Ears to hear and understand

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Matthew 11:12; Mark 4:9

"Hear this now, O foolish people, without understanding,
Who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not:
Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord. ‘Will you not tremble at My presence,
Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea,
By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?
And though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail;
Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.
But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart;
They have revolted and departed.
They do not say in their heart,
“Let us now fear the Lord our God...." Jeremiah 5:21-24

“God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear....” Romans 11:8

God's command: Go, speak to those who will not hear (contrary to today's formula for successful leadership)

"I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?'
Then I said, 'Here am I! Send me.'
And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
'Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes;

Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears....
Then I [Isaiah] said, 'Lord, how long?'
And He answered: 'Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant,
The houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate..." Isaiah 6:8-11

But the people preferred false prophets with more positive messages

"Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you...
They speak a vision of their own heart,
Not from the mouth of the Lord.
They continually say to those who despise Me,
‘The Lord has said, 'You shall have peace’;
And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say,
‘No evil shall come upon you.’” Jeremiah 23:16-17

"To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear?
Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed.
Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.
Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord. I am weary of holding it in.
“I will pour it out on the children outside, and on the assembly of young men together;
For even the husband shall be taken with the wife...
And their houses shall be turned over to others, fields and wives together;
For I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.
“Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is given to covetousness;
And from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.
They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed; nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time I punish them, they shall be cast down.” Jeremiah 6:9-15

Resisting (unpopular & offensive) truth

“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers..." Acts 7:51-53

"Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord, do not charge them with this sin.' And when he had said this, he fell asleep." Acts 7:57- 60

"But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts." Zechariah 7:11-12

"Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you.
Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing
That you have forsaken the Lord your God, and the fear of Me is not in you,”
Says the Lord God of hosts." Jeremiah 2:19

“For My people are foolish, they have not known Me.
They are silly children, and they have no understanding.
They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.” Jeremiah 4:22

“Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it;
Then you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
Therefore hear, you nations," Jeremiah 6:16-18

“Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house." Ezekiel 12:2

Everyone will deceive his neighbor,
And will not speak the truth;
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They weary themselves to commit iniquity.
Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the Lord." Jeremiah 9:5

"But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, 'Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?" Mark 8:17-18

But God always had a remnant of faithful ones who loved the truth

"But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” John 10:2-5

"Behold, a king will reign in righteousness...
The eyes of those who see will not be dim,
And the ears of those who hear will listen." Isaiah 32:1-3

"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing.
For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert." Isaiah 35:5-6

Jesus said to them, "...it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.... I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
       ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
       And seeing you will see and not perceive;
       For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
       Their ears are hard of hearing,
       And their eyes they have closed,
       Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
       Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
       So that I should heal them.’
"But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." Matthew 13:11-17

"Jesus answered and said to them, 'Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” Matthew 11:4-6

"So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.
      "And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.
     "Then all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen!' while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground." Nehemiah 8:2-6