Hearing but do not understand, seeing but do not perceive.

Isaiah prophesied in Isa.6:9-10 and this is quoted again in Matthew13:14-5:

‘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,

And shut their eyes;

Lest they see with their eyes,

And hear with their ears,

And understand with their heart,

And return and be healed.”

At the first reading, one may think of God... "why is God like that"... Doesn't our loving God desire the people to turn? Doesn't God desire to heal and restore His people, especially His chosen nation, Israel? Yet God conceals Himself from them and even hardens their heart.... Why?

Who are You, God?

In the context of the prophecy in Isa.6, we read that Isaiah was commissioned by God to speak judgment on an obstinate nation, Israel. The people have chosen to turn away from God (as we read from Isa.1-5), thus God will give to them what they desire - spiritual bankruptcy! To an obstinate people, God says they will not have understanding nor perceive what God is doing, even if they see and hear from God. In fact, God will make their hearts dull.

Yet God reveals the secrets of His heart to His servants, the prophets (Amos 3:7). Bearing the trademark as one who knows God's heart, that even in judgment, God longs to relent, and God will not punish or banish them forever from Him, Isaiah appealed to God, "Lord, how long?" Note that Isaiah did not ask God, "Why?" but Isaiah asked, "How long?".

Perhaps many of us are seldom acquainted the God who is our Righteous Judge - that He will judge if we turn from Him in waywardness. We like to think of God as a God of love. Thus, we may think that God is 'not loving' or what He does in judgment 'contradicts' Him as a loving God. May God open our eyes to see that even in His judgment, He is also a loving God, for He has already a plan in mind, that He judges so as to restore us in love. It is the same. Think about it...

And true to God's nature, He beckons us to turn to Him, but if we so choose not to, He will fulfill our heart's desire. In fact, He will 'help' us - He will harden our hearts. He is a Righteous Judge and shows no partiality. Yet our blindness and deafness to Him will not stop God from speaking to men. And that's why when Jesus came, He spoke in parables...for the mysteries of the kingdom are spoken in parables,

"For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." (Matthew 13:12)

To what shall I liken this generation?

So how are we responding to God? Are our hearts ever more tender and sensitive to God and His voice, or are we hardened? It is critical to be able to hear God... and more than critical in the days we are living in, to hear God. There will come a time we will hear a voice from behind us saying, this is the way, walk in it, and we will thrive, else we will suffer loss. In other words, we cannot afford not to hear His voice clearly.

Now... now is the time to buy oil... to know God intimately and hear His voice...

Jesus said in Matthew 11:16-19

“But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:

‘We played the flute for you,

    And you did not dance;

We mourned to you,

    And you did not lament.’

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”

This is a sad state... a generation that seems numb and totally unmoved - not only that, they totally discern things the wrong way. How did they come to this state?

As we live in the world, perhaps things around us may have crept into us, silently, dulling our hearts in the Lord, making us wonder, why am I not vibrant in my walk with God? I fall asleep when I read His word. There is no zeal in my prayer. My heart does not seem to be moved by God as how it did in the past...

You know what I'm talking about... it's not so much the outward intense zealousness all the time but the heart connected-ness with God that you have lost. And you are bothered by it, which is good. For if we are not hot and don't even know it or admit it, we are in a hotter soup!

May our hearts be quickened by His word of caution in 1John 2:15-17:

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

Many a time, when we want something, and do not get it our way, our terms (lust of the flesh), we get embittered and resentful. Yet if we stay this way and refuse to see our own problem, it's akin to drinking the cup of poison ourselves and hoping the people we are bitter and resentful towards will die from it.

Are we also so full of pride, consumed with self that we think we are all right and others are the problem, thus ignoring voices that warn us from the pit hole right in front of us?

May we respond to God in wholeheartedness and be found as a generation ready for His coming! May wisdom be justified by her children. Let us bear fruits in our lives in keeping a heart that is connected to God!