This passage of prophet Isaiah sent by God in Isaiah 6 always intrigues me. The reason being God sent him to a people who have ears that do not hear and eyes that do not see. They were spiritually blind. I mean Isaiah would have expected God to send him to a people ready to hear the message of God. An example is Peter who was sent to Cornelius and his household (Acts 10). They had humble hearts and ready to accept the message. The people that Isaiah preach to had no umderstanding. Note the word “understand” was mentioned twice in Is 6 verse 9 and 10. Even the word ‘perceive’ mentioned in verse 9 has the same meaning as ‘understand’ too. Isaiah after knowing that this mission was tough, asked God how long will the mission be. God did not give a definite time,. However He said the mission will end when the cities be without inhabitants and the land be utterly desolate (Is 6:11-12). We knows what happened in history. Judah was conquered by Babylon in 586BC, and many Jews were taken captives and brought to Babylon. Isaiah was sent by God on the year of King Uzziah’s death, which is 740BC. That makes a time frame of 154 years. That means prophet Isaiah preached until his death, and still not a tenth understand. Beloved brothers and sisters, without understanding is no small matter. It lead to the destruction of God’s people and cities. Remember that God said “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos 4:6)
So the question is why understanding is so important So back to Isiah 6, God, who declares the end from the beginning, warned 154 years ahead of time, His people will be destroyed. He wants the Jews to know the tragedy that awaits them, and do the right things, which is turn from their wicked ways. 1Chron 12:32 says that the children of Issachar were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do. They joined the growing armies of David,, knowing the time had came to turn the kingdom of Saul to David, according to the word of God (1Chron 12:23). Daniel is another man that understood the times. He understood from the scriptures in the book of Jeremiah that the desolations of Jerusalem will be for seventy years. But he did not assume that God will end the desolations automatically once 70 years is up. The bible says he instead seek God by prayer and fasting (Dan 9:2-3).
I will give another example of a group of people not understanding the times, and another group just the opposite. During the first coming of Jesus, the Jewish religious leaders at that time knew the scriptures that said that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, but had no idea of this will happen in their time. At the same time after seeing the star of Jesus, some wise men from the east came to king Herod, not to look for him, but the King of the Jews. Those wise men, who were not jews, confirmed by the scriptures, managed to locate Jesus and worship Him with gold, myrrh and frankincense. That is why they were called wise men because they knew the times. However sadly, the jewish religious leaders, the ones that Jesus came for, did not even search out King Jesus in Bethelehem, not to mention worship Him (Matt 2:1-11).
In conclusion, all these examples show that people who understand the times, were the ones who from the scriptures, discern that certain particular scripture is for their current time. It is not just history to them, but it is a ‘now’ word for them. And in every instance, an action was required of them. This all came by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. No man can understand the things that God has prepared for us, but God have revealed to us by His Spirit. The condition here is that we must love God, and not love the world (1 cor 2:9-10).
Furthermore, Apostle Peter heard an audible voice of God on the mount of trasfiguration. He did not boast of it. Instead he said there is a more sure word of prophecy. The word “more sure” means more stable, firm, trusty. There are some christians that spend a lot of time in prayer and claim that they hear God speaking. Of course God does speaks. He is a living God and He had already spoken in the scriptures. Peter said that there is a more sure prophetic scriptures. He continued to say we need to take heed of these scriptures. To take heed means to give attention to or to devote thought and effort to. He gave the reason why we need to do so. This shall be a light that shine in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in our hearts (2 Pet 1:19-21). Before dawn breaks, it is always the darkest time. Spiritually, it is true that, just before the second coming of Jesus, there will a time of great darkness, when antichrist rules the world. The bible says that darkness shall cover the whole earth, gross darkness the people (Is 60:2a). However, this shall also be the most exciting and glorious times in the history of church, since the birth of the church on the day of Pentecost because we shall see the Glory of the Lord risen upon us, (Is 60:2 b).
Lastly i will close with a promise of God in Is 42:16-17 “And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods”.