In scripture, there are a number of places where a person\u2019s eyes were withheld from seeing and realizing what was happening to them or nearby. This is a divine withholding manifest by God to the person; and God works how and whenever He pleases, and non can withstand Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Genesis 3:7, Adam and Eve were living innocent in the Garden of Eden until they sinned against God and ate from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which had been forbidden by God as the first manifestation of Law to man. Prior to the original sin, man lived in innocence in Eden with God decreeing their innocence. Our first parents were \u201cposse non mori\u201d \u2013 which means able to not die. Once their eyes were opened, they were \u201cnon posse non mori\u201d \u2013 not able to not die, and hence death passed onto all mankind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the original sin had it\u2019s origin in the fall of satan from heaven, sin did exist, yet God had hidden this from Adam \u2013 which implies that the fall of the angelic host preceded the creation of Adam. What need would there be for Adam to have his eyes withheld from evil had the serpent not fallen before Adam\u2019s creation? Scripture is silent on the time between Adam\u2019s creation and his fall, but the reformed confessions infer that his time in paradise was brief. Psalm 49:12 stats \u201cNevertheless man being in honour abideth not,\u201d and Adam was in the place of honor before his fall. This word used for \u201cabideth\u201d is ???? (l\u00fbn), in verse 12 which is used of an overnight lodging. It could be that Adam never spent one night in Eden after the creation of Eve, and no reference is revealed stating the time from his creation, the naming of the animals, and the creation of Eve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet in all this, God had decreed the fall and withheld our first parent\u2019s eyes likely so they could understand the heinous nature of sin all the years they lived after the fall. We know Adam lived 930 years, but little is said of Eve except that Seth was born from Eve when Adam was 130 years old. Certainly they both lived to understand the nature of their actions in Eden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next we see Gehazi the servant of the man of God Elisha. It appeared to Gehazi that he and Elisha were in dire straits in 2 Kings 6. Here is the text: v.15 \u201cAnd when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elisha understood the reality that Gehazi did not; this is the difference between walking in the flesh and walking in the Spirit. Elisha did not need to see the chariots and soldiers – God opened the eyes of Gehazi to see what Elisha knew by faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the following verses, Elisha asked God to smite the Syrians with blindness so that they could not see. This is a different blindness than the spiritual blindness that Gehazi had and the blindness of innocence that Adam and Eve had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next withholding is the one of Mary Magdalene at the garden tomb. Mary Magdalene does not recognize Jesus at first (John 20:14\u201316) and thinks he is the gardener. For a reason known only to God, her eyes are holden until He speaks her name. At that moment, she understands who Jesus is and she rejoices. Consider this: Revelation 2:17 \u201cHe that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.\u201d. For the elect, God gives them a new name secret between them and Christ. Could it be that Jesus gave Mary a preview of His special address to her? Scripture does not say, but she did not recognize Him until He spoke her name. This naming is reciprocal too. The elect will have a new name in heaven, and Christ will also imprint His name on them: Revelation 3:12 \u201cHim that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.\u201d The wonder of the bride taking the name of her Husband, and the Husband giving the bride a new name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next incident I would like to explore is in Luke 24:16. On the road to Emaaus in Luke 24, we see Christ after his resurrection on the road with two people, having a discussion. It is Jesus Christ Whom has hidden Himself [v16 their eyes were holden that they should not know Him] from Cleopas and [according to many scholars] his wife. Beginning at Moses and the prophets, Christ expounded the scriptures and opened to them the things concerning Himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They eventually sit at meat with Christ, and their eyes were opened at the breaking of bread. This occasion in Greek is recorded: \u201cde autos ophthalmos dianoig? kai epigin?sk? autos\u201d \u2026 \u201cAnd their eyes were opened, and they knew him;\u201d This knowing is the recognition through the understanding, as the Greek word \u201cdianoig?\u201d is used three times in Luke 24. \u201cdia\u201d \u2013 across \u201c??????\u201d \u2013 opened. An opening to, or a moving across of the understanding, and in each instance the understanding of man is opened to new spiritual truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Septuagint was written several hundred years before Christ to translate the Old Testament into the common language of the day of Greek. When we explore the account of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:7, we come across this rendering in part \u201ckai dianoig? ho ophthalmos dyo kai gin?sk?\u201d \u2026 translated means \u201cAnd the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.\u201d Here we have Adam and Eve after they have sinned, and the eyes of both of them not only open, but they are immediately aware; in this case that they have sinned against Holy God. Linguistically both passages are very similar, and does not appear to be accidental in nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consider this: In both cases, there was Christ and two people \u2013 a husband and a wife. Both couples are offered food in an unexpected way \u2013 first from the serpent, then from Christ. Both couples accept the food, and neither recognized the one offering food for who they really were. The eating of the food causes a profound new perception of a spiritual reality. Both couples understood retrospectively something that God had already told them. The first recorded meal in the Bible results in a catastrophe with eyes opened to sin, whereas the first recorded meal of Christ in the church age results in eyes opened to the person of Christ. In both cases their eyes had been withholden. The first meal was had by Adam, and the next one in Luke 24 was the second Adam \u2013 Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:45 \u201cAnd so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.\u201d Doesn\u2019t the second Adam [Jesus Christ] state in his Isaiah 61 reading in the temple [Luke 4] that He was sent to open the eyes of the blind, and it was fulfilled in Him on that day? Is it not Christ that opens the eyes of Mary into recognition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luke comprehensively shows the cohesive nature of the entire corpus of scripture tying the first Adam and Second Adam together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a> These are not the only examples, albeit the most popular ones. There are more: Genesis 42:8 \u201cJoseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.\u201d A providential concealment through changed appearance and expectation, and possibly a supernatural concealment. In Judges 13:16, Manoah does not know he is speaking to the Angel of the Lord. \u201cfor Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.\u201d Again, perception withheld. In the following verses, we have this: 13:18 \u201cAnd the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? 19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord: and the angel did wonderously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.\u201d Certainly Manoah recognized the preincarnate Christ immediately after the Lord ascended in the flame of the fire, but until then, their eyes were withholden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are instances where men\u2019s eyes opened to spiritual realities. I will cover this in brevity:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Numbers 22:31 Balaam: \u201cThen the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD\u201d An important parallel to Elisha\u2019s servant. The angel was already there. The issue was not reality, but perception as the angel of the Lord was concealing Himself. We also see in Daniel 10:7 \u201cI Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision\u201d Others were present, yet sight was granted selectively. God revealed something to Daniel not for the consumption of the others. Acts 7:55\u201356 Stephen: \u201cbeing full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God\u201d Again, a divine opening of sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can consider Acts 9:8\u20139 Saul: \u201cwhen his eyes were opened, he saw no man\u201d although the men with him heard a voice and saw no man. This is also how the effectual calling works \u2013 the Word of God generally goes to the listener, but only the ones specially chosen by God can both hear and understand because God has closed the understanding of the others. They hear the voice (the proclaimed Gospel), yet see no man (Christ revealed to the elect by the effectual call).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The best summary is 2 Corinthians 4:6 \u201cFor God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.\u201d Men are in darkness. God commands the Light of the Gospel, revealing Himself to the heart of His elect. This brings the knowledge of God\u2019s Glory in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In scripture, there are a number of places where a person\u2019s eyes were withheld from seeing and realizing what was happening to them or nearby. This is a divine withholding manifest by God to the person; and God works how and whenever He pleases, and non can withstand Him. In Genesis 3:7, Adam and Eve … <\/p>\n