Though Seeing--They Do Not See
Hi Everyone,
I am writing to you about a vision that the Lord gave me this past Sunday. It is about spiritual blindness, pride and false doctrines.
The Vision
The Football and Baseball
In this vision, I saw a football whose stitches had been cut to reveal that a baseball was peaking out through the opening of the football.
Often, I create line drawings of what I see. After this vision I recorded it in my book and drew a line drawing of the football with the baseball just inside the opening. The drawing I made appeared to resemble an eye. The baseball was the pupil, the cut stitches were eyelashes and the brown football was the almond shape made by the folds of skin around an eye. I prayed to understand what this vision meant.
Many things came to mind. I asked the Lord, “Is the vision about the football and the baseball?” Or is it more about what the drawing seems to be revealing? As I thought about the drawing looking like an eye, and the baseball appearing as the pupil, I realized that the eye was blind. It could not see, for a blind man’s eye is white. The pupil and lens become an opaque white when the eyes’ tissues deteriorate from disease or lack of function. The baseball should have had red stitches, across the seam, but in the vision there were none to be seen. Had they been there, they might have represented blood shot eyes, but with nothing visible, the eye appears to be blind.
As I prayed and contemplated the vision, I received a scripture:
“Though seeing they do not see, though hearing they do not hear.” Matthew 13:13
I knew that this scripture was Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question - “Why do you speak to them in parables? Here is the context:
Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?”
He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:
‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’
In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled:
‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. Matthew 13:10-17
Jesus was quoting Isaiah who was speaking about the Jewish people and leaders of his day, who did not want to hear the words of God spoken to them. Their hearts were hardened and they were not able to comprehend the love, mercy and grace of God. He was willing to heal them and restore them to himself. But they were not willing. The leaders and people of Jesus’s day were just like those of Isaiah’s generation. They killed the prophets because the messages they brought were not welcomed. Jesus quoted Isaiah for the people of his day were soon to experience the greatest judgment that had ever befallen any particular group of people before.
And he said, “Go, and say to this people:“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Isaiah 6:9-10
Judgment had already been prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus came in the flesh. And now, the many prophecies against Israel were to shortly come to pass. Jesus’ coming was to reconcile those who would receive him, and to formally condemn those who refused to believe. For after his death and resurrection, he would return 40 years later in his wrath to punish the wicked, burn Jerusalem to the ground and destroy the temple. The leaders and wicked people of Jerusalem were oblivious to their error.
As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
Then Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling there. He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be a house of prayer.’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Jesus was teaching at the temple every day, but the chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the people were intent on killing Him. Yet they could not find a way to do so, because all the people hung on His words. Luke 19:41-48
Many of the Old Testament prophets prophesied about the Messiah, and the coming of the Lord in wrath and in judgment against Israel.
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.” Malachi 4:5-6
John the Baptist was the Lord’s last attempt at turning the hearts of Israel back to himself. For those who accepted him, he “gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12) But to those who were supposed to be leaders (fathers) of the faithful, they proved to not have love for their (children) those that turned to the Lord. So he came and did in fact “strike the land with a curse.” For they did not love God or the truth, but killed his one and only Son.
The religious leaders of Jerusalem were the first to persecute the followers of Jesus. Saul of Tarsus (later to become Paul the Apostle) persecuted the church, dragging them from their homes and bringing them before the Sanhedrin for judgment and execution.
The religious leaders were not right with God, which is why John the Baptist spoke so harshly towards them:
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Matthew 3:8-10
Jesus told his disciples that he spoke in parables so that those who the Lord had prepared with open hearts would turn to him and be healed. John the baptist had warned the Pharisees of the coming judgment, just as so many prophets in the Old Testament had done before.
John had been given a commission to prepare the way of the Lord. He was the voice calling in the desert.
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” Matthew 3:1-3
Jesus speaking to John in the book of Revelation, tells him that he is returning soon and his reward is with him. He gives these instructions:
Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of prophecy in this book, because the time is near. Let the wicked continue to be wicked, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous still do right, and the holy to still be holy. Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done.” Revelation 22:10-12
I had, for years, read these words over and over again, from one year to the next, but they made no sense. Why would Jesus tell John to write to the seven churches and tell them to “let the vile continue to be vile and the holy to continue to be holy?” Doesn’t that go against everything that we have been taught? “Go and make disciples of all people– preach the gospel, and pray that they turn to the Lord in repentance and so be saved.”
