Isaiah 29 · a question people ask
Is the "book that is sealed" a real book?
The chapter says it is a comparison: "All vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed" (29:11). It comes straight after the LORD "has closed your eyes, the prophets; and he has covered your heads, the seers" (29:10), and the chapter says no more about what the vision is than 29:10-12 say. Isaiah has sealed once before, in the same Hebrew verb: "Wrap up the covenant. Seal the law among my disciples" (Isaiah 8:16) (tap sealed). The chapter speaks of a book again in "In that day, the deaf will hear the words of the book" (29:18), and doesn't say whether it is the same book.
The verses
“For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and he has covered your heads, the seers. All vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is educated, saying, “Read this, please;” and he says, “I can’t, for it is sealed;” and the book is delivered to one who is not educated, saying, “Read this, please;” and he says, “I can’t read.””
“Wrap up the covenant. Seal the law among my disciples.”
“In that day, the deaf will hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity and out of darkness.”