Isaiah 42:18
Listen, you deaf ones; look, you blind ones, that you may see!
Listen
The Hebrew word for "listen" is "שִׁמְעוּ" (shim'u), which is an imperative form, calling for immediate attention and obedience. In the biblical context, listening is not merely about hearing sounds but involves an active engagement and response to God's word. This call to "listen" is a divine invitation to open one's heart and mind to the truth and wisdom of God, emphasizing the importance of spiritual receptivity.

you deaf
The term "deaf" in Hebrew is "חֵרְשִׁים" (chereshim), referring to those who are unable to hear. In a spiritual sense, it symbolizes individuals or groups who are unresponsive or indifferent to God's message. Historically, Israel is often depicted as being spiritually deaf, failing to heed the warnings and teachings of the prophets. This phrase serves as a metaphorical rebuke, urging the people to overcome their spiritual insensitivity.

look
The Hebrew word "הַבִּיטוּ" (habit'u) means to gaze or to fix one's eyes upon something with intent and purpose. This command to "look" is a call to focus and discernment, encouraging the audience to perceive and understand the reality of God's presence and actions. It is an invitation to shift from spiritual blindness to enlightenment, recognizing the truth that God reveals.

you blind
The word "blind" in Hebrew is "עִוְרִים" (ivrim), which can refer to physical blindness but is often used metaphorically in scripture to describe a lack of spiritual insight or understanding. The blindness here is not just a physical condition but a spiritual one, where individuals fail to see God's work and purpose. This phrase challenges the audience to acknowledge their spiritual shortcomings and seek divine illumination.

that you may see
The phrase "that you may see" is a call to transformation and revelation. The Hebrew root "רָאָה" (ra'ah) means to see, perceive, or understand. This is not just about physical sight but about gaining spiritual insight and wisdom. The purpose of this divine exhortation is to lead the people from ignorance to knowledge, from darkness to light, and from spiritual apathy to active faith. It underscores the transformative power of God's word and the potential for renewal and clarity when one truly listens and looks with a heart open to divine truth.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Isaiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah is the author of the book that bears his name. He prophesied to the Kingdom of Judah and is known for his messages of both judgment and hope.

2. Israel
Often referred to metaphorically as "blind" and "deaf" in Isaiah, representing the spiritual insensitivity and disobedience of God's chosen people.

3. The Servant of the Lord
In the broader context of Isaiah 42, the "Servant" is a figure who brings justice and light to the nations, often interpreted as a messianic prophecy pointing to Jesus Christ.

4. The Nations
The surrounding nations are also part of the audience, as God's message through Isaiah extends beyond Israel to all peoples.

5. The Exile
The historical backdrop includes the Babylonian exile, a period of judgment and reflection for Israel, emphasizing their need to return to God.
Teaching Points
Spiritual Awareness
Just as physical sight and hearing are crucial, spiritual awareness is essential for understanding God's will. We must seek to "see" and "hear" spiritually.

Repentance and Obedience
The call to "listen" and "look" is a call to repentance and obedience. Recognizing our spiritual blindness should lead us to turn back to God.

Role of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit opens our eyes and ears to God's truth. We should pray for the Spirit's guidance to overcome spiritual insensitivity.

Christ as the Light
Jesus, the Servant of the Lord, is the light that opens the eyes of the blind. Embracing Christ leads to spiritual enlightenment.

Community Accountability
As a community of believers, we should encourage one another to remain spiritually vigilant and responsive to God's word.
Bible Study Questions
1. In what ways can we identify spiritual blindness or deafness in our own lives, and how can we address it?

2. How does the concept of spiritual blindness in Isaiah 42:18 relate to Jesus' teachings in the New Testament?

3. What role does the Holy Spirit play in helping us "see" and "hear" spiritually, and how can we be more receptive to His guidance?

4. How can we, as a church community, support each other in overcoming spiritual insensitivity?

5. Reflect on a time when you experienced a "spiritual awakening" or newfound understanding of God's truth. What prompted this change, and how did it impact your faith journey?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 6:9-10
This passage also speaks of the spiritual blindness and deafness of the people, highlighting their resistance to God's message.

