Does God Make Men
Spiritually Blind?
Troy J. Edwards
Therefore they could not
believe, because that
Esaias said again, He hath blinded their
eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes,
nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them (John 12:39-40)
Some men hold to a theological
system that claims that men who reject the gospel of Jesus Christ were created
that way by God before they were ever born. It is taught that God pre-selected
certain men to be saved or damned before this material world existed. Those who
were selected to be lost are supernaturally declared by God to be “totally
depraved”.
It would appear from the outset
that John 12:39-40 supports this notion since it clearly states that God is the
One who blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts in order that they might
reject the gospel. But in another gospel Jesus said that one of the reasons for
being anointed with the Spirit was for “recovering
of sight to the blind” (Luke 4:18b). Furthermore, John himself in the
earlier part of his gospel recorded Jesus saying,
For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not
his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him
might be saved. (John 3:16)
Which one is it? Does God want men
to believe so that He can save them or is he intentionally blinding certain
ones in order to later condemn them? If it is the latter then what do such
ideas say about the normal understanding of justice? Is God just in
supernaturally blinding men to the truth and then punishing them for something
they could do nothing about?
If John 3:16-17 is to be understood
as God’s prevailing attitude towards men and the implications drawn from John
12:39-40 are untrue then how do we interpret passages in the inspired Word of
God that make such implications?
God’s Prophetic
Language
Quite often God is said to do
certain things that He merely allowed
or permitted to take place. We will
demonstrate through the method of “interpreting Scripture with Scripture” how
John 12:39-40 should be read in the “permissive” rather than in the “causative”
sense.
Firstly, John 12:39-40 is quoting Isaiah 6:9-10 where God commissioned
the prophet to speak truth to the people but to expect a disappointing
response:
And he said, Go, and tell this people,
Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 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.
In God’s commission to Isaiah, the prophet is told, among
several things, to “shut the eyes” of the people. Some will read the passage as
though God has given Isaiah divine power to supernaturally inflict the people
with spiritually deaf ears, hard hearts, and spiritual blindness. To read the
passage in this fashion is clearly a misunderstanding of Hebrew idiomatic expressions.
God actually desires to give His people an opportunity to
repent of their wickedness and avoid judgment. Hence, He sends Isaiah to
proclaim the truth to them. However, because God is fully aware of their hearts
He knows the reaction that the prophet’s message will receive. Instead of
allowing God’s Word through Isaiah to lead them to repentance, the people will
become increasingly hardened and blinded against the truth.
While “blindness” and “hardening” is not God’s intentions,
He is fully aware that this is the effect that Isaiah’s message will have.
Therefore, He tells Isaiah to preach this Word but encourages him not to
entertain any false hopes that he will get a positive reaction. In the Hebrew
idiom, because the message of repentance that Isaiah will preach will cause
these wicked people to shut their eyes and harden their hearts, Isaiah is said
to be the one who does it. As one theologian writes, “In the stile of
scripture, the prophets are said to do what they declare will be done.”[1] James
MacKnight uses Isaiah 6:10 as an example to explain how “active verbs” in the
Hebrew express this particular truth:
Active
Verbs, in some cases, were used by the Hebrews to
express, not the doing of the thing said to be done, but simply the
declaring that it is done, or that it shall be done …. Isaiah vi. 10. 'Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears
heavy;' declare, or foretell, that the heart of this people is fat.[2]
From this we can understand that God does not use
supernatural divine influence to bring about spiritual blindness to the people
of Isaiah’s time. He is only declaring that people who prefer to remain in sin
have a tendency to harden themselves and close their eyes to the truth.
However, knowledge of the thought behind the
Hebrew idiomatic language helps us to read the passage with the understanding
(and proper interpretation) that the people, of their own volition, willingly
shut their eyes to the truth.
About three hundred years before Christ, a
number of Hebrew scholars translated the Hebrew Scriptures into the Greek
language (known as the Septuagint). Obviously they understood that the people
in Isaiah’s time were fully culpable for their own blindness so they
translated, “shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes” as “and their eyes have they closed; lest they
should see with their eyes” (Brenton English Septuagint Translation). Since
John 12:39-40 is quoting Isaiah 6:9-10, it should be understood in this same
light.
