When the Blind Tongue Speaks
The goal for every good journalist is to answer these questions:
Who? What? When? Where? Why?
The Apostle Paul directs us to consider these things also as we look for the good in all things — that which we have learned, received, heard, and seen in him as a representative of the Kingdom of God, as to how to live well. [Philippians 4:9]
In fact Paul admonishes us to follow him as he follows Christ, growing in grace and knowledge, maturing to the fullness of Christ, thereby emulating God our Father as His dearly loved children. [Colossians 2:10, Ephesians 5:1]
God uses this same principle in Isaiah 51:1-3, where He reminds us to look to our roots in the Family Kingdom of God and remember Whose we are, and how good to us He desires to be when looking at our circumstances. And so, we look for the good in the story, and find what God did, what He thought, what He intended, and how outcomes changed for the good of all, as promised in Scripture. [Romans 8:28]
When God Answers our Why
Some disciples of Jesus asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” [John 9:2, perhaps referring to Zephaniah 1:17]
Jesus answers, in John 9:3, “It was not that this man or his parents sinned, but he was born blind in order that the workings of God should be manifested [displayed and illustrated] in him.”
So, let’s walk back through Biblical History for a moment and look at someone else who became blind so that the glory of God might be manifested. We will start in the Book of Genesis and read the story of Isaac and his two sons, Esau, his firstborn and Jacob, his second-born twin.
It was God’s plan that Jacob would rule, and then his son Judah would carry on the monarchy, and his son Levi would carry on the Priesthood, in the order of th King/High-Priest Melchizedek, only Esau was born first after spending a good portion of his life in utero wrestling with his brother Jacob.
It was natural for his parents to name Jacob heal-grabber, or supplanter, because that is what they saw Jacob do to Esau as Esau was being born. They had not seen what God saw when He knit these two boys in their mother’s womb.
All Rebekah had was a promise from God that Jacob was the one on whom God’s favor rested. Esau was named hairy, for he “came out red like a hairy garment” [Genesis 25:25] Esau became a skilled hunter, and Jacob was a plain and quiet man, dwelling in tents, according to Genesis 25:26.
NOTE: The Ancient Book of Jasher, which Joshua quotes in his Book, regarding the miracle of the sun standing still, goes into greater detail in regard to these two boys, in that Jacob became a scholar, learning the ways of God from the Ancient Patriarch still living, while Esau became a hunter, not just of wild game, but of men’s souls, stealing and killing them. According to the account, Esau killed Nimrod and stole the garment which had been passed down to him by his father Canaan, who received it from his father Ham, who stole it from Noah, who had brought it on the ark with them, having belonged to Adam, made by God Himself.
Esau, then exhausted and famished from ambushing Nimrod all day, legally sells his own birthright to Jacob for a meal. In modern vernacular we might say Esau was somewhere between a con artist and a mentalist, and yet he continually projected what he saw in himself upon Jacob, making adequate use of the misnomer “supplanter” when it suited him as he begged to be comparably blessed by his father Isaac. Jacob is sent away, and never sees his mother again, just as Isaac never saw his mother Sarah again, when his father took him to Mount Moriah to sacrifice him [the promised son] as instructed by God.
With this back-drop of colorful historical events, let’s learn a lesson from Esau for a moment as we explore why God hated Esau’s lifestyle, as He revealed to both Obadiah and Malachi, His prophets, and instead chose Jacob to found a nation He would choose to love forever.
It’s Okay to Be Slow to Anger
One of the beautiful things about God is that He is slow to anger, and He enjoys the company of those who are like Him. I am still learning to be like Him. We all have our moments, don’t we? Be quick to forgive, and choose meekness — controlled strength, self-control, or self-mastery is a fruit, a result of, the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Moses was known as the meekest man of his day, and God enjoyed his company. It is the meek who will inherit the earth because they can be trusted with it — they will control their strength, care for it, replenish and restore it, as God desires, unlike the pre-flood generations. There is nothing destructive in the gentleness of one led by God to make all things new. Even God says that He will one day roll up the earth like an old garment and make a new one. That is a gentle and loving act.
Reading the story in context, let’s go to Genesis 27, where both Esau and Jacob have been asked to bring something to Isaac and obtain a blessing. Esau goes out to hunt for game, in order to prepare it as his father likes it, and Jacob has been instructed to prepare himself while his mother prepares the food, so that he could obtain the promise as God gave it.
