Isaiah 56:10-12 (KJV) 10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

Isaiah 56:10-12 (KJV)
10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.

12 Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.

Isaiah 56:10-12
Does this not sound like religion? In verse 9, God calls for the nations to devour His people. Its leaders are blind to the nation's real needs because they are thinking of their lusts instead of speaking out and acting on issues of morality. They blindly plunge on, proclaiming that it will be better tomorrow!

(10) His watchmen are blind.--These are the guides of the people, and specially the self-styled prophets, who are "blind" to the signs of the times, who are "dumb," and give no warning to the people of the real dangers that threaten them, who prophesy for the rewards of divination (Numbers 22:7 :1Samuel 9:7; Nehemiah 6:12), who are conspicuous for their luxury and intemperance. Given the men who are described in Isaiah 5:22; Isaiah 28:7-8; Isaiah 30:10, and the circumstances of Manasseh's reign, no other result could be expected.
Sleeping.--The prophet, with a scornful irony, substitutes hozim ("dreamers") for khozim ("seers"). The "lying down" contrasts their indolent and easy life with the vigil and the fast of a true prophet.

56:10 His - Israel's. Watchmen - Priests and teachers; he mentions only the teachers, because ignorance was most shameful in them, but hereby he supposes the gross ignorance of the people.Bark - They are also slothful and negligent in instructing the people, and do not faithfully reprove them for their sins.

"Beneath all the rhetoric about relevance lies a profoundly disturbing possibility - that people may base their lives upon an illusion, upon a blatant lie. The attractiveness of a belief is all too often inversely proportional to its truth.”

1. His watchmen are blind: The leaders of God’s people are blind; judgment is on the way, but they don’t see it and warn God’s people. They don’t fulfill their purpose as watchmen. They are ignorant, like dumb dogs, simply sleeping.

2. They are shepherds who cannot understand: These ungodly leaders are a sad contrast to the godly leadership personified by King David in Isaiah 55:3-5. These are unfaithful shepherds, who only look everyone for his own gain.

"And so God speaking, and of course, it is interesting that God would speak of those, they were all looking for their own gain. All looking for their own welfare and their own gain. And it is interesting that the Lord would mention that in the very passage that Jesus quoted when He said, "You've made my Father's house a den of thieves, for My Father's house was to be called a house of prayer for all people." And here they are, they're greedy. Dogs that never have enough. They're all looking for their own gain."

“Come,” one says, “I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant.” Isaiah 56:12.

A word from the unfaithful leaders of Judah.

1. We will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink: Worse than being passively ignorant and blind, they are actively wicked. As judgment approaches, they simply drink and get drunk.

"Concerned only with their own pleasure, they failed to consider that judgment will come (56:12)."

2. Tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant: Their blind faith in progress has replaced a reasoned faith in God. They are ripe for judgment, and unprepared for judgment. Since the picture of Isaiah 56:9 relates to the pictures in the Book of Revelation regarding the return of Jesus, we can see this as a picture of the leaders of the unprepared world – perhaps even the unprepared church – at the return of Jesus.