«　WEEK 2　DAY 3　»

　　Jer. 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is incurable; who can know it?

　　13:23 Can the Cushite change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then you also may be able to do good, who are accustomed to do evil.

　　Another aspect of the kernel of the book of Jeremiah is the exposure of what we are in our fallen condition. In this matter Jeremiah is very deep but also very simple. In 17:9 he speaks regarding the human heart….Our heart is deceitful to the uttermost and incurable. Just as our heart is incurable, so our fallen nature is unchangeable [cf. 13:23] ….In our fallen condition we are corrupt and rotten; there is no way for us to change, correct, or improve ourselves. The disciples of Confucius tried to use his teachings to improve themselves, but they have failed. (Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 260-261)

　　Even this word [in Jeremiah 17:9] regarding the deceitful and incurable heart of man is related to God’s economy with His dispensing. Although man’s heart is corrupt and deceitful and its condition is incurable, even such a heart can be a tablet upon which God writes His law of life (31:33; cf. 2 Cor. 3:3). This reveals that God has a way to impart Himself into man. Once He has come into man, God will spread from man’s spirit into his heart. This is God’s way, according to His economy, to deal with the heart of fallen man. (Jer. 17:9, footnote 1)

　　Having forsaken God as the source, the fountain of living waters (Jer. 2:13), Israel became evil, having a heart that was deceitful above all things and incurable (17:9) and having an unchangeable sinful nature, like the Cushite’s skin and the leopard’s spots, which cannot be changed. This exposes the true condition of fallen man. (Jer. 13:23, footnote 1)

　　Isaiah responded to the vision of Christ in glory [Isa. 6:1-7] by saying, “Woe is me, for I am finished!” (v. 5a). As a result of seeing this vision, Isaiah was terminated, finished. Isaiah went on to say, “For I am a man of unclean lips, / And in the midst of a people of unclean lips I dwell” (v. 5b). By this we can see that we must pay attention to our lips, to our speaking. Every day we talk too much. A great percentage of the words we speak are evil, because most of our words are words of criticism….This is the reason that our lips are unclean. Unclean things such as gossip, murmuring, and reasoning make the church life taste like vinegar. If we eliminate gossip, murmuring, and reasoning, we may find that we have very little to talk about. Like Isaiah, we need to realize that our lips are unclean.

　　Everyone who truly sees a vision of the Lord is enlightened. The vision he sees immediately exposes him and brings him into light. When Peter saw the Lord in Luke 5, he immediately said to the Lord, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord” (v. 8). How much we realize concerning ourselves depends on how much we see the Lord. For this reason, we need a revival every morning. The morning revival is the time for us to see the Lord again. The more we see the Lord, the more we see what we are. We realize that there is nothing good within us and that everything within us is without splendor or virtue. Although Isaiah knew that he was finished and that he was a man of unclean lips, he nevertheless knew that he had seen the King, Jehovah of hosts, with his eyes (Isa. 6:5c).

　　After Isaiah realized that he was unclean, he was purged by one of the seraphim, signifying the holiness of God (v. 6a). Isaiah was purged with an ember from the altar (vv. 6b-7a). This ember signifies the effectiveness of Christ’s redemption accomplished on the cross. This purging by the seraphim with an ember from the altar took away Isaiah’s iniquity and purged his sin (v. 7b). (Life-study of Isaiah, pp. 37-39)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Isaiah, msgs. 6, 34