9 Be delayed and wait , Blind yourselves and be blind ; They become drunk , but not with wine , They stagger , but not with strong drink . 10 For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep , He has shut your eyes , the prophets ; And He has covered your heads , the seers . 11 The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book , which when they give it to the one who is literate e , saying , "Please read this ," he will say , "I cannot e , for it is sealed ." 12 Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate e e , saying , "Please read this ." And he will say , "I cannot read e ." 13 Then the Lord said , "Because e this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service , But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition e learned by rote, 14 Therefore behold , I will once again deal marvelously with this people , wondrously marvelous ; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish , And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed ." 15 Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord , And whose deeds are done in a dark place , And they say , " Who sees us?" or "Who knows us?" 16 You turn things around ! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay , That what is made would say to its maker , "He did not make me"; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, "He has no understanding "?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 29:9-16
Commentary on Isaiah 29:9-16
(Read Isaiah 29:9-16)
The security of sinners in sinful ways, is cause for lamentation and wonder. The learned men, through prejudice, said that the Divine prophecies were obscure; and the poor urged their want of learning. The Bible is a sealed book to every man, learned or unlearned, till he begins to study it with a simple heart and a teachable spirit, that he may thence learn the truth and the will of God. To worship God, is to approach him. And if the heart be full of his love and fear, out of the abundance of it the mouth will speak; but there are many whose religion is lip-labour only. When they pretend to be speaking to God, they are thinking of a thousand foolish things. They worship the God of Israel according to their own devices. Numbers are only formal in worship. And their religion is only to comply with custom, and to serve their own interest. But the wanderings of mind, and defects in devotion, which are the believer's burden, are very different from the withdrawing of the heart from God, so severely blamed. And those who make religion no more than a pretence, to serve a turn, deceive themselves. And as those that quarrel with God, so those that think to conceal themselves from him, in effect charge him with folly. But all their perverse conduct shall be entirely done away.