ISAIAH 29
OPENS WITH The Cause and Cure of Spiritual Blindness
Verses 1-4 tells us The LORD humbles a proud Jerusalem.
"Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! Add year to year; let feasts come around. Yet I will distress Ariel; there shall be heaviness and sorrow, and it shall be to Me as Ariel. I will encamp against you all around, I will lay siege against you with a mound, and I will raise siegeworks against you. You shall be brought down, you shall speak out of the ground; your speech shall be low, out of the dust; your voice shall be like a medium's, out of the ground; and your speech shall whisper out of the dust."
Woe to Ariel...
DID YOU KNOW...
THE NAME "ARIEL" means Lion of God, and in this passage is used as a symbolic reference to Jerusalem (the city where David dwelt). The only place where Ariel is used as a name for Jerusalem is in this chapter of Isaiah, and the word only appears ONE other time in the Old Testament, as the name of a priest in Ezra 8:16.
There is some dispute AMONG Biblical scholars, as to if Ariel means Lion of God (the literal translation) or an altar for burning, which is a very similar word in Hebrew (used in passages like Ezekiel 43:15-16). If it is to be understood as an altar for burning, then the idea is that "The fighting and bloodshed around Jerusalem would make the city like a giant place of sacrifice." (Wolf) But, considering the context as a whole, it is best to see Ariel with its literal meaning - Lion of God.
When we consider the way Ariel is used in these verses, and the context as a whole, the idea behind calling Jerusalem Lion of God is probably sarcastic. The repetition of the name (four times in two verses), and the context of God's judgment against Jerusalem, suggest the idea that Jerusalem may have thought of herself as the Lion of God, but God didn't share that lofty opinion of the city. It may be that the people of Jerusalem had taken to calling themselves by the name Ariel, to both express and strengthen their confidence IN THEMSELVES, RATHER THAN IN THE GOD OF THEIR FATHERS, AMEN?!
The feeling in Isaiah 29:1 is that Jerusalem is proud (Ariel), resting on its spiritual heritage instead of its present reality (the city where David dwelt!), and living for present pleasures without concern for God (Add year to year; let feasts come around).
Yet I WILL distress Ariel...
Jerusalem may have this high opinion of itself, but it is not out of the reach of God's hand of judgment. Instead of the routine of year to year and the feasts, God will send heaviness and sorrow. If Jerusalem sees itself as a lion, then God will fight against them with the same fury a man would have against a lion (it shall be to Me as Ariel).
I WILL encamp against you all around: Using the images of warfare for that day, God promises to battle AGAINST Jerusalem, and to conquer her (You shall be brought down).
In all of this, the LORD will bring down the lofty self-image Jerusalem has of itself. Instead of calling herself Ariel, and the city where David dwelt, their speech shall be brought low, out of the dust. Instead of loud boasts, their speech shall whisper out of the dust.
Verses 5-8 tells us The LORD protects and delivers a humbled Jerusalem.
"Moreover the multitude of your foes shall be like fine dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones like chaff that passes away; yes, it shall be in an instant, suddenly. You will be punished by the LORD of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with storm and tempest and the flame of devouring fire. The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her fortress, and distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, and look; he eats; but he awakes, and his soul is still empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and look; he drinks; but he awakes, and indeed he is faint, and his soul still craves: so the multitude of all the nations shall be, who fight against Mount Zion."
The multitude of your foes shall be like fine dust...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The closing image in the previous verses was Jerusalem groveling in the dust. Now, the LORD uses another image, spun off of the idea of dust - Jerusalem's enemies will scattered as fine dust. God will humble Jerusalem in the dust, and then scatter her enemies like fine dust, like chaff that passes away.
You WILL BE punished: This seems to be directed against the nations that come against Jerusalem. God will allow them to come against the city, and to humble it, but God will punish the nations that have come against His city.
It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams...
Because the LORD will protect Jerusalem, the nations that come against her will ultimately be frustrated. They will be like a man who dreams of food, but wakes up hungry. They will dream of fulfillment, but be unfulfilled.