Once Isaac had determined, by circumstantial evidence, that the person before him was indeed Esau, Isaac blessed him with the best of everything. It came from his heart for how Esau brought him the sustenance he enjoyed, perhaps, but ultimately from the mouth of God, for it was what God had intended for Jacob.
We can never loose sight of that fact, even though it came through deception in order to be accomplished, for God comes to us where we are, speaks our language, and calls us to come up higher. Each one of us is offered the way of life in Christ, and we must choose it in order to live well.
We can plainly see, then, that if Isaac had not been blind, Jacob would not have obtained the rightful blessing God had intended for him, thereby manifesting God’s glory for the next several centuries until Jesus was born in the line of Judah, Jacob’s son by Leah, who was not his favorite either.
Not being the favored, or favorite one, comes with some emotions doesn’t it? That's why it was so precious for Jesus to hear it with His Own ears from His Heavenly Father, “This is My Son, with Whom I am well pleased.”
One knows how it feels to feel invisible, unnecessary, unwanted, outcast, and perhaps even disowned. One knows the trauma of fighting for the right to be heard, be noticed, be valued, be understood, be accepted, especially when one has a promise from God that looks utterly impossible to fulfill.
It is interesting to me today as I have revisited this record of events in the life of Isaac and Jacob, particularly, that Isaac speaks of Jacob ruling over his brothers — plural, yet there was only one mentioned. Customarily it is the girls born who are not mentioned, except on the rarest of occasions in Scripture. Who were the unmentioned ones in Scripture, who benefited from God’s best, time and time again?
The un-named ones who carried the messages God brought to His nation often went unnoticed, and often not valued as God-sent, and subsequently martyred. The fact that Esau came out hairy begs the question: Was Esau supposed to be the prophet, and Jacob the King, because the prophets were known for this “garment of hair” which they wore.
But Esau chose poorly from the womb. For Esau, his weakness was his anger. That is made clear even in the blessing Isaac pronounces over his son, in chapter 27:31-41. If Esau could just get rid of his anger, he could be free of the yoke on his neck, which serving the one you are angry with had become to him.
Doing Life Like Jesus
Jesus puts it this way: “Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle [meek] and humble [lowly in heart], and you will find rest [relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet] for your souls.” [Matthew 11:28-30]
For it is in quietness and peace that we find the salvation of our souls. God does not steal nor manipulate our souls for His purposes. God gives us choices, and good advice as to how to choose well, for our own good. [Isaiah 32:17] He is a Good Shepherd, Who leads us and holds us close to His heart. [Psalm 23, Isaiah 40:11]
Matthew 19:13-14 [AMPC]
13 “Then little children were brought to Jesus, that He might put His hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14 But He said, ‘Leave the children alone! Allow the little ones to come to Me, and do not forbid or restrain them, for of such [as these] is the Kingdom of heaven composed.”
Matthew 18:3 [AMPC]
“And said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you repent [change, turn about] and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the Kingdom heaven [at all].”
So then we say to the Children of God…
Ephesians 4:26 [AMPC]
“When angry, do not sin; do not even let your wrath [your exasperation, your fury or indignation] last until the sun goes down.”
And to the Fathers we say…
Ephesians 6:4 [AMPC]
“Fathers, do not irritate and provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to resentment], but rear them [tenderly] in the training and discipline and the counsel and admonition of the Lord.”
Colossians 3:8 [AMPC]
“But now put away and rid yourselves [completely] of all these things: anger, rage, bad feeling toward others, curses and slander, and foulmouthed abuse and shameful utterances from your lips!”
This is what skews our view of others, isn’t it? It is what so often the modern media feeds on to fan the flames of the fury of a society hungry for the love of God. Sheep without a shepherd gravitate to any food, but God has given us His abundance, so that no one can steal, kill or destroy us out of His hand, by giving us His life. [John 10:10]
To live out of a place of peace with God sees the best in others, by contrast. Casting down every evil imagination is the key here. Driving out every demonic thought which comes to divide and separate us from God and one another will ensure a peaceful life with God and our household.
The Colossians lived under military occupation, filled with idolatrous living and every imaginable evil under such circumstances as articulated in the Book, Onesimus, Memoirs of a Disciple of St. Paul, which I highly recommend the Bible Student read for a glimpse of the society of that time-period. You will remember Onesimus as the slave who ran from Philemon, his master, and became Paul’s trusted companion. It is drastically summarized in Paul’s letter to Philemon.
