Self-inflicted Deafness

“Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” (Isa 6:10 AV)

This instruction is somewhat confusing.  The LORD instructs the prophet to continuously preach the truth regardless of their response, and do so purposely to make the people dull of hearing.  This explains the use of this same reference in the New Testament.  Jesus quotes this verse several times.  On the face of it, it would seem God does not want certain people to be saved.  But that is not what is happening here.  The frequency of preaching the truth is what is making them deaf to it.  Or, better yet, the frequency of preaching combined with the lack of response is what causes them to be lost.  The more they hear the word of God and the less they respond to it, no matter how much it is preached, they will eventually not hear at all.

Have you ever noticed you can get used to a sound to the point you cease to hear it until someone who has never heard it, points it out?  Even if the sound is something we should heed?  My wife and I used to attend a flea market not too far from our home.  In fact, it was only a couple of miles.  I noticed something peculiar the first few times we went.  A siren would go off at intermittent times of the day.  I am used to the local fire department sounding an hour right at noon.  That is not uncommon.  But this siren was not at a precise time of day.  And, it was loud.  The first time I heard it, we were at the flea market.  It was rather loud.  No one seemed to take notice.  They continued their shopping.  They continued their conversation.  It was as though my wife and I were to only ones who heard it.  That was impossible.  It was very loud.  Seeing as how no one else paid this any mind, I let it go.  Then about a month later, it happened again.  Same scenario.  The siren went off, and the building shook a bit, but no one seemed to take notice.  So, I asked someone what that siren was for.  I was told on the first Saturday of every month, they test the tornado sirens.  Each first Saturday, usually near high noon, the sirens located all over the county go off for about a half minute.  One of the sirens happened to be in the parking lot of the flea market.  They had gotten so used to the sirens, they didn’t heed them any longer.

The prophet was sent to a people who would not listen.  All he was accomplishing was making them more calloused toward the truth of God.  But that does not mean his ministry was fruitless.  The very next verse tells the prophet to continue until the nation lay in ruins.  His job was to warn them right up until the moment destruction comes.  This got me thinking.  I wonder how much of God’s word we are missing because we turn a deaf ear to some or all of it.  How much does God get through to our hearts so that more can get through?  How much of the preaching, teaching, and personal devotions impact our decisions?  If we refuse to listen and act upon the word of God already revealed, then we will not hear the word of God when we need it the most.  Do we continue to listen, believe, and obey?  Or, do we pass it all off and continue on our way?  If the latter is the case, there will come a time when no matter how loudly the LORD speaks, we will not hear.  And that is a frightening place in which to be.