Are you Seeing and are you hearing.txt

Are you seeing? Are you hearing?

Isaiah 6: 8-10 (ESV)
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull,
    and their ears heavy,
    and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”

This passage is in Isaiah, and it has to do with Isaiah's commission from the Lord; his mission for the people of Israel. As some of you may know, Isaiah 53 is the prophesy of Jesus the son of God, who was sent by the Lord to die for our sins. This, ultimately, is the message that Isaiah was to deliver, the one of the Messiah.

Isaiah 53: 4-6 (ESV)
4 Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

Sounds a lot like what happened to Jesus, if you read the entire passage you can see an even clearer picture of it and if you are scholarly Christian who's familiar with the life of Jesus (I would hope so!) you should see that the life, and subsequent death of Jesus very closely aligns with what was said in Isaiah.

Now I would like to go back to Isaiah 6 and have you re-read the message that God gave for Isaiah to deliver to the people of Israel:

“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

The first part:

"Keep on hearing, but do not understand;"
Hearing, what could God have meant? Well if we remember, the message Isaiah brought was that a messiah would come, and that he would bear our sins to make peace with God.
About 700-800 or so years later, Jesus of Nazareth was born to a virgin, Mary, in Bethlehem. He would grow up to fulfill that prophecy as our savior, dying for our sins as recounted in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. His promise was, that through faith in him, your sins will be forgiven. You are made at peace with God by his sacrifice; by him being pierced on the cross for our transgressions.
What kind of culture do we find ourselves in today? I personally feel at times it's one of constant noise and information overload. How much of this "information" we consume is just garbage? What are we hearing from God, but not understanding? I will have to come back to this, in a little bit.

For now lets move on to the next part of the message:

"keep on seeing, but do not perceive."

I believe that this part of the passage is related to what the Apostle Paul talks about in the book of Romans:

Romans 1:19-20 (ESV):
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,[a] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

We often take for granted the sunshine, the trees, or the breeze. These are gifts from God, just like the rain that falls from the sky, and all the living creatures on the earth. They were created for us to enjoy, but do we ever honor the creator? Do we give thanks to him for it? I'm willing to bet many do not perceive these things as of God at all, let alone thank him for it. Are you perceiving?

Back in Isaiah 6:10, God continues with a commentary about his message that would be delivered:

10 Make the heart of this people dull,
    and their ears heavy,
    and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”

I'm willing to bet many have heard the message of Jesus. You may have even crossed some videos on social media about Jesus and scrolled right on passed (or maybe watched if you are like me). You've heard at least part of it since I just recounted some of it above, if not please read at least one of the gospels, Mark is the shortest if you want to save time. Now if you have heard the message, do you understand it in your heart?
That healing that God offers us is in Jesus Christ, through his sacrifice for you, you are healed from your transgressions. Through the faith in him (not by literal sight of God, but by his divine nature in creation), and through belief and understanding of Jesus's sacrifice in your heart. To come full circle: Is your heart dull to the love of God in that sacrifice? Are your ears heavy when you hear the message of Jesus? Are your eyes blind to his creation and all the gifts of life he gives you? I believe many people today do hear the message of Jesus and reject it due to their own personal reasons, whether that be intellectual or moral. I would argue those people do not understand that message as deeply as God wants us to.
I'm going to leave you with a final message today from Jesus that I hope will resonate with you.
Matthew 5:44-46 (ESV)

44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?