Proverbs 15:11. Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord; how much more the hearts of the children of man!
Sheol is mentioned 65 times in the Hebrew Old Testament as theplace of the dead. Where does a person go when they die? To Sheol. Before the death and resurrection of Christ there was not thought of dying and going either to Heaven or to Hell, everyone went to Sheol until the resurrection unto judgment.
Abaddon is mentioned only six times in the Old Testament as apparently a deeper level of Sheol, and possibly as the place for the most wicked. The word abbadon means to destroy. In the book of Revelation, Abbadon is the place of the demons and it becomes the name of the lead demon, Satan himself.
In Hebrew thinking Sheol and Abaddon would be separation from God. The holy God who forbids all contact with the dead would never be present in the place of the dead. But shockingly the Spirit inspired wisdom literature declares that God, the omnipresent and omniscient God, is everywhere present at all times even in Sheol and Abaddon, and he knows everything happening in the darkest places, even in Sheol and Abaddon.
Psalm 139:8. If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
How much more so our hearts?
Does your heart feel dead like Sheol? Does it feel full of evil like Abbadon? God knows. God sees your deepest heart. It is not shrouded from him. It has no depth that he cannot reach. No motive goes undiscerned. No desire is unknown. No thought lies undetected.
How much more so in Christ?
Being in Christ doesn’t allow God to know our hearts better, but it does allow God to be stronger than our hearts (1 John 3:20). In what way? Because now we have the new heart, the heart of Christ himself now guides our lives. Our spirit has been joined to his Spirit, and we cry Abba Father (Rom. 8:15-16). Christ now dwells in our hearts richly (Eph. 3:17), turning them from a living Sheol and Abbadon to a living Paradise of his love and grace.
You: In what ways do you try to hide your heart from God?
You in Christ: God knows, sees, and even dwells in your heart by our union with Christ. How does trusting this allow you to live a life of freedom rather than shame?
Christ in you: In what ways can you open up your heart to Christ today?
Pray: Father, I can’t hide from you and knowing that I am in Christ means I shouldn’t want to. Expose me. Open me up more and more to reveal my sin and receive your grace. Amen.
To Live is Christ 