Yet, after His having done so many signs in front of them, they believed not in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet, which he said, may be being fulfilled, “Lord, who believes our tidings? And the arm of the Lord, to whom was it revealed?” Therefore they could not believe, seeing that Isaiah said again that He “has blinded their eyes and callouses their heart, lest they may be perceiving with their eyes, and should be apprehending with their heart, and may be turning about, and I shall be healing them”. John 12:37-40 Concordant New Testament
Lord, who believes our tidings? It is quite impossible to comprehend the restoration of all things apart from illumination by the Holy Spirit. If you have seen it dear reader, but no one will believe your glad tidings, do not become discouraged.
The careful reader will observe that prophecy is “being fulfilled”, and the same prophecy may have application to different people in different generations at different times. In the case of Isaiah’s prophecy (Chapter 53 and Chapter 6) it was initially applied to Judah and Jerusalem in Isaiah’s day, then again by the Lord Jesus to Judah and Jerusalem during His first coming. We believe it has been being fulfilled from that day until our day on a worldwide basis. As with all prophecies, there comes a final fulfillment. And after that, there comes a day when they may be perceiving with their eyes and be apprehending with their heart, and may be turning about, and He shall be healing them. We are saying that day commences the restoration of all things.
We also say that until such time, God bears the responsibility for “blinding their eyes and callousing their heart”. It is offensive enough to most of the modern church that unbelievers, along with the rest of creation, will be restored–that is, that they will not be punished by burning eternally or (somewhat more charitably) merely annihilated. But to acknowledge that the Lord Jesus attributed the blindness of the world to Himself is beyond the most generous sensibilities of the modern church. These words are troubling for those who feel man’s free will is the highest and most powerful force in the universe and that God’s justice requires Him to punish forever unbelievers:
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. 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; 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. Matthew 13:13-15 NASB
Because Isaiah’s prophecy ends with “and be healed” (see for yourself in Isaiah 6), we believe the Lord Jesus ended His quote with “return” (there are no quotation marks in the original Greek). The last five words were the Lord’s conclusion, not part of the quote from Isaiah. Basically, the Lord was saying, “Father and I do not want them to see, perceive, hear, comprehend, understand, and repent, because if they did, I WOULD HEAL THEM.” A time has been set by Father for this healing, and it was not in Isaiah’s time, and it was not during the Lord’s first coming, and has not occurred yet. But one day it will occur, at which time He will heal them of their sin condition (symbolized by leprosy in the Bible).
Until that time, all who have been blinded, who cannot see, whose hearts have become dull, are God’s responsibility, because He has blinded them. The Lord Jesus said so; first, through Isaiah, then Himself, then finally through John. This fact has been legally established by the Law of the Double Witness. Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:16 Under the Law of the Blinded Servant, God must set free all whom He has blinded for the sake of their eye, or their ear, or their heart, etc.:
If a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave, and destroys it, he shall let him go on account of his eye. Exodus 21:26
Are all men the slaves of God? Yes, under the Law of Redemption, Jesus Christ paid on the cross the sin debt of all men. Because all men are dying, all men have committed legal offenses (hamartia), and also have missed the mark (hamartano), therefore each and every man has a sin debt. When the debt of a man is paid by the kinsman redeemer, that man is transferred to the one paying the debt and thus becomes the slave of the redeemer. Leviticus 25:47-55 The man shall be a slave to kinsman redeemer until the set time when the slave is set free.
And so, some will be believing our tidings, and some will not. Perhaps most will not. But one day, they will. Until then, dear reader, keep on loving! As Dr. Stephen Jones has so eloquently stated it: “There are only two kinds of people in the world; believers, and future believers!”
Blessed are You, O Lord, our wonderful God, our healing God, YHWH Rapha. You are the God that healeth us. Blessed is Your holy name forever!