Dear R.D.,

Your Question: Can you please explain this passage.... Isaiah 29:9-13.

My Answer(s): Thank you for visiting my web site, and submitting your question. I pray that my God and Father in heaven will bless you with understanding His Holy word. You asked for understanding of Isaiah 29. When understanding the Holy Scriptures, we must remember that Scripture interprets itself. As we see in the chapter before Isaiah 28:13, where the word of God tells us how to view the Scriptures.

• Isaiah 28:13 (NKJV)... 13 But the word of the LORD was to them, "Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little," That they might go and fall backward, and be broken And snared and caught.

Here the Holy Spirit says that the word of God speaks from the beginning, Genesis to the end, Revelation. Giving us a little here, and a little there. Having a precept of one subject concerning the present, past and future along with another precept about another subject that reveals to us time is a constant. And that those who consider themselves wise according to this world, will be trapped and fall backward. With this Scripture in mind, let us examine Isaiah 29:9-13.

• Isaiah 29:9-13 (NIV)… 9 Be stunned and amazed, blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not from wine, stagger, but not from beer. 10 The LORD has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets); he has covered your heads (the seers). 11 For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say to him, "Read this, please," he will answer, "I can't; it is sealed." 12 Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, "Read this, please," he will answer, "I don't know how to read." 13 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.

Now, prior to this prophecy concerning the religious leaders of the people, in Isaiah 29:9-13, Isaiah speaks of the people of Jerusalem being punished by God for their disobedience and spiritual adultery, in Isaiah 29:1-8. And then God speaks of the enemies of Jerusalem not having enough to drink or eat. These verses prior to and after the words spoken in verses 29:9-13 help us to understand why God said these words to Isaiah, and to us today about the prophets and seers, translated today as religious leaders under whatever name they choose to call themselves. Do this include all the religious leaders today? The answer to this question is who are considered religious leaders by the masses of people, upon answering this question you will have your answer. And if these religious leaders are found preaching from their belly, teaching the doctrine of men called tithing (putting ten percent of your money in their pockets) then this gives us more evidence against them. Just as the religious leaders during Isaiah time, who committed spiritual adultery and was disobedience towards God in their hypocrisy, these religious leaders today have committed the same sins.

In short these verses in Isaiah 29:9-13 speaks of the religious leaders of the time, today, and the future as being spiritually blinded because of their hypocrisy. Therefore, God has caused them to fall into a deep sleep, the walking dead. As it is written, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:60 NIV). While these religious leaders may appear to be religious and men of the faith, they lack sincerity of the heart. For as the last verse 13 you quoted tell us, "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Jesus in Mark 7:6-7 (NLT) quotes this verse again to the religious leaders during His ministry on this planet saying, "You hypocrites! Isaiah was prophesying about you when he said, 7 ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God's commands with their own man-made teachings." This means that when Isaiah spoke these words to the religious leaders in his time, Jesus here tells us that these same words applied to the religious leaders in Judah during His ministry. Today, we have these same type of religious leaders, with many today having a form of godliness, but they love themselves more than God as the Pharisees of Jesus time pretended to be lovers of God, but their actions said otherwise (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Also, Christ Jesus Himself speaking to these religious leaders at the time says, "I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you" (John 5:42 NKJV).

Also, in our understanding these verses in Isaiah 29, one must understand that the Holy Scriptures speaks of two churches, one called Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, and the Church of the Living God. This theme begins with the tower of Babel in Genesis through Revelation. See my web page, https://www.kemonline.org/church-in-prophecy.html. This is clearly seen when one listen with their ears, and see with their eyes. The Holy Spirit makes it clear in various places that there is a deception in this evil and adulterous world. Saying, Satan is masquerading as an angel of light and his ministers have also transformed "themselves into ministers of righteousness" (2 Corinthians 11:13-15 NKJV). And Christ Jesus Himself says, "many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many" Matthew 24:5 NIV). And again Jesus says, "I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan" (Revelation 2:9 NKJV). I ask, have you ever heard these so-called leaders in the so-called mainstream religious community speak about a deception in this world’s human organizations called churches? I mean, is not this strange when the Holy Scriptures clearly lays this out for those with eyes to see, and ears to hear?

Therefore, these verses in Isaiah 29:9-13 speaks clearly of these blind leaders and ministers from Genesis to this present evil age. Now, our God and Father in heaven have allowed those who claim they see to become blind. For it is said, that although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, but professing to be wise, they became fools. By glorifying themselves claiming they were reverends, fathers, even gods themselves taking upon themselves the authority to receive confessions from men, and presuming to forgive sin (Matthew 23, Romans 1 and Luke 5:17-26). These mere humans are parading themselves around as holy ones of God, even taking on titles reserved for God, the Holy Father in heaven.

Let me exhort you to continue in your study of God’s holy word. And may you become, if not already serious and watchful in your prayer life, for the days are evil. Now, concerning God’s word, He has revealed His word to those whom He calls "little children" and "just weaned from milk" (Luke 10:20-22, Isaiah 28:9-13). Yes, the Spirit in Romans 13:11 (NIV) exhorts us as Christians, "And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed". For even to this present day many are following these blind leaders, and Jesus the Christ calls to them, "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4 NIV). I ask that you meditate on these things, considering Christ’s words "come out of her". I pray that God bless you in understanding His holy word, and remember to believe your Holy Bible by always searching the Holy Scriptures for all your answers to life. Amen. Praise God.

In Christ Jesus love,

Ron Davis, ministering