Matthew 13:13-15
Jesus references Isaiah's prophecy to explain why He speaks in parables, indicating that spiritual blindness and deafness persist in His time.

John 9:39-41
Jesus discusses spiritual blindness with the Pharisees, illustrating the difference between physical and spiritual sight.

Revelation 3:17-18
The church in Laodicea is admonished for being spiritually blind, echoing the call to recognize one's true spiritual state.
A New Song to JehovahE. Johnson Isaiah 42:10-25
Divine ExpostulationW. Richardson.Isaiah 42:18-20
EyesightB. Whitefoord.Isaiah 42:18-20
The Ear and the Eye as SymbolsB. Whitefoord.Isaiah 42:18-20
The Open EyeB. Whitefoord.Isaiah 42:18-20
People
Isaiah, Jacob, Kedar
Places
Jerusalem, Kedar, Sela
Topics
Blind, Deaf, Ear, Ears, Open, Shut
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 42:16-18

     5135   blindness, spiritual

Isaiah 42:18-20

     5147   deafness
     5159   hearing

Library
Christ the Arrester of Incipient Evil and the Nourisher of Incipient Good
'A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench.... He shall not fail nor be discouraged.'--ISAIAH xlii. 3, 4. The two metaphors which we have in the former part of these words are not altogether parallel. 'A bruised reed' has suffered an injury which, however, is neither complete nor irreparable. 'Smoking flax,' on the other hand--by which, of course, is meant flax used as a wick in an old-fashioned oil lamp--is partially lit. In the one a process has been begun which,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

How to Make Use of Christ as the Truth, when Error Prevaileth, and the Spirit of Error Carrieth Many Away.
There is a time when the spirit of error is going abroad, and truth is questioned, and many are led away with delusions. For Satan can change himself into an angel of light, and make many great and fairlike pretensions to holiness, and under that pretext usher in untruths, and gain the consent of many unto them; so that in such a time of temptation many are stolen off their feet, and made to depart from the right ways of God, and to embrace error and delusions instead of truth. Now the question is,
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant
"I give thee for a covenant of the people."--ISA. xlii. 6, xlix. 8. "The Lord shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in."--MAL. iii. 1. "Jesus was made Surety of a better covenant."--HEB. vii. 22. "The Mediator of the Better Covenant, established upon better promises . . . The Mediator of the New Covenant. . . Ye are come to Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant."--HEB. viii. 6, ix. 15, xii. 24. WE have here four titles given to our Lord Jesus in
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

Words of Counsel.
"A bruised reed shall He not break."--Isaiah xlii. 3; Matt. xii. 20. It is dangerous for those who are seeking salvation to lean upon the experience of other people. Many are waiting for a repetition of the experience of their grandfather or grandmother. I had a friend who was converted in a field; and he thinks the whole town ought to go down into that meadow and be converted. Another was converted under a bridge; and he thinks that if any enquirer were to go there he would find the Lord. The best
Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It

The Blessed Journey
Gerhard Ter Steegen Is. xlii. 16 Let Him lead thee blindfold onwards, Love needs not to know; Children whom the Father leadeth Ask not where they go. Though the path be all unknown, Over moors and mountains lone. Give no ear to reason's questions: Let the blind man hold That the sun is but a fable Men believed of old. At the breast the babe will grow; Whence the milk he need not know.
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

China Evangelized.
China Evangelized. "The Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle."--Isa. xlii. 4. PART I. PART II. PART III. Lift up your heads, ye gates of brass! Ye bars of Iron! yield; And let the King of Glory pass,-- The Cross is in the field. That banner, brighter than the star, That leads the train of night, Shines on their march and guides from far His servants to the fight. A holy war those servants wage; --Mysteriously at strife, The powers of heaven and hell engage For more than death or life.
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

