97 Israel is Blind and Deaf

The Lord has chosen many servants. Some of them are the prophets as He clearly states in Amos 3:7. When He Himself came to earth as the Messiah this was another of His servants. Genuine believers who do His work are another group with that title. This iteration of the "Servant" is speaking of the chosen people Israel. Although Israel had been chosen of God to become His messenger to the world, they had not fully carried out this in obedience to God's plan. The word for messenger represents the Hebrew word which may also be translated as angel. That is to say, biblical Hebrew uses the one word for both heavenly and earthly messengers.

Asking a rhetorical question, God says to Israel why should He call the Gentiles blind and deaf, when Israel with all the blessings and advantages of knowing God, refused to see or hear Him? After all, God hasn't changed over the centuries; He is holy and pure, and whenever we scorn Him, we run the risk of incurring His judgment. Sin is an offense to Him—and the reason is because sin is a deliberate denial of God and His will for our lives. When we sin, we deliberately turn our backs on God and say our way is better than His. But we are wrong—and eventually we will pay the price. The Bible warns that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).
The same is true of a nation that rejects God. When ancient Israel turned against God, the prophets warned that God's judgment would eventually come upon them—and it did. But God also warned that the surrounding nations would be judged too because they had no regard for God—and they were. Sometimes it happens in one great catastrophe; sometimes it happens in a series of smaller disasters & defeats