The Lord Corrects His People
March 16, 2020
Commentary
The Jews had become comfortable 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. It was not easy for them to pack up and go to the holy land, but that was where they belonged and where God had a work for them to do. 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 Godâs grace (vv. 6-8).
The Lord would delay His wrath so His people could return to Judah (vv. 9-11). Despite all the judgments that were to come upon Judah and Israel, God reminded them that he had “chosen them in the furnace of affliction” (v. 10). Despite their failures, God had called them and chosen them to be His people (v. 12). When the Lord calls nature to obedience, both heaven and earth stand up together (v. 13) and obey Him instantly. The Lord loved Israel so much that He would bring judgment on Babylon and the Chaldeans. God chose Cyrus, a heathen king, to free his people from their captivity in Babylon (vv. 14-16)
Isaiah emphasizes the total blessing of prosperity from God upon those who have surrendered to His lordship and authority (vv. 17-18). The Lord had constantly been teaching and guiding Israel through the law. But they had not paid attention to his commands. Had they obeyed the Lord in the first place, they would have experienced peace and not war (v. 19) and none of their children would have been killed. God urged His people to leave Babylon quickly (v. 20). After the Egyptian exodus God provided water from the rock in the deserts (v. 21). He would do the same for them in this exodus from Babylon. There is no peace for the wicked (v. 22).
Application
The people had grown accustomed to the security of their bondage. It is easy for me to also become complacent with my comfort and affluence. I donât want God to have to put me into the furnace to remind me that I am here to be a servant and not a spectator.
Isaiah 48:1–22 (NET)
1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, you who are called by the name âIsrael,â and are descended from Judah, who take oaths in the name of the Lord, and invoke the God of Israelâ but not in an honest and just manner.
2 Indeed, they live in the holy city; they trust in the God of Israel, whose name is the Lord of Heavenâs Armies.
3 âI announced events beforehand, I issued the decrees and made the predictions; suddenly I acted and they came to pass.
4 I did this because I know how stubborn you are. Your neck muscles are like iron and your forehead like bronze.
5 I announced them to you beforehand; before they happened, I predicted them for you, so you could never say, âMy image did these things, my idol, my cast image, decreed them.â
6 You have heard; now look at all the evidence! Will you not admit that what I say is true? From this point on I am announcing to you new events that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about.
7 Now they come into being, not in the past; before today you did not hear about them, so you could not say, âYes, I know about them.â
8 You did not hear, you do not know, you were not told beforehand. For I know that you are very deceitful; you were labeled a rebel from birth.
9 For the sake of my reputation I hold back my anger; for the sake of my prestige I restrain myself from destroying you.
10 Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have purified you in the furnace of misery.
11 For my sake alone I will act, for how can I allow my name to be defiled? I will not share my glory with anyone else!
12 Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I summoned. I am the one; I am present at the very beginning and at the very end.
13 Yes, my hand founded the earth; my right hand spread out the sky. I summon them; they stand together.
14 All of you, gather together and listen! Who among them announced these things? The Lordâs ally will carry out his desire against Babylon; he will exert his power against the Babylonians.
15 I, I have spokenâ yes, I have summoned him; I lead him and he will succeed.
16 Approach meâlisten to this! From the very first I have not spoken in secret; when it happens, I am there.â So now, the Sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his Spirit.
17 This is what the Lord, your Protector, says, the Holy One of Israel: âI am the Lord your God, who teaches you how to succeed, who leads you in the way you should go.
18 If only you had obeyed my commandments, prosperity would have flowed to you like a river, deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants would have been as numerous as sand, and your children like its granules. Their name would not have been cut off and eliminated from my presence.
20 Leave Babylon! Flee from the Babylonians! Announce it with a shout of joy! Make this knownâ proclaim it throughout the earth! Say, âThe Lord protects his servant Jacob.
21 They do not thirst as he leads them through dry regions; he makes water flow out of a rock for them; he splits open a rock and water flows out.â
22 There will be no prosperity for the wicked,â says the Lord.
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