The Prophet Hosea.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry is so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. But there is a difference of opinion as to whether the prophet was a fellow-countryman of those to whom he preached, or was called by God out of the kingdom of Judah. The latter has been asserted with great confidence by Maurer, among others, in his Observ. in Hos., in the Commentat. Theol. ii. i. p. 293. But the arguments
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Prayer Taught and Encouraged.
(Probably Judæa.) ^C Luke XI. 1-13. ^c 1 And it came to pass, as he was praying in a certain place, that when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples. [Jesus had already taught his disciples how to pray in the Sermon on the Mount. This disciple probably thought that the prayer already taught was too brief to be sufficient, especially as Jesus often prayed so long. It was customary for the rabbis to give their disciples forms
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Book ix. Epistle i. To Januarius, Bishop of Caralis (Cagliari).
To Januarius, Bishop of Caralis (Cagliari). Gregory to Januarius, &c. The preacher of Almighty God, Paul the apostle, says, Rebuke not an elder (1 Tim. v. 1). But this rule of his is to be observed in cases where the fault of an elder does not draw through his example the hearts of the younger into ruin. But, when an elder sets an example to the young for their ruin, he is to be smitten with severe rebuke. For it is written, Ye are all a snare to the young (Isai. xlii. 22). And again the prophet
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

"But if we Walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have Fellowship one with Another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His
1 John i. 7.--"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." Art is the imitation of nature, and true religion is a divine art, that consists in the imitation of God himself, the author of nature. Therefore it is a more high and transcendent thing, of a sublimer nature than all the arts and sciences among men. Those reach but to some resemblance of the wisdom of God, expressed in his works,
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"And He is the Propitiation,"
1 John ii. 2.--"And he is the propitiation," &c. Here is the strength of Christ's plea, and ground of his advocation, that "he is the propitiation." The advocate is the priest, and the priest is the sacrifice, and such efficacy this sacrifice hath, that the propitiatory sacrifice may be called the very propitiation and pacification for sin. Here is the marrow of the gospel, and these are the breasts of consolation which any poor sinner might draw by faith, and bring out soul refreshment. But truly,
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Introduction, with Some General Observations from the Cohesion.
Doubtless it is always useful, yea, necessary, for the children of God to know the right way of making use of Christ, who is made all things to them which they need, even "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption," 1 Cor. i. 30. But it is never more necessary for believers to be clear and distinct in this matter, than when Satan, by all means, is seeking to pervert the right ways of the Lord, and, one way or other, to lead souls away, and draw them off Christ; knowing that, if he prevail
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

1872-1874. Letter from Rev. A. M. W. Christopher --Letter from Gulf of St. Lawrence-Mrs. Birt's Sheltering Home, Liverpool --Letter to Mrs. Merry --Letter from Canada --Miss
Letter from Rev. A. M. W. Christopher--Letter from Gulf of St. Lawrence-Mrs. Birt's Sheltering Home, Liverpool--Letter to Mrs. Merry--Letter from Canada--Miss Macpherson's return to England-- Letter of cheer for Dr. Barnardo--Removal to Hackney Home. Though human praise is not sought, we cannot but feel peculiar pleasure in giving the following testimony from a servant of the Lord so much revered as the Rev, A. M. W. Christopher of Oxford:-- "Of all the works of Christian benevolence which the great
Clara M. S. Lowe—God's Answers

The Credibility of Scripture Sufficiently Proved in So Far as Natural Reason Admits.
1. Secondary helps to establish the credibility of Scripture. I. The arrangement of the sacred volume. II. Its dignity. III. Its truth. IV. Its simplicity. V. Its efficacy. 2. The majesty conspicuous in the writings of the Prophets. 3. Special proofs from the Old Testament. I. The antiquity of the Books of Moses. 4. This antiquity contrasted with the dreams of the Egyptians. II. The majesty of the Books of Moses. 5. The miracles and prophecies of Moses. A profane objection refuted. 6. Another profane
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

