How to Be Healed of Spiritual Blindness

Last week, I studied what the Bible has to say about healing, especially since I’ve been pondering blindness. This week, a verse in Revelation jumped off the page at me, and I knew I needed to study it further.

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,

“‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”’” (Revelation 3:14-22, NKJV).

I thought about the spiritual blindness that is permeating our country — no, the churches of our country — and yet, as Yeshua says, we do not know that we are “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.”

If 78% of Americans consider themselves Christians, according to an August 2015 report by the Barna Group, then why do we see such rampant sin in America? Why do we see “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like” (Galatians 5:19-21), which Scripture tells us have no part in the kingdom of God?

And how can this be healed?

Only One Answer

Yeshua says the answer cannot be found from human sources. He clearly says that the solutions can only be obtained from Him. Only.

“I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see” (Revelation 3:18).

I decided to study this verse very thoroughly, and I’ll take you along with me, okay?

First, let me show you my extreme grammar geekiness, because when I find a verse that seems extremely important, with vital “health information” like this one has, I want to be sure I know how every word functions. I don’t want to miss a drop of my prescription!

So I diagrammed it. 🙂 (If this makes your eyes glaze over, just scroll down. Haha!)

As you can see from my diagram, Yeshua counsels us to do three things:

1. Buy refined gold.
2. Buy white garments.
3. Anoint our eyes with eye salve.

The first prescription (gold) can only be bought from Yeshua, so it is implied that it’s the same with all three. So let’s look at each item.

Buy Refined Gold

Revelation is the last book of the Bible, so if a symbol is given here, the logical thing is to ask ourselves if the word is defined somewhere else first.

Gold is easy, because the Scriptures very clearly define it.

“The law [Torah] of YHVH is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of YHVH is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of YHVH are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of YHVH is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of YHVH is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of YHVH are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward” (Psalm 19:7-11).

The law, testimony, statutes, commandment, fear, and judgments of YHVH are fine gold. It couldn’t be any clearer.

Yeshua says we think we’re rich, but we don’t realize we’re wretched, miserable, and poor. In fact, it was right around the time that the book of Revelation was penned (around A.D. 96) that the Torah, the law of God, was thrown out of the early Christian congregations as they made every effort to separate themselves from “Judaizers.” The result was an anemic form of godliness that persists to this day. The truth of Jesus Christ has gone out to the ends of the earth, but the Seed has been choked as it has mixed with the fleshly seed of wickedness.

So how do we “buy” gold so that we may be spiritually rich, rather that impoverished and starved? Psalm 19:11 is clear: “In keeping of them there is great reward.”

Isn’t His Torah impossible to keep? Not unless God is a liar!

“For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).

How expensive is His gold?

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live” (Isaiah 55:1-3).

His gold requires no earthly money. The only “expense” is that we “incline” our ears and “hear.”

“Hear, O Israel: YHVH our God,YHVH is one! You shall love YHVH your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deuteronomy 6:4-6).

And our message in Revelation says the same thing:

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:22).

Buy White Garments

White garments are easy, too, because they are defined right in the book of Revelation.

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.  And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Revelation 19:7-8).

So when we buy white garments from Yeshua, we are putting on righteous acts.

Now I can just hear the outcry right here. Doesn’t our righteousness come from Him alone, when His blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness? I go into much more detail on this in another blog post, but let’s just allow the Scriptures to define righteousness for themselves:

“And YHVH commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear YHVH our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before YHVH our God, as He has commanded us” (Deuteronomy 6:24-25).

“The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever” (Psalm 119:160).

“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous” (1 John 3:4-7).

Peter tells us how to be prepared for His coming, and he warned us that people would distort Paul’s teachings:

“Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

“You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked [lawbreakers, Greek athesmos]; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Yeshua the Messiah” (2 Peter 3:14-18).

We are to be found without spot and blameless when He comes. We are to steadfastly grow in the grace and knowledge of Yeshua our Messiah, and we are stay away from the error taught by those who teach against Torah.

Would He teach them something different than what His Father had commanded? Did Yeshua “fulfill” the Law, setting it aside so that we no longer had to obey His Father’s commands?

“I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me” (John 8:29).

“I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

“Jesus answered, ‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?'” (John 7:16-19)

“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4).

“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!” (Romans 6:15)

“To this you were called, because Messiah suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:21-22).

“Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. Dear friends, I am NOT writing you a new command but an OLD one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness” (1 John 2:6-9, NIV).

And again in Revelation, we read that the saints who are clothed in fine linen, which is the righteousness of obedience to all the laws of God, are the same as those who put their faith and trust in Yeshua as Messiah.

“Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua” (Revelation 14:12).

As author Brad Scott says, “The New Testament is not new; it’s just true.”

And how to we cleanse our garments and put on new ones?

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Anoint Our Eyes

So now we come to the third prescription, and this is the one that caught my attention, simply because I had been pondering spiritual blindness.

“I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see” (Revelation 3:18).

However, this one wasn’t as easy to figure out. I couldn’t think of a passage that defined “eye salve.”

I’ve been pondering this all week! Truly! I even put out feelers on my Facebook wall, to see if others could help me. One dear friend sent me to Isaiah 29, and it started to help.

“For YHVH has poured out on you
The spirit of deep sleep,
And has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, namely, the seers.

The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, ‘Read this, please.’
And he says, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed.’

Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, ‘Read this, please.’
And he says, ‘I am not literate'” (Isaiah 29:10-12).

