Title: A spirit of slumber
Scripture Reading: Romans 11:8; Isaiah 29:10-11
(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
10 For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed.
- The meaning of the texts
Romans 11:8 is quoted from Isaiah 29:10 (Romans 11:8a) and Deuteronomy 29:4 (Romans 11:8b). They reflect the call and mission of Isaiah to a rebellious people. Isaiah would present God’s word, but God’s people could not, would not respond.
11:8 | |
NASB, NKJV | ”God gave them a spirit of stupor” |
NRSV, NJB | ”God gave them a sluggish spirit” |
TEV | ”God made their minds and hearts dull” |
REB | ”God has dulled their senses” |
Peshitta | ”God has given them a stubborn spirit” |
The Greek word (katanuxis) is used only here in the New Testament. It is another medical term used by Luke the physician. It is used of an insect bite that dulls the senses by inducing too much sensation.
The bible commentator Morris, call ‘a spirit of stupor,’ ‘an attitude of deadness towards spiritual things.
The subject is in a state of spiritual numbness and in a mental or moral dullness or apathy. They are not in the spiritual condition of neutrality but rather they have become opposed to the truth of God.
‘In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking and rose up to play.’ The days of Noah is a biblical reference used to describe a period before a major catastrophe, often used to illustrate the complacency of people before a sudden and unexpected event. The phrase implies that people will continue their everyday routines, oblivious to the impending doom, until it is too late.
In Exodus 32:6-10 where after Moses received the Ten commandments, God’s people turned to idol worship, feasting and revelry.
Notice YHWH’s activities in removing His message from His people which is found in Isaiah 29:10-12:
- The LORD has poured on you a spirit of deep sleep.
- He has shut the eyes of your prophets
- He has covered (blindfolded) both the civic and religious leadership’s eyes.
‘Sleep’ in scripture, is sometimes ‘rest,’ ‘repose from trouble.’ Psalms 128:2 says, ‘So he giveth his beloved sleep.’ But here it is ‘spiritual deadness and impassiveness – an inability to appreciate, or even to understand spiritual warnings.
Sleep worsens their condition. Why?
- When we are asleep, we are doing nothing productive
- When we are asleep, we are vulnerable
- When we are asleep, we are insensitive
The seers mentioned in Isaiah 29:10 is called rulers, which does not mean a separate class of prophets but the prophets in general as the spiritual leaders of the nation.
There is a problem with their eyes.
- Deep sleep falling upon believers
Romans 11:7
What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
The word, ‘election’ refers to the remnant.
But Paul is writing all this to Gentiles – Christians! His message really is, ‘Do not say, Poor blind, slumbering Jews! No! But rather say, ‘poor blind slumbering saints.’
Romans 11:22, ‘Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity, but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise, thou also shall be cut off.’
In the parable of the ten virgins, Jesus said, ‘they all slumbered and slept.’ Another translation puts it as ‘they all got drowsy and began to sleep.
All of them asleep.
The whole church will sleep because Jesus delayed His return.
But the wise ones were prepared to act immediately when the global circumstances awakened them.
The oil represents spiritual preparedness and cannot be shared.
Five of them had lamps that were going out!
A vessel in which there is no more oil! The anointing is gone! A lamp that once burned so brightly–going out!
No joy, no faith, no confidence, no leading or convicting of the Holy Spirit!
Look at the wise virgins with their lamps ablaze. They are full of Holy Ghost fervor and excitement, and they are going out singing, marching into the marriage supper! Their eyes are only on their Beloved and they are ready to leave this wicked world.
- An inescapable trap and an everlasting burden
A spirit of slumber leads to two hopeless conditions:
- an inescapable trap
- an everlasting burden.
Romans 11:9-10 says, ‘And David saith, let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block and a recompence unto them. and bow down their back always.’
The first hopeless condition is the table.
Their table figuratively means, their prosperity, the abundance of all things
This table has become their utmost table.
It is not the table of Psalms 23:5 – It is a table of worship, blessings of His Word, that is intended to comfort us, make us grow, build us up, and make us rejoice. It is the house of God. Good Christian friends. His holy word and the presence of the Holy Ghost.
Secondly, they bow down their backs always. Another translation put it as ‘and bend their backs forever.’
“Bend their backs always’ signifies a continued state of servitude or bondage. It implies a continual burden or lack of freedom, often linked to the rejection of God and reliance of self-effort.
David quoted this phrase from Psalms 69:25. David says, ‘let their habitation be desolate.
It means let their homes be a place of emptiness, weariness and joylessness. Let them become places of grief, misery, and ruin
The home becomes a burden. It is no long a place of refreshing and joy, but a place of death and gloom.
In conclusion, the Jews were in a dark age for 400 years before the coming of Christ. It was very dark. They were in a spirit of slumber for 400 years. And it was as Genesis said, ‘darkness was upon the face of the deep,’ ‘darkness was upon the whole earth.’ And they were entrapped and their backs were bend to be almost broken. They were under the Roman rules. They were made slaves. Most of them work daily only to be able to put food on the table. Their homes were just a shelter to keep them warm. Taxes were very high and they were oppressed continually with very heavy burden. It was to a point that their back could literally break. To make matter worse, they have departed from the true and living God, having rejected him and lived in sin and in ignorance with no spiritual understanding. Their spiritual leaders were simply hypocrites who had a form of godliness but without the power of God at all. Then God sent his son Jesus Christ. And a light broke through the darkness in Nazareth. Jesus. Jesus went about proclaiming God and healing all manners of sickness and delivering all that were possessed of the demonic power. Yet he himself was put through the darkness. Worse the darkness came upon him. The darkness reign so supreme in our lives was upon him. And the darkness killed him. Yes, in the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all describe darkness covering the land from noon until three in the afternoon during Jesus’ crucifixion. This darkness is a sign of God’s judgment and God rejection of Jesus. Why? Because of us. So that when Jesus was resurrected, a light can break through your heart today. A spirit of God can be breathed upon you today. You don’t have to be in the state of slumber anymore. Jesus not only breathe his spirit upon you but he baptized you with the power of the Holy Spirit, and you can be spiritually alive again. Your blindness in your spiritual eyes can be removed and a new life and a new fire and a new power can be upon you because of Jesus’ resurrection. He said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.’ Today if you just come to him just as you are, you don’t have to be in a spirit of slumber but you can be made alive again but the greatest power on earth given to you by the Holy Ghost.
