9 And He saith, 'Go, and thou hast said to this people, Hear ye—to hear, and ye do not understand, And see ye—to see, and ye do not know. 10 Declare fat the heart of this people, And its ears declare heavy, And its eyes declare dazzled, Lest it see with its eyes, And with its ears hear, and its heart consider, And it hath turned back, and hath health.' 11 And I say, 'Till when, O Lord?' And He saith, 'Surely till cities have been wasted without inhabitant, And houses without man, And the ground be wasted—a desolation, 12 And Jehovah hath put man far off, And great 'is' the forsaken part in the heart of the land. 13 And yet in it a tenth, and it hath turned, And hath been for a burning, As a teil-tree, and as an oak, that in falling, Have substance in them, The holy seed 'is' its substance!'
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.