Yes, I can see this is exactly the problem! Our churches are filled with Bible studies, sermons, study groups, Bible-based music, books about the Bible, Christian radio, you name it. However, people don’t understand what they read! They either close the Book and turn elsewhere for advice, or they turn to ear-tickling teachers who make more sense to their flesh.

“So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?'” (Acts 8:30-31).

Eventually entire portions of the Bible (usually the Torah, such as Leviticus and Numbers, or the Prophets, snooze…) are ignored or read with large boosts of caffeine and bragging online that “I made it through Leviticus for the year… Ug!” People are told that much of the Bible “is not for today” and doesn’t apply to them.

“Therefore YHVH said:
‘Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
Among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder;
For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden‘” (Isaiah 29:13-14).

The book becomes sealed. Our eyes are blind and we cannot see.

So how do we find eye salve? How can we see again?!?!

The only place I could find in the Bible that talked about eye salve was in the book of Mark.

“Then [Yeshua] came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.

“And he looked up and said, ‘I see men like trees, walking.’

“Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly” (Mark 8:22-25).

Ew! The “eye salve” Yeshua used to heal this blind man was spit. (I can hear the third graders giggling now.)

But let’s think about how profound this is! Spit comes from your mouth, right? What else comes from Yeshua’s mouth?

“Man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of YHVH” (Deuteronomy 8:3).

If you were to look up the context of Deuteronomy 8, you’d clearly see that the “word” that procedes from the mouth of YHVH is nothing else but “every command that I am giving you today” (verse 1, and also verses 6 and 11).

We also read in Deuteronomy that a Prophet is going to come, and we know that this Prophet is none other than the Messiah Himself. If Yeshua taught against the commands of His Father as given to Moses in the Torah, then He would be completely disqualified to be our Messiah!

“I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him” (Deuteronomy 18:18).

The very words of YHVH were placed in the mouth of Yeshua, the Prophet and Messiah foretold. His words! The spit that heals blindness!

If someone were to tell you that the Torah, the commands of God, the very words in the mouth of Yeshua, were the only way to be healed from spiritual blindness, what would you do? Would you quickly wipe them off?

Or would you, like the blind man, say, “Oh, I’m seeing things I’ve never seen before! Please apply more of the words of Your mouth to my life, so that I may see!”

“Receive, please, instruction from His mouth,
And lay up His words in your heart” (Job 22:22).

“I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth
More than my necessary food” (Job 23:12).

“By the word of YHVH the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth” (Psalm 33:6, and see John 1:1-5).

“All the words of [wisdom’s] mouth are with righteousness;
Nothing crooked or perverse is in them” (Proverbs 8:8, and see all of Proverbs 8).

“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11, a verse often quoted by Christians, but do we realize that it is referring to the Law of God?).

“‘As for Me,’ says YHVH, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,’ says YHVH, ‘from this time and forevermore'” (Isaiah 59:21, a beautiful promise for the last days).

Be Zealous Therefore

So what is our response?

I’m going to be blunt honest with you today! If your pastor teaches that we’re not “under” the Law any more, or that the “Law of Christ” is somehow different from the Law of God given by Moses to His people, your pastor is teaching heresy! You should run, not walk!

“Thus says YHVH of hosts:
“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.
They make you worthless;
They speak a vision of their own heart,
Not from the mouth of YHVH” (Jeremiah 23:16).

It is very simple to know if you’re listening to the words of a worthless prophet.

“To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20).

Words against the Law of God will never cure spiritual blindness. They will only cause you to be “wretched, miserable, and blind.”

But there is more. Not only must you stop listening to false teachers, but you must also repent of your sin.

This week, our local congregation is reading together from (groan…) the book of Leviticus, but I was really convicted by several things in Leviticus 19. Just as promised, the Spirit of God never stops showing me my own heart when I look into the mirror of His Word. He gently convicts me, and then I must ask myself if I’m willing to turn from my sin and turn toward righteousness. (That, after all, is the definition of repentance.)

Yeshua says the same thing in Revelation.

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:19).

If we will listen, He will make us spiritually rich. He will clothe us from our shame. He will heal our spiritual blindness.

It’s not fun to be “rebuked” and told that we are living in sin. It’s not pleasant to be told that the bacon in our fridge is a sin (Leviticus 19:26, Leviticus 11:7-8). We don’t like to be told we can’t slander (Leviticus 19:16). We allow disobedience to parents (Leviticus 19:3, 32). We ignore the poor (Leviticus 19:9-10). We lie, steal, break oaths, pervert justice, endanger the lives of others with our selfishness, eat GMO foods, get tattoos for those who have died, seek revenge and bear grudges, and allow idolatry in our homes and church buildings — all breaking commands from just one chapter of the Torah!

We can’t fathom that all the churches meeting on Sunday, rather than resting on Sabbath according to His commandment (Leviticus 19:3, 30), are actually following idolatry and living in disobedience.

How can so many sincere people be wrong? Easy — if they are blinded to the Word and are following the commands of men instead.

“You shall not follow a crowd to do evil” (Exodus 23:2).

We have to determine to (1) hear His Words, by opening our Bibles, from the front, and applying the eye salve to our hearts; (2) repent of our sin zealously, no matter the personal cost, no matter the ridicule and scorn. (As Yeshua later told the blind man, we are not to return to the city where we used to live!)

And if we do what He commands, we will have fellowship with Him. He will heal us.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).