Is God making his people not turn to him in Isaiah 6:9-10?
Therefore they are destined for eternal condemnation?
Isaiah 6:9 - 10
ESV - 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.
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Asked September 23 2013
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Joel Ebene
Supporter
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D W
Supporter
Not exactly. God's chosen people, the Jews, spent most of their lives and years and time ignoring God. Finally God determined to let them go their own way without His intervention. He simply underlined what they were already doing. Continuing in sin, their lives fell apart, their home life was disrupted, their village harmony was shattered.
Kenion Will
Supporter
It's not that God is causing His people not turn to Him, but rather He is permitting it. For example, in Ex 7:3, God is said to harden Pharoah's heart while 1 Samuel 6:6 said that Pharoah hardened his own heart. The reality is that God worked the signs and wonders that caused Pharoah to harden his heart and God allowed it. ************************************************************************************** In his copious work on biblical figures of speech, E.W. Bullinger listed several ways that the Hebrew and Greek languages used verbs to mean something other than their strict, literal usage. He listed several verses that show that the languages “used active verbs to express the agent’s design or attempt to do anything, even though the thing was not actually done” (1898, p. 821). To illustrate, in discussing the Israelites, Deuteronomy 28:68 states: “Ye shall be sold (i.e., put up for sale) unto your enemies…and no man shall buy you.” The translators of the New King James Version recognized the idiom and rendered the verse, “you shall be offered for sale.” The text clearly indicated that they would not be sold, because there would be no buyer, yet the Hebrew active verb for “sold” was used. In the New Testament, a clear example of this type of usage is found in 1 John 1:10, which states, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him [God—KB/DM] a liar.” No one can make God a liar, but the attempt to deny sin is the equivalent of attempting to make God a liar, which is rendered with an active verb as if it actually happened. Verbs, therefore, can have idiomatic usages that may convey something other than a strict, literal meaning. Ref: http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=11&article=1205
Ndubuisi Moses
Supporter
I would say, God was speaking ironically. 'Much as you hear...' this implies that, though the prophets speaks, in vain they would listen to the message of the Lord. Though they see the events of which they are witnesses and through which God speaks to them, it would still be in vain. (Isa 1:12)
JD Abshire
Supporter
I do not believe God makes man evil. However, God uses evil to bring glory to himself. Proverbs 16:4 "The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil." According to Romans 9:17 "For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth." Although God is not "active" in causing people "not" to believe, he simply leaves some in their unregenerate condition. Without the calling and quickening power of the Holy Spirit, they cannot believe. 1 Corinthians 2:14 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Paul again wrote in Romans 11:7 "What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded" v.8 "(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." v.9 "And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:" v. 10 "Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway." v. 11 "I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy."
Ebony Blackwell
Supporter
No, I don't think that God is making his people not turn to him in Isaiah 6:9-10. I think that in Isaiah 6 9-10 God is warning his people of what's to come if they don't listen and stop the foolishness. Isaiah 6:11-13 to me is saying that they are headed towards complete destruction. And that when all else fail the Holy Spirit will always be there for them when they get ready to accept what God has for them.
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