Eyes To See, Ears To Hear
There have been several times recently that I have been looking for an object that was in plain sight right in front of me, but I could not see it; for instance, I was looking for my phone holster, that I had just moved, and placed on top of papers that I needed to take with me, but could not see or find it. After several of these natural occurrences I remembered that God had spoken years before in a message and interpretation, Ask Me, that I will give you eyes to see; ask Me that I will give you ears to hear. There is a greater spiritual seeing and hearing that we cannot receive without the sanctification process, and then asking for it: as Jesus told each of the churches of their shortcomings in the book of Revelation, He then said … He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Consider that as the children of Israel prepared to go into the Promised Land Moses spoke to them of their lack of spiritual sight or hearing;
Deuteronomy 29:4 Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
Hebrews 3 tells us of the great provocation and unbelief that had prevented the children of Israel from receiving that heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear. It cannot be received in the disobedience, rebellion, or unbelief of a walk in the corruption that is in the world. May you better understand that cause or reason for spiritual blindness and deafness from what Ezekiel was told;
Ezekiel 12:2 Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.
Since the fall of man there is in each of us a hard, un-penitent, rebellious nature that will hinder or stop our spiritual hearing and can spiral us to the depths of sin and iniquity if we refuse the keeping hand and the grace of Almighty God. This rebellious heart, lack of spiritual hearing, and the resultant increase in sin is further addressed in Isaiah 30, so let us consider several verses for confirmation and instruction;
Isaiah 30:1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
Stop and consider, who do you get your counsel from? If it is not in hearing from God it is most likely from your own wicked heart. While it is possible for each of us to have spiritual eyes and ears to receive from God, many only walk in their own counsel and determination of what to do when faced with decisions. That is the problem with even the phrase “What would Jesus do”, because it puts the individual in the place of reasoning that out, instead of simply hearing and obeying. This relying on self-determination is a form of rebellion. In the below verses God confirms that these words were then given to Isaiah to record for ever that rebellion is the cause of this lack of hearing the law of the LORD;
Isaiah 30:8, 9 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
May you receive that these scriptures were written down that they may be for the time to come: we are in such a time when people will not hear or receive the truth, but desire to hear a lie;
Isaiah 30:10, 11 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
This desire to only hear what is perceived as good to the individual, but not the instruction, correction, or reproof of God is the most dangerous rebellion, because it contains a form of godliness without the true relationship: In the deception of the wicked heart the individual can be deceived that they are in right standing. This desire to only be told “good” things is also how Isaiah was led to speak of a time when, in spiritual blindness, people would think they are right with God, but evil would be called good, and good called evil;
Isaiah 5:18 – 20 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
There has never been a time like today where all of the things that are good and true and virtuous and righteous are excoriated by the press, and those things that are abominations to God are considered good for the people in the eyes of so many: abortion, fornication, reverse racism, rioting, homosexuality, transvestites, transgender, pornography are all justified as good in the thoughts and legal opinions of so many: the list could be made exceeding long. We are seeing a spiralling increase in this wickedness, and nearing a day when people will seek to add pedophilia and euthanasia to this list. Many people have no spiritual vision or hearing, and have corrupted themselves in their own wisdom, thoughts, and justifications;
Isaiah 5:21 – 20 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
May you perceive that much of what government and the news has become today is wicked; men justifying their selves and their own perceived righteousness, and turn from it and repent. The Apostle Paul also foretold of this day of desiring to be told lies instead of the truth;
II Timothy 4:3, 4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
In rebellion and sin we also are children that will not hear: may you understand that our spiritual hearing is opened in repentance and obedience. God then gave them a specific, definitive, and certain answer, but in their rebellion and disobedience they refused it;
Isaiah 30:15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
May you receive that returning and rest can be equated with the repentance and obedience that we know to be necessary for … shall ye be saved. And we know from Nehemiah 8:10 that the joy of the Lord is your strength: can you define joy with … in quietness and in confidence? From these two references to your strength, may you have a greater knowledge in, and of, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Philippians 4:13). Please recognize that not just your spiritual seeing and hearing, but also all of your spiritual strength is only found in Him and in His righteousness.
