God's stubborn people

ISAIAH        CHAPTER 48

God told Isaiah to relay the message to the people of Israel, family of Jacob and Tell them to listen those who take oaths in the name of the Lord. They are not following up on their promises even though they call themselves the holy city and talk about depending on God. He had warned them time and again about what was going to happen in the future and now all his predictions came true.

God knew how stubborn and obstinate the people of Israel could be and unbending and hardheaded too. So he told them ahead of time what he was going to do. That way, they could not say that things happened which were their idols doing. Now God would tell them secrets that he had not mentioned before, new things and not things from the past.

God said the things that were entirely new were being told even though there may be traitors amongst the people and rebels from their early childhood who were rotten through and through. Yet he held back his anger and did not wipe them out. He refined the people but not in the way silver was refined.  Rather, he refined them in the furnace of suffering. And he would rescue them so the pagan nations would not be able to claim that their gods conquered him.

God asks the family of Jacob to listen. He is the God, the First and the Last. It was his hand that laid the foundation of the earth. The palm of his right hand spread out the heavens above and he spoke and they came into being.  God says that the people's idols could never do this.  Then the Lord chose Cyrus and would send him on this errand that will help him succeed.

The the Sovereign Lord and his Spirit told Isaiah that they sent him a message that the Lord teaches what is good and leads them along the path they should follow. And if they had listened to what he had said in the first place, they would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling like waves. There would have been no need for their destruction.

Yet now, be free from captivity, says the Lord. Lave Babylon and the Babylonians singing as you go. Shout to the ends of the earth that the Lord has redeemed his servants, the people of Israel. But there is no peace for the wicked.

BIBLE NOTES SHOW: The people of Israel felt secure in their heritage, their city and with God's temple. But this was a false security because they did not depend on God.
God chose a pagan king - Cyrus to free the people from captivity in Babylon. Who but a prophet could predict such an inconceivable story almost 200 years before it happened?

HOW DOES THIS CHAPTER RELATE TO US TODAY?  Sometimes we Christians feel confident and secure in our Churches or in our culture.  But heritage, nations or buildings can't give us a relationship with God. We have to depend on God personally in our hearts and minds.

In verse 10 God talks about refining us. Why would a loving God allow unpleasant things to come to us? This is because God tests us in the "furnace of suffering." Without being tested, we would never know what we are capable of doing, nor would we grow. Without "refining" we would not become pure and more like Christ. Remember this when you face adversity. You are being tested.

Yours in Christ,

Mary

Prayer Requests are needed for:



HEALTH: Pray for Gabe.


Pray for Arlene’s nephew David and for my neighbor Al who is nearing the end of his life.


Pray for Carolyn’s brother Ronald who has cancer and for her sister Wanda’s soul which went to heaven.


Pray for our friend Michelle who was diagnosed with a form of MS.


Pray for Robert Sargent who is quite ill with lung cancer.


Pray for Gary Summers, my friend from church, who has cancer.


Pray for Judy’s husband who was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Pray for her too, that she can deal with the side effects of his illness.


Pray too for Charly’s husband Robert who is undergoing chemo for his prostate cancer. Update on Robert: he has one more treatment and then three months of waiting for his psat test to come back clean.


Pray for James’s sister Cynthia whose chemo has lost its effect as the cancer grows powerful.


Pray for another friend named Carolyn whose faith remains strong, but is lost and confused about where and how to spend her elder years.


SPIRITUAL UPLIFTING: Gail, Mary


RESTORATION OF FAITH: Al, John


LOVE AND SUPPORT: Claire, Hunter, Brian


SUPPORT: Haiti, Chile, survivors of Japan’s earthquake, survivors of the devastating tornadoes in our southernmost states and Joplin, Missouri. Pray too, for our country’s leaders and our military people who die each day for our freedom.