Isaiah 48:1-22. Wow how did I get so far behind. The last post was Tuesday and here it is Saturday. After being sick for three weeks I had to get all the stuff done to bring in the new class. I got pretty behind in work, so after spending some time with God on Tuesday and getting the posts almost caught up then I had to get work caught up. From Wednesday morning to Friday afternoon I worked just under 48 hours, one day was 20½ hours so I apologize for getting behind. Mostly I don’t like missing the time with God, but of course he is still there to talk to and look to even when we miss a few days of listening from his word. The real hold up is the studying. I need to do that to fill in the blanks for me and hopefully for you too. Of course we can still read but if we really want to know what God is saying we need to try to understand too. It’s like that verse in Timothy, “Study to show yourself approved, as a workman who does not need to be ashamed.” Like anything we do in life we need to do our “homework”.
In Isaiah we have seen God dealing with the people of Judah during a time in their lives when there were a lot of changes going on in the world around them. The nation of Assyria was taking control of their world. At the beginning of the book we saw the people living pretty comfortable lives, most of them, but the rich people were allowing thee poor people to suffer, even taking advantage of them. They were proud and self-reliant. They also had forgotten about God. King Ahaz even made a treaty with Assyria when he was threatened by his cousins in the kingdom of Israel. When Ahaz’s son Hezekiah became king he destroyed the idols that his father had spread throughout the kingdom and restored worship of Yahwea (the real God) but he was still tempted to trust in his own plans and the strength of others when dealing with the Assyrians. So the book is about dealing with our pride and putting our trust where it really should be. In the end we need to make sure that God gets the credit. When God is honored this way others will see him and what to have a relationship with him too. The end result is that more people get the benefit (which last for eternity) of a renewed relationship with God.
Over the past several days we have been reading through some mini messages that Isaiah wrote down for the people who were facing an invasion by the Assyrians. Each of these mini messages ends with a song of praise and honor to God. The last two reading have been in one of these messages and this reading finishes it. In chapter 46 we saw how powerless idols are. In contrast we saw that God has power, he was allowing the Assyrian invasion but he would also save the people of Judah from it. In chapter 47 we saw that one of the nations that Hezekiah was tempted to trust for help, Babylon would eventually be destroyed.
In the first part of chapter 48 we see that the Israelites (“house of Jacob”, see “What’s in a Name”) were not really following God with a whole heart. In verse one they call on God but only like a lucky charm. But God wants them to really believe and trust. They need to face the truth about him as a being and not see him like a magic lamp. Also notice they need to come to God with “righteousness”. That’s just a fancy way of saying our actions need to match the truth about God, they need to be right from God’s point of view. In the next several verses God tells us how he has used prophecy and history to prove who he is. The first part of verse 6 points out the problem, we just won’t face the truth about God.
The next proof God gives of himself is that he gives us information that only he could know, new things. It is interesting how down through history many scientists have been “inspired” and come up with a solution to a problem. One of the scientists who eventually unlocked some of the mysteries of the atom was on a street corner when he just realized what was going on in those little bits of matter. The point is God wants us to see him so we realize where we need to get back to. In Revelation 2:4-5 Jesus is talking to the church in Ephesus and he tells them that although they are working hard for him he has a complaint. They have “left their first love”. He then tells them to remember the relationship they had had with him and turn around and come back. They needed to live for him like they had before, with desire and passion, not just with actions.
In verses 9-11 of Isaiah 48 God tells them that the trouble they are going through (facing the invasion and the destruction of many cities in Judah) is a way of reminding them. You see the next part of those verses in Revelation warn the church in Ephesus that they will stop being a church if they do not start living for Jesus with a whole heart. That doesn’t mean that individual believers will lose their part in God’s forever kingdom it means that the group will stop being a group in that place. There are consequences for not living for God with a whole heart because it reflects badly on God. As Isaiah put it God does these things for “his name’s sake”. God’s reputation is important because if we are going to get serious about eternity we need to see the reality of who God is and what he is doing. Otherwise we will be like the Assyrians or the Babylonians or any of the people down through history who have followed different idols; even things like our own abilities, the “goodness of man”, human potential, personal fame, all sorts of things we use to try and comfort ourselves about our existence. Things we used to tell us that we are important.
In Isaiah 47:6 God informed the Israelites that they would one day become captives in Babylon. Now here in Isaiah 48:12-16 we see that God will one day deal with the Chaldeans (in this context Chaldeans and Babylonians are synonymous) and save the Israelites. All of this information is being given in advance (the history takes place between 70 and 150 years after Isaiah wrote this and in the time in between Babylon will be defeated at least once more by the Assyrians). The purpose of the foretelling of the future is so the Israelites will believe that God is God.
Verses 17-19 tell us that Yahweh will save them and also tells us that God uses the trouble we face to teach us and help us (v. 17). We also see that if mankind had followed God that all of this trouble could have been avoided(vv. 18-19).
Verses 20-22 are the song of praise at the end to honor God. In this one we see that God provides for those who live for him (in this case Israelites) and that those who ignore God will have no peace.
It is ironic that a lot of what we do is to find peace and meaning for our lives but that it really backfires on us. All of the idolatry moves us away from the one true God who gives meaning and will bring us peace. And know that the Hebrew idea of peace is more that laying out on a warm beach with no wind. Their concept of peace is the idea of being complete and whole, fulfilled. Only a relationship with God can fulfill us and Yahweh has given us lots and lots of proof to back up what he tells us. The Bible has proven itself true for millennia. The question is are we going to ignore it or run back to God? Lord thank you for the proof. Thank you for caring. Thank you for having a great eternity waiting for us. Help many people come to you for the ticket in. Help my life show people how great you are. Let me always remember and let me respond in love. Keep my love for you strong and passionate. Thank you for letting me have this time with you this morning.