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More Isaiah commentaries
Isaiah 45:1-13
Vindication of the Lord
Isaiah 45:14-25
The Lord Alone Can Save
Isaiah 46:1-13
Sovereign Control of God
Isaiah 47:1-15
The Humiliation of Babylon
Isaiah 48:1-11
The Lord Corrects His People
Isaiah 48:12-22
It is Best to Obey The Lord
Isaiah 49:1-13
Bringing Light to The Gentiles
Isaiah 49:14-26
God Will Remember Zion
Isaiah 50:1-11
God’s Servant Must Suffer
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The Lord Corrects His People
Isaiah 48:1–11
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)
Think a moment about a water-saturated sponge. If we push down with our finger even slightly, water runs out onto the table. We immediately know what fills the interior pockets of the sponge. The same is true of ourselves. We can tell what fills us on the inside by what com … More
As we read this passage we need to understand that the Jews had become comfortable and complacent in their captivity and did not want to leave. They had followed Jeremiah’s suggestions (Jer. 29:4-7) and had families, houses and gardens and it was not easy for them to pack up and go to the holy land. However, this was where they belonged and where God had a work for them to do.
This passage is addressed to the “house of Jacob” which includes both Israel and Judah (v. 1). God admonishes the hypocrites among His people “who make mention of the God of Israel” in lip service but do not follow “in truth, nor in righteousness” (vv. 1-5). They took oaths, involving God’s name, but they were not righteous. They had disregarded the previous prophecies so God would give her new prophecies so their physical and spiritual deliverance would come, not from their own goodness or their own plans but from God’s grace (vv. 6-8).
The Lord would delay His wrath so His people could return to Judah (vv. 9-11). In spite of all the tragic judgments that were to come upon Judah and Israel, God reminds them that he has “chosen them in the furnace of affliction“ (v. 10). Why would a loving God allow all kinds of unpleasant experiences come to His children? The reason for the severe treatment of His people is that they might emerge from their afflictions and they might reflect His glory and greatness among them. Even though they deserved to be obliterated from the earth, He had promised to preserve them. This verse shows us plainly that God tests us in the “furnace of affliction.”
Application
What kind of adversity are you currently facing? Do you find it easy to complain when your life becomes complicated or difficult? Rather than complain, my response should be to turn to God in faith and rejoice in my sufferings (Rom. 5:3; James 1:2-4). Without testings I would never know what I am capable of doing, nor would I grow.
Isaiah 48:1-11 (English Standard Version)
Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right. For they call themselves after the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the LORD of hosts is his name. "The former things I declared of old; they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass, I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, 'My idol did them, my carved image and my metal image commanded them.' "You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known. They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them, lest you should say, 'Behold, I knew them.' You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a rebel. "For my name's sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another."
View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway) »
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