Isaiah 48 vs 1-5

Isaiah Chapter 48 Verses 1 – 2

This opening statement of this chapter is quite the indictment against God’s people. And in truth, I certainly can unfortunately identify with this at times. God says, “Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel.” That makes me ugh… Jacob essentially means, “deceiver,” or “supplanter.” Yes, he is the Israeli patriarch but when God uses that name after it had been changed, its not a great thing…

Israel on the other hand means “God prevails,” and that is the name that was given to Jacob after he wrestled with the Lord and could not prevail himself. And God says essentially, “Look, that’s your name by which you are called, but you so continue as the house of Jacob!” That’s me… What I want!? I want to be the house of Israel that can be called by the name of Jacob! 

You know the wonderful and perhaps obvious thing here, however? So obvious that its overlooked and not even considered? God is still talking to them. Isn’t that wonderful? This is the mercy and the grace of God. Some days I am far more Israel than Jacob, and some days I am far more Jacob than Israel, but because of the love and loyalty and faithfulness of Jesus Christ, God is still talking to me. Even more, blessing me…

And calling them the wellspring of Judah is not saying that all Israel descends from Judah but rather that at this time the Northern Kingdom was already conquered and what was left was the Southern Kingdom which was the Kingdom of Judah or just Judah. Remember, the Southern Kingdom consisted of only two tribes, Benjamin and Judah.

And this is no compliment. Judah was noted for his cruelty in Genesis 37 and for his immorality in Genesis 38 and so essentially God is saying to His remaining people, the way they are acting, they are cut from the same cloth…

They are swearing by the name of the Lord and calling themselves after the holy city and leaning on the God of Israel…, but not in truth or righteousness. This is the same indictment Jesus called out in Matthew 15:8 when He said, “The people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” 

Who would I be if what I said aligned with what I did? Would I be different? I mean, well, that’s not really where you start… Jesus diagnoses the problem… The mouth, the lips… the issue is the heart. What I say, sometimes differently than what I do, that’s a curtain call for what’s really in my heart… So, all of this cognitive dissonance, the issue is that I need to pray, maybe fast, definitely not turn a blind eye… But when my heart signals something that Satan high-fives…, that’s the issue!

Is that ever going to stop, by the way? Not a chance… Until I am rid of this flesh and present with the Lord, I will always harbor this heart issue. But the fact that I patrol it personally, that is what grows me up, levels me up, strengthens me in my faith…, And then, one day it doesn’t come out of my mouth. That thing that I was thinking…, and I raise my eyebrows, notice that I was an adult for once, and I glorify God! (That’s that self-control part of the Holy Spirit by the way)

Isaiah Chapter 48 Verses 3 – 5

I think verse 4 is the heftiest dis in the Holy Bible! God says, “Do you know why I’ve given so much prophecy? So that you’ll turn that steel-cast neck of yours supporting that rock hard head and realize who I am!” Because I knew you were obstinate!? The word in the Hebrew means stubborn, stiff necked, yes…, but it also means cruel, severe and difficult. All of those descriptors are really the same thing!

Your neck is an iron sinew and your brow bronze!? It sounds like the lost lyrics to the Grinch song! THAT is a hefty dis. There are two things that would qualify someone for this dis and one of them may surprise you. First, if someone is just like this but the other one is ignorance. Think about it…

God has told them so many things before they have come to pass so that when they come to pass, they would turn from their difficulty and believe. And some rebel. Some rebel out of stupidity and some rebel out of ignorance. Either way, since we can know and choose to not know, either way, even ignorance is rebellion. Precisely why we ought to know the Word of God! Ignorance is no excuse for disobedience!

I mean, we’ve heard and probably all said that we can’t be held accountable for what we didn’t know. But do you know that doesn’t hold up in court? In the court of man, even!? What if we COULD have known, but didn’t know…? Can we be held accountable then? Absolutely! 

Isaiah Chapter 48 Verses 6 – 8

This is a solid and important proof text that we need to contemplate. And a point that I’ve settled for myself and made several times in teachings, that we are sinful from the womb. That I and we are not sinners due to the individual acts of sin we all commit but rather those things simply reveal and prove what is already within us and the revelation here is that my sin and your sin, passed to us from our common father Adam, begins at conception!

Isaiah Chapter 48 Verses 9 – 11

Have you ever paused in the midst of a challenging season or painful problematic point in time and considered that what you are going through and where you are at is so that God would be magnified in your life? Look for it! And if you think of the story of Israel, as tragic as it is, it puts God and His power and goodness and deliverance on blast in the story of nations… 

This may sound harsh in a way to you and it certainly does to me, but I reason with you also, who on earth actually deserves any mercy at all from God? No matter how good a person is in life, everyone is deeply sinful… So, as I read something like this, coming from a position of truthful honest reasoning, this reveals the incredible goodness of God! That all of us in an instant aren’t just cast into the sun and turned to ash….

Isaiah Chapter 48 Verses 12 – 16

Ok, the Lord God and His Spirit have sent Me? Who is talking? This is cool because one can conclude that these are the words of the preincarnate Jesus, the Son of God and the second Person of the Holy Trinity. There are three represented in this verse. The Lord God, His Spirit, and Me. And we see here the Person of the Holy Spirit as it is He and the Lord God that sent Jesus…

Isaiah Chapter 48 Verses 17 – 19

I just, for myself, admire the multiplied benefit of personally considering what God has promised. His word tells me here and several other places that as I read, seek to understand, apply and live, God will teach me how to use my time profitably. That’s huge. That’s like saying this minute, moment, day of life will lead to something greater and more than I know in the future. Why would I reject that? 

He promises profit, peace, righteousness and that my family, my children, my church, my coworkers…, all will be blessed and that blessing is that they too will learn to be proficient in profitable living! Man, I want that so much for my loved ones! 

Isaiah Chapter 48 Verses 20 – 22

I either choose to deny that I am in need of God and learn to live outside of peace that IS available, OR, even from the seasons and traps of captivity in this life I can escape rejoicing and singing with stomach-deep passion (the ends of the earth hear it) how good God is…, Why? Because I get to KNOW that personally! I choose the latter. How about you?