Jesus was
sending Paul to preach the Good News! People must be taught the
Good News before their eyes can be opened. People must be
taught the Good News before they can be influenced to turn from
their spiritual darkness and from Satan and turn to God:
Psalm 18:28: "You, O Lord, keep my
lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light."
Isaiah 29:18-19: "In that day the
deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and
darkness the eyes of the blind will see. Once more the humble
will rejoice in the Lord; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of
Israel."
Isaiah 42:16: [God said,] "I will
lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths
I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will
do; I will not forsake them."
Isaiah 42:6-7: "I, the Lord, have
called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I
will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and
a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free
captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit
in darkness."
Isaiah 42:18, 20: [God said,]
"Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see!...You have seen
many things, but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but
you hear nothing."
Matthew 13:13-17: [Jesus said,]
"This is why I speak to them in parables: Though
seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or
understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of
Isaiah: 'You will be ever hearing but never
understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with
their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they
might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with
their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' But
blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they
hear. For I tell you the Truth, many prophets and righteous
men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what
you hear but did not hear it."
John 9:39: "Jesus said, 'For
judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see
and those who see will become blind.'"
Ephesians 5:8-10: "For you were
once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children
of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness,
righteousness and Truth) and find out what pleases the
Lord."
Colossians 1:13-14: "For He [God]
has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into
the kingdom of the Son He loves, in Whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sins."
1 Peter 2:9: "But you are a chosen
people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to
God, that you may declare the praises of Him Who called you out of
darkness into His wonderful light."
