Grasshopper wrote;
Joh 12:37 But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they did not believe on Him,
Joh 12:38 so that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"
Joh 12:39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again,
Joh 12:40 "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them."
First, you left out part of the passage. Look at verse 42
John 12:42
Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
So,
some could see, hear, and believe.
Also, these scriptures from Isaiah 53 are shown in Matthew and Mark. In Matthew Jesus himself shows the
reason for their blindness.
Matt 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
So, here in Matthew 13 Jesus discloses the reason for their blindness. It is not that God caused them to be blind, it is because
"their eyes they have closed".
As for God hardening someone's heart, I cannot remember if it was in this thread or another that I showed of Pharoah of Egypt. Over 15 times it says God hardened his heart. There is no better evidence in the Bible to prove if God hardens a man's heart than Pharoah.
But what do the scriptures say? Was it God that hardened Pharoah's heart, or was it Pharoah himself?
Exo 8:15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite,
he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
Who hardened Pharoah's heart here? Pharoah.
Exo 8:32
And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.
Exo 8:34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased,
he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
35 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken by Moses.
What you do not understand is what God means when he says he will harden someone's heart. Maybe a true story from my life will help explain.
Have you ever had a discussion or disagreement with someone who is very proud and stubborn and you were correct? I'm not saying you thought you were correct, but you were in all truth correct?
I have had a few discussions like this. One of the worst arguments I ever had with a person was with the lyrics over a song. Sounds silly, but it turned into a heated argument.
This person was singing that old hit by Bob Dylan, Lay Lady Lay. When it came to the part where Bob Dylan sings, "you can have your
cake and eat it too", this person sang, "you can have your
pig and eat it too". I kid you not, this is what this person sang.
Well, of course I laughed (bad move) and said, "That's not how it goes, it says you can have your
cake and eat it too". Well, this person got very angry and insisted it did not and they were correct. I told them they were wrong and that "pig" would absolutely make no sense, and that the reference was to Marie Antoinette, which she is supposedly to have said during a famine in France.
Look the lyrics up for yourself and you will see I am correct. I am not always correct, but in this case I was, and I knew it.
Well, this person got so angry at me, because I had pretty much proven her wrong (yes, it was a young lady), that she would not speak a word to me for weeks! And I mean literally not one word, she refused to speak.
Now, I was right and she was wrong, but I was not very tactful and offended her. I made her look foolish. I insulted her pride. And what I did was harden her heart.
And this is how God hardens a persons heart. He does not make them incapable of seeing or hearing, he corrects and points out their sin which offends their pride and self-righteousness. And in their great pride and fear of being wrong they harden their own heart against God.
And you see this with Stephen in Acts. He made these Jews so angry by confronting them with their own rebellion against God that they stoned him.
Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
54
When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
and further...
Acts 7:57 Then they cried out with a loud voice,
and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
Now, I can't be absolutely certain about this, but I believe in vs 57 when it says "and stopped their ears", I believe they actually covered their ears or perhaps stuck their fingers in their ears so they could not hear Stephen. That is how angry and rebellious Stephen had made them by telling them the truth.
So, God does not make a person incapable of seeing or hearing, he makes those who are proud and self-righteous angry by exposing their sin, and they stubbornly refuse to see or listen of themselves.
Deal with your Reformed brethren who state they are the same things just one is more detailed than the other. They know their position much better than I do and they agree with each other.