<p>11:8 <em>According as it is written: God gave them a spirit of stupour, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day</em>- This explains in more detail what it means to have a hardened heart (:7). There is a psychological operation performed on the spirit or the mind- by the Spirit. This is in contrast to how God's Spirit works to call by grace; for <em>charis</em>, &quot;grace&quot;, essentially means a gift, and often refers to the gift of God's Spirit. The faithful were 'left' by grace. This is why chapter 8 goes on from talking about election and grace to speak of the Spirit gift in the heart.</p><p>The repentance of Israel will be associated with an opening of their eyes to God's word. &quot;The Lord hath poured out upon (Israel) the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes (quoted in Rom. 11:8 concerning Israel's blindness to Christ)... the vision of all (God's word) is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed... (but) in that day (of the Kingdom) shall the deaf hear the words of the book&quot; (Is. 29:10,11,17,18). This will be when the book is <em>un</em>sealed at &quot;the time of the end&quot; (Dan. 12:4). It will be in our last days that Israel's blindness starts to be cured, thanks to a Word-based revival, led by the Elijah ministry.</p>