Isaiah 48

What Should Redeemed Witnesses of The Incomparable Yahweh Do Now?

  • Goals for this Bible Study
  • To know God more through His revelation in the book of Isaiah, especially Isaiah 40-48
  • To consciously apply the truths which He intended through the Book of Isaiah
  • To learn how to interpret Old Testament literature like Isaiah. This will be done by example—i.e. learn by doing and imitating what you see me and your leader doing.
  • To encourage one another to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24-25, accountability)
  • Memorize, meditate, and apply Isaiah 40:12-31
  • Homework:

1)Read Isaiah 40-47 once. Read Isaiah 48 twice.

2)Continue any Scripture memory work. Complete the Bible Study below.

3)Come prepared to share at least 1) 2-3 new insights you learned, 2) 2-3 ways you need to apply the lesson.

4)Complete any accountability assignments

  • Review:
  • Isaiah 40:1-11 is the introduction to Isaiah 40-48
  • Isaiah 40:5 is the thematic center of the introduction: The glory of Yahweh will be revealed. The glory of the Yahweh is His work in history and redemption that exalts Him alone as the only deity. He is The Holy One. The Incomparable God. Understanding this brings comfort.
