Left Blind
For YHWH has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has shut your eyes, the prophets, and He has covered your heads, the seers. Isaiah 29:10
Prophets – You and I can be very glad we did not live in the time of Isaiah. The apostasy of Israel in those days caused God to make a terrible decision. Because Israel refused to accept the responsibility that went along with God’s grace, God had to take steps to chastise them. In this case, the steps God took were drastic. Destruction, captivity, famine and chaos became the tools God used to bring His children to their senses. Yes, it’s a very good thing that we don’t live in those days. In those days, God blinded the people by taking away the ones who could reveal God’s purposes. Once He removed the prophets, they floundered like men in a pitch-black cave.
The Hebrew word for prophet is naviy from the root navat (to look intensely, watch, consider). Please put away the idea that a prophet sees the future. While this is occasionally part of the prophet’s message, the preoccupation with foretelling did not enter the believing community until late in the second century AD after the “church” began its steady progression toward Greek metaphysics and pagan mysticism. The Hebrew prophet was a man called by God to deliver God’s message. That is all. He was a spokesman for God. He did not bring his own opinion, evaluation or creative application. He said what God said. End of story.
The root word is instructive. It portrays life in the house of the covenant. The prophet is the eyes of the people of the covenant. He points them toward the way of life by unpacking and revealing what God says. There is a rather terrifying implication. Without eyes, the house is a place of death.
So, why did God take away the eyes of His children? Why did He cause them to become blind? The answer is all about their behavior. They ignored God’s purpose for their election. They did not become the distribution point of grace to the world. They looked after themselves first and foremost. They accumulated rather than distributed. They acted as an exclusive hierarchy of regulation rather than an inclusive community of forgiveness. They denied the priority of God’s commandments. They worshipped man-made institutions and success. They stopped training their children in the ways of the Lord. They were sexually immoral. They took advantage of the weak and the poor. They lived for gain. They served a profitable justice. They followed leaders who did not demonstrate godly character. They clamored for fame. They believed in prosperity for themselves. They turned aside from duty. They let their passions loose. They did not control their appetites or their imaginations.
So, God brought judgment upon them. He led them blindly to destruction. He took away their eyes.
Of course, that was a long time ago. We’re not like that, are we? All those actions and attitudes that characterized the children of Israel don’t look familiar to us, do they? We aren’t blind. We know exactly what we are doing. Just turn on the light, please.
Topical Index: Prophet
