Category Archives: Deuteronomy

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Bible, Blind, Deaf, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Romans, Scripture

BLIND AND DEAF

ROMANS 11:8

“just as it is written: ‘GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.’”

I have known several blind people or others who were deaf, but I have never known a blind and deaf person. One of the most famous was Helen Keller who lost her sight and hearing after an illness when she was 19 months old. She was taught by her teacher, Anne Sullivan, how to communicate by feeling lip movements and reading braille. She eventually learned to speak. Check out the 1962 movie, “The Miracle Worker,” to see this remarkable story.

Paul uses an Old Testament passage to show the extreme disregard of the Gospel message by the Jews. He calls them blind and deaf. Scholars disagree which passage Paul is referencing. One is found in Isaiah 29:10 “For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes—the prophets; And He has covered your heads—the seers.” Another is Deuteronomy 29:4 “Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.” But my favorite is found in the calling of Isaiah as a prophet in Isaiah 6. In verse 10 we read, “Make the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes blind, So that they will not see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” Regardless of which passage Paul had in mind, the message is clear. The Jews refused to see or hear.

APPLICATION

Go back to the phrase “GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR,” in today’s verse. What does that mean? The Greek word for “stupor” is katanuxis, and it only occurs in this verse. Look at this description of the word. “The word refers to a condition of spiritual numbness—a deadening of the faculties of perception so that truth is heard without being grasped and seen without being perceived. It is not mere ignorance but a divinely permitted torpor that seals the heart against repentance until the appointed time of mercy.” (Topical Lexicon)

So, let me ask you again if you have known any blind and deaf people – spiritually? I bet you have. I have known many who could not see the truth or hear the truth. Some of these people were good people. They lived pretty moral lives, but they couldn’t see or hear how much God loved them and had a plan for their lives. They thought they were fine just like they were.

But just like Paul’s eyes were opened when Ananias laid his hands on him, anyone who wants to see the truth and hear the truth can once they turn to Jesus. Jesus healed the blind and deaf. He is still doing that today. If you know someone who falls into that category spiritually, continue to speak truth to them. Perhaps they will have their eyes and ears opened through the Holy Spirit’s wooing.

I was blind and deaf, Lord, until You opened my eyes and ears. Thank You for touching me.

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Bible, Deuteronomy, Gospel, Romans, Salvation, Scripture

THEY WERE TOLD

ROMANS 10:19

“But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, ‘I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS WITH THOSE WHO ARE NOT A NATION, WITH A FOOLISH NATION I WILL ANGER YOU.’”

Isn’t it frustrating when you have to repeat yourself? Telling the same thing over and over gets tiring. When your children were little, you found yourself, I am sure, repeating things to them. But you kept telling them with the hopes that they would eventually get it. And for the most part they did, didn’t they? Repetition is necessary at times.

Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 32:21 which says, “‘They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,’” God warned the Jewish nation hundreds of years ago through Moses that He would use the Gentiles to show them His salvation is for everyone. Wow! That had plenty of warning, but they never seemed to get it.

APPLICATION

I don’t normally use a long quote from a commentator, but Matthew Henry has some great words of wisdom on this passage and the ones that follow that bear repeating. Read it more than once. “Did not the Jews know that the Gentiles were to be called in? They might have known it from Moses and Isaiah. Isaiah speaks plainly of the grace and favour of God, as going before in the receiving of the Gentiles. Was not this our own case? Did not God begin in love, and make himself known to us when we did not ask after him? The patience of God towards provoking sinners is wonderful. The time of God’s patience is called a day, light as day, and fit for work and business; but limited as a day, and there is a night at the end of it. God’s patience makes man’s disobedience worse, and renders that the more sinful. We may wonder at the mercy of God, that his goodness is not overcome by man’s badness; we may wonder at the wickedness of man, that his badness is not overcome by God’s goodness. And it is a matter of joy to think that God has sent the message of grace to so many millions, by the wide spread of his gospel.”

I love how he applies this to Gentiles as well as the Jews. We all have been told the story in one way or another. We have all heard or seen the Gospel message. Therefore, we cannot give excuses for not believing. No Jew could and no Gentile could. That still applies today. Especially with the technology we have around the world, the Gospel is presented in thousands of dialects and in just about every spot on the globe.

But we still have work to do. God will judge mankind one day, and if someone has not believed in the name of the Son of God and turned to Him for salvation, they will face an eternal hell. Let’s get busy for the kingdom. Today could be our last day on earth. Jesus could return tomorrow to take His bride away. Be diligent.

Father, You have warned us time and time again. You will judge us all one day. I am thankful I know I am Yours.

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