Skip to main content

Heartthrobs

Did you have a heartthrob at some point in your life?

A heartthrob, by the way, is someone who is considered to be an object of romantic desire. The word is also often used in the phrase “teen heartthrob”, referring to a young person, especially a musician or actor, who is the object of teenagers’ romantic affection.

Even the Old Testament seems to have a precursor to that!  Really?  Take a look at what Isaiah said in chapter 60:  “your heart will throb.”

So was this referencing an OT version of a hunky young Jewish man being the heartthrob for all the young Jewish women?  

Definitely not, especially as you consider that the term heartthrob can be used to simply describe a rapid heartbeat. It can also be used figuratively to refer to a passionate emotion.  And there definitely should have been a passionate emotional response to what Isaiah was saying.

“Your heart will throb” is part of verse 5 of chapter 60 which reads as follows:  “Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.”

The context of the verse gives us an idea as to why their hearts would throb and it has little to do with a heartthrob, as in the object of a teenager’s romantic affection, but it had everything to do with God and His blessings being poured out:

“The splendor of the Lord shines on you” and “His splendor appears over you.” (60:1-2). Splendor here could be defined as “the brightness of His presence”.

“Nations come to your light…” (60:3).  This likely refers to God’s people reflecting the brightness of God’s presence and other nations were drawn to that light.

“Your sons come from far away…” (60:4).  As the Jewish people are drawn to and gathered around the light of God’s presence; this would cause them to “look and be radiant” and would cause their “hearts to throb and swell with joy”.  These were the very passionate emotions they were to experience.

Another aspect of the meaning of heartthrob is this:  “One who is considered pleasing to the senses, often resulting in increased respiration, increased circulation to the face, and a noticeable "pounding" in the chest.”

While that could certainly describe the teenage heartthrob experience, I’m wondering if it should actually be something we feel as we experience the brightness of God’s presence.

 May the Lord’s splendor shine on us so that our hearts will throb in the brightness of His presence!  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excel Still More!

To excel, according to some of the meanings from a few dictionaries, is to surpass others, do extremely well, outdo, do something better than anyone else. In 1 Thessalonians 4:1, we find the phrase “excel still more”.   It prompts the question:  if we are already doing something better than anyone else, why would we be encouraged to do even more? Perhaps it would be helpful to see the wording that other translations use for “excel still more” to see why we would be encouraged to do so.  Here is a sampling: • abound more and more • to keep doing so more and more • but try even harder • live that way more and more. • that you progress even more. • that you increase more and more in how you ought to walk Maybe it would also be helpful to see some other verses where the word “excel” is used: “Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which when translated means Dorcas); this woman was excelling in acts of kindness and charity which she did habitually.”...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Year Trash or Treasure?

You probably know the old saying:  “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.  I am not going to try to prove or disprove it, just look at it from a different angle. Cheryl and I were recently walking on a beach in Florida .  A man was walking along with a bag and was picking up trash and putting it in the bag.  Was he picking up things of value? We also saw a different man walking along the same beach with a metal detector.  He would swing it back and forth and would occasionally stop and dig in the sand.  Was he looking for things of value? Both were intent.  Both were focused.  Both were diligent. I’m guessing that the one picking up trash was not looking for things of value.  I’m also guessing that, by picking up trash, he was valuing the beauty of the beach and didn’t want the trash to mar it.  The one with the metal detector, I’m guessing that he was not looking for metallic items of trash but was looking for...
1 comment
Read more

Value Proposition

Value proposition:  it’s a marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should buy a product or use a service.  It should clearly and concisely communicate what customers can gain from selecting a particular brand over that of its competitors. In a value proposition, you don’t want your product to be viewed as being worth less than what your competitors offer.   But even worse, in a bit of a quirk of how letters and spaces can fall, if you take out the space between “worth” and “less”, you get “worthless”, which means something of no value.   If that word is used in conjunction with how your product is viewed by customers, it’s a word that will likely kill your brand. In the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul, in a sense, communicated some value propositions. In chapter three, he starts off with describing the value of some things that many considered as extremely valuable in that day and age.   They had to do with status and achievement in the reli...
Post a Comment
Read more