Verses 9-10 speaks to the spiritual stupor & blindness of Jerusalem.
"Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with intoxicating drink. For the LORD has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, namely, the seers."
Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind!
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Jerusalem's pride (as expressed in Isaiah 29:1) has made them spiritually blind, and spiritually drunk. The LORD tells Jerusalem to pause and wonder at this, because though they do it to themselves, they lack the self-awareness to see their condition.
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
This is NOT seen as a "blessing from the Spirit of the LORD." This is a CURSE, both SELF INDUCED and sent from the LORD. This speaks powerfully to those today who promote the idea of God "blessing" His people with being "drunk in the Spirit."
Upon researching "being drunk in the spirit" on the internet, I was so saddened and yes, at times horrified, to see people in church services & revivals, as the pastor said, "The Spirit is falling on us! Drink deep of His presence", to see people start barking like dogs, some laughing uncontrollably, some falling out and rolling on the floor, some running the aisles flapping their arms, some visibly vibrating, then the front most rows, fall like dominoes back into everyone behind them, when the preacher threw out his arms, and said, "be slain in the spirit!"
It broke my heart, because they do NOT know their Bible, for NO WHERE
did Jesus nor his disciples, ever behave in such a manner.
Conversely, every word Jesus spoke in ministering, healing, freeing from demons, raising from the dead, the manic behavior, the demonics, the illness, was instantly calmed and peace filled them. I know Satan and his demons laugh themselves sick, while they whirl through these church & revival crowds, whipping them up into such madness, and enjoy watching these "Christians" make a mockery of everything our Jesus was, is and ever shall be. A spirit may well have descended upon them, but it was NOT, AND NEVER HAS BEEN OUR PRECIOUS JESUS NOR HIS HOLY SPIRIT.
AND OUR LORD GOD WARNED IN ISAIAH 28...SUCH FALSE SIGNS & TEACHINGS OF BEING SLAIN IN THE SPIRIT, BEING DRUNK IN THE SPIRIT IS SELF-INDUCED & A CURSE...NOT A BLESSING OR VISITATION FROM GOD.
Because Jerusalem chose blindness, and chose spiritual drunkenness, God sent something: the LORD poured out on them the spirit of deep sleep. As drunks will "sleep it off," so the LORD will send blind, proud, drunk Jerusalem into the lethargy and vulnerability of spiritual sleep. But a drunk can become sober after sleep; for those who are spiritually drunk, sleep worsens their condition.
When we are asleep, we are doing nothing productive.
When we are asleep, we are vulnerable.
When we are asleep, we are insensitive.
God sent these things to a blind, proud, drunk Jerusalem.
The problem of spiritual sleep DID NOT end with Jerusalem of Isaiah's day.
Romans 13:11 was written TO Christians: And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Christians NEED to be awake, especially knowing the time!
PAUL CLEARLY WARNS THAT BEING ASLEEP SPIRITUALLY, AND FALLING FOR & CHOOSING TO BELIEVE IN THIS BEING SLAIN IN THE SPIRIT & BEING DRUNK IN THE SPIRIT IS NOT FROM OUR LORD JESUS NOR HIS HOLY SPIRIT...SO WAKE UP CHRISTIANS!
AND because Jerusalem CHOSE THIS DRUNKENNESS, CHOSE THIS blindness, and CHOSE THIS spiritual drunkenness, God took away something...He has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets. As a drunk has blurred vision and poor perception, so God closed the spiritual eyes of the nation - namely, the prophets.
The prophets were silent, and the word of God was neglected because the people wanted it that way. In silencing the prophets, God simply gave Jerusalem what SHE WANTED.
REMEMBER IN ISAIAH 1...WHEN GOD CALLED HIM...GAVE HIM HIS MISSION....HE THEN TOLD ISAIAH THEY WOULD NOT LISTEN, HEAR, BELIEVE, OBEY, OR REPENT....BUT TO TELL THEM ANYWAY.
