Acts 7:51
John 12:38b-40 “Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord
been revealed?” For this reason they were unable to believe. For again, Isaiah says: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”
sister theres alot of context you’ve left out quoting these for instance
“But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:
That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
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 12:37-40 KJV
This has a long story before it gets there
First it was a specific response to the
tribes of Israel after they spent generations rejecting God and turning thier eyes and ears away from him
“And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word,
Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, 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;
( first they waxed fat and proud and closed thier eyes and tbier ears became dull towards the lord ,
and then Isaiah came speaking forth blindness and deafness. )
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.
Be it known therefore unto you, that
the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
And when he had said these words, the
Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.”
Acts 28:25-29
those are good single verses but your leaving out the backstory of Israel and God
This happened first to bring that curse
“Therefore will
I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: ( why is he going to do this to Israel ?)
because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.”
Isaiah 65:12 KJV
this went on sis for generations but remember there were some generations
that obeyed and kept the lords law later they turned away from him and then after this he sent the prophecy to them of him blinding and making then deaf so that they wouldn’t hear when he came with salvation.
to just say God randomly does these things and man has no choice is not correct.
He makes covenants with people and then He honors the covenant he made with the people both the good parts and bad parts. Israel was blinded because of how they treated Gods word in tbe covenant he made with them it’s actually written in the law what would happen if they rejected his word and worshipped false gods.
God didn’t make them unable to hear him, first they turned thier eyes and ears away from him and after many generations calling for them to repent then he blinded them to the New that was going to come.
all those verses are wonderful but there’s a lot of understanding they leave out like
why did God blind israel and make them deaf?
was it just his will so they couldn’t be saved ? Or his reaction after they rejected him for generations ? Did they make a wrong choice sister ?
“Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter:
because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.”
Isaiah 65:12 KJV
you have to follow what happened from the covenant being made through the prophets . Look at the early times
“And when Joshua had let the people go,
the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.”
Judges 2:6-7 KJV
Bit they were blind deaf and they weren’t capable though ?
But then after that
“And also
all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and
there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.”
Judges 2:10
Here’s the part people need to realize
“And
the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them,
and provoked the LORD to anger. And
they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.”
Judges 2:11-13
This is
long long before Isaiah’s prophecy regarding Israel’s ability to see and hear which was done on response to thier covenant breaking and turning away thier eyes and ears
“Whithersoever they went out,
the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: ( he promised a lot of evil to isreal In the ot because
they kept rejecting him ) and they were greatly distressed.
Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. And
yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so.”
Judges 2:15-17 KJV
this went on for generations and generations they would turn against God worship false gods , he would crush them , they would repent and he would send a judge to lift them back up …..
once in awhile there would be a generation who obeyed the lord and kept his commandments like above there . It’s not that they weren’t capable sister
Random single verses never really tell the story of what’s actually happened . But can really give the appearance of most anything we argue by pulling the context away .
There was a covenant made with a certain people and they broke that covenant and the lord honored his word in that covenant . It began being fulfilled during the gospel which is why so many nt writers quote that same verse about isreals blindness
Not because God just decided not to save them and made them unable to choose good. but
because they rejected him and his ways then he eventually blinded them in anger towards them fornthier deeds and words and breaking of his covenant
Single random verses can be like jumping into the middle of a book not knowing what led there . yes sister God made israel blind
in response to thier choices beforehand against him and the truth
Like this situation
“and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in
them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
( same for isreal in tbe ot )
And
for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 KJV
first the truth is rejected and then after that comes the lie …..just like Eden , don’t do it
you’ll die for sure ,”
you won’t die it will make you as gods “
The choice remains before man since Eden can choose life or death . anyone can believe the gospel and be saved . some don’t and won’t , some do until they hear the words in it , some believe it and are saved. God is not the one deciding who can believe the gospel and be saved and who can’t believe the gospel and be saved .
Man inherantly has the choice between good and evil since they ate the fruit , but what if they get convinced “ you can’t choose the good “ ?
man became wicked by our own Will God has been trying to redeem us since
1
