July 18 - Isaiah 48:1-11

July 18 – Isaiah 48:1-11

“Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel— but not in truth or righteousness— you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel— the LORD Almighty is his name: I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze. Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, ‘My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’ You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them?

“From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you. They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, ‘Yes, I knew of them.’ You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ear has not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth. For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off. See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.

Ok, there are a lot of things that I know the Lord knows about me.  Yes, I know – He knows everything about me, but when I read that he knows how stubborn I am, the sinews of my neck are iron and my forehead bronze, I actually had to think about that! 

Calling them of the house of Jacob is calling them by their secular name.  Invoking the name of Israel is bringing to bear their covenant name.  Using the line of Judah specifically speaks to the separation of the tribes and those that have finally been taken into exile.  God wants them to know that He is fully aware of who it is He is speaking to.

The Israelites call themselves citizens of the holy city.  You know what?  This is a lot like us calling ourselves Christians.  It actually means very little when we refuse to live as a follower of Christ.  All they had to do was live there and they could claim citizenship.  The name ‘Christian’ means something very different today than it did when it was first coined in Antioch over 1900 years ago.  It is practically a secular term these days and does not hold us to any type of spiritual commitment.

The Israelites were stubborn.  They continued to believe in their idols, though God had warned them over and over to be rid of them.  God did NOT want them to believe that anyone was in control of the fate of the nation besides Him.  He reminded them that He had been preparing them for everything that was going to happen to them.  They could not claim that it was coincidence or that their other idols had anything to do with it.  Only God would claim responsibility.

When a new thing began to happen – when the Israelites were called back to Jerusalem following the exile – this would also be from God.  No one could claim prior knowledge.  No one could find information regarding the new prophecies in the history of Israel.  God would be the one to make all things new.

He’s furious with His people, but He promises to withhold His fury and wrath.  He refines His people, but it is not for them or for anyone else, it is to make His name glorious throughout the world, to let the world know that He is the One to whom all glory should be given.

He will not yield his glory to another. (Isaiah 48:11b)