LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Spirit of Stupor
"As it is written: God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear" (Rom. 11:8).
On at least three occasions, the Bible records that God sent to earth (or will send, since one of them has not yet occurred) a spirit of stupor, that is, of dullness and insensitivity, so as not to believe God. God's patience is exhausted to the point that, from his throne, comes the decision to stupefy man, so that he does not believe in the truth – and in one of these three cases he goes even further.
The first occurs in the days of Isaiah, when God calls the prophet to the ministry. When the Lord shows him His glory, and Isaiah offers himself to be sent, the Lord says to him: "Go, and say to this people: Hear well, and do not understand; see by the truth, but do not understand. Thicken the heart of this people, and aggravates their ears, and blinds their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand their heart, nor turn, and be healed" (Is. 6:9-10). Isaiah is sent to a people who will not understand, hear, see, or convert as a consequence of the preaching, and this, by God's decision.
The second occurs in the time of the Lord Jesus. The Gospel of John records it in chapter 12: "But though he had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in him; that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he said...He blinded their eyes, and hardened his heart" (37-38, 40), and the same quote from Isaiah 6 follows. The Lord Jesus found himself in as dire a situation as Isaiah found himself.
The third occasion will occur in the days of the antichrist. The Bible says that he will manifest himself "with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceitfulness of iniquity for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth to be saved. For this reason God sends them a deceptive power , that they may believe the lie, that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thess. 2:9-12).
In these three cases, man's sin has reached its peak, and God can no longer tolerate it. In Isaiah's day, despite the fact that God had sent them many prophets, they had disobeyed over and over again, even killing several of them. That is why God decided to deliver them into the hands of the Babylonians, so that through pain they would learn lessons that they needed to learn.
In days before the Lord Jesus, God sent John to them, then the Lord himself, and they did not hear. "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned for you, and you did not lament" (Matt. 11:17), the Lord would tell them, using a parable.
In the days of the antichrist something even worse will happen. Men who have not received "the love of the truth" will be handed over to a deceitful power, so that they believe the lie. If God closes their eyes to the truth and opens them to the lie, who can help them? What a terrible thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God! The days that are coming will be terrible. For this reason, those who are receiving the testimony of the truth today must believe in it; those who are already believing in the truth must remain in the goodness of God (Rom. 11:22), so as not to fall tomorrow under the wrath of God, because no one can escape from it.