And the whole vision is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which they give to one that can read, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed.
Isaiah pictures God's message as a sealed scroll that nobody in the city can open. The fault is not in the writing but in the readers: God has poured out a spirit of deep sleep.
One writer ties the sealed book to the state of the people it was handed to:
The prophet now turns to describe the moral condition of the Jews themselves, and the blind folly that followed. Any trial God brings on them like this has its ground in their evil state, whatever mercy He shows in the end... Israel were blind in spirit to God's lessons. Judicial sleep weighed on all: learned or simple made no difference.
The two men in verses 11 and 12 are not people Isaiah met. They are a picture, and the picture covers everyone:
It is essential to see that verses 11 and 12 of this scripture are an illustration. Because of the moral condition of the nation, those who should have been the guides of the people had lost all spiritual discernment and knowledge under the judicial hand of the LORD. The spirit of deep sleep had closed their eyes; the prophets, rulers and seers were all blinded alike. The vision was like a sealed book. The learned man could not read it because it was sealed. The unlearned man did not try to open it because he could not read. The learned and the unlearned are not any particular persons. They stand for the general inability to understand the word of the Lord that a prophetic vision might contain.
The next verse gives the reason, and it is not intellectual. It is a religion of the mouth, shaped by human rules:
The city where David lived was once Ariel, meaning "the lion of God," but it was to be brought low... Their eyes were closed to God and to His word. Neither the learned nor the unlearned had any regard for His word. Any fear of God in them was taught "by the precept of men." So their religion was only lip-profession without heart-reality, and it was offensive to God. No wonder that judgment came from the hand of God.
One writer turns this into a warning for every reader:
The next verse explains the cause of this judicial blindness... It is a solemn warning for all. Understanding of the word of God, with spiritual wisdom and knowledge, can only be kept by those whose hearts are kept in the presence of God, and who at the same time walk in subjection to His revealed mind.
The excuse is not Israel's alone. One writer refuses to let Christians borrow the plea of the sealed book:
To the one, the book is sealed. The other pleads that he is not learned. Neither can grasp the revelation God gives by prophecy. Yet He reveals everything for the blessing of His people, not so that anything should be covered. He has not given the Bible so that it should not be understood. If Christians say that they cannot take it in, they say just what the Jews say here, the proof of their state of ruin. They dodge the testimony that would save them from the consequences of the judgment.
Another writer notices that the excuse has simply changed its vocabulary:
The first is an old argument of Isaiah's day (Isa. 29:9-11) against the divine vision... So today, man's argument is, "The language can't be understood: history, type, parable, are strange speech. People everywhere disagree as to the interpretation. How can we succeed where so many have failed? What good is guessing?"
If learning cannot break the seal, something else must. One writer points to Christ and to simple trust instead of scholarship:
I grant you we need a power above our own. We cannot understand the Bible by forcing the lock; what we need is the key. But if you have Christ, you already have the key. In faith apply Christ to the Bible, and you can understand it. It is not a question of a superior mind or of great learning. The most learned have been the most foolish in their mistakes. The simple man who understands only his mother tongue understands the Bible. He needs only to submit himself to the Lord with true simplicity and to trust His love.
The chapter does not end in blindness. A few verses later, the deaf hear the very book they could not read:
God remains God, and man is only clay in the hand of the potter. If this is solemnly true, it is full of blessed comfort. For "Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field?... In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see."
- Cause. The book was not unclear. God poured out a spirit of deep sleep, and prophets, rulers and seers were blinded alike.
- Reach. The scroll goes from the learned man to the unlearned man. The two stand for everyone, so nobody escapes.
- Root. Verse 13 names the reason: lips near God, hearts far away, and a fear of God taught by human rules.
- Echo. Christians who say they cannot take the Bible in are saying just what Israel said. God did not give the Bible so that it should stay closed.
- Cure. The key is Christ, taken by faith, not scholarship. And the promise stands: one day the deaf will hear the words of the book.