These were Jesus’ instructions to his disciples - the Great Commission - to share the gospel and preach repentance in his name. Why would the Lord say to let the wicked remain wicked? Did he not want them to be saved? After all, when he was being nailed to the cross didn’t he say:
“Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34
But now It has been made clear to me. The key words to understanding this statement, were the time statements that preceded and followed the very words:
Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of prophecy in this book, because the time is near. Let the wicked continue to be wicked, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to do right, and the holy to still be holy. Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done.” Revelation 22:10-12
There was no time to change the course of events that were prophesied. The judgment was already made. The verdict had been pronounced 40 years earlier. Jesus was coming to bring judgment. “My reward is with me, to give each one according to what he has done.” He was coming soon, and he did - AD 66-70 was the tribulation, the 3.5 year period prophesied by Daniel when the power of the ‘holy people.’ would be shattered. (Daniel 12:7)
In context:
And the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by Him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, and times, and half a time. When the power of the holy people has finally been shattered, all these things will be completed.” Daniel 12:7
The temple was utterly destroyed and the people died of disease, famine, plague and sword. The bodies were left in the streets for there was nowhere to bury them. There was conflict on the inside of Jerusalem between the zealots and the religious leaders. There was conflict on the outside with Rome. The religious leaders believed the powerful delusion, the lie, that the Lord sent. They believed that God would rescue them from the Romans. But they could not have been more deceived. God was bringing wrath, for they were blind, and full of corruption. They refused to recognize Jesus as their Messiah coming in the flesh, with all types of signs, wonders and miracles.
He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God. John 1:10-13
Jesus is the truth. What he speaks is truth. When he said he was “coming soon,” coming in “this generation,” “coming in judgment,” “coming to establish his kingdom,” he was not declaring “soon” to be 2000 plus years. He came in the clouds, bringing judgment to his enemies 40 years after these words, and within the generation that heard him speak with their own ears.
For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done. Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Matthew 16:27-28
The words “Let the vile continue to be vile and the holy continue to be holy,” make perfect sense if you understand that Jesus came to close out the Old Covenant with its temple sacrifices, and to inaugurate the New Covenant made in his blood. Just as he had told the woman at the well:
“Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him. God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”
Jesus answered, “I who speak to you am He.” John 4:18-26
But to us who have taken the time to study the word of God and the willingness to read the supporting texts of eyewitnesses (in that generation) like Josephus and their recorded histories, The Jewish War have believed Jesus’ words when he declared that he was “coming soon,” “on the clouds, with his angels,” “in their generation” to bring judgment to the leaders of Israel who had crucified him, beheaded John, and killed James, the Lord’s brother, the leader of the Church in Jerusalem.
The Bible makes it clear that Jesus was coming soon, in the clouds, and in wrath.
He had prophesied 7 great “woes” against these religious leaders in Chapter 23 of Matthew, which those who are currently waiting for the Lord to come, seem to overlook. They read chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew, as if the words he spoke were for us living in the 21st century, instead of the very people in front of his eyes.
After declaring these 7 woes, he declared his verdict:
Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, ALL THESE THINGS WILL COME UPON THIS GENERATION.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Matthew 23:31-39
So now, let us return to the vision, for it is for us today, since the Lord gave me this message only 5 days ago.
The baseball is white which generally refers to the church. The red stitches which are on all baseballs in general, were not seen. Red in the Bible generally means sin, blood or bloodshed.
The football is gaping open, the stitches have been cut. The football is brown, the color of earth or dirt. The earth represents all unregenerated people. People who are still dead in their sins, for they do not believe that Jesus is God, Lord, Savior and King. They have not been made alive spiritually. They are not born again, but still in the flesh.
As believers, we are called to be separate from the world and its ungodly influences. But the vision shows something quite different. Some believers, represented by the baseball, are found surrounded by unbelievers as represented by the football. These believers have become so enamored with, and aligned to, and engulfed by the world, that their sin is not exposed, but remains hidden. The stitches that were not seen represent sin that has not been confessed. The sin is in hiding because the believer is too afraid to expose it. They fear what people will say or think of them, rather than fear God, who could forgive, save and deliver them for the sin that traps them.
