Can we break God’s heart?

Apparently, we can.

Through the Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel, God is warning Israel of unspeakable judgment – not because he enjoys bringing judgment, but because, after warning after warning after warning, the people both refuse to listen to God as well as continue to mock him by boldly continuing their wicked acts.

Then, all of a sudden, in chapter 6, verse nine, we read…

“…I was broken by their lewdness and unfaithful hearts…”

Various English translations use the following words for “broken”: crushed, hurt, and shattered.

The Hebrew word for “broken” means “to wreck, break, shatter.”

The Message Bible renders the verse this way:

“They’ll realize how devastated I was by their betrayals.”

These descriptive words are anthropomorphisms, which are words to describe God that human beings, bound to human vocabulary, can understand.

In the New Testament, we see Jesus, God made human, demonstrating emotion ranging from anger, to grief, to joy.

My point is this: we can break God’s heart. This is yet further insight into the depth of his love for us.

Oh, Jesus loves you.

When we ignore or disregard his “nudgings,” his word in the scriptures, his loving direction and counsel – when we fail to demonstrate love, kindness, patience, and the like to others – this breaks his heart.

Ever had your heart broken? We all have. Remember how painful that was? We all do.

God’s heart breaks too, but on a level we could never comprehend – because his love for us is on a level would could never understand.

nick