NOW GOD HAS SHUT THE PROPHETS MOUTHS.
AND WE KNOW the prophet Amos spoke of the SAME idea IN AMOS 8:11-12: "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but shall not find it."
Verses 11-12 tells us of the spiritual illiteracy of Jerusalem.
"The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, "Read this, please." And he says, "I cannot, for it is sealed." Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, "Read this, please." And he says, "I am not literate."
GOD SHOWED Isaiah to liken Jerusalem to the blind and to the drunk. Now, he likens them to the illiterate. But this isn't a literal literacy, because the literate man receives the vision of God, but to him it is like a sealed book. When the book of the vision is brought to the illiterate man, he does no better (I am not literate).
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Many today "read" or "receive" God's word like an illiterate man "reads" the newspaper. They can pick out a few words here and there, and they can certainly look at the pictures. They can sit with an open newspaper, enjoy themselves to some degree, and appear to be reading. But the TRUE CONTENT really escapes them.
THAT IS WHY IT IS ALWAYS GOOD TO ASK JESUS TO OPEN OUR EYES, TO SHOW US, TO TEACH US, TO GIVE US HIS WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING, AND DISCERNMENT, BEFORE WE READ AND STUDY THE BIBLE...
I DO NOT KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE READ THE BIBLE IN MY LIFE, GENESIS TO REVELATION, AND IT WAS ALWAYS A QUESTION IN MY HEART, WHEN READING THE OLD TESTAMENT, IF JESUS IS THE TRIUNE GOD, WHAT DID HE DO, UNTIL THE TIME HE WALKED THE EARTH. BUT ONCE I STARTED PRAYING BEFORE READING THE BIBLE, JESUS ANSWERED MY QUESTION WITH A MENTAL/SPIRITUAL LIGHTNING BOLT....JESUS DID NOT SIT IN HEAVEN TWIDDLING HIS THUMBS WAITING FOR BETHLEHEM, HE HAS PHYSICAL APPEARANCES ALLLLLLLL THROUGH THE OLD TESTAMENT...AND I DID A BIBLE STUDY ON JUST THAT. SO WHEN YOU SIT DOWN TO SPEND TIME WITH JESUS AND HIS WORD, ASK HIM TO SHOW YOU, TEACH YOU, AND OPEN YOUR EYES...AND HE WILL, AMEN?
Verses 13-16 tell us WHY the LORD sends spiritual blindness upon Jerusalem.
OUR TRIUNE GOD IS A GOOD FATHER...HE TEACHES AS HE CHASTENS, AND HE POINTS OUT THE SINS AND ERRORS AND MISTAKES OF HIS CHILDREN THAT WARRANT THE CHASTISEMENT. HE DOES NOT AS SOME TEACH, JUST SIT UP IN HEAVEN AND SHOOT PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL, EMOTIONAL, RELATIONAL, AND FINANCIAL SPANKINGS. HE WARNS, HE PLEADS, HE ENCOURAGES, BUT WHEN HIS CHILD STUBBORNLY REFUSES TO HEAR HIM...THEN HE CHASTENS...AMEN?
Verses 13-16 tells us:
"Therefore the LORD said: "Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden." Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the LORD, and their works are in the dark; they say, "Who sees us?" and, "Who knows us?" Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; for shall the thing made say of him who made it, "He did not make me"? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?"
These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Jerusalem knew how TO TALK the spiritual talk, but their hearts were FAR from God.
WE CAN'T always tell a person's heart by what THEY SAY.
WE CAN'T always tell a person's heart by what THEY DO.
BUT ALMIGHTY GOD SEES AND READS THE HEART AND MIND PERFECTLY....ALWAYS!
ONLY JESUS can really know the heart, the closest we can come is by looking at the whole of their life - not just what they say or do, and especially not only at how they act at church or among Christians. Do they walk it daily.