Man is Free to Blind
Himself
It has been well said that the Bible is its own
Bible dictionary and its own Bible commentary. If the student of the Word runs
into a passage such as John 12:39-40 and it seems to make God’s character
appear questionable, then the most effective method for handling this dilemma
is to interpret the Scripture with other Scriptures.
John is not the only New Testament author to
quote Isaiah 6:9-10. This same passage is quoted in various parts of the New
Testament (Matt. 13:13-15; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; John 9:39; Acts 28:26; Rom. 11:8-10).
Some of these passages, just as John 12:39-40, are interpreted in the sense in
which God did the blinding. Thankfully, as we will see, some of them remove the
blame from God and places it in the proper place, which is with those who are
spiritually blind.
Calvinists obviously have no issue
believing that God inflicts spiritual blindness on people. But for those of us
who have come to understand the love and justice of God, this idea is
unacceptable. But John’s rendering of Isaiah 6:9-10 as well as some of the other
New Testament writers appears to teach just that. Yet, this contradicts what
John wrote earlier in his gospel concerning men “living in the dark:”
And
this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)
Seeing that Jesus attempted to give men light
but men preferred darkness then this would make men fully culpable for their
blindness. Yet, John says this in one place but then John as well as other New
Testament writers quote Isaiah with an interpretation that makes God appear to
be culpable for the blindness of men.
Since the Bible is indeed the Word
of God we only need to find the solution for interpretation within its pages.
God spoke His Word to men who lived in an Eastern culture in which everything
that happened in the world was done by the ruling deity. However, the Holy
Spirit ensured that sufficient information would be made available in other
portions of Scripture to explain some of the difficult language that we find in
passages such as John 12:39-40.
There are at least two places in the Bible where
Isaiah’s prophesy is interpreted in the sense that the people are fully
responsible for their blindness:
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 (Matt. 13:15)
Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing
ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not
perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull
of hearing, and their eyes have they
closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them (Acts 28:26-27)
In these other portions of
Scripture, the Holy Spirit ensures us that this “blinding” was the free-will choice
of the ones blinded. Therefore, Dr. Timothy Jennings, a minister and a
psychiatrist in the Seventh Day Adventist church gives us an appropriate
paraphrase of John 12:40:
“Their minds have been blinded by their rejection of truth,
their hearts have been deadened by their selfish pursuits, therefore they
neither see the truth with their minds nor understand it with their hearts, or
will they turn from their evil ways; for if they did, I would heal them.” (John
12:40; The Remedy New Testament by Dr. Timothy Jennings)
Since the Holy Spirit inspired
Matthew and Luke to interpret Isaiah’s prophecy in accordance with the freedom
that God gave men to make their own choices and choose their own destiny, Dr.
Jennings provides us with a paraphrase that is closer to how we should
interpret the passage.
The above should help us to
understand why it is so vitally important to interpret the Scriptures with the
Scriptures. If we only read those passages that interpret Isaiah’s prophesy
from the standpoint of God’s action then we will believe the erroneous
Calvinistic idea that God has decreed that some are saved and some are lost
based totally upon His doing.
The “Permissive
Sense” of Scripture
If men are fully responsible for
their own blindness and God is not the One who literally blinds them then does this mean that John 12:39-40 is not
inspired by God? If it is inspired then does it mean that it has been
incorrectly translated in multiple English Bible versions? I believe that the
answer to both questions is “no”. All Scripture, including those difficult
portions, were divinely inspired (2 Tim. 3:16). Furthermore, the problem is not
the translation but the interpretation of Hebrew thinking to the
Western mind.
