Acts 28:27

Thursday, 27 June 2024

For the hearts of this people have grown dull.

Their ears are hard of hearing,

And their eyes they have closed,

Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,

Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,

So that I should heal them.” Acts 28:27

A literal rendering of the Greek is:

“For has fattened, the heart of this people,
And the ears, sluggishly they hear,
And their eyes, they have closed –
Lest when the eyes: they should see,
And the ears: they should hear,
And the heart: they should understand,
And they should turn.
And I will heal them” (CG).

Paul began citing Isaiah in the previous verse. He continues citing the prophet now. He begins with, “For has fattened, the heart of this people.”

The word heart is singular. The nation had a national fattening of its collective heart. The word he uses is seen for the second and last time, pachunó. It signifies to fatten, thicken, and thus become stupid, dull, and/or unfeeling.

In Scripture, the heart is the seat of reason and understanding. HELPS Word Studies says, “the affective center of our being" and the capacity of moral preference (volitional desire, choice; see P. Hughs, 2 Cor, 354); ‘desire-producer that makes us tick’ (G. Archer), i.e our ‘desire-decisions’ that establish who we really are.”

Israel’s collective heart, which controlled their very center of being, had grown fat like a man about to keel over from a heart attack in a moral sense. This was true at the time of Isaiah, but Paul says that it continued to be true in them those many hundreds of years later.

Next, it says, “And the ears, sluggishly they hear.” It is a word used for the second and last time in the New Testament, bareós. It signifies heavily or with difficulty or something done in a sluggish manner.

The words are still speaking of the people of Israel collectively, as if they had two ears. Their hearing became heavy, like a person who was sleepy and no longer listened to the sound around him.

The Lord was speaking, but they were not listening. With their moral compass fattened over, they could no longer hear the difference between right and wrong when it was spoken. It next says, “And their eyes, they have closed.”

In their slumbering state, because of the moral degradation that they were tolerating, they could no longer see the difference between right and wrong. They simply closed their eyes and failed to acknowledge wickedness or holiness.

Therefore, as is always the case when in such a state, they took the carnally appealing path of wickedness and rejected the right and moral path found in Christ’s coming. Now because of being in such a depraved state, Paul continues with Isaiah’s words, providing four subjunctives to explain the state they were in. The first is, “Lest when the eyes: they should see.”

Instead of speaking of the people directly, he speaks of their faculties. The first is the eyes. Essentially, Isaiah is saying, “What would be the case if the eyes start seeing? They don’t see now because they are closed. But what would happen if they were opened?” But it will not happen. It next says, “And the ears: they should hear.”

It is the second subjunctive. “What would be the case if the ear suddenly opened up and started hearing – no longer being heavy and sluggish? What would happen if the ears started listening?” The Lord knows it will not come about. From there, he turns to the third subjunctive, “And the heart: they should understand.”

It is the single heart of the nation. What would be the situation of the heart of the people if their eyes started seeing and their ears started hearing? It would begin to understand. Israel had done this to themselves, and the Lord speaks of that as being the case. He knows that their heart will not understand.

Therefore, the Lord through Isaiah speaks of their state, knowing that within them it is an impossible thought. From there, the Lord asks, based on such an otherwise impossible change in them, “And they should turn.”

It is the fourth subjunctive, and the meaning is, “What if Israel should come to himself?” But they can’t because they have placed themselves in such an impossible state that on their own, it simply cannot happen. However, despite this state, the Lord’s response through Isaiah is, “And I will heal them.”

Many translations continue translating these words as a subjunctive, “and I should heal them.” This is incorrect. The words are future indicative, “And I will heal them.”

To understand what is going on, the verse needs to be looked at from a higher perspective. It has a most important chiastic structure to it which reveals a marvelous truth in the last clause.

First it notes hearts/ears/eyes; it then turns around and notes eyes/ears/hearts. As seen, the dullness referred to comes from the idea of becoming thick through fatness. Thus, the fat around their heart caused them to fail to understand.

Collective Israel was numbed to the things of God. The people had shut their ears to His word, and they had closed their eyes completely, shutting out anything but what they wished to see.

These actions are laid solely at the feet of the people. It is not the Lord who closed their eyes, which might somehow be inferred if only evaluating verse 26. Rather, this was a voluntary act of the national free will. This is perfectly evident from the beginning word “For” (Greek: gar), and the interim word “lest” (Greek: me).

It is Israel that turned from the Lord, and it is they who would suffer the consequences.  However, the last clause, “And I will heal them,” is explained by Bengel –

“... in Isaiah the Hebrew accent makes the fullest stop of the hemistich after ἐπιστρέψωσι [epistrephosi], should be converted [and so ἰάσομαι [iasomai] becomes distinguished from the contingent relation of the previous verbs, and is made a positive assertion].”

Note: epistrephosi (should turn) is the last word in the Greek of the previous clause.

What Bengel is saying is that translators tend to make the last clause contingent upon the rest of the verse: “If they did this, then I will do that.” However, the clauses are actually not connected at all in this way. Rather, it should be read as -

“For has fattened, the heart of this people,
And the ears, sluggishly they hear,
And their eyes, they have closed –
Lest when the eyes: they should see,
And the ears: they should hear,
And the heart: they should understand,
And they should turn.
And I will heal them.”

In other words, this is a prophecy based on the hardness of the hearts of the Jewish people. Their hearts have grown dull, their ears are hard of hearing, their eyes have closed. Now the Lord will take action to heal them.

In the previous clauses is found the truth that if they did see, hear, and understand, they would be healed. But on their own, this won’t happen. The “WILL” of the final clause being in the future indicative makes it a positive assertion, kai iasomai autous – “AND I WILL HEAL THEM.”

This then means that the Lord's plans for Israel are judgment leading to repentance. Explained differently, a second exile leading to restoration. It has never been the purpose of God to reject the nation of Israel who rejected Him. Instead, it was, is, and continues to be the purpose of God to bring about their healing and restoration.

The chiastic structure of the verse is a vital clue that shows that the last clause is independent of the others.

The Expositor's Greek Testament notes, “It is significant that Luke the physician should thus cite as almost the last words of his record a prophecy ending with ἰάσομαι [iasomai] = I WILL.”

The great Physician will heal in His own perfect timing. He, through Isaiah and as cited by Paul, notes that it will come about.

Life application: It is not hard to see our own nations as resembling that of Israel. This is especially so watching the liberal left conduct their affairs. Their hearts are totally fattened to the plight of the unborn, those harmed by crime, and the injustice of over-taxation.

Their ears cannot hear cries for justice or right conduct. Their eyes are closed to anything moral and upright, instead they alight upon wickedness and perversion, drawing it into their mind and becoming more depraved with each day that passes.

There is a point where this state will no longer change. The people become so depraved that nothing will change them. When this state arrives, only judgment is left for them. This was the state at the time of the flood. It is the state that Jesus says the world will be like before He returns. And this state includes Israel ever since they rejected Jesus.

The prophecy, as it is recorded in Acts, shows that they will not voluntarily turn to the right path, meaning calling on Jesus, until the Lord acts. This is exactly what the Bible says is coming. The prophets proclaim it and the book of Revelation places His actions on prominent display.

The purpose of the tribulation period is to bring Israel to the point where they will finally turn and call out to the Lord. This will not be an action initiated by them. Rather, the tribulation and resulting judgment is His action that then results in their turning.

We do not save ourselves. Jesus did the work, we then turn to Him, and in our turning, we are saved. The process is of the Lord. We acknowledge that and He heals. This is how it is at all times.

The Lord is the One to receive the credit for salvation. There are no works involved. Rather, there is an appeal for mercy based upon His goodness. When the turning comes and the appeal is made, God heals.

Lord God, help us to understand that we cannot work our way back to You. We are corrupt and incapable of doing what is needed to please You. But Jesus has done it all. When we realized that our judgment was laid upon Him, how can we not turn to You? Thank You, O God, for Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.