding wholly to God.
Those thus sick may be self-satisfied and unaware of their need, falsely claiming to be whole while deceived by sin. They act in unchristian ways and mistake darkness for light. In pride the sinner braces himself and sets his own will against the will of God, and though Christ works upon the heart, by resisting, questioning, and caviling a person can annul what the Lord would do.
The Lord is the great Healer who can cleanse and heal without being defiled or polluted, as with the leper. Whoever comes to Him and asks in faith for cleansing from sin receives it. The condition is not beyond healing for those who stop rebelling, turn from evil, seek cleansing while mercy is offered, and learn to do good.
Warning to God's People
The question why be struck again warns against persisting in resistance to God and failing to recognize His judgments, for continued rebellion brings further blows without turning the people back. To revolt more and more under correction means punishment has become ineffective, as those stricken grow more corrupt rather than return. The sick head and faint heart picture a deep, widespread and entire spiritual illness extending from leaders to the inner life. This course of rebellion is the condition of the Battle Creek church.
The sick head describes leaders who reject divine counsel and the guidance of the Holy Spirit until their condition worsens rather than improves under correction. Such rejection weakens discernment until they judge unrighteously and fail to heed the call of the Spirit, which goes unheard and unheeded. The diseased body portrays moral darkness and spiritual death as sickness spreading through a living body. Because the church was spiritually unhealthy it spread a harmful influence to the Institute, and leaders and people alike need repentance rather than merely outward religious ceremonies.
The same sickness describes a world given over to sin and iniquity where intemperance has caused physical, mental and moral disease. It comes as the world converts the church to unite with the destroyer. It afflicts even professed followers with disordered brains and mental disorders from liquor and tobacco until they cannot distinguish between the sacred and the common.
The verse lays bare the condition of God's once-favored people under chastisement, stricken for rebellion yet revolting more and more instead of returning, until the sickness has spread through the whole man with no soundness left from head to heart. Its opening question is a plea to stop inviting further blows, springing from longing to see sinners freed from the burden and penalty of sin by beholding divine love and receiving full forgiveness. Sin is such a deep-rooted and deadly disease that it leaves the whole being spiritually sick and alienated from God, beyond any human power to cleanse or cure by resolutions or outward control. Yet the Lord is the great Healer who is not defiled by touching the defiled, and all who cease rebellion, turn from evil and seek Him in faith while mercy lingers will be cleansed and made whole. The same warning rests on the church when leaders and people resist counsel and the Spirit's guidance until discernment fails and sickness spreads as moral darkness through the living body.
Israel's Rebellion and Sickness
The vision lays bare the true spiritual condition of ancient Israel and Judah as the once favored people called to universal dominion through Judah and Jerusalem, with the scepter given to the seed of David, and it gives the reason for their chastisement in their unending revolt until the whole head was sick and the whole heart faint with no soundness left. The opening question is an appeal to stop revolting and incurring further punishment. It was made from longing to see erring Israel set free from the burden and penalty of sin by one who knew the depths of their fall and their need of a Saviour. That knowledge came through his own experience of seeing his unworthiness, seeing his Lord, glimpsing the loveliness of the divine character, receiving full and free forgiveness, and being changed by beholding infinite love.
Continued discipline had not turned the people back, for though stricken they revolted more and more. They grew more corrupt rather than return, turning further from God despite repeated correction. Further blows will not cure them while they keep turning away, so that continued wrongdoing brings no healing. The sick head and faint heart mean a deep, widespread and total spiritual disease with no healthy part and no soundness left. It is pictured as wounds extending from foot to head, making clear the sickness is pervasive from head to foot. It reaches from leaders to the inner life as head and heart fail, the whole nation portrayed as wholly diseased and faint with corruption throughout.
It describes those who profess to serve God while walking in forbidden paths. It shows them claiming righteousness while transgressing His holy law through misunderstanding His character. Their condition is presented as the consequence of sin. They are regarded by God as a people to be utterly destroyed for iniquities, like those later driven from the temple courts.
Sin's Sickness and Healing
Sin is a deep-rooted, deadly sickness like leprosy that affects the whole person, leaving the head sick and the heart faint throughout the entire being. It is spiritual disease that alienates from God and requires His healing and freedom. Those under it are spiritually sick through and through, with no part left sound.
The sickness is beyond human power to cleanse, and apart from Christ it is beyond human power to please God, because the carnal mind and heart are wholly diseased and weak. Resolutions and promises fail since the carnal heart overpowers good intentions. Outward conduct may be brought under control while the inner heart cannot be changed by self, so restoration requires a complete renewal of nature through yielding wholly to God.
Those thus sick may be self-satisfied and unaware of their need, falsely claiming to be whole while deceived by sin. They act in unchristian ways and mistake darkness for light. In pride the sinner braces himself and sets his own will against the will of God, and though Christ works upon the heart, by resisting, questioning, and caviling a person can annul what the Lord would do.
The Lord is the great Healer who can cleanse and heal without being defiled or polluted, as with the leper. Whoever comes to Him and asks in faith for cleansing from sin receives it. The condition is not beyond healing for those who stop rebelling, turn from evil, seek cleansing while mercy is offered, and learn to do good.
Warning to God's People
The question why be struck again warns against persisting in resistance to God and failing to recognize His judgments, for continued rebellion brings further blows without turning the people back. To revolt more and more under correction means punishment has become ineffective, as those stricken grow more corrupt rather than return. The sick head and faint heart picture a deep, widespread and entire spiritual illness extending from leaders to the inner life. This course of rebellion is the condition of the Battle Creek church.
The sick head describes leaders who reject divine counsel and the guidance of the Holy Spirit until their condition worsens rather than improves under correction. Such rejection weakens discernment until they judge unrighteously and fail to heed the call of the Spirit, which goes unheard and unheeded. The diseased body portrays moral darkness and spiritual death as sickness spreading through a living body. Because the church was spiritually unhealthy it spread a harmful influence to the Institute, and leaders and people alike need repentance rather than merely outward religious ceremonies.
The same sickness describes a world given over to sin and iniquity where intemperance has caused physical, mental and moral disease. It comes as the world converts the church to unite with the destroyer. It afflicts even professed followers with disordered brains and mental disorders from liquor and tobacco until they cannot distinguish between the sacred and the common.