Some 2,600 years ago, God warned His people of the dangers of following leaders who are blind—not physically blind, but blind to reality. These were leaders who were unable to see truth and whose minds were darkened by the methods, principles, and practices of this world. But what caused their minds to be darkened, to have eyes that did not see?

Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble in my presence? I, the LORD, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set. But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me. They do not say from the heart, “Let us live in awe of the LORD our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.” Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things (Jeremiah 5:21–25 NLT).

The people were spiritually blind because they did not revere the Lord. They did not recognize Him as Creator and Sustainer of reality. They didn’t view the world through the lens of God’s kingdom; thus, the blind followed the blind. God gave the people truth that would enlighten their minds, but they preferred the darkness of this world. Isaiah described this reality: “See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples” (Isaiah 60:2 NIV84).

Jeremiah leaves no doubt as to the reason the people of God were blind, were in darkness (my comments in red):

The priests did not ask, “Where is the LORD?” Those who deal with the law did not know me [the church leaders focused on the law, the rules, the penal/legal forms of religion, but they did not know God]; the leaders rebelled against me [and the political leaders rebelled against God, leading the nation to practice principles contrary to God’s kingdom]. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols [false prophets arose spreading lies that the people believed] (Jeremiah 2:8 NIV84).

The people were led astray by blind religious and political leaders because they did not think for themselves, they did not challenge the priests, governors, king, or the “experts.” But why were the people so easily misled by those in positions of authority, whether religious or political?

My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good (Jeremiah 4:22 NIV84).

The people were in darkness because they did not know God for themselves. Yes, they knew about God—they knew religion, rituals, rules, ceremonies, and forms. But they didn’t know God. They didn’t have an experience with God of their own; therefore, they surrendered their thinking to the leaders of their society and were led into even greater forms of darkness.

Restoring Spiritual Sight

But God did not abandon humanity to the darkness. No! God has sent the Light, the Truth, that enlightens the minds of all who accept it:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (John 1:1–5 NIV84).

Jesus is the light that dispels the darkness because He is God in human flesh. When we see Jesus, we see the Father (John 14:9). It is the light, the truth, about God and His kingdom—His methods, principles, and design laws for life—that we need. And it is only in Jesus that we find the truth about God and His law of love revealed, practiced, and lived out. Two thousand years ago, Jesus told His disciples:

The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you [the secret truths are the truths about God’s kingdom of love, which were obscured by the darkness, the lies of Satan, the false methods, practices, and beliefs of this fallen world], but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him [this is the outworking of the laws of worship (by beholding we become changed) and exertion (strength comes through exercise—if you don’t use it you lose it). Those who accept the truth about God, worship Him in His true light, embrace and practice His methods and principles, grow to be more like Him; their minds and comprehension of truth and reality expand. But those who reject the truth about God, who cling to the world’s view of an imperial-dictator god who makes up rules and inflicts punishment for rule-breaking, have minds that become darkened; any light they did have slowly goes out]. 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 (Matthew 13:11–17 NIV84).

Those who either reject God (the atheist, humanist, evolutionist, communist) or those who cling to an imperial-dictator view of Him have minds that are darkened. Both groups operate under Satan’s view of reality—that law is imposed rules requiring imposed punishments, that authority comes from position (office), and that justice is the enforcement of the right laws or rules.

The Healing Light Rejected

Today’s leaders (state and church), who nearly unanimously hold such views, are blind guides; they do not see reality and, therefore, don’t comprehend the truth of what is happening in the world today. The solutions they propose almost always make things worse, not better, because their solutions are based on sinful principles, not God’s design laws for life. They are leading people further and further away from God, from reality, and from eternal life.

Who are the world’s masses following today? Is it not leaders who don’t know God? Is it not either world leaders who deny God altogether and teach that we evolved from lower life forms, or church leaders, who, like the priests of Israel 2,600 years ago, do not know God and focus on imposed law and teach a penal/legal religion?

