And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, nd shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.” (Isaiah 6: 9, 10).
Dear God, we thank You for Your keeping care over us. We need You with us especially when we are moved to answer a call that is not easy. Please stay with us and enable us to do Your will, faithfully. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Yesterday, we saw the prophet Isaiah answering the call of God. Before God commissioned His prophet He enabled him. His enabling was very special and consisted of three steps:
A revelation of the glory of God.
A vision of himself, as he really was.
A touch from an angel.
Now God reveals to the prophet the message that he must deliver to the people. It is never an easy thing for a mortal to speak in the name of the immortal God. However, if it is a “pleasant” message we are more willing to attempt presenting it. But when it is a message that the people are likely to reject or a message that is not easily understood, we tend to hesitate.
This was not the most pleasant message to deliver. The Lord is telling the prophet to preach a message that the people will not understand. Their minds would be “dull”, their eyes would be “blind”. and their ears,” heavy”. If a message is not understood, it will not bring about the desired effect. So the prophet asks the Lord how long he should preach such a message.
The Lord’s response, at first glance, does not seem very encouraging, but the value of a message cannot be determined at the beginning of the message. As the prophet continues to listen, the grace of God suddenly becomes clear. Even when the cities would be abandoned, burned, and laid desolate, God would leave a “stump”, a “remnant”!
There is hope after all – because at the end of each day, God’s bottom line is to save His people.