And they give the book to him that cannot read, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot read.
Isaiah 29 shows a nation that holds God's word and cannot read it. One man blames the seal, the next blames his own lack of learning — so is the fault in the book, or in the people holding it?
The first man had learning. The second had none. Neither one opened the book, and the reason lies behind them both, in the state of the whole nation.
It is essential to observe that verses 11 and 12 of this scripture are an illustration. Because of the nation's moral condition, those who should have guided the people had lost all spiritual discernment and knowledge. This came under the LORD's hand of judgment. The spirit of deep sleep had closed their eyes; the prophets, rulers, and seers were all alike blinded. The effect was that if they had a vision none could interpret it. The vision was like a sealed book. The learned man could not read it because it was sealed. The unlearned man did not even try to open it, because he could not read. The learned and the unlearned are not particular people. They stand for a general inability to understand any word of the Lord that a prophetic vision might hold.
Education did not rescue the first man, and the lack of it did not excuse the second. Both stood under the same sleep described earlier in the chapter.
Israel were spiritually blind to God's lessons. Judicial sleep oppressed all: learned or simple made no difference.
Behind that sleep lies a refusal, and the God who sent it never intended His words to stay shut.
In verses 9-14 God despises the helplessness of His people, whom He has blinded in judgment. Learned or ignorant, they all reject the word of God. To the one the book is sealed. The other pleads that he is not learned. Neither can grasp what God reveals through prophecy. Yet He reveals everything for the blessing of His people. He hides nothing. He did not give the Bible in order to keep it beyond our understanding.
The second man's line has a long afterlife. It sounds humble, and that is exactly what makes it hard to challenge.
The second argument, which also is as old as Isaiah, is the most widespread and the most dangerous. It is the language of the people, not of their leaders. It sounds like humility: "I am not learned, so I can't understand." But it denies that the Holy Spirit is all-sufficient as the Teacher of Christians. Or it denies that He is present with His people. It makes the understanding of God's things depend on a man's education or on his I.Q., instead of on the Holy Spirit. Christ lived among the poor and the needy. This view makes Him reveal Himself now only to the educated, intelligent and wealthy. It makes the Lord's disciples, those unlearned Galileans, an oddity for all future times. … So it puts the many under the few. It proves its own argument true, and leaves Scripture out of reach and out of use for most of mankind.
If learning is not the qualification, something else must be. Commentators point to a key that is given, not earned.
To interpret Scripture we need a power and wisdom above our own. We cannot understand it by forcing the lock. We need the key, and grace gives it in Christ, as the Word and Spirit of God teach us. If you have Christ by faith, you already have the key. In faith apply Him to the Bible, and the Holy Spirit enables you to understand it. … A simple believer who knows neither Greek nor Hebrew may understand the Bible. He only needs to submit himself to the Lord in true simplicity and trust His love.
For anyone who finds Scripture closed today, one writer names the cause.
To most people it is like a sealed book, passed from one person to another, with the admission that no one can understand it. But how could it be otherwise? Men — and Christian men at that — fail to cry to God for light. They are unwilling to turn from their worldly ways or to break with the unholy company they keep. Here lies the real reason why most professing Christians today fail to understand the Scriptures.
The chapter does not leave the book sealed. What was closed in judgment is opened again later in the same prophecy.
Soon all this will be reversed. The proud Assyrian will be brought low, and humbled Israel lifted up. Even the guilty dullness of the people will give way to spiritual understanding and earnestness.
- Picture — The two men are an illustration, not real people. Together they show a whole nation unable to read what God had given.
- Cause — The blindness came as God's judgment. It fell on guides and people alike, and learning made no difference.
- Excuse — "I am not learned" sounds humble. It denies that the Holy Spirit teaches ordinary people.
- Key — The book opens to faith and submission, not to clever minds. Christ Himself is the key, and grace gives Him to you.
- Reversal — The sealing is not the last word. The dullness gives way to understanding, and God opens the book again.