Shincheonji’s Perspective
Isaiah 29:9-13: This passage is central to the concept of a sealed scroll, portraying a time when God’s vision is inaccessible to human understanding. The verses describe the vision as “words sealed in a scroll,” incomprehensible even to those who are considered learned or literate.
Isaiah 29:9-13 discusses a situation where God’s vision is hidden. The verses describe this vision as being like a sealed book that no one can understand, neither prophets or seers (leaders). This inaccessibility of God’s word, according to Shincheonji, leads people to rely on human traditions and rules for their religious understanding.
Creation of Heaven and Earth, p. 339
This same content also appears in Rv 6-7. Isaiah 29:9-13, however, says that because God’s vision is like words sealed in a book, none of the prophets or the seers (heads) can understand. This same concept also appears in Rv 5, where no one is able to open, much less see or read, the book sealed with seven seals that are in God’s right hand. The consequence of the inaccessibility of God’s word is that people can only learn and teach according to the rules and traditions of men. Believers who attempt to draw closer to the Lord do so only with their lips because their hearts are far from God (Is 29:13)
SCJ ties this verse with Revelation 5, and the sealed book, where no one can understand the book of Revelation until it is fulfilled and revealed.
SCJ uses this verse, and ties it with the sealed scroll of Revelation 5, citing The Creation of Heaven and Earth, p. 8:
Approximately 2,700 years ago the prophet Isaiah saw visions regarding Judah and Jerusalem (Is 1:1). Approximately 2,000 years ago Apostle John, who was in exile on the island of Patmos, received the revelation of Jesus Christ (Rv 1:1-2). The visions and revelations these two men received included information about God’s sealed book (Is 29:9-14; Rv 5, 10). Let us understand the sealed book and the process of revelation more deeply.
This shows that the book of Revelation, or even the prophecies contained in the Bible, cannot be understood until the fulfillment and reality appear.
Isaiah calling for the Repentance of Israel
First, let’s go ahead and examine the context of Isaiah to see if the verse of Isaiah 29 is really the entire Bible, as referenced by Lee Manhee.
The purpose of Isaiah 29:9-13 was to highlight how the Israelites were unable to understand God, or the prophets, because of their hardened hearts and rebellious attitudes against God. The scroll in reference to Isaiah 29 was in reference to the upcoming disaster and destruction of Israel, or at most, could be in reference to the book of Isaiah as a whole. However, this chapter and reference was not in reference to the book of Revelation, nor was it in reference to the entire Bible.
While it is true that Jesus does quote this passage to talk about the spiritual state of the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law during the First Coming (Matthew 15:8-9), the ability to understand what God was trying to warn his people can still be found within the scroll of Isaiah, especially when looking at the context.
Isaiah 29:9-13 emerges in a critical historical moment, shortly after the destruction of Samaria, addressing the people of Jerusalem and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Isaiah warns of impending judgment due to the people’s hardened hearts and persistent rebellion against God. This prophecy, delivered in the wake of Samaria’s fall, serves as a dire warning to Jerusalem, emphasizing the urgency and immediacy of the call to repentance.
The metaphor of the sealed book in these verses vividly illustrates the communication breakdown between God and His people. Isaiah describes how both the literate and illiterate are unable to understand the divine message, stating, “The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which, when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, ‘Please read this,’ he will say, ‘I cannot, because it is sealed.’ Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, ‘Please read this.’ And he will say, ‘I cannot read.’” This metaphor is not an indication of the scripture’s inherent obscurity but rather symbolizes the spiritual blindness of the people— a blindness brought on by their own choices and disobedience.
The calls for repentance throughout the Book of Isaiah, such as in Isaiah 1:16-20, underscore that the prophesied destruction is not inevitable. God invites Israel to “reason together” with Him, offering forgiveness and promising purification from sins if they choose obedience over rebellion: “Though your sins are as scarlet, They shall become as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, You will eat the best of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword.” This conditional nature of prophecy highlights the potential for change and restoration, contingent upon the people’s response.
Isaiah’s commission, as reiterated in Isaiah 6:9-11, to preach to a spiritually insensitive audience is both a judgment and a fulfillment of their current condition. It serves as a dramatic representation of the people’s spiritual state, yet it also reflects the possibility of transformation should they heed the call to repentance.
However, the narrative throughout Isaiah is not merely one of impending doom but also one of potential redemption. The conditional prophecies remind Israel that their future hinges on their spiritual choices and responsiveness to God’s persistent calls for repentance and renewal. This ongoing dialogue between divine warning and the offer of mercy highlights the dynamic nature of prophetic texts as immediate and accessible, intended to prompt action and reflection among the original audience.
In contrast, Shincheonji’s interpretation that the words of Isaiah—and by extension, other prophetic texts—are fundamentally inaccessible until a certain future revelation conflicts with this broader textual and thematic context. Their focus on a future unsealing by a specific leader undermines the immediate relevance and universal accessibility of Isaiah’s messages. The misuse of the sealed book metaphor to support an esoteric and exclusive approach to scripture illustrates a typical cultic hermeneutic, which extracts metaphors from their literary and historical contexts to justify doctrinal claims not supported by the broader biblical narrative.