The Purpose in the Coming of Jesus.
God Spelling Himself out in Jesus: change in the original language--bother in spelling Jesus out--sticklers for the old forms--Jesus' new spelling of old words. Jesus is God following us up: God heart-broken--man's native air--bad choice affected man's will--the wrong lane--God following us up. The Early Eden Picture, Genesis 1:26-31. 2:7-25: unfallen man--like God--the breath of God in man--a spirit, infinite, eternal--love--holy--wise--sovereign over creation, Psalm 8:5-8--in his own will--summary--God's
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus

How to Make Use of Christ, as Truth, for Comfort, when Truth is Oppressed and Born Down.
There is another difficulty, wherein believing souls will stand in need of Christ, as the truth, to help them; and that is, when his work is overturned, his cause borne down, truth condemned, and enemies, in their opposition to his work, prospering in all their wicked attempts. This is a very trying dispensation, as we see it was to the holy penman of Psalm lxxiii. for it made him to stagger, so that his feet were almost gone, and his steps had well nigh slipt; yea he was almost repenting of his
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Jesus Heals Multitudes Beside the Sea of Galilee.
^A Matt. XII. 15-21; ^B Mark III. 7-12. ^a 15 And Jesus perceiving it withdrew ^b with his disciples ^a from thence: ^b to the sea [This was the first withdrawal of Jesus for the avowed purpose of self-preservation. After this we find Jesus constantly retiring to avoid the plots of his enemies. The Sea of Galilee, with its boats and its shores touching different jurisdictions, formed a convenient and fairly safe retreat]: ^a and many followed him; ^b and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Messiah the Son of God
For to which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee? T hough every part of a revelation from God must of course be equally true, there may be a considerable difference even among truths proposed by the same authority, with respect to their immediate importance. There are fundamental truths, the knowledge of which are essentially necessary to our peace and holiness: and there are others of a secondary nature, which, though very useful in their proper connection,
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

God's Glory the Chief End of Man's Being
Rom. xi. 36.--"Of him and through him, and to him, are all things, to whom be glory for ever." And 1 Cor. x. 31--"Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." All that men have to know, may be comprised under these two heads,--What their end is, and What is the right way to attain to that end? And all that we have to do, is by any means to seek to compass that end. These are the two cardinal points of a man's knowledge and exercise. Quo et qua eundum est,--Whither to go, and what way to go.
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. "
1 John ii. 1.--"We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." There is no settlement to the spirit of a sinner that is once touched with the sense of his sins, and apprehension of the justice and wrath of God, but in some clear and distinct understanding of the grounds of consolation in the gospel, and the method of salvation revealed in it. There is no solid peace giving answer to the challenges of the law and thy own conscience, but in the advocation of Jesus Christ, the Saviour
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Of the Unity of the Godhead and the Trinity of Persons
Deut. vi. 4.--"Hear, O Israel The Lord our God is one Lord."--1 John v. 7 "There are three that bear record in heaven the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost and these three are one." "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness," 2 Tim. iii. 16. There is no refuse in it, no simple and plain history, but it tends to some edification, no profound or deep mystery, but it is profitable for salvation. Whatsoever
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Covenanting Provided for in the Everlasting Covenant.
The duty of Covenanting is founded on the law of nature; but it also stands among the arrangements of Divine mercy made from everlasting. The promulgation of the law, enjoining it on man in innocence as a duty, was due to God's necessary dominion over the creatures of his power. The revelation of it as a service obligatory on men in a state of sin, arose from his unmerited grace. In the one display, we contemplate the authority of the righteous moral Governor of the universe; in the other, we see
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Covenanting Adapted to the Moral Constitution of Man.
The law of God originates in his nature, but the attributes of his creatures are due to his sovereignty. The former is, accordingly, to be viewed as necessarily obligatory on the moral subjects of his government, and the latter--which are all consistent with the holiness of the Divine nature, are to be considered as called into exercise according to his appointment. Hence, also, the law of God is independent of his creatures, though made known on their account; but the operation of their attributes
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

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