By Eugene Garner

ISAIAH - CHAPTER 48

A REBUKE OF JUDAH'S INFIDELITY

   Hear ye this, 0 house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name.

    1. Though called "Israel" (meaning "ruled by God"), they are, in reality, the "house of Jacob" - having reverted to the devious ways of their ancient father before his meeting with God at Peniel, (Gen. 32).
    2. Specifically, the words are addressed to the captives of Judah - the most highly favored of the twelve tribes, (Gen. 49:8-12; Psa. 60:7; 76:1; 78:68; 114:2; Num. 2:3; Heb. 7:14).
    3. They professed to serve the God of Israel - Jehovah of Hosts - mentioning His name a great deal; but it was not in truth and righteousness, for they were apostates! (29:13; Zeph. 1:5-6).
      a. They did not view Him as sovereign over their whole beings - to be loved, reverenced, honored and obeyed; their religion was external!
      b. They tried to USE God to accomplish their own ends.
    4. They could call themselves "of the Holy City" without apparent consciousness of any obligation to BE HOLY!

   I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I showed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.

    1. God understood well the undeveloped character of Jacob, (vs. 3-4).
      a. He was obstinate.
      b. His neck was stiff as iron; his forehead as brass!
    2. For this reason God foretold, from ancient times, what He would do for His people - which He fulfilled at the proper time, (vs. 5-6a).
      a. Otherwise, they would have attributed His works to their idols!
      b. They ought to acknowledge their transgression - even from the earliest times.
      c. Henceforth, they should declare the wonderful works of Jehovah their Redeemer!
    3. God will show them "new things" - emphasizing that it will be something they could not have known, or even anticipated, from the past - lest they should claim to have known it already, (vs. 6b-7).
    4. Jacob did not hear (understand, or comprehend) the ancient prophecies because the ears of the nation were dull of hearing, (vs. 8).
      a. From the very beginning he dealt treacherously - even with his own family.
      b. He was called a "transgressor" from the womb! (44:2; Psa. 51:5; Deut. 31:27-29; 32:16-18, 28-29).

   For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.

    1. For His own name's sake, and ultimate praise, God has, temporarily, suspended (literally, "muzzled") His judgment of this people - lest they be cut off, (vs. 9; comp. II Pet. 3:15).
      a. They certainly deserved destruction!
      b. But, if He cut them off, the worshippers of idols would declare that Judah's God was not able to save her.
      c. The grace and mercy that He shows toward His erring people will ultimately redound to the glory and praise of His name.
    2. God has attempted to refine His people, but they are more like dross than sterling, because they have rebelled against His discipline and refused to repent (vs. 10; 1:25; 42:25; Ezek. 22:18-22; comp. Deut. 4:20; Jer. 11:3-4).
      a. He has proved (or tested) them in the furnace of affliction, (Psalm 66:10).
      b. And God's "proving" is always to the end that He may APPROVE (vs. lOb; Zech. 1:17; 2:12; 13:9; Mal. 3:3; I Pet. 1:6-7).
    3. Lest His own name (or glory) should be shamefully polluted, God will not utterly abandon His people, (vs. 11).
      a. Should He destroy them, their enemies would attribute the defeat of Judah to the supremacy of their lifeless idols!
      b. But God will not give His glory to another, (Eph. 1:4, 6, 12) - nor praise for His work to grave images!
      c. He is doing exactly what He declared, from ancient times, that He would do.

    Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.

    1. A number of reasons are given as to why Israel should hearken into the voice of Jehovah.
      a. His deity is absolute, eternal and unchangeable: "I am he: I Am the first, I also am the last"'(comp. Rev. 1:8, 11, 17; 22:13); everyone ought to obey God! (Acts 5:29).
      b. He is the Creator of Israel, and of all things, (vs. 13; Ex. 20:11; Psa. 102:25; Col. 1:17; Jn. 1:3; Heb. 1:3, 10-12; Isa. 42:5-6; 45:12, 18).
      c. By His providential power He directs and controls all things, (vs. 14-15; 40:26).
        1) He is raising up a Deliverer for Israel - a passage that alludes to Cyrus, who will deliver them from Babylon, (44:28; 45:1; 46:10-11; 13:1-17; 21:2; Dan. 5:31); but, it also looks beyond him to the Christ Who, in His wrath, will destroy "mystery Babylon", (Rev. 17).
        2) He (the Christ) will prosper in the accomplishment of all that He has purposed.
      d. His power to foretell the future, and bring it to pass, should cause His erring people to hear and obey His voice, (vs. 16a; Acts 15:18; Amos 7:14-15; II Pet. 1:21).
    2. In the latter part of verse 16 the divine trinity is clearly evident: Christ, the speaker, is sent by "the Lord GOD. . .and His Spirit", (comp. 61:1; 11:2; 42:1; Zech. 2:8-12).

   Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

    1. In verse 17 the titles of Israel's God are almost stacked on top of each other; He is: Jehovah, thy Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel and Jehovah thy God.
      a. He teaches Israel to profit - the basic purpose of her trials and captivities (vs. 17b; Psa. 32:8) - that she may learn to walk in God's will and way, (Heb. 12:10).
      b. He has constantly led the covenant-nation in the way they ought to go, (vs. 17c; 30:21; 49:9-10).
    2. Had they hearkened unto the voice of the Lord, their future would have been considerably different, (vs. 18-19; Deut. 6:29; Psa. 81:13-16).
      a. Their peace would have been as a smoothly-flowing river, (Psa. 119:165; Matt. 23:37; Luke 19:41-42).
      b. Their righteousness would have been as the irresistible waves of the sea.
      c.Their seed would have been greatly multiplied, (vs. 19a; comp. Gen. 13:16; 15:5; 17:6).
      d. Their name would not have been cut off, nor destroyed, from before the Lord, (vs. 19b; Rom. 11:19-21).

   Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob. And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

    1. Without separation from evil no one may truly know the blessedness of God's peace, (vs. 20a; Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 45; II Cor. 6:17-18); this is Isaiah's final mention of Babylon.
    2. Because of her redemption, Israel is to sing the mighty, saving power of God to the ends of the earth! (Psa. 126; Isa. 42:10; 49:13; 52:9; 63:9).
    3. Verse 21 may look both backward and forward.
      a. By his faithfulness, God's grace adequately supplied the needs of His people in their redemption from the land of Egypt, (Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:11; Psa. 78:15; 105:41).
      b. So will He meet the needs of those who, with faith in Him, flee from Babylon, (Jer. 50:13, 20, 33-34, 39; Rev. 18:2).
    4. If Israel will REPENT, the peace of God may still be her joyful experience, (Zech. 12:10-14; 13:1, 9; 14:3, 20-21).
    5. But, there is NO PLACE for the wicked (the morally loose, Job 15:20-25, 31-34) - an expression that marks off the three divisions in this final book of Isaiah's prophecy, (57:21).
    6. It is still proper to "PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM!" (Psa. 122:6).