Blind Eyes, Deaf Ears
An all-creatures Bible Message

Blind Eyes, Deaf Ears
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
3 September 2017
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Exodus 3:13-22
Psalm 105:12-45

Blind eyes, deaf ears, and a hardened heart, spiritually speaking, have been a human problem throughout recorded history, and it has caused millions of humans and billions of animals to suffer and die every year.
 
Every human being has seen other animals, and if they have companion animals they also know that they have personalities and feel pain, just as we do, unless they don’t really love them, for love allows us to both see and hear what heartless people fail to acknowledge.
 
Common sense tells us that both humans and other animals are composed of blood, flesh, and bone, so if most people fail to understand or care that the animal products that they are eating and wearing are causing the animals immense pain and suffering and eventually death, they have blind eyes, deaf ears, and a hardened heart so that they no longer connect to God or feel the suffering of creation; they are spiritually dead.
 
It is this kind of attitude that has corrupted most of God’s creation, and continues to do so, even when these people are clergy and church members.
 
And because of this, both humans and other animals suffer greatly and die.
 
This is not in the heavenly will of God.
 
As we look at Exodus 3:13-22, let’s open our eyes, ears, and hearts to see that blind eyes, deaf ears have been a major problem, even among religious leaders in the Bible.

13. Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?"

Moses had just seen the burning bush and heard the voice of God, and he is even talking to God but, from what he says, it is clear that he still has doubts with God’s instructions to him, most likely because he doesn’t trust in his own ability, even when God gives him the assurance that He will make him successful..
 
If God gives us instructions to do something, shouldn’t we also have the faith to understand that God is also able to deal with any contingency?
 
Of course we should!

14. And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' "
 
15. And God, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.

Will Moses truly hear what the Lord is telling him?

16. Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.
 
17. So I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey." '

“A land flowing with milk and honey” is a worldly idiomatic expression that means the best of everything; however, since milk and honey are only acquired today through much pain, suffering, and death, they are not in the heavenly will of God.
 
So, people who desire these things have blind eyes, deaf ears, and hardened hearts, for they don’t feel the suffering and death of the cows and bees.
 
Now God says something very important to Moses.

18. "And they will pay heed to what you say; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt, and you will say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.'

God said that they will heed what Moses says, which is why we all need to trust in what the Lord says.
 
But at the same time, we need to realize that all animal sacrifice is not in the heavenly will of God, but only in the traditions of humans who were trying to appease their false gods.
 
All God really wants is for us to trust in Him and obey Him.

19. "But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion.
 
20. So I will stretch out My hand, and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.
 
21. And I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.
 
22. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will plunder the Egyptians."
NASB

In other words, they will not have to go to war with the Egyptians to steal their wealth; instead, the Lord will cause the oppressors to freely give the Israelites their wealth.
 
Only people who have blind eyes, deaf ears, and hardened hearts won’t be able to understand that this is all from God.
 
We need to trust in the Lord our God.
 
Let’s keep these things in mind as we look at Psalm 105:12-45.

12. When they were only a few men in number,
Very few, and strangers in it.
 
13. And they wandered about from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people.
 
14. He permitted no man to oppress them,
And He reproved kings for their sakes:
 
15. "Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm."

If we don’t have blind eyes, deaf ears, and a hardened heart, we should be able to easily understand that God can fulfill anything that He tells His people to do, if they go forth in faith.

16. And He called for a famine upon the land;
He broke the whole staff of bread.

This is because the people of that land, including the Israelites, failed to believe or trust in God, and did their own things.

17. He sent a man before them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
 
18. They afflicted his feet with fetters,
He himself was laid in irons;
 
19. Until the time that his word came to pass,
The word of the LORD tested him.

Joseph had faith in God and trusted Him to bring about his deliverance and through him the deliverance of the whole land of Egypt and his own family.

20. The king sent and released him,
The ruler of peoples, and set him free.
 
21. He made him lord of his house,
And ruler over all his possessions,
 
22. To imprison his princes at will,
That he might teach his elders wisdom.

This is the wisdom of God that should be applied equally to understand that our fellow human beings, as well as all the other animals, were created by God as living souls.