This is a dangerous place for a believer to be. Hidden sin is where the enemy makes his stronghold. He will set up camp in a person and torment him with negative thoughts, bad dreams, pain, sickness, depression, guilt and shame.
If we do not confess our sin so that the Lord will remove it, it will take up residence in our minds. The believer can rationalize the sin, and justify the sin, and before long, he is trapped by the sin and no longer controls his own mind.
I have seen this happen with several people. Confession of sin is the only way to true peace, joy and reconciliation with God.
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:8-10
Now let’s return to the scripture first quoted:
“Though seeing they do not see, though hearing they do not hear…”
We do not want to be blind to our sin nor do we want to close our ears to the voice of God. It is pride that can blind the eyes. And harden hearts dull the ears to the voice of God. It is so important that we, as believers, do not let pride take over our hearts and cause us to not believe what is clearly taught in the scriptures. We must not dogmatically keep the doctrines of men over biblical truth. Every denomination can have errors and blind spots for it is easy to overlook or ignore scriptures that do not support our doctrines.
Paul commended the Bereans for being careful to search the scriptures to verify that what Paul preached lined up with the teachings of the Old Testament, for those were the scriptures they had to search. Unfortunately we can believe so strongly about our convictions that we are no longer teachable. Our former instructors, pastors, and leaders may dictate what we now believe is true. But we forget that Jesus himself is the truth.
“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
If we are not careful we can believe teachings that come from the imaginations of men rather than grounded in the word of God. The New Testament was not written in a void. The prophets and the apostles taught and quoted often from the Old Testament to a people who understood the Old Testament. If we in the 21st century use the lens of contemporary thought, we may miss entirely what the Bible is really saying. We can substitute popular notions of the Bible rather than the hard facts that are in history, recorded for our benefit to give validation to the word of God. Let’s be Bereans, and study for ourselves, to know what the words originally meant to the original audience who read them and heard them. The last thing any believer would want to hear from Jesus would be these words:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ Matthew 7:21-23
What went wrong here? Are these shepherds who fed only themselves? Are these people busy building their own kingdoms and making loyal followers of their own? Are these people like Simon the Sorcerer who wanted the gift of healing and miracles, in order to gain honor for himself? Are they like the Pharisees that Jesus condemned?
They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. Matthew 23:5-7
Pride can keep us from seeing our sin. That is why it is important to read the word of God, the word of truth, so that our hearts are open to the Spirit of God who brings the conviction of sin.
“…but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Luke 13:5
Jesus is Lord, and his blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness. But we have to submit to his Lordship, to his will and to humble ourselves before him. We have to repent, which means to change our mind. We cannot allow pride and the fear of man to keep us from exposing and repenting for our sins.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:12
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. The Lord’s sacrifice was never meant to be used as a license to sin. The Lord is holy and his word says:
Just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16
Sin can cause us to be blinded to the things of God. Jesus referred to the Pharisees as blind guides, for they were to lead God’s people but by not having the heart of God, they could lead people astray. Jesus told his disciples not to follow their example.
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Matthew 23:16-22
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for placing more value on the gifts that people brought for sacrifice than for the temple and the altar, for they profited by the gifts that were presented. The temple sacrifices and its visitors were Jerusalem’s economy. Because for their greed, Jesus called them a den of robbers.
“The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they do not practice what they preach. Matthew 23:2-3
On another occasion, Jesus healed a man born blind from birth and after doing so, the Pharisees did all they could, to disprove the miracle. So they called in the blind man and his parents to give an account. But they did not appreciate the answer the man gave, so they threw him out.
When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, He found the man and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
“Who is He, Sir?” he replied. “Tell me so that I may believe in Him.”
“You have already seen Him,” Jesus answered. “He is the One speaking with you.”
“Lord, I believe,” he said. And he worshiped Jesus.
Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”
Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard this, and they asked Him, “Are we blind too?”
If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” John 9:39-41
So the vision of the football and the baseball were all about spiritual blindness. Jesus is asking us not to be like the Pharisees, hypocritical and full of pride. We must remember that there is no sin uncommon to man. And pride, and wanting to receive praise from others is a trap for everyone. The word and the Holy Spirit convict us of sin, so when we get that conviction, let us repent immediately. Let’s return to God, seeking Him in all humility, saying:
“Not my will but yours be done!” Luke 22:42
God bless you all. Please share this important post. Thanks for reading!
