KEEP ON SEEING & HEARING

1. Isaiah’s Prophecies  

a) Isaiah declares, "Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us about his ways, and that we may walk in his paths. The law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3). Isaiah looks forward to the gospel. In Isaiah, you will find nine prophecies, quoted in the New Testament, concerning the preaching of the gospel to the whole world, both Jew and Gentile. Some of these prophecies focus on the ministry of Jesus. These prophecies show how the gospel of Jesus would bring understanding to an ignorant world.

2. Keep On Seeing And Hearing

Matthew 13:13-16
13 Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;
You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
15 For the heart of this people has become dull,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes,
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return,
And I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

Isaiah 6:9-10
9 He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.’
10 “Render the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”

a) Sad to say, many people in darkness will not open their eyes to see the light, nor let their ears hear the good news. Isaiah offered himself as a preacher for God to send out among the people. Yet with bitter irony God tells Isaiah that his work will not be easy. Most people will not see with their eyes and understand with their hearts when the gospel is told them. Rather they will reject the gospel and it will have the opposite effect on them. Instead of enlightening them, it will render them all the more blind and deaf because they reject it.

b) Sad though this may be, it should not discourage us from telling the good message of Christ to everyone. Though many shut their eyes all the more against the light, some will open their eyes and see. That choice is theirs. Our duty is simply to bring the light to them.