They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts.
The word picture painted here exposes the horror that the non Christian faces each day of his life. And yet, he is as unaware of his impending trouble just as a blind, deaf, and dumb man who steps out into heavy traffic is unaware of his own trouble
Friend, such ignorance and hardness of heart can happen over the course of time: such as impure thoughts turning into poor decisions turning into questionable habits turning into a brokenness of lifestyle.
This will cause the spiritual darkness to grow and yet this spiral towards impending doom, this horrific predicament is not easily noticed, or if it is, it can be ignorantly downplayed
But the good news is that only God can break through and desires to soften that hardened heart …as He did so for You.