Look around the world and ask: Who do the masses believe? Who are they listening to? Whose agenda, plans, protocols, policies, and guidelines are they following?

The answers are abundantly clear. But what, then, are the wise to do?

“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD (Jeremiah 9:23, 24 NIV84).

Enlightenment, wisdom, true knowledge, the ability to see and understand reality—all come from knowing God. This knowledge cannot be obtained for you by another person. We must each know God for ourselves. We must individually exercise our God-given ability to think—to reason, to study—and choose to embrace truth and reject lies. We must individually open our hearts to God, invite Him in, and commune with Him. We must individually develop a personal, intimate relationship with God. We must know God for ourselves. We must know His goodness, kindness, and righteousness. We must know that God is love and, as Creator, built all reality to operate upon His design laws, which are the basis of life, health, and happiness.

When we know God and His character, understand and embrace His methods, and live out His laws of life, then we have minds that are enlightened, growing our ability to see and comprehend even more truth. We do not surrender our judgment to others, especially leaders who reject God, regardless of the office they hold, whether in the church or in the world.

Being Bold with the Truth

Those who know God for themselves become like Jesus, who spoke truth into the darkness. But even Jesus’ own disciples were often uncomfortable with what He said—and they even warned Him to be more careful, to be more sensitive, to be more politically correct and to not offend, especially those in leadership. But notice how Jesus answered them:

Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:12-14 NIV84).

Those who get offended by the truth, by having their ideas and narrative challenged—through investigation, inquiry, open discussion of facts, evidence, and data—are blind guides and should not be followed. Conversely, lovers of truth don’t take offense when new ideas are presented, when questions arise, when contrary data is presented, because truth loses nothing by investigation. Indeed, lovers of truth will openly invite scrutiny because it is the only way to grow and advance in the truth.

But those who don’t have truth, whose positions and platforms rest upon lies, cannot allow truth, facts, and evidence to be presented lest their power, positions, and image be damaged. Just like the Pharisees in Christ’s day, the blind guides of today take offense at the truth and seek to silence, censure, and destroy those who present it (Matthew 12:14).

We must stop listening to the blind guides in the church and in the world—to those who don’t know God. Understand this clearly: People who believe that God does not exist, who believe we evolved from lower life forms, are blind to reality. They cannot comprehend correctly what is happening and, thus, seek solutions that utilize the methods of God’s enemy—imperial laws, force, coercion, and control.

Why are the people of God still so vulnerable to following these blind guides? Perhaps it is as Jesus warned the church of Laodicea:

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:15–20 NIV84).

Perhaps the problem today is that the people of God are themselves blind but believe they can see. Perhaps it is because they have a form of godliness with no power (2 Timothy 3:5), a religion of imposed laws and rules, because they do not know God and, therefore, do not know how reality operates.

The only solution for this spiritual blindness is allowing Jesus to come into our hearts; we need to know God personally, individually, intimately—for “this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3 NIV84). It is this knowledge that we need—the knowledge of God that enlightens the mind, that gives true wisdom, the enables us to see and understand what is happening in the world.

It is only by coming back to the truth about God that Jesus revealed and by embracing Him as our Creator—whose laws are design laws, the protocols life is built to operate upon—that we can leave the darkness and enter the light. Then, in that trust relationship with our God of love, our hearts are opened so that Jesus can come in and transform us; His living law of love is written upon our hearts and minds; and we become beacons of heavenly light in a dark and depraved world. This is God plan for us:

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD (Jeremiah 31:33, 34 NIV84).

Don’t follow the blind guides, whether in the world or in the church—those who deny God as well as those who believe in God but don’t actually know Him. Think for yourself; inquire and investigate the evidence the Creator has provided, with a heart open to truth. Determine to know God for yourself, especially through the life, methods, teachings, and behavior of Jesus. Embrace the Creator’s design laws into your heart and become a living light for HIs kingdom.