The Clouded Vision of Spiritual Blindness
Scales are on our eyes. We all have or have had a bias against or FOR something or against someone. What has to happen for that bias to change?
Surrender.
Before GOD opens our eyes, we don’t even realize we’re blind. Spiritual blindness isn’t a flaw of a few; it’s the starting point of all of us. This is an honest and universal truth about the human condition.
We all begin blind. This is a shared human condition. Before any of us sees GOD clearly, we live with a partial understanding of His Holiness. We also have a slew of distorted assumptions of how He expects us to live, when we decide to surrender our personal freedom to His LORDship. One of the things that holds us back from being fully committed is the nature that tells us to be self‑protective. We can do that very well when it comes to spiritual requirements but are not very keen on the physical side.
We do some wild and crazy actions but are unwilling to be fully committed to knowing and pursuing His Truth, as He said and meant It, and not by the standards we place out there.
We have inherited beliefs that drive and dictate how far we trust Him. We say we do, but, when it appears or feels outside of our comfortability zone, we must adjust and take the easier and more acceptable route.
Serving the Lord is not always about Him as it is about how we feel, and how people see us.
We do have a need and desire to be noticed, but if that scrutiny is at the wounds that shape us, we may veer towards acceptance over righteousness and sidestep Biblical accuracy. In choosing this route, we remain blind and trust the hierarchy and people we have placed over or ahead of us. When we do this spiritually, we experience deficits in numerous ways and end up unable to see clearly—blindness has set in.
In Scripture, blindness is not just a physical condition, it’s a spiritual attitude. It’s the inability to perceive what is real, good, holy, or true.
We’ve all been there. Many of us still drift in and out of it.
Have you ever been closed to the Truth, or at least wanting to know and understand what you are missing? That is what happens to us all, before we see GOD and His Son, Yeshua (Jesus) clearly. Spiritual blindness is where we have been, and sometimes still are. We are all guilty of this.
17 So Ananias (Hananyah) departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit,” 18 and immediately something like fish scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; 19 and he took food and was strengthened.”— Acts 9:17-19
Why Ananias (Hananyah)? Because of the fear that Saul had put into the followers of Jesus in his blindness, (Hananyah) was a bit uncomfortable—yet obedient. This action was a really cool personification of his name, for his name means, ““YHVH has been gracious.” He becomes the vessel of GOD’s kindness, mercy and pity towards Saul. What did he do? He obediently laid hands on him, restoring his sight, and welcoming him as “Brother Saul.”
This was the beginning of the transformation from spiritual blindness to having the desire to see and hear the Truth of the Lord Who redeemed Saul from the pit of death and destruction of disbelief! Saul needed to surrender and obtain spiritual restoration, along with seeing that the Messiah had come and risen. The words of Yeshua’s followers were actual and real. Saul had been killing and persecuting them out of recklessly impaired vision. Instead of condemning Saul, Yeshua taught Him how everything worked together.
Previously, before his awakening, Saul hunted early followers of Jesus because he saw “the Way” as a dangerous, Law‑corrupting movement that threatened the purity and stability of Israel’s Covenant identity. As I said above, “Yeshua taught Him how everything worked together” and the Way and the Law were One and in line with what His Father Commanded.
Per the Scriptures, Saul was a zealous Pharisee and was fiercely loyal to the Law of GOD and also some Law-guarding traditions of the Sanhedrin.
He believed the Jesus movement was a heretical sect undermining Torah faithfulness.
So…he took it upon himself to stamp it out by searching homes, arresting believers, and pursuing them even beyond Jerusalem.
His goal was not random violence but protecting Israel [as he understood it] from what he saw as a corrupting influence.
Jesus’ kindness met him during his intensive rage on the Damascus‑road. That encounter shocked the world of Judea!
What really happened in Acts 9? We don’t have all the details of what happened, but what we were told in the account was quite the transformation for Saul. …and collaterally, Hananyah.
My conversion was not as fantastic and impactful as Saul’s, but meeting the Savior transformed me! This phrase comes from Saul’s encounter with the risen Messiah. After the blinding light on the Damascus Road, he remained sightless until Ananias laid hands on him, and “Something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see again.”
