9 He said , "Go , and tell this people : 'Keep on listening , but do not perceive ; Keep on looking , but do not understand .' 10 " Render the hearts of this people insensitive , Their ears dull , And their eyes dim , Otherwise they might see with their eyes , Hear with their ears , Understand with their hearts , And return and be healed ." 11 Then I said , "Lord , how long e ?" And He answered , "Until e e cities are devastated and without inhabitant , Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate , 12 "The Lord has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land . 13 "Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning , Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled . The holy seed is its stump ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 6:9-13
Commentary on Isaiah 6:9-13
(Read Isaiah 6:9-13)
God sends Isaiah to foretell the ruin of his people. Many hear the sound of God's word, but do not feel the power of it. God sometimes, in righteous judgment, gives men up to blindness of mind, because they will not receive the truth in the love of it. But no humble inquirer after Christ, need to fear this awful doom, which is a spiritual judgment on those who will still hold fast their sins. Let every one pray for the enlightening of the Holy Spirit, that he may perceive how precious are the Divine mercies, by which alone we are secured against this dreadful danger. Yet the Lord would preserve a remnant, like the tenth, holy to him. And blessed be God, he still preserves his church; however professors or visible churches may be lopped off as unfruitful, the holy seed will shoot forth, from whom all the numerous branches of righteousness shall arise.