23. Israel also came into Egypt;
Thus Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

This is because Joseph didn’t have blind eyes, deaf ears, and a hardened heart, and trusted in the Lord that his father’s and brother’s families would be saved.
 
This is a perfect example of how God’s timing is not our timing, for Joseph was in Egypt for many years before this happened, but he kept his faith in God and never held a grudge against his brothers for selling him into slavery.
 
If any members of his family deserved punishment, Joseph left that in the hands of the Lord, just as we should.
 
We are to be the peacemaking children of God, who are supposed to free creation from its present corruption that causes millions of humans and billions of animals to suffer and die every year.
 
With this in mind, let’s return to our psalm passage.

24. And He caused His people to be very fruitful,
And made them stronger than their adversaries.

In other words, the Lord made the Israelites stronger than the Egyptians.

25. He turned their heart to hate His people,
To deal craftily with His servants.

We strongly believe that this is a misunderstanding of the way that God deals with people; God does not make people evil, He just allows them to fall into the evil ways of the world around them when they have hardened hearts.

26. He sent Moses His servant,
And Aaron whom He had chosen.
 
27. They performed His wondrous acts among them,
And miracles in the land of Ham.

The land of Ham is also Egypt.

28. He sent darkness and made it dark;
And they did not rebel against His words.
 
29. He turned their waters into blood,
And caused their fish to die.
 
30. Their land swarmed with frogs
Even in the chambers of their kings.

All of these plagues were brought upon Egypt because the people at that time would not listen to God, but chose to follow the corrupt and evil ways of this world; they had blind eyes, deaf ears, and hardened hearts all of their own choosing.

31. He spoke, and there came a swarm of flies
And gnats in all their territory.
 
32. He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
 
33. He struck down their vines also and their fig trees,
And shattered the trees of their territory.
 
34. He spoke, and locusts came,
And young locusts, even without number,

35. And ate up all vegetation in their land,
And ate up the fruit of their ground.
 
36. He also struck down all the first-born in their land,
The first fruits of all their vigor.

God sees the intent of the human heart, soul, and mind, unlike us, but we should be able to do this, too.
 
He only does these horrible things to try to get the ungodly people to repent of the worldly ways, and seek to live in God’s heavenly will.

37. Then He brought them out with silver and gold;
And among His tribes there was not one who stumbled.
 
38. Egypt was glad when they departed;
For the dread of them had fallen upon them.
 
39. He spread a cloud for a covering,
And fire to illumine by night.
 
40. They asked, and He brought quail,
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

God was not pleased with the people wanting quail to eat, for He wanted them to eat the Manna, the bread of heaven that He gave them, but they complained and were not satisfied, which angered God.
 
We also need to remember that about 20,000 people died from eating the quail.

41. He opened the rock, and water flowed out;
It ran in the dry places like a river.

They also complained about not having water instead of trusting in the Lord to provide it, so Moses in his anger and frustration struck the rock with his staff, which was like striking the Lord, which prevented him from entering the Promised Land.
 
Unfortunately, the psalmist is not telling the truth about what really happened, and it is this kind of attitude that has led to so many people not having a repentant spirit.
 
We are not to be like such people who have blind eyes, deaf ears, and a hardened heart; we are to be the peacemaking children of God.

42. For He remembered His holy word
With Abraham His servant;
 
43. And He brought forth His people with joy,
His chosen ones with a joyful shout.

From everything we’ve read in the Bible, God may have had joy in fulfilling His promise to Abraham, but the people seemed to just complain.

44. He gave them also the lands of the nations,
That they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples' labor,

But remember that this only happened after God punished the whole congregation by having them spend 40 years in the wilderness.

45. So that they might keep His statutes,
And observe His laws,
Praise the LORD!
NASB

Furthermore, the Law was only given to the people to try to limit their evilness, but the people really didn’t listen or understand God’s intent; they just did their own things.
 
And to this very day, most people have blind eyes, deaf ears, and a hardened heart, which continues to cause millions of people and billions of animals to suffer and die every year.
 
God is seeking people with a repentant heart who truly desire to live in His heavenly will.
 
We can all be these people, if we want to…
 
Amen.

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