Isaiah
Chapter 48
Isaiah 48:1-8
1 Hear
ye this, O 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.
2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay
themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name.
3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and
they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I
did them suddenly, and they came to pass.
4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck
is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee;
before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest
thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my
graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.
6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it?
I have shewed thee new things from this time, even
hidden things, and thou didst not know them.
7 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.
8 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.
The first verse is explicit! God calls to Jacob, the House
of Israel telling them that while they just pretend to use the name of the LORD
(Heb. yhwh-יהוה), they do so in vain, or falsely! All who use God’s name without a relationship
with Christ Jesus are profaning the name of the LORD!
Some say they are “the chosen!” They claim Jerusalem, but they are far from
His people! Both Jews and Muslims claim to be “chosen!” They both claim Jerusalem! But, both orthodox Jews and Muslims deny
Christ, thereby declaring themselves to be ineligible for the blessing of
salvation!
Jews shall eventually accept Christ as the Messiah, while
Muslims will deny Him until they are faced with the reality of the Lake of
Fire!
God says, “I have declared the former things from the
beginning!” Those declarations went forth!
God begins the Bible with the words, “In the beginning (Heb.
Bereshith-בְּרֵאשִׁית) which may
also be translated, “By the Firstfruit”! If Israel
believed the Covenant, they would turn to Christ Jesus!
God has openly published the declaration so that none (Jew
or Gentile) would have an excuse! He did that prophetically, and the Lord’s
prophecies have either come to pass, or are coming to pass as your read this!
God knew that Israel would be an “obstinate” people, and yet
He chose them to show His loving mercy! To show mercy to one who is always
obedient is not considered difficult! To show love to the loveable is not the
issue. In Israel and the Church, God has
shown His love to the unlovable by the death of His Son on the cross!
Romans 5:8
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.
The LORD is not found in man-made idols!
In fact, if I may be somewhat controversial, the LORD is not
“found” at all! Isaiah, as is obvious,
was written under the Old Covenant economy.
At the cross the New Covenant was instituted.
Under the Old Covenant, Men’s efforts seemed to be what brought him close to God. But under the New, it is obvious that God’s
choice beings man close to God! God’s
grace affects both the Old and New Covenants, but is explicit in the New!
Romans 3:10-11
10 As it is written: “There
is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands; There is
none who seeks after God” (NKJV).
As I said, verse 5 in Isaiah 48
finds its basis in the first words of the Bible. “In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth”…“By the Firstfruits God created the heaven and the
earth!”
John’s gospel confirms the later
translation.
John
1:3 All things were made by him; and
without him was not any thing made that was made.
But the heathen says, “My idols have
done those things!” They believe a lie!
Prior to the choosing of Abraham,
God knew that his descendents would not follow the way God had prepared for
them.
Look at verse 9.
Isaiah 48:9-15
9 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.
10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have
chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
11 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.
12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am
he; I am the first, I also am the last.
13 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.
14 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.
15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have
brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
God declared that He would “defer”
(Heb. ʾārak-אָרַךְ) His
anger. That is good translated of an
idiomatic expression.
The English meaning expressed is
correct. God declares that He will do all this for His own sake, and for His
own sake He will not cut off Israel!
That is God’s decision!
What we have seen in Israel all
these centuries is a refining process!
God chose Israel and is refining them in the “furnace of affliction.”
God repeats the phrase, “For mine
own sake” for emphasis!
In verse 12, God calls Himself the
“first” and the “last”. Christ Jesus,
God the Son is the Alpha and Omega!
God declares that His “Hand” laid
the foundation of the earth, and His “right Hand” set forth the heavens!
John 1:3 All
things were made by him [Christ Jesus]; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
He commands all to hear what He has
declared!
The Father has loved the Son, and He
will accomplish all His pleasure! He
called, appointed salvation to come and He shall make it prosper!
Isaiah 48:16-22
16 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.
17 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.
18 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:
19 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.
20 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.
21 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.
22 There is no peace, saith
the LORD, unto the wicked.
Look about at all God has done! It is not secret to those who have eyes to
see! Unfortunately most are still blind
to the salvation that is found in Christ Jesus!
From the beginning Christ Jesus was appointed as the Savior of the world!
1
John 4:14 And we
have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
The LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel affirmed, “I am the LORD
thy God which teaches you to profit (Heb yāʿal- יָעַל). That has been misinterpreted in most circles! It has been
polluted by the prophets of profit. God
teaches Israel to be useful in His Kingdom! The Hebrew refers to ascension (i.e.
to be of value)! It has NOTHING
to do with monetary gain! The reference is to tell us to be of value to God!
Such is explained in the next
phrase, “which leads you in the way that you should go.” God teaches us for our profit, our own
benefit! This profit has little or
nothing to do with financial income!
Matt
16:26 For what is a man
profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Isaiah continues by speaking the
words of God to Israel. “O that you had listened and obeyed My
commandments!” As we look at the commandments, we first come to the first
commandment. When we obey that first of the Ten, all others will also be
obeyed. If we do not obey the first commandment, we cannot obey all the others.
When we obey the first, it shall be
as if peace and righteousness overtake us, and completely surrounds us as water
does when we walk into it!
Verse 19a repeats a theme that has
been given for millennia. “Our offspring will be as sand, and our inward parts
shall function perfectly! In modern
language, the inward part refers to the heart.
Look at the first Commandment as
referenced by Christ Jesus:
Matt
22:36-38
36 Master, which is the
great commandment in the law?
37 said unto him, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
In 19b we find that when the
commandment is followed, the result is that “his name should not have been cut
off nor destroyed from before Me.”
All Christians follow the
Commandments by virtue of imputation. Christ has fulfilled them, and by being
baptized into Christ, we have that as a result of it being imputed to us! We do not obey the letter of the commandment,
but instead we focus on the spirit of the commandment!
When you study the commandments, you
will not find the word “saved” or “salvation!”
Salvation is not found in the Commandments! It is found only on the
person of Christ Jesus!
Verse 20 tells all who would be
saved to leave Babylon, or go from Babylon.
We are told to “flee” from the Chaldeans. God’s people are not to
partake of the life style of those who oppose Christ!
We are to sing, trumpet, declare
that Yahweh (Heb. יהוה)
has “redeemed His servant Jacob.”
Notice the tense used. In God’s plan that has already happened. Again, His plan shall not be altered by men!
When we walk through dry and sin
filled places He will supply all we need! Isaiah refers back to the time when
God caused the rock to bring forth water when the Israelites wandered in the
wilderness.
That happened due to God’s loving
care for the Israelites.
To those who call upon God, He
hears, but to those who deny Him, there is no peace!
In
the Psalms we read, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be
exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalms 46:10)
We
are called to “Be still” (Heb. rāpâ-רָפָה), or stop struggling!
Are
you struggling again God?