Hope - Isaiah

Good morning class.  

Question of the day:  What has God done for you this past week? 

Today we are going to look at Isaiah 48.  It is a long chapter.  

48 “Listen to this, you descendants 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—
2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city
    and claim to rely on the God of Israel—
    the Lord Almighty is his name:
3 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.
4 For I knew how stubborn you were;
    your neck muscles were iron,
    your forehead was bronze.
5 Therefore I told you these things long ago;
    before they happened I announced them to you
so that you could not say,
    ‘My images brought them about;
    my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’
6 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.
7 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.’
8 You have neither heard nor understood;
    from of old your ears have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous you are;
    you were called a rebel from birth.
9 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 destroy you completely.
10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver;
    I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
11 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.

Israel Freed

12 “Listen to me, Jacob,
    Israel, whom I have called:
I am he;
    I am the first and I am the last.
13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,
    and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summon them,
    they all stand up together.

14 “Come together, all of you, and listen:
    Which of the idols has foretold these things?
The Lord’s chosen ally
    will carry out his purpose against Babylon;
    his arm will be against the Babylonians.[a]
15 I, even I, have spoken;
    yes, I have called him.
I will bring him,
    and he will succeed in his mission.

16 “Come near me and listen to this:

“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;
    at the time it happens, I am there.”

And now the Sovereign Lord has sent me,
    endowed with his Spirit.

17 This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches you what is best for you,
    who directs you in the way you should go.
18 If only you had paid attention to my commands,
    your peace would have been like a river,
    your well-being like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants would have been like the sand,
    your children like its numberless grains;
their name would never be blotted out
    nor destroyed from before me.”

20 Leave Babylon,
    flee from the Babylonians!
Announce this with shouts of joy
    and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth;
    say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.”
21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
    he made water flow for them from the rock;
he split the rock
    and water gushed out.

22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”

This is one of my favorite chapters in Isaiah.  The reasons, what has been highlighted.  I perhaps love it also for the "title" given in my bible,  "Stubborn Israel".  We have talked a lot in this class about my stubbornness.  It is legendary.  So perhaps I love this chapter because I believe it speaks to me, the stubborn me, and I find hope.  

I love that right off the bad we are called to listen.   "Listen to this." LISTEN.  Do you remember your parents telling you to listen?  Or do you ever tell you children to listen.  I know I can remember my parents taking my chin directing my gaze toward them and then telling me to listen. 

LISTEN.  This means what is coming is very important.  

What comes right after LISTEN?

Think about the times when your parents use your full name.   I have heard many times in my life, "Esther Elizabeth Steen, listen to me!!!!!" 

This is similar, but also completely different.   

Esther Elizabeth Steen, listen to me, was only to get my attention.  Here it is more than just stating who, it is more than attention getting, there is a purpose in what is said after listen. 

"you descendants 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..."

 It continues on.  In this is both a reminder of their privilege and their short comings.  

These words are for us!  We here at UCSDA are called! Everyone around this table is apart of God's chosen.  Yet we also have failed.  

Verse 4.  "For I know how stubborn you are...." 

How stubborn are we? 

How stubborn are you? 

Is your neck muscle like rods of iron? 

Do you refuse to look at another's point of view? Do you only see what is straight in front of you? 

Now what He is trying to say here starts.  He has our attention, by calling our names, and now we get to the good part. 

What is this section talking about?  

What is He trying to say?

Why is it vitally important that we remember, and acknowledge who God is? 

Is it for God's ego? 

Is it because he is a narcissist, only Him, kind of God? 

What is wrong with having lots of gods? 

Verse 16

"Come near me and listen to this. "  Something important is getting ready to be spoken...

"This is what the Lord says..."  I love when their is no question.  When we know this us God being quoted.  

What comes next?

What do we learn in verses 17-19?

This section is what I think of as a beautiful reminder that he is our creator and he knows how we work and exactly what we need.  He is a God who isn't looking for us to be jumping through hoops for him, or restricting us from all things fun, but he knows how we work and what will bring us the most peace. 

Verse 20-22. 

Leave Babylon.  I know we have talked about Babylon in this class before, but let's review for just a second.   What I talked about was how Babylon is more than just a place.  It is used symbolically and literally.  It is often used to just talk about evil.  Babylon is the greek form of BABEL.  Remember the tower of Babel.  Well, that is where the name Babylon comes from.  In Genesis 11, the reason for building the tower was, "So that we might make a name for ourselves. " 

How else could we say it? 

We want to be known.

We want to be as high as God himself.

We want to be seen by others as having arrived.  

We want to be glorified by others. 

Here in verse 20-22 it says to leave Babylon and then it goes on to tell us what to say.  "The Lord has redeemed us...." 

This whole chapter comes down to this.  

We must acknowledge who He is, listen to Him and give Him the glory.  We need to stop getting caught up in our stuff, our stubbornness, our selfishness, our own glorification... We need to remember that our creator knows how we work and that living according to His instructions will bring us peace.  To acknowledge Him will bring us joy and peace. 

We need to acknowledge and remember that he supplies our needs.  That he has and always will be the life giver.  All the other gods and nothing but idols, and those who worship the other gods, well...

This chapter ends with the very short and succinct statement, "There is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked."