This chapter is like Sinai 2.0. The LORD renews the covenant with this new generation. And Moses reminds them of the miracles that the elders among them (elders being those in their 50s and 60s) – the miracles they witnessed as children when God rescued them from Egypt. Then he says,

“But to this day the Lord has not given you minds that understand, nor eyes that see, nor ears that hear! For forty years I led you through the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other alcoholic drink, but he provided for you so you would know that he is the Lord your God.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭29‬:‭4‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The prophets Isaiah (6:9-10), Jeremiah (5:21) and Ezekiel (12:2) will echo this idea about having eyes but not being able to see and ears, but unable to hear. Jesus draws on Isaiah’s prophecy when He was asked why He taught in parables:

“For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand, and with reference to them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says, “You will listen carefully and will never understand, and you will look closely and will never perceive. For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they hear with difficulty, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭13‬-‭15‬ ‭LEB‬‬

🙈🙉

Moses says that “the Lord has not given them” eyes to see, etc. SO you might think, “How can it be their fault if God hasn’t given them the eyes to see?”

Jesus said, “they have shut their eyes.” 🙈

Which is it?

Do you think Yahweh, the Good Shepherd, would turn away someone that humbly sought Him?

What did Israel say about seeing and hearing Yahweh on Sinai?

“And all the people were seeing the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the ram’s horn and the mountain smoking, and the people saw, and they trembled, and they stood at a distance. And they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will listen, but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭LEB‬‬

So far in the past 40 years since Sinai, have we seen Israel (as a whole) humbly seeking Yahweh? Or has it looked more like complaining and looking to Yahweh only when they have no other options?

Do you think Yahweh just throws a relationship with Himself out to the masses like parade candy 🍬 and Mardi Gras beads?

“Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls in front of pigs, lest they trample them with their feet, and turn around and tear you to pieces.” Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭6‬ ‭LEB‬‬

“When you search for me, then you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart. And I will let myself be found by you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will restore your fortunes, and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places to which I have driven you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from which I deported you.’” Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Yahweh is the Hide & Seek Champion of all time. Think about it. There’s no place you can hide where He can’t find you. He even says so:

“Can a person hide himself in hiding places So that I do not see him?” declares the Lord. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.” Jeremiah‬ ‭23‬:‭24‬ ‭NASB

And if He’s the one hiding, you can forget finding Him unless He wants to be found. I mean, what are ya gonna do? Climb into heaven and go looking for God (Who is Spirit) and Who you could not behold even if you were allowed to?

Anyway…

Back to our earlier chicken-or-egg question, if Yahweh has not given them eyes to see and ears to hear, might it be because they have refused to seek Him and listen to Him?

Jesus said that it was their HEARTS that had become insensitive and unable to perceive.

This whole chapter is really a plea to Israel to SEE and HEAR. At the end of it Moses has this intriguing thing to say:

“The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.” Deuteronomy‬ ‭29‬:‭29‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We are not accountable for the things God has not revealed, but we ARE accountable for the things He has.

God is not going to punish anyone because they didn’t know the date of the return of Christ. That’s above-top-secret information that the Lord has not revealed. But the salvation offered in Jesus Christ? That has been revealed and there is a punishment awaiting those who reject eternal life.

Side Note Soap Box 📣

Eternal Life is a person not a thing.

And He is only available in one size, one style: the Biblical, crucified, resurrected, ascended and returning-to-reign Jesus.

Take it or leave it.

Eternal life on MY terms is not an option.

It all comes down to truly seeing and hearing what God has revealed.

Pride and stubbornness make one blind and deaf. Persistence in that state is very dangerous. One can pass the point of no return.

If God looks down and all He ever sees is:

At some point, His response is, “Fine. Have it your way.” And that person is frozen in that state. (Remember how we talked about this with Pharaoh’s hardened heart?) Getting stuck in willfull, persistent spiritual blindness and deafness is a judgement of wrath from God.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all impiety and unrighteousness of people, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is evident among them, for God made it clear to them. For from the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, both his eternal power and deity, are discerned clearly, being understood in the things created, so that they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasoning, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God with the likeness of an image of mortal human beings and birds and quadrupeds and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to immorality, that their bodies would be dishonored among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God with a lie, and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed for eternity. Amen.” Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬-‭25‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Notice that these people were not born in this state. They BECAME “futile in their reasoning.” They BECAME idolatrous fools. How? They shut out the revealed light.

We tend to think of God’s “wrath” strictly in terms of fire & brimstone falling from the sky and such. But based on this text, I’d say much of the world is currently under the wrath of God.

If you shut out the light long enough you will eventually become blind.

If we shut out the convicting light of the Holy Spirit our world gets gradually darker. And like a person who gets used to poor vision, people usually can’t tell that their spiritual cataracts are getting worse.

It looks like one little decision at a time. Death by a thousand paper cuts.

…like watching a movie, and there’s some stuff in it that makes you uncomfortable but you don’t leave or turn it off.

It looks like having a sense that you shouldn’t be looking at this or doing that – and you give in anyway and justify it to yourself with “I’m not hurting anyone.”

It looks like feeling that you should ask someone for forgiveness but you blow it off and forget about it.

It looks like ignoring that quiet little prompt to pray – or, the quiet little voice that says, “just walk away” and instead choose to have the last word which turns into an argument.

Every time we ignore that voice and close our eyes to that light, we get just a bit blinder.

And here’s the scary part – it’s so gradual and subtle that people usually don’t realize they’re losing spiritual sensitivity until something dramatic happens. (We’ll talk more about that when we get to the story of Samson.)

I’ve met people who say that profanity and violence “doesn’t bother them.” What I actually hear is: “I’m SO spiritually insensitive that I think spiritual insensitivity is something to brag about.”

🙄🤦‍♀️

If profanity, sex, and violence “doesn’t effect you”…

If you have lost some sensitivity – the very fact that you realize it is a good thing. There is hope.

😧 How do I get it back?

FIRST – Listen for the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit then obey the nudges.

Immediately. Don’t question. Don’t debate. Just obey. Even if you feel foolish.

It’s the kind of “listening” that your parents meant when they said, “Did you hear what I said?!” They meant: “I told you to do that and I mean for you to go do what I told you. Right now.”

Also listen to the Scripture. For example, it says “flee youthful lust.” You don’t need to pray about whether or not to give in to desire. You defeat that sin with your tennis shoes. Run!

SECOND – You need to seek the Lord.

I asked earlier how you would go about finding God in a game of Hide & Seek.

Ever played Hide & Seek with VERY small children? It’s super easy. You can hide so hard that they’ll never find you- which is kinda boring. Or, you hide in a rather obvious way so you’re not so much hiding yourself as revealing yourself. That’s what God had to do.

Here He is making Himself easy to find:

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power…” Hebrews‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

My Bible college president used to say all the time, “If you want to see God, just look into the face of Jesus Christ.”

He’s not hard to find.

Listen. Seek Him.

Don’t wait for some supernatural encounter. Just do what He told ya to do.

That’s what it looks like to walk in the light.