Isaiah 6:10-13

[Ffenix]

So you don't have to look it up, here's the passage:

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10 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.

11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

12 And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

13 ¶ But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

My question now is what exactly does Isaiah mean by this? Certainly there is the immediate context of jewish history, but Isaiah had a tendency to write for now as well as his time, and usually Christ's time as well. This tendency of his leads me to wonder what it could mean for the modern day.

Currently I'm thinking it's talking about the second coming, when the wicked will be burned as stubble, but I can't shake the feeling that's not what it means.

[person0]

I'm not sure I am personally ready to fully interpret the meaning as applicable to the Jews or to our day, however, I think it's an interesting cross-reference of verse 7 with Christ's reasoning for teaching with parables:

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13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

15 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. 13:13-15)  - Emphasis added.

Almost the exact same phraseology is used in both passages.  I would assume that is relevant to understanding the meaning here.

The church manuals have this to say about it:

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The words the prophet Isaiah was commissioned to deliver were in part to bring the people to a full accountability for their choices, so that they would be left without excuse. The Book of Mormon rendering of verse 9 shows that the Lord was telling Isaiah the people would for the most part reject his words: “And he said: Go and tell this people—Hear ye indeed, but they understood not; and see ye indeed, but they perceived not" . . .

The people claimed to hear and see, but they did not understand the spirit of the message. . .

The command to “make the heart of this people fat, … their ears heavy, and shut their eyes” is used to describe the process of making the people accountable. The command, of course, refers to “their spiritual sight, spiritual hearing, and spiritual feeling. . .

An individual cannot resist or reject the truth without eventually becoming spiritually hardened. . .

The prophet Isaiah asked the Lord how long some men would be hardened against truth (v. 11); the answer—until mortal man no longer exists. . .

[Verse 13] records the prophecy that the house of Israel would survive the coming devastation as does a tree that is stripped of its leaves in winter but still remains alive. . .

(Old Testament Student Manual)

When looked at under this context, it appears that Christ taught in parables with much the same context as the Lord commanded Isaiah to teach the people.  The prophecy of their rejection and failure to understand the spiritual nature of the message sees fulfillment in both time periods, which is further evidence of the truthfulness of Isaiah's experience.

Thank you for the study opportunity, I recently gave a talk on the parables of Christ and had not previously made this connection! 

Edited April 20, 2017 by person0

[Guest]

@Ffenix,

It's interesting to read an alternate translation.

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10 Declare fat the heart of this people, And its ears declare heavy, And its eyes declare dazzled, Lest it see with its eyes, And with its ears hear, and its heart consider, And it hath turned back, and hath health.

11  And I say, 'Till when, O Lord?' And He saith, 'Surely till cities have been wasted without inhabitant, And houses without man, And the ground be wasted -- a desolation

-- Young's Literal Translation

Verse 10 is clarified to mean that the people themselves are denying God.  He is not telling Isaiah to MAKE them not hear.  They themselves make the choice.  And the Lord merely wants the preaching to continue to give them no excuses.

Verse 11 then clarifies (what I think is already there in the KJV) that Isaiah's preaching shall continue until the people become so wicked that desolation shall naturally come.

These verses are generally understood to mean the three time periods that you describe.  But if you're looking for further application, it is a fact of life that when nations deny God, desolation follows.  So, this principle in general can be applied to all periods of time to any nation.

Also understand that this can also be applied to individuals as well.

Edited April 21, 2017 by Guest