Remember earlier we stated that in
Hebrew idiomatic language, God is said to do that which He merely allowed or
permitted. Therefore, John 12:39-40 would actually have been understood by
Jewish readers to say that the people closed their own eyes and God merely permits this to take place.[3]
In reality, God is not the direct
agent behind the spiritual blindness of the people. He merely withdraws from
them. Some commentators have noted this truth:
How, then, are the words to be explained? Did he not “blind
their eyes and harden their hearts?” Yes, we are free to admit that he did. But
then remark, in the first place, what is the import of these expressions when
employed in the Scriptures. They do not imply any positive act on the part of
God, but simply a negation or withdrawal of his grace, the same which is
elsewhere expressed by saying, “he gave them up to their own hearts’ lusts,”—he
“gave them over to a reprobate mind.” He does not make the heart harder, he
only leaves it to its native hardness and impenitence.[4]
In that case it is clear that the mode specified is not a direct
agency on the part of God in blinding the mind — which we cannot reconcile
with any just notions of the divine character—but in suffering the truth to
produce a regular effect on sinful minds, without putting forth any positive
supernatural influence to prevent it.[5]
John 12:39-40 is accurate but our
understanding of God’s method or mechanism of blinding is not. He is only
said to “blind” men by removing the restraint He used in His attempts to
prevent the blinding. Sadly, men continued to close their own eyes and harden
their own hearts. God had to respect their freedom of choice and let it to take place.
In Romans 11, Paul appears to teach
the idea that God is fully culpable for closing men’s eyes, but explains the
permissive sense within the context of his statement:
(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. And David saith, Let their table be made a
snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that
they may not see, and bow down their back alway. (Rom. 11:8-10)
Note the two phrases: “God hath given them the spirit of slumber,
eyes that they should not see” and “Let
their eyes be darkened, that they may not see.” Paul quotes an Old
Testament passage in verse 8 and it is rendered in most English translations in
a causative sense. Paul then quotes another in verse 10 that uses a more
permissive phrase (“let”) to explain the more seemingly causative language in
verse 8. The word “let,” of course, means “to allow or permit”.
“Given them” or “Given
them up”?
Therefore, as we read verses 9 and
10 of Romans 11 in conjunction with verse 8 we should no longer have any doubt
that where we read, “God hath given them
the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see,” that it is not in reference to an act of
supernatural power on God’s part. It is a matter of God “giving them over” to the
blindness that they freely chose for themselves. The late Baptist pastor,
Herschel H. Hobbs, states that this is the case here:
The phrase “God gave” attributes it to God. However, to see
him doing this arbitrarily is contrary to God’s nature. The Biblical record
shows that Israel first adopted this attitude toward God’s revelation. In time,
after repeated refusals of God, God acted in accord with their own actions. Out
of respect for man’s free will God accepted as a fact what Israel had shown to
be her attitude. As God gave the Gentiles up to their chosen path, he did the
same to Israel (see 1:24, 26, 28).[6]
The word “given” is the Greek word
“didōmi”. It is the root of another Greek word, “paradidōmi” which is found
in an earlier part of Romans where Paul, speaking on the same subject, writes, “And even as they did not like to retain God
in their knowledge, God gave them over
to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient” (Romans
1:28).
Since “giving people over to” blindness
(permissive) rather than personally and supernaturally “giving them” blindness
(causative) is the foundation of Paul’s teaching, then that is how Romans 11:8
should be understood. Three other New Testament translations recognized this
fact and rendered verse 8 as follows:
“….as
the Scripture Says, ‘God has given them
over to an attitude of insensibility, so that their eyes cannot see and
their ears cannot hear, down to this very day.’” (The Williams New
Testament)
“God gave them over to an insensitive
spirit, having eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, even to this
present day.”[7] (The Living Water Translation)
“….as
it is written, ‘God hath given them up
to a state of insensibility, so that their eyes could not see, and their ears
could not hear.’” (Daniel Mace New Testament)
Dr. Timothy Jennings also
recognizes this fact and in his The
Remedy New Testament has paraphrased verse 8 as follows: “….as it is
written: ‘When they rejected truth, God gave them over to a dull mind: eyes
trained to no longer recognize truth and ears tuned to no longer hear truth;
and this goes on to this very day.’”
Hence, if God “gave them over” or “gave
them up” to the blindness rather than “giving to them” the blindness, then
God’s only part in all of this is permission.
