The Remnant of Israel
(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. Rom 11:8
God hath given... The 12th Old Testament prophecy fulfilled in Romans (Rom. 11:8; Isa. 29:10). Next, Rom. 11:9. The very Word of God that should have awakened them has blinded them. God is not to blame, Israel is (see, Rom. 9:12-18).
Mat. 13:14-15 “And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:” “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and [their] ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with [their] eyes and hear with [their] ears, and should understand with [their] heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”
These Scriptures leave no doubt that God first must call us and the Holy Spirit has to reveal to us the meaning, or we too, would be blinded. It is God that opens our ears of understanding to His Word. He is our source; we must depend on Him. The beginning of wisdom is to fear God. This fear is to reverence Him or to hold Him in awe. Unless God reveals Himself to us, we do not truly know Him. He loves everyone and wants us all to love Him, but if we choose not to follow Him, He will stop up our ears and eyes and we will not be able to understand.
He does not want us to come to Him with our mind, He wants our heart.
Eze. 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.”
Mark 4:11-12 “And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all [these] things are done in parables:” “That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and [their] sins should be forgiven them.” This is because of their evil heart that Jesus does not reveal Himself to them.
The first line of this scripture was quoted (from Isa. 29:10), and the last lines are from (Deut. 29:4).
What it means to be hardened is seen from Paul’s explanatory and supporting quotations. The first is taken from both Deut. 29:3-4 and Isa. 29:10, and indicates that hardening involves spiritual drowsiness (stupor is the rendering of katanyxeōs, “a numbness resulting from a sting”), blindness, and deafness (cf. Isa. 6:9-10).
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