QT 29 Oct 15, Isa 56:10-11, Spiritual blindness blinds us to our blindness

Isa 56:10-11 (ESV)

10  His watchmen are blind;

they are all without knowledge;

they are all silent dogs;

they cannot bark,

dreaming, lying down,

loving to slumber.

11  The dogs have a mighty appetite;

they never have enough.

But they are shepherds who have no understanding;

they have all turned to their own way,

 each to his own gain, one and all.

NOTE: This verse concerns spiritual leaders, specifically the leaders of Israel, but the principles are applicable now and also repeated in Jude and 1 Peter for the New Testament church. There are a number of problems with these leaders. One, is that they are blind and without knowledge, where the latter term really defines the former term. Spiritual blindness is directly related to a lack of knowledge. How can you see or recognize error if you have no foundation upon which to draw a conclusion? Knowledge of God's word is essential for spiritual sight. For the person who does not believe in Christ and has not experienced rebirth, he also suffers from not having the gift that comes with salvation, the Holy Spirit (HS) living within you, which Jesus called our helper. So, with knowledge and the HS, we are able to discern error and consequently see trouble. A person who is not in the word on a regular basis will be blind, and even worse, he will disagree with that assessment because he is blind. If he has the HS, he has some hope, because Jesus promises us that the HS will reveal things to us, like our blindness. But repeatedly ignoring the HS will result in quenching it and hardening our own hearts, and then our blindness becomes near permanent. And because we are spiritually blind, we will never "see" that we are spiritually blind, but will believe that our wisdom can take us through life without anyone else's help.