God merely withdraws His protective grace and allows the consequences of their
rebellion against Him to take place. In his Bible paraphrase, Dr. Jack Blanco
(who is from the same denominational background as Dr. Timothy Jennings) gives
us a clear understanding of how Romans 11:8-10 should be understood:
“As Moses said, ‘God will withdraw His grace from those who
set their minds against Him, who close their eyes to truth and their ears to
what God says. And so it is to this day.’ David said, May their prosperity work
against them, may all their plans to get rich fail, may they reap the
consequences of their actions, may it affect their health, making them
prematurely old, may they taste poverty and may all this happen to them with
the hope that they will wake up to their need of grace.” (The Clear Word by
Jack Blanco, p. 1178)
God “giving them over” to the
spiritual blindness simply means He withdrew His presence which attempted to
restrain their fall into complete depravity. But since men persisted in rebellion,
He finally allowed them to have what they desired for themselves. However, this
also comes with “reaping what they sowed” (Gal. 6:7-8) and suffering the
consequences of that rebellion.
In light of all of this
information, when we are told in John 12:40 that God “hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart,” how are we to
understand “God’s agency” in that statement? Again, Jack Blanco helps us with
his paraphrase:
“God lets them close their eyes and hearts to truth because
they don’t want to see and understand. Therefore, they will not see or
understand, nor will they be converted and healed.” (The Clear Word by Dr. Jack
Blanco)
From all that we have learned from
other passages, Dr. Blanco’s paraphrase is the way that the Western mind must
interpret John 12:39-40. God has the power to stop men from spiritual blindness
and does all that He can to persuade men to listen to truth (See 2 Chron.
36:15-16; Psalm 81:8-12; Prov. 1:23-25; Isa. 65:2-3, 12; Jer. 7:13, 25, 26; Matt.
23:37 and many others). However, when men choose to exercise their free will to
reject God then God, who respects the freedom that He has endowed man with,
allows them to have what they want along with the automatic consequences.[8]
Satan’s Role in
Spiritually Blinding Men
No treatment of the problem of evil
and wickedness is adequate or complete without recognizing the overall spirit
behind it. Numerous theologians who attempt to vindicate God from the things His
enemies accuse Him of seem to be embarrassed by Satan and often leave him out
of any treatment of the subject. Yet, we will never be able to confront issues
such as why our evangelism appears to be ineffective without acknowledging the
supernatural hindering influence that we need to confront.
Paul faced a number of obstacles in
his attempts to win over his fellow Jews. One of the problems that Paul faced was
the blindness that the Jews encountered while reading their own God-inspired
Scriptures:
But
their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken
away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in
Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their
heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be
taken away. (2 Cor. 3:14-16)
No doubt that this same blindness
is suffered today by many non-Jewish “Christian” theologians as well as some
rabid atheists and agnostics as they read the Old Testament and see a god of
wrath and hatred rather than the God of love and mercy that it actually teaches.
However, Paul did not attribute this
blindness solely to their free choice. He also recognized that a supernatural satanic
influence over their minds also had a part in this blinding:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe
not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them. (2
Cor. 4:4)
It is also important to note that
if there is any supernatural
influence upon any man freely and willingly blinding himself to the truth it
does not come from God in the direct sense. This supernatural influence is from
Satan.
Yet, John 12:39-40 appears to
conflict with 2 Cor. 4:4. The former says that God does the blinding and the
latter blames Satan. However, it goes back to the principle derived from the
Hebrew idiom in which God is said to do that which He merely allowed or
permitted. In this case, God allows Satan to give men what they want.
This is a truth taught in numerous
parts of the Bible. In Scripture God is said to have moved David to sin (2 Sam.
24:1) but later we discover that Satan was the culprit that moved David (1
Chron. 21:1). This moving of David is a primary Biblical example of how God has
often been said to do what He merely allowed Satan to do or what He allowed men
to do to themselves (Job 1-2; 42:10-11; Ex. 12:23; 1 Chron. 10:4, 13, 14).
It is Satan who is responsible for
blinding and deceiving the whole world (Rev. 12:9) though God does take
responsibility for what He permits Satan to do (2 Thess. 2:7-11). While God has
taken responsibility for Satan’s actions (because He has the power to prevent
it), He is under obligation to respect the power of free choice He has endowed
men with. Hence, God attempts to win mankind through persuasion (2 Chron.
36:15-16).
