But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” —
Paul has just said that the rulers of this age never grasped God's wisdom, and now he backs it up with a line from the prophet Isaiah about what no eye has seen. The question every reader has to settle is whether these words shut the door on knowing God's plans, or whether the apostle quotes them to open it.
A Prophet's Words Turned Into a Contrast
The words are not Paul's own. He takes up Isaiah 64:4 and uses it for a purpose the prophet could not.
William KellyThis is an application of Isaiah 64:4, but not as a direct illustration. It is used for full contrast. God inspired the Jewish prophet to stop at one point: man cannot see through the veil that hides the future blessing God has prepared for the one who waits for Him. The Christian apostle does not stop there. The veil has been torn, and the blood of Jesus gives us courage to come near now... There is no use saying that these things are hidden from man. They were hidden, but God has now revealed them to His children.
Three Closed Doors
The verse names three ways a person gets knowledge, and rules out all three. One writer ties two of them to friends of Job, who each tried that route and got it wrong.
Leslie M. Grant"What no eye has seen": human observation could find nothing here. This was what Eliphaz appealed to when he rebuked Job (Job 4:8), and he was wrong. "Nor ear heard": the ear had never received this from all the gathered wisdom of past ages — the tradition Bildad appealed to when he judged Job (Job 8:8–10). He was just as wrong. "Nor the heart of man imagined": no one's own insight could have imagined wisdom like God's.
Sharpening the senses does not help, because the problem is not their weakness.
Hamilton SmithWith powerful instruments his eye can see far into space and into the tiny wonders of nature. His ear can be trained to hear and enjoy beautiful music. His mind can hold great thoughts and deep feelings. But God has prepared things for those who love Him that the natural man has never seen and never heard. They lie beyond the reach of his highest imagination.
The Half People Miss
Writers warn about where people stop reading. Verse 9 is half of an argument. The next verse gives the other half.
J. N. DarbyAnd there people usually stop. But the apostle goes on, to show the difference between that state and ours: "these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit"... Is it not a strange thing? People quote the passage that says the heart of man has not imagined the things God has prepared for those who love Him. Then they pass over the statement that follows, the one that puts the position of Christians in contrast: God had revealed those things to them, and given them the Spirit so they could understand them.
The Real Contrast
Which two things is Paul comparing? Readers take this more than one way.
The Christian's FriendScripture always contrasts the things of the world with the things of God, but that is not the special teaching here. Nor is the point that the things God reveals are so much greater than our present state that we cannot take them in... The apostle is contrasting believers who lived before Christ came with believers now. In the time of Isaiah their hearts could not enter into the things God had prepared for those who love Him. We are in a different position.
The Things Themselves
What has God "prepared"? One writer answers: something planned before time began, for the glory of people the world overlooks.
An Outline of Sound WordsThese wonderful things do not belong to earth or to time. They were in the mind and heart of God before time began. They were meant to enrich the very people the great men of this world think nothing of... How wonderful that He planned to bring the weak things He had chosen, the lowly and the despised of the world, into the brightest glory with Christ, His own beloved Son.
Those Who Love Him
The verse does not describe the recipients as clever or qualified. It describes them by their affection for God — and their portion covers both halves of life.
An Outline of Sound WordsFor now, those who love God have all the care of a loving Father. For the future, God promises them wonderful blessings together with His own Son. The natural man has no ability to understand these things.
Summary
- Prepared before time. God settled what He has for His people in His heart before the ages. It is not made of earthly stuff. It belongs to glory with Christ.
- Prepared beyond reach. Looking, listening to the wisdom of past ages, and imagining all fail here. Better instruments and training only sharpen senses that could never reach this.
- Prepared, then quoted. Isaiah stopped at the veil, because in his day it still hung there. Paul quotes him to mark the contrast, not to repeat the limit.
- Prepared, then revealed. Stopping at "those who love Him" reverses the apostle's point. The next words say God has revealed these things through the Spirit. They can be known now.
- Prepared for lovers of God. Love marks out these people, not status: the Father's care for today, and blessing with His Son for what is coming.