And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and, out of obscurity and out of darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see;
Isaiah 29 shows a nation so dull that God's own word had become unreadable to them — a sealed book no one could open. Verse 18 turns that around, and it raises three questions: when does this happen, which book is meant, and who hears it?
The blindness in this chapter is a judgment, not a physical defect. Edward Dennett stresses that the sealed book of verses 11 and 12 is a picture, not a story about two men:
It is essential to notice that verses 11 and 12 of this passage are an illustration. The nation was in a bad moral state. So those who should have guided the people lost all spiritual discernment and knowledge under the judging hand of Jehovah. The spirit of deep sleep had closed their eyes; the prophets, rulers, and seers were all alike blinded... The vision was like a sealed book. The learned man could not read it because it was sealed, and the unlearned did not try to open it because he could not read. The learned and the unlearned are not particular persons. They stand for the general inability to understand the word of the Lord.
Commentators take "the book" as the Scriptures themselves, and the darkness as what these people leave behind:
Isaiah speaks of it as "The Book," just as we speak of the Bible. Even Gesenius takes the book of this verse to be the Law. His comment is worth copying out: "The deaf and the blind are the hardened and blinded free-thinkers mentioned in verse 9. They will then leave the darkness they had been sitting in and turn to the light of the Law. Sepher, The Book, above all others, is the Book of the Law."
Opening blind eyes was one of the marks of the promised Messiah, and Jesus did it:
The prophets had testified beforehand that it was a characteristic work of the Messiah to open the eyes of the blind (Psalm 146:8; Isaiah 29:18; Isaiah 35:5; Isaiah 42:7). And this the Lord did, both in the temple (Matthew 21:14) and by the wayside (Luke 18:35). And what He did for the natural sight was only a foretaste of what He would do for the spiritual eyes. Those who did not see would see, and their sin would be put away. But the nation, in its pride of heart, spoke through its responsible religious leaders and said, "We see." So their sin remained (John 9:41).
Verse 18 runs straight into the meek and the poor of verse 19. God's testimony reaches the lowly:
But babes receive God's testimony... "The meek will increase their joy in Jehovah, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel."
Darby turns the same excuse on any reader today who says the Bible is beyond him:
God despises the inability of His people, whom He has blinded in judgment. Learned or ignorant alike, they reject the word of God. To the one the book is as if sealed, and the other pleads that he is not learned... Yet He reveals everything for the blessing of His people; He does not cover anything up. He has not given the Bible so that it should not be understood. If Christians say they cannot take it in, they say just what the Jews say here — the proof of their ruined state.
Christ's healings were real. But the promise here covers the whole nation, and that has not happened yet:
Clearly both the outward deliverance and the inward work of spiritual blessing and understanding point to a time and a state Israel has never yet known. The day of Jehovah is in view... The blind stupor has never yet lifted from the heart of the people and its rulers. Instead it has produced deeper sin and worse desolation. But the day is at hand which will make good the prophetic word to the full.
Kelly ties that day to the new covenant, when God Himself teaches His people:
So it will be when God establishes the new covenant with both houses of Israel. The same chapter says, "Those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmur will accept instruction." Another Scripture says the same and explains it: "All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children."
- Sealed. The blindness of Isaiah 29 is God's judgment, not an accident. A deep sleep fell on prophets, rulers and seers, so no one could read God's word.
- Opened. Verse 18 reverses that. The shut ear hears, the shut eye sees, and the sealed book is the one they finally understand.
- Book. "The Book" means the Scriptures themselves. It is the light people turn to when they leave the darkness.
- Lowly. God's word reaches babes, the meek and the poor. Saying "I cannot understand it" repeats the very excuse this chapter condemns; God gave His book to be understood.
- That day. Christ's healings were a foretaste. The full opening waits for the day when the Lord Himself teaches a whole nation.
and the meek shall increase their joy in Jehovah, and the needy among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 29 makes dark reading: a city brought low, a people God charges with guilty dullness, and a book the learned said was sealed. Then the tone turns, and God names who will come out of that darkness singing — the meek and the poor.
Verse 19 sits in a passage that turns every value in the chapter upside down. The high comes down, the crushed comes up — and the change goes deeper than politics.
Soon all will be reversed. The proud Assyrian will be brought low, and humbled Israel lifted up. More than that, the people's guilty dullness will give way to spiritual understanding and earnestness. The sweet qualities the Spirit works will find an increase of blessing and joy. Violence, scorn, and wrongdoing will be judged and vanish.
Just before this promise, the chapter describes a nation that could not take in God's word — the educated said the book was sealed, the uneducated said they could not read. That excuse is still made.
No doubt sovereign mercy and faithfulness will work in a remnant, and God will deliver at the end for His own name's sake. But here God despises the helplessness of His people, whom He has blinded in judgment: learned and ignorant alike reject the word of God. To the one the book is as if sealed; the other pleads that he is not learned. Yet He reveals everything for the blessing of His people, not to keep anything hidden. He gave the Bible to be understood. If Christians say they cannot take it in, they say just what the Jews say here — the proof of their ruined state.
Against that, the same writer names who does hear:
But babes receive God's testimony.
The verse does not say the poor rejoice in better circumstances. It names the Person their joy rests in, and that name is bound up with grace.
The same prophet speaks of a faithful remnant of the people who will cling to the Holy One of Israel (chapters 11:20; 17:7). They believe His word and profit by His grace. This will be an individual work. Whoever believes on the Lord shall not be put to shame… The great principle of grace comes out here, as in the precious words of the Lord Jesus: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
"Increase their joy" is not an isolated promise. It sits inside a whole pattern of how God treats people who take the low place.
The Lord gives more grace; He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Grace upon grace is for the humble (James 4:6). God saves the humble (Job 22:29), hears his desire (Ps. 10:17), revives his spirit (Isa. 57:15), beautifies him with salvation (Ps. 149:4), honours him (Prov. 15:33), guides him in what is right (Ps. 25:9), increases his joy (Isa. 29:19), blesses him and gives him a sure inheritance (Matt. 5:5). None can praise grace like the humble soul.
Commentators read the promise as still ahead of us.
Clearly, both the outward deliverance and the inward work of spiritual blessing and spiritual understanding point to a time and a state that Israel has never yet known… The blind stupor has never yet lifted from the heart of the people and its rulers. It has only produced deeper sin and worse desolation. But the day is at hand that will make the prophetic word good to the full.
The same forward look shapes how one writer reads Jesus' blessing on the meek:
But that is in contrast to the proud, self-satisfied and self-confident Pharisees of the day, who thought God had regard for nobody but themselves. The promise also has the reign of the Messiah in view (Ps. 37:11; Isa. 29:19), when the meek will have their portion along with Him who could say, "I am meek and lowly in heart."
James Boyd (ESV renders that phrase "gentle and lowly in heart.")
- Reversal. The verse stands at the turn: God brings the proud down, lifts the humbled up, and replaces dullness with spiritual understanding.
- Hearing. Learned and unlearned alike refused the word. Babes receive God's testimony, for God meant His book to be understood.
- Grace. Joy is not in improved conditions but in the Holy One of Israel, on the same principle as "Blessed are the poor in spirit."
- Increase. Growing joy is one line in a longer list. God saves the humble, revives him, honours him, guides him, and gives him a sure inheritance.
- Prospect. Israel has never yet reached this state. It waits for the reign of the Messiah, when the meek share the portion of the One who called Himself gentle and lowly in heart.