It is through the preaching of the
gospel that God attempts to remove the “spiritual blinders” that Satan places
over men through his deceptions:
To open their eyes, and to turn them from
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance
among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:18)
Note that it is Satan who is
equated with darkness. Satan keeps men in the dark about their sin, the love of
God, and their need for a Savior. It is God’s desire to “open their eyes” and
remove the self-imposed blindness that men have subjected themselves to by
yielding to satanic influence. In reality, God is warring against Satan for the
souls of men. Satan’s battle plan against God is to keep men blinded to the
truth about Him. The full and complete understanding of all that the Scripture
teaches about “spiritual blindness” leads us to this conclusion.
Conclusion
If we are having difficulty
evangelizing the lost, it is due to the blindness that many people have
subjected themselves to. Before we allow ourselves to become depressed about
our lack of results, remember that it was Jesus who told us about the blindness
of men because He experienced this same frustration in His earthly ministry.
Are we better than our Master?
Our duty is to continue to pray for
the lost and share the gospel with them. It is only through the light of the
gospel that sincere hearts will open their eyes and begin to embrace the truth.
However, those who love to and cling to the darkness will continue to do so,
but God wants us to at least make an effort to reach them.
Our efforts will become more
persistent if we see that Satan is the enemy who keeps men blinded. Our efforts
will not be very fervent, that is, if we make any effort at all, if we believe
that God Himself directly and supernaturally blinds people. Why attempt to
persuade people to the truth if God is the One who blinded them? However, when
I realize that Satan is God’s enemy and my enemy, that it is Satan who blinds
men in his ongoing war against God, and that my commission is to thwart Satan’s
plans against God and men by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, then I will
have a better sense of urgency about the matter. The opening of men’s eyes is
not dependent on God. He did not literally blind them in the first place but He
has provided us with the means of removing the blinders. The opening of men’s
eyes from spiritual blindness depends on God’s people. Amen.
[1] An Epitome of the History of the World (London: J. Walker, 1812),
p. 378
[2] Macknight, James A New Literal Translation, from the
Original Greek of All the Apostolical Epistles (Philadelphia: Desilver,
Thomas & Co., 1835), pp. 28, 29
[3] In his comments on John
12:40 John Brown writes, “But he withholds that special influence which is
necessary to conversion from the man who obstinately goes on in his trespasses;
an influence which nothing but depravity renders necessary, and to which, of
course, no one has, or can have, any claim. He permits the sinner to take his
own course.” Brown, John Discourses and
Sayings of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Vol. 2 (New York: Robert Carter and
Brothers, 1860), p. 55
[4] Johnstone, Rev. Robert “The Judicial Blindness of the Jews under
the Ministry of Jesus” in The
Scottish Christian Herald, Volume 3 (Edinburgh: John Johnstone, 1838), p.
155
[5] Barnes, Albert Notes, Explanatory and Practical on the
Gospels, Vol. 2 (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1841), p. 324
[6] Hobbs, Herschel H. Romans: A Verse by Verse Study (Waco,
TX: Word Books, 1977), p. 139
[7] In a footnote in reference
to this verse the translator writes, “God allowed, but Satanically induced, see
2Cor. 4:4”. See Mayfield, Roy The Living
Water New Testament: A Meaning-Based Translation for Modern Day Readers
(Centralia, WA: Roy Mayfield, 2014), p. 379. We fully agree and this “permissive
sense” again vindicates God’s character from those who otherwise use passages
such as Romans 11:8 to slander Him. We will touch on Satan’s role in this
spiritual blinding momentarily.
[8] Here another modern Bible
translation of Romans 11:8 is helpful: “.... as it has been written [Isa.
19:10], “God gave them a spirit of numbness [i.e., they developed a spiritual
insensitivity to God and His word]. [He gave them] eyes to see with [but they
would not look], and ears to hear with [but they did not listen]. And they
still have this spirit.” (An Understandable Version).
====================================================
For a thorough understanding of the “how” or mechanism
behind God allegedly hardening hearts, cursing men, creating evil, and other
misunderstood passages of Scripture that appear to question the love and just
of God, get our book, “How? A look at
God’s character in light of Biblical passages that are inconsistent with love”
Also, for a better understanding about how Calvinistic
ideology has infiltrated true Christianity, has contributed to the
misinterpretation of God’s Word, and has caused many to denigrate and blaspheme
the character of God, we highly recommend our book, “Untying God’s ‘NOTS!’ Or, How Much Control Does God Really Have?”
Visit our web pages listed below for more information about
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