Blinded

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 2 Cor. 4:4

How does Satan blind the mind of the unbeliever? What gives place to this veil? I believe the Lord has shown me a valuable clue. The word "blinded” in 2 Corinthians 4:4 (KJV) is tuphloo, which means "to dull the intellect; to make blind." The root word, tupho, has the meaning of making smoke, and the blindness in this passage is like a smoke screen that clouds or darkens the air in such a way as to prohibit a person from seeing.

This made sense to me, but it didn’t seem to fully answer how he did it. Then I made a fascinating discovery. From this same root comes a word (tuphoo) that is used for being high-minded, proud or inflated with self-conceit. The picture is of one who is "puffed up" much like smoke puffs up or billows.

When I saw the connection between the words blindness and pride, a major missing link was supplied for me. I realized immediately it was the sin of pride, passed on from Lucifer to humankind in the Garden, that Satan uses to blind them.

I realized that most rejection of Christ, whether from the works motivation of most false religions or the simple fact most people just don’t want to give lordship of their lives to another, is due to pride. It is the ultimate enemy of Christ and will ultimately be dealt with in finality when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Christ is Lord. Pride will be dealt its final blow!

(Sheets, Dutch. 1996. Intercessory Prayer. Ventura, CA: Regal Books. pg 166)