God exercises sovereignty over both physical sight and spiritual vision, which is understanding. At times, He removes metaphorical sight as He works out His purpose. Exodus 4:11 underscores His authority, where He declares to Moses that He is responsible for who sees or is blind, extending His sovereignty into spiritual abilities. He governs humanity's capacity to perceive spiritually, as Solomon observes in Proverbs 25:2, that it is the glory of God to conceal a matter. Spiritual incomprehension is evident in God's warnings to the Israelites, where He promises madness, blindness, and confusion of heart for disobedience, hobbling their ability to understand and reason (Deuteronomy 28:15, 28). This mental blindness creates a dreadful situation, preventing rational discernment or recognition of solutions like repentance. The nations of Israel suffer under curses yet remain blind to the cause-and-effect relationship between national immorality and their problems, groping aimlessly for solutions that exclude God. His willingness to take away understanding and wisdom often makes many uncomfortable, as they struggle to accept that He would act in such a way. In the New Testament, Jesus declares in John 9:39 that part of His ministry is to make some blind while opening the eyes of others, affirming His prerogative to blind minds. He states that He has come for judgment, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may be made blind. This principle of blinding extends to Israel, where God has currently blinded them until He calls those He has determined to convert, intending to restore their understanding in the future.

God often spiritually blinds humanity, either because the time is not right for individuals or groups to gain understanding, with their opportunity still ahead, or as a curse due to sin. He has given all humanity a measure of understanding about His existence, yet most turn away, choosing falsehoods that seem more reasonable. People blind themselves through their choices, and as a result, God gives them over to those decisions, allowing the consequences to unfold without approving their actions. At times, He amplifies the effects of sin, making the spiritual plight of those rebelling against Him worse. In judgment, God may cause a famine of hearing His Word, diminishing understanding as a devastating curse. This action reflects the prior choices of the people, who yearned for falsehoods and ignored His revelation, leading Him to withdraw their ability to comprehend. Similarly, in response to rejecting truth, God may send strong delusion, giving people more of what their hearts desire as a form of condemnation. This pattern is evident in the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, a form of spiritual blindness where Pharaoh's initial choice to oppress led to God cursing him with madness and confusion, ensuring his destructive path. Jesus Christ teaches that spiritual eyesight depends on focus, warning that treasuring anything other than God equates to serving mammon and walking in darkness. Blinding oneself can be as simple as letting God slip from view, causing understanding to regress through sin. This process of self-blinding may unfold slowly, offering many chances to choose differently, but a wrong focus can persist and lead to severe consequences. Among the converted, spiritual blindness is evident in the church of Laodicea, where members are unaware of their true condition due to distraction by mammon. Jesus Christ expects them to anoint their own eyes, indicating that this blindness is primarily self-inflicted, though He may give them over to it in chastening. Overcoming this condition requires discerning one's blindness and working to restore a singular focus on God, recognizing that lacking faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness, or love signals shortsightedness or blindness. God desires to help overcome this blindness, seeking a close relationship, but individuals must choose to seek Him and submit to truth to keep their eyes open on the path to His Kingdom.

God's sovereignty extends over both physical and metaphorical sight, encompassing understanding and comprehension. He declares that He blinds, whether as a punishment for disobedience or as part of His purpose in guiding His creation toward everlasting light. He hides and reveals truth according to His will, opening or closing spiritual eyes as He deems appropriate, sometimes out of judgment or mercy. In their natural state, humans cannot handle His knowledge, so He adjusts their exposure to truth based on their capacity. He has concluded humanity in unbelief to show mercy on all, blinding the spiritual eyes of those He will work with in later ages, as part of His glory is to conceal matters. In contrast, Satan is not committed to truth but to lies and distortion, lacking the authority to open or close eyes. Instead, he twists available truth, encouraging human nature to deceive itself, though he does not blind as God does. Mankind remains without excuse regarding the truth of God's existence, yet many suppress this truth, closing their own eyes with Satan's aid, as seen when the serpent offered Eve an alternative narrative that led to her rejection of God's word. The context of spiritual blindness reveals two groups: those being saved and those perishing, with the latter unable to fully grasp the gospel due to veiled minds. God Himself blinded Israel due to their hardness of heart and rejection of Him, intensifying their self-inflicted blindness as a consequence of disobedience. When Jesus came, most could not recognize Him spiritually because God withheld this understanding, not out of vindictiveness, but due to their persistent rejection. He opens the eyes of those He calls to heal their minds, while others remain blinded until the appointed time, held responsible for less than the elect.