John Hagee tattles on himself about just this. He was in heavy gridlock traffic, and he was afraid he would be late to an important meeting. He said there was a woman in front of him. He could barely see the bun on the top of her head over the head rest. This pokey old woman slammed on brakes when the light turned yellow, instead of going on through the yellow light. John said, I was fuming. Then the light turned green, and the old woman was chatting on her cell, and John said he was hammering his horn, howling at the woman, "Goooooooo, do you not SEE the light is GREEN woman!!! The elderly woman, then hit the gas and nipped through the light just as it turned red, and John was left to sit through another delay. He was shaking his fist, muttering, and bemoaning that he would NOW be late for his meeting, when he happened to glance over at the car in the left lane, and saw long time members of his church, with his family in the car gaping at him in shock! And he was then convicted of his un Jesus like behavior before men. And worse, when he got to the church meeting with his elders, the little old lady with the white bun was there to provide refreshments for them. He said the Lord convicted him that day, of John Hagee you need to walk the talk all day every day, not just in the pulpit!"
REMEMBER MATTHEW 12:34, where Jesus said, "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."
This is a true - but not absolute - principle, because people can draw near to God with their mouths and honor the LORD with their lips, and their hearts can still be far from God. Of course, their speech will betray them at one time or another - but just maybe never at church!
This manner of talking the talk, but not having the heart, didn't end in Isaiah's day, either!
REMEMBER Jesus quoted this passage from Isaiah when He rebuked the RELIGIOUS LEADERS of His day for their hypocrisy in Matthew 15:7-9, Mark 7:6-7.
It didn't end in Jesus' day either!
NOR HAS IT ENDED NOW...
How did their hearts get far from God?
GOD TELLS US...THEY REMOVED THEIR HEARTS FAR FROM HIM. God doesn't move away from His people; they remove their hearts from Him.
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The people of Jerusalem had NO FEAR, NO RESPECT, NO AWE of God in themselves; it had to be commanded by others. Their hearts did not respond to God, but only to men.
The wisdom of their wise men shall perish...Because Jerusalem's pride had led them into spiritual blindness, sleep, drunkenness, illiteracy, and hypocrisy, God will destroy the wisdom of their wise men. Their wise men promoted the pride that led to all these evils!
Isaiah calls this a marvelous work and a wonder, for God to reject the wisdom of man and to display His wisdom.
REMEMBER Paul was also amazed at the "wisdom" of man, and how it compared to the "foolishness" of God.
IN 1 CORINTHIANS 1:21-24, Paul says, "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
Who sees us?
In their false wisdom, the proud people of Jerusalem thought they could hide their thoughts (hide their counsel) and their deeds (their works are in the dark) from the LORD.
Surely you have things turned around!
They THOUGHT & BELIEVED IN THEIR ARROGANT MAN WISDOM they could hide from the LORD, and that they had Him all figured out.
The truth is turned around! The LORD has them all figured out, and they really don't know God at all.
Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The people of Jerusalem made the terrible mistake of raising themselves up, and lowering God at the same time. So, for them, the clay was just as worthy, just as intelligent, just as powerful, as the potter (THE CREATOR) was!
For shall the thing made say of him who made it, "He did not make me"?
AND DOES NOT LOST MANKIND say exactly this today.
How many times have we heard scientific, economic, political,social, & wore some religiosity leaders say, "I AM THE CAPTAIN OF MY SHIP. I CREATED AND WORKED FOR ALL I HAVE. I RAISED UP THIS BUSINESS, CHURCH, ORGANIZATION. MY SWEAT, MY WORK, MY MONEY...I CONTROL MY DESTINY. I...I...I...ME....ME....ME...?"
Man looks at God our Creator, and says, "He did not make me." For the LORD and His prophet, this was absolutely absurd, but today it passes for high science!
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?
LOST MANKIND believes this as well today!
Instead of seeing the ABSOLUTE NEED for an intelligent designer who created all things, many believe that chance - absolute blind, random, purposeless chance, having no understanding at all - brought all things into being.
