Prevention Plan
“Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.” Isaiah 6:10
Otherwise – God’s plan includes punishment. Oh, did you think that God will always forgive? Have you been duped by the “God is love” theology that proclaims God will forever overlook sin? If your view of God is based on this insipid idea that God always blesses and never punishes, then you don’t know Who God is. And you don’t know Jesus either.
When Jesus introduced the Kingdom with the parable of the sower, his disciples asked for an explanation. They didn’t get it. So, Jesus gave them an explanation, along with a quotation from Isaiah. Jesus quotes this verse (see Mark 4:12) in order to explain why God’s revelation is cloaked in symbols and mystery. You see, God’s plan includes punishment. Jesus knew that, so He pointed toward Isaiah’s startling discovery. God knows that if He were to reveal the full extent of His power and majesty, we would all fall prostrate before Him. We would be overwhelmed, driven to the point of mental collapse in the presence of the Holy Creator. We could do nothing less. Some day that will be the fate of every living being, but not yet. And in this period of “not yet,” we are called but not commanded. We make a choice to hear and obey. We are not compelled.
In this interim, God uses the process of wrath to bring about transformation. He does not like to be interrupted. So, He says to Isaiah, “Preach in a way that cloaks the message. If you don’t do this, then it is possible that these people will return to Me and I will restore them. And if that happens, then the purpose of my wrath will not be accomplished. They will come back to me without truly transformed hearts, and we will have to go through this all over again.” That is why God uses the word pen. It is attached to the verb “to see,” usually translated as “lest.” It indicates the prevention of a possible event. God wants Isaiah to prevent premature conversion. There is no point in coming to God before you have recognized His holiness and your sinfulness. Coming to God in order to escape dire circumstances is not the name of the game.
Do you find it astonishing that Jesus uses this tactic too? Did you think that all we have to do is make God “user friendly” in order to “win” souls? Do you understand that Jesus is God, and He takes the same route in Mark that He does in Isaiah? Who convinced you that we need to make the message palatable to everyone?
God’s prevention plan is designed to bring about real repentance and true transformation. When we redesign His plan in order to provide a message that everyone can accept, we often do exactly what God told Isaiah not to do. We ignore the pen because we do not allow the sword.