Over the years, I’ve had numerous “belief” corrections and adjustments. Studying and research does help, but the Holy Spirit is the Moreh we all need. Jesus said, “His Father will send us another (of the same kind as He) Counselor”, since Jesus is the first Advocate; the Spirit will continue His work. “He will teach us all things” & “Bring to our remembrance everything He has said.”
NOTE: Moreh— He will point the Way, Teacher, Instructor, One Who causes others to learn.
The Books of the Bible (all of them) uses many ways to teach and show us what, why, who, how, when, where in the proper context and actual culture. One of the FAVORITE tools to accomplish this is via metaphors & symbolism. They have been great guides for me. Both metaphors and symbolisms overlap, but they’re not identical. They’re related like cousins in the same family of meaning-making. Again, cool stuff. The Bible uses another (7) literary tools and resources to help us dig in and learn, if we want to really understand and not just guess and/or take someone else’s word at it.
The Bible in and of Itself is not the study or quest of theology, It IS the world of YADA for and of the LORD of the Scriptures!
NOTE: Yaha— To know intimately, experientially, relationally, and Covenantal understanding. It is not intellectual knowledge. It is relational participation.
The question may be, “Why Scripture uses blindness as a metaphor?” One of the reasons I’ve learned is, our (blind) carelessness is something that causes these struggles…
unintentional ignorance
limited growth, maturation and understanding
slows down our openness for GOD to heal us
The fact is, no one wakes up and says, “I want to be blind.” Blindness happens to us. Spiritual blindness is the same. We need Jesus (the Spirit) to give us the sight of Truth. Paul got his realignment; I am always be set straight on something and I hope that you too are asking questions of the Spirit of Truth. As I said earlier, I have learned a lot in these 35+ years.
We NEVER STOP learning.
When GOD opens our eyes (awakening), it’s rarely gentle (to us). Why do I say that? Well, it’s disruptive and spiritual humbling.
That moment of awakening can feel like having your whole world flattened, but it started with a visit from the Spirit of Truth. In your spiritual blindness, physical blindness happened and corrections from a reteaching (understanding) took place. …just like Saul on the Damascus Road, the light doesn’t just reveal GOD, it reveals us, and that’s uncomfortable before it becomes liberating.
Seeing isn’t believing. Believing is seeing. Acknowledging, trusting and serving Yeshua (Jesus) is way more than getting saved. It is showing your gratitude to the One Who pulled you and I from certain death. What is the cost of that? It is lifelong gratitude and allegiance. You want to always be available for that person. In living that out, you WILL learn the facts and details you would have NEVER seen from a distance.
Like Paul, I thought I understood my obedience was pleasing the Father. In some ways, yes, I suppose. However, my eyes are clearer these days, and I see Jesus, the Spirit and the Father in ways I never imagined. My pursuit is a lot more intentional, and I can see much clearer concerning many things.
I Can’t EVER STOP learning. There is too much at risk.
How does Saul/Paul "see" now, after his 3-year learning about Stuff? We need to remember, the Law has not changed, and Jesus is the Law in the flesh. What is new? What now? Paul has been enlightened and everything suddenly converges, not explodes.
Those quiet, hidden years after Damascus, for Saul were certainly noteworthy for us.
NOTE: The Law didn’t change, and Yeshua didn’t replace it.
NOTE: I would imagine, this would be somewhat like the 3-years the selected (12) spent physically with Yeshua, and their entire worldview was transformed, just as Saul’s was.
So, what changed for Paul? It was not the Law; it was his sight. Paul didn’t get a new Torah, but he received new eyes. Isn’t this what we all need? “…to see the Word with new eyes, while being taught by the Holy Spirit, our (Teacher) Moreh?” Paul now sees the Law through the face of the One Who gave it. The One who IS It.
The Damascus encounter doesn’t rewrite Scripture; it reorientates the person reading It.
NOTE: Maybe I should have just said, the individual reading this account of Paul’s turn, is exactly what the reader requires…to turn in a new direction, to adjust his/her position towards what the Spirit of GOD wants to show you.
“I” don’t see it as you discarding what you had/have but possibly rearranging your search and pursuit of the Father with a more complete and whole focus.
I will locate some Scripture addresses and place them below, for your edification and pilgrimage.
What does “scales” represent in Acts 9 and beyond? As you read what I will list below, maybe you will be thinking of some that I either overlooked, or just simply do not know.