THEY CHOOSE TO BELIEVE THEIR OWN RIDICULOUS "THEORIES", which we know theories are just that..ideas, that have NO BASIS IN FACT WHATSOEVER, but they have been promoted and taught so long now that people believe mankind, the earth, and the universe evolved from A BIG BANG, A ROCK EXPLODING, GASES CREATING, PRIMORDIAL SLIME, REPTILES, BIRDS, OR KNUCKLE-DRAGGING APES THAT EVOLVED INTO MANKIND.
People who are otherwise intelligent often fall into this delusion.
Jacques Monod, a biochemist, wrote: "Chance alone is at the source of every innovation, of all creation in the biosphere. Pure chance, absolutely free but blind, at the very root of the stupendous edifice of evolution."
But assigning such power to "CHANCE" is crazy.
Chance has NO power.
NEED PROOF...
OKAY...for example, when a coin is flipped, the chance it will land "heads" is 50%; however, "chance" does NOT make it land heads. Whether or not it lands heads or tails is due to the strength with which the coin is flipped, the strength of air currents and air pressure as it flies through the air, where it is caught, and if it is flipped over once it is caught. Chance doesn't "DO" anything but describe a probability.
JUST AS...when Carl Sagan petitioned the federal government for a grant to search for intelligent life in outer space, how did he hope to find it? By using a super sensitive instrument to pick up radio signals from distant space. When he received those radio signals, he looked for order and pattern, which would demonstrate the signals were transmitted by intelligent life. In the same way, the order and pattern of the whole universe demonstrates that it was fashioned by intelligent life, not by "CHANCE."
SAGAN & OTHER SCIENTISTS SEEK TO DETECT "chance" in the radio signals constantly (in the form of unpatterned static), but it tells them nothing & IT PROVES NOTHING.
SO WHEN SOMEONE says the universe or anything else came about by CHANCE, they are extremely ignorant, superstitious, or just repeating a line they have heard before and have unthinkingly accepted.
AND IT AMAZES ME THAT ANYONE CAN LOOK AT THE SUNRISE, THE SUNSET, RAINBOWS, NATURE, THE SEASONS, THE VASTNESS OF THE OCEANS, AND SAY IT WAS CHANCE...OR A BIG BANG CREATED IT ALL.
THAT IN AND OF ITSELF SHOWS THE INTENTIONAL BLINDNESS AND WILLING STUPIDITY OF MANKIND.
THINK ABOUT IT, MANKIND HAS CREATED MANY WEAPONS OVER THE YEARS CAPABLE OF A "BIG BANG"...FIRST IT WAS GUNPOWDER, THEN DYNAMITE, NITROGLYCERIN, THEN THE A-BOMB, AND NOW MISSILES, & NUCLEAR WEAPONS...AND HAS ONE OF ALL THE ABOVE EVER CREATED LIFE, RAINBOWS, VEGETATION, WATER, SEASONS, SUNRISES AND SUNSETS...ALL THE BIG BANGS HAVE EVER DONE IS DESTROY, AMEN?
We need to remember the context of the whole chapter - THE POINT ALMIGHTY GOD GAVE ISAIAH AND WARNED ISAIAH OF...it is THE SELF PRIDE AND WILLING BLINDNESS of Jerusalem. It is perhaps the height of man's pride and blindness to reject the LORD as our creator.
Verses 17-21 tell us GOD PROMISES SIGHT for the spiritually blind, justice for the wicked.
"Is it not yet a very little while till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest? In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel. For the terrible one is brought to nothing, the scornful one is consumed, and all who watch for iniquity are cut off; who make a man an offender by a word, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just by empty words."
Is it not yet a very little while...God's restoration WILL come, and all things considered, it is in a very little while. It may not seem so to us when we are in the midst of a trial, but it is true.
AND WE NEED TO REMEMBER HEAVENLY TIME, JESUS TELLS US THAT A DAY IS AS A THOUSAND YEARS, AND A THOUSAND YEARS AS A DAY. SO IN HEAVEN'S TIME, JESUS HAS ONLY BEEN AWAY 2 +DAYS, WHEREAS FOR MANKIND, HE HAS BEEN BACK IN HEAVEN FOR OVER 2014 YEARS!
