Hearken Up
Hearken Up!
“Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.”
Jeremiah 6:17
Hearken has several meanings in the Bible when used in different context. Not to give a word history lesson, but it’s Greek origin is from the verb to hear - akouo. Even more interesting is that it is used in the context - to obey.
It’s interesting that a word used for listening and hearing also means to obey. In many uses in the Bible it could be used both ways, but have two different meanings. In the verses below you can see what I mean;
“Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.”
Jeremiah 6:16-19
It is used both ways and even with the verb “hear”. I read several passages where hearken or a variation was used and you could easily put “obey” in its place and the context was the same. Even though the origin of this word began as “hear” maybe what they meant when they said “listen” was to “obey”.
How fitting is that in our lives? If we would’ve just obeyed instead of listened. If I could go back to all the times I was told something and merely listened as if it were advice instead of a command that would change my life or at least put it on the narrow way.
So many times I watch as people converse and one person will be on their phone or distracted, not even listening to the other. What if they miss something extremely important in that conversation? And to take ourselves out of the equation, what if we miss something important to someone else? Or miss something we could’ve conveyed to someone else that would’ve changed their life.
Listening is different than obeying. Or is it? How many times have we listened to something that is preached but we didn’t hearken it? After reading passages and chapters with this word used in it I believe it is meant for both, not always, but most commonly.
And then I sit and think about all those times I mentioned before. Where I was given direction or advice and ignored it because I only listened to it. The problem I ran into is that I didn’t obey. And now that I sit and think about it, how much is truly in the Bible that we just look at, we don’t even listen to it, much less hearken it.
It drives me crazy to be in a conversation only to have someone half-heartedly listen to you or dismiss you for a phone call or someone else walking up. Don’t be guilty of this, it’s just plain rude.
As you go through your day, think about the things you listen to; and then think about what you obey. What are you told that maybe you shouldn’t listen to? What have you read or heard that you should be obeying.
It’s not only important to hear what others are saying. Listen to them. Give them your obedience in hearing. It doesn’t mean you always have to do what people say. You could miss something important if you’re not listening or you could miss the opportunity to make someone feel important by listening.
When you read the verses I put in these devotions read several verses before and after so you can understand the context.
“Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.”
Isaiah 28:23
“And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.”
Mark 7:14-16