Why would the road leading to the town called Dammeseq (Damascus) be of importance? We all have to ‘get there’. Right? It is really about where Saul was going, even though he had to be on the road in the first place.
Here are some nuggets I learned about Damascus (well-watered or flowing water). The town’s water source is fed by a river. That makes it an ‘oasis’ in the desert.
Earlier, I mentioned that symbolism is majorly used in Scripture. …especially, in the communication skills of the Hebrew language.
Consider, as much as Paul loved the TANAKH, He lacked the foresight that he had missed the arrival of the Messiah, Who was foretold in the Scriptures he was vehemently defending. As GOD would have it, SAUL’s spiritual drought would end in a place whose name hinted at water, life, and renewal. How COOL is THAT?
Saul had no clue that his road to inflict pain was the same one that led to Damascus (Dammeseq) to see and experience a new horizon, but with new eyes.
The name Dammeseq fits the moment. The “defining” moment of the town he was being realigned in was defined as “A doorway through the waters, through pressure, into a new horizon.” Doesn’t that sound like Paul’s 3-year Damascus stretch?
In Hebraic metaphors, anything that forms a covering over the eyes symbolizes:
blocked understanding
distorted perception
inability to see truth or reality
GOD is Always Removing Blindness and Opening Eyes
Genesis 21:19 – GOD opens Hagar’s eyes to see the well.
Numbers 22:31 – The Lord opens Balaam’s eyes.
2 Kings 6:17 – Elisha prays for his servant’s eyes to be opened.
2 Kings 6:18–20 – GOD blinds and then restores sight to the Arameans.
Psalm 119:18 – “Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things.”
Isaiah 35:5 – Eyes of the blind opened in the Messianic age.
Isaiah 42:16 – GOD leads the blind and makes darkness light.
Isaiah 43:8 – A people “who have eyes but are blind.”
Spiritual Blindness & Hardened Eyes
Deuteronomy 29:4 – Israel given eyes that do not see.
1 Samuel 3:2 – Eli’s eyes “growing dim.”
Matthew 13:13–15 – Seeing they do not see.
Mark 8:17–18 – “Do you have eyes but fail to see?”
John 9:39–41 – “If you were blind, you would not be guilty.”
Romans 1:21–22 – Darkened hearts and futile thinking.
Romans 11:8–10 – GOD gives a “spirit of stupor… eyes that cannot see.”
Ephesians 4:18 – Darkened in understanding.
Revelation 3:17–18 – Laodicea thinks it sees but is blind.
Here are some passages where Jesus heals blindness. I could not help it. I HAD to give you all of these. They use physical healing as a metaphor for spiritual sight.
Matthew 11:5 – “The blind receive sight.”
Matthew 12:22 – Blind and mute man healed.
Matthew 15:30–31 – Many blind healed.
Matthew 20:30–34 – Blind men near Jericho.
Mark 8:22–26 – Blind man healed in two stages.
Mark 10:46–52 – Bartimaeus receives sight.
Luke 4:18 – Jesus sent to give recovery of sight.
Luke 7:21–22 – Blind receive sight.
Luke 18:35–43 – Blind man near Jericho.
John 9 (entire chapter) – Man born blind; spiritual blindness theme.
These are passages about enlightenment and illumination that describe the positive side of the metaphor—new sight.
Psalm 19:8 – The Commandment enlightens the eyes.
Psalm 36:9 – “In Your Light we see light.”
Ephesians 1:18 – “Eyes of your heart enlightened.”
These are passages about darkness and transformation via the Light.
Isaiah 60:1–3 – Rise, shine; your Light has come.
John 1:4–5 – Light shines in the darkness.
Acts 26:18 – Paul’s mission: open eyes, turn from darkness to light.
I pray that these letters formed words that assisted you with considering your place in the journey to understand who you are in Christ. Ask the spirit of the Living GOD,
“Am I blind?” & “In what areas?”
Here is a thought to urge you forward… If some spiritual blindness exists in you, it is not failure, it’s the place where Yeshua’s kindness, pity and mercy begin; and when the scales fall off.
When our spiritual vision ability is unhindered, you and I will not just see GOD differently, we will see ourselves, others, our wounds and our own story. …with a clarity we didn’t know we were missing.