SO 2 DAYS HEAVEN TIME, IS A VERY LITTLE WHILE, AMEN?
Till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?
DID YOU KNOW...that Lebanon was known for its mighty forests, which would be brought low and turned into a fruitful field. On the other hand, the fruitful field would become as a forest. God IS PROMISING EVEN AS HE cuts one down, HE WILL raise another up.
The deaf SHALL hear … the eyes of the blind SHALL see...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
When God's people are restored, pride no longer prevents them from hearing God's word or seeing God's work. Just as much as these are miracles in the natural realm, they are miracles in the spiritual realm also. We need to humbly seek God for ears to hear and eyes to see.
The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD...Joy is the proper reward for the humble. When we are humble - having an accurate estimation of ourselves, and a proper perspective of ourselves in relation to God and others -our lives are filled with the most joy.
The humble and the poor have their joy in the LORD. He is a constant source of joy that can never be taken away, AMEN!
Pride is the enemy of joy.
We can be proud and have fun.
We can be proud and have success.
We can be proud and experience excitement.
We can be proud and be happy because of happy circumstances.
But we cannot be proud and have joy in the LORD, or to whatever degree we are proud, we are missing joy in the LORD.
The proud can never have joy in the LORD if they are in humble or poor circumstances.
As Paul tells us in Galatians 6:14, "But God forbid that I should glory (boast or brag), save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."
The terrible one is brought to nothing...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The work of the LORD does not stop at restoring His corrected people. It extends to bringing JUSTICE upon the wicked. Singled out for judgment by the prophet are those who have no sense of proportion or justice: Who make a man an offender by a word … turn aside the just for a thing of naught.
Verses 22-24 The PROMISED restoration of God's people.
"Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: "Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now grow pale; but when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, they will hallow My name, and hallow the Holy One of Jacob, and fear the God of Israel. These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, and those who complained will learn doctrine."
Jacob shall not now be ashamed...
Significantly, God addresses His people as Jacob in this promise of restoration. The name Jacob, given to the father of the 12 tribes, is not complimentary. It has the idea of a "con-man" or a "trickster." Anyone who is really a Jacob, has good reason to be ashamed, but when God restores His people, even the "Jacobs" shall not now be ashamed.
When he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, they will hallow My name...The picture is of the patriarch Jacob looking over his descendants, and no longer being ashamed of them, because they now hallow the name of the LORD, and respect the holiness of the LORD.
These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmured will learn doctrine...
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Finally, in God's day of restoration, the truth is taught and known and exalted. Those who erred in spirit now have understanding, and those who murmured know better because they know the truth.
ISAIAH 29 TELLS US A GREAT DEAL ABOUT HOW THE LORD SEES AND VIEWS THINGS & ABOUT WHAT SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS MEANS & ITS CAUSES...
- Spiritual blindness is caused by pride.
- Spiritual blindness will bring us low.
- Spiritual blindness leads to spiritual drunkenness.
- Spiritual blindness leads to spiritual sleep.
- Spiritual blindness leads to spiritual illiteracy.
- Spiritual blindness causes hypocrisy.
- Spiritual blindness makes men believe God cannot know what they think or see what they do.
- Spiritual blindness makes men deny God as Creator.
- Spiritual blindness is cured through humility.
- Spiritual blindness can only be healed through the LORD's restoration.
ISAIAH 29 TEACHES WE WHO LOVE JESUS, AND WITNESS AND SEEK TO SHARE AND SHINE AND SHOW JESUS, WE NEED TO PRAY FOR ALL, ESPECIALLY THOSE BLINDLY, & ARROGANTLY REJECTING OUR CREATOR GOD....
OPEN THE EYES AND HEARTS OF THE BLIND...
AND LET THEM SEE LORD JESUS...LET THEM SEE YOU!