Please also recognize now from numerous scriptures that to be His children, servants, or ministers we do not remain in the rigidity and oldness and letter of the written law of Moses, which killeth, but in the newness of the spirit and life;
Romans 2:29 For he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Romans 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
II Corinthians 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
While these scriptures tell us we are no longer in the oldness of the letter, we also cannot remain or be in the oldness of sin: we should serve in newness of spirit, for the spirit giveth life. Surely you can acknowledge that hearing is necessary for this serving in spirit: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. In that returning and rest, in that quietness and in confidence, we will find the salvation and strength Isaiah mentioned, and we have a God who is waiting;
Isaiah 30:18 – 21 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Can you hear naturally when someone in the next country or state is speaking (without the aid of a listening devise)? Can you hear them in the next town, or even your neighbor’s house? There is a closeness required for proper hearing that is true in the spiritual as well. We cannot get close to God in our sin: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. (Isaiah 59:2) May you greater recognize how critical the sanctification process is to spiritual hearing. May you also recognize with these verses that you can have such a close walk with God where you may not even have to ask, but thine ears shall hear … This is the way, walk ye in it. May this give you a hunger, a thirst, a spiritual desire for such a walk!
Can you see this righteous walk of obedience (in and through captivity) in the life of Daniel? Daniel was always blessed of God even in the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction of the captivity of the children of Israel. Daniel is listed by God as one of the three righteous in Ezekiel 14 with Noah and Job. Daniel is called greatly beloved three times in scripture. May you understand that Daniel’s diligence in diet, walk, prayer, and dedication to God were the necessary preparation for the spiritual seeing and hearing for the wisdom, the discernment, the spiritual vision in dreams, and later the end-time prophecies he received of God. It was also his preparation for the protection of God he received in the lion’s den, that he might fulfill his purpose of God.
It might be easy for you to generally dismiss the righteousness and godly walk of these three righteous men in Ezekiel 14 as being necessary for a great calling. Noah was used to deliver mankind at or through the flood. Daniel was used to see great visions and give the great prophecies that he did. But what was the great eternal calling, deliverance, or spiritual necessity of Job? We need to receive that calling to righteousness and spiritual seeing and hearing for each one of us no matter what our purpose is in God’s eternal plan. May you receive that Job’s obedience and righteous walk were due to his desire to spiritually hear the words of God;
Job 23:20 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
The obedience of Job to the commandment of his lips could only be found in the depth of spiritual hearing of Job: his statement is that he obeyed everything that he heard. Surely you can acknowledge the great desire for the spiritual hearing that is necessary for the obedience in the initial statement in this verse: you cannot obey what you cannot hear. And just as surely you can see the value placed on the words of his mouth in the second part. It is not stated as more important to Job than food, but necessary food, that which is required to live or to sustain life: may you see and understand that Job had overcome the lust for food, to find the desire for more of God, the sanctification process. Oh, God, give me, give us, such a spiritual desire and hunger as Job for the spiritual seeing and hearing that we are each and every one called to! May you consider that Job’s necessity and calling were as “a turtle on a fence post” for each generation after to see, to hear, and to follow!
Consider satan’s temptation of Jesus; may this also give you better understanding of this fact of esteeming the Word of God that was in Job’s life. The initial culmination of overcoming the temptation of satan in Jesus life repeatedly included It is written;
Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
You cannot truly know what is written without first having some spiritual seeing and hearing of what you are reading. The constant barrage of the “sounds” of sin around you can dull your hearing that you cannot receive what is being given;
Hebrews 5:11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
There is a spiritual Mystery to be received if we will seek Him for it. I have shared before how I had natural electronic devices that were supposed to repel spiders and insects, but people cannot hear them. We have ears to hear but we hear not; there is a bug frequency that is above people and pets hearing, but can repel insects and rodents. You cannot hear it, but one day the noise of the intermittent signal reached my ears: it had been as the ‘white noise’ in a room, but now was so amplified that it was heard in my ears as it continuously sent that noise, much like the ticking of an old clock. God immediately gave to me that spiritual hearing is the same: until you have the ability to hear it and receive it into heart it is as if you heard nothing. May you recognize the minimalization of your spiritual hearing, repent, and desire the meat of the word;
Hebrews 5:12 – 14 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
May you receive enough spiritual vision to recognize that you are dull of hearing, and ask God to open your eyes and ears!