Peter describes the life of a slave, and indeed how Jacob himself suffered under Laban, and yet was favored by God:
1Peter 2:18-19 [AMP]
18 “Servants be submissive to your masters with all [proper] respect, not only to those who are good and kind, but also to those who are unreasonable.
19 For this finds favor, if a person endures the sorrow of suffering unjustly because of an awareness of [the will of] God.”
There are places on earth where slavery is still a circumstance, however, in areas where it isn't, we must consider the same principle applies to employees working for an employer who may or may not treat them well.
Of all the miracles done, as recorded in the Old Testament, Jesus did all and one more — He cast out the devil wherever He went, and taught His disciples to do the same so that people could live well, and in peace, and unity with one another.
The last book in the Old Testament ends with these words:
Malachi 4:4-6 [AMPC]
4 “[Earnestly] remember the law of Moses, My servant, the statutes and the ordinances which I commanded him on [Mount] Horeb [to give] to all Israel.
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.
6 And he shall turn and reconcile the hearts of the [estranged] fathers to the [ungodly] children, and the hearts of the [rebellious] children to the [piety of] their fathers [a reconciliation produced by repentance of the ungodly], lest I come and smite the land with a curse and a ban of utter destruction.”
God had done this once before, in the days prior to and after the flood when people continually rebelled against His ways, and His instructions for how to live well.
When Jesus was about to lay down His life for His friends, and all who would believe on Him as Savior and Lord, He met with both Moses and Elijah on Mount Hermon where His Father Himself came to speak His love over Him before His death on the Cross.
Reconciliation between the generations is important to God. The power of agreement between people who love one another is such that when God saw what they had determined to do at Babel, He confused their language so they could no longer work together. And when God saw what they determined to do with the Gospel, in the early Church, after Jesus ascended to Heaven, He gave the gift of Tongues, so that they could speak to one another no matter their mother-language.
God also gives the gift of speaking with Him in His own language, and so I have spoken — When the blind tongue speaks — when we pray in an unknown language, in agreement with God, with no adversary to interfere with the declared words, we may be blind to what we say, but God can get the job done unhindered, just like God did for Jacob when he received the intended blessing from his father, Isaac. [Isaiah 42:19; Luke 14:21]
When a married couple agrees, and their children are all in agreement, and there are more than one generation in agreement in a household, just think of the possibilities God has in store for us — for our children, and our grand-children, and even our great-great-grandchild, as promised, for He always works with at least three generations at a time to see what any heart will accomplish, but for a thousand generations to them that love Him.
Just One More Thing
In 2Kings 6, we find Elijah’s protege in a difficult situation, as usual. The King of Syria was after Elijah to kill him, and Elisha’s servant was filled with fear.
2Kings 6:16 [AMPC]
“Elisha answered, ‘Fear not; for those who are with us are more than those with them.”
If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you will have heard these words. However, look what God did to manifest His glory once again through the blindness.
2Kings 6:17
“Then Elisha prayed, Lord, I pray You, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”
At one point in conversation, Jesus told His disciples that they would do “greater things than these” and since then, everyone has wondered what He meant by that. The ancient Rabbi’s thought that when Messiah comes, He will be recognized by His ability to resurrect the dead, or resurrect after the third day. Well, He did that already.
Salvation truly is the greatest gift God could give to humanity. In the parable of the sower, Jesus makes clear that He spoke in parables to hide it from some, or they would be healed. That seems out of character too, for we know Him as a Healer, and willing to heal whoever asks Him.
So, perhaps we need to reconsider God’s timing, and how He works to manifest His glory in light of the man born blind, and now healed, because God needed to show us something by opening our spiritual sight, so that we may walk by faith, not just by physical sight.
Encouragement:
When you are surrounded by circumstances too difficult for you to handle, no matter the reason, remember what God did for each of these, and have faith in God to turn your circumstances around for your good, the good of your household, your generations and your descendants not yet born, because whatever you go through — its not just about you.
What happens to Elisha is proof that it wasn’t just about Elisha either:
2Kings 13:21
“As a man was being buried [on an open bier], such a band was seen coming; and the man was cast into Elisha’s grave. And when the man being let down touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.”
Don’t underestimate what God can do generationally, even after your time on earth is accomplished, to revive the souls of those who need it. This is the “greater things than these” in this instance — that we can touch those we cannot see, with that which we have not known, and they will live because Jesus lives, and causes the blind tongue to speak.
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