according as it is written, God gave them. spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this very day. "as it is written" -Combination of Deuteronomy 29:4; Isaiah 2:10; Isaiah 2:9.

We should note that such 'hardening' didn't mean that people couldn't understand what Jesus or Paul taught. For the 'hardened' enemies of both clearly understood what was being taught. (John 5:18; John 10:33; Matthew 27:63; Matthew 21:45) When Stephen rebuked the Jews he was preaching to, he didn't rebuke them for not 'understanding' the Word of God revealed through their prophets, but rather, for "resisting" it (Acts 7:51).

"God gave them" -this must be understood in the sense that God allowed people to reject His will and resist it. (Romans 1:24) God allows people to believe error, to become stubborn, and to enter. self-imposed state of ignorance. This is one of those 'sow-reap' laws in the spiritual realm. If you reject the truth, you will end up believing lies. (2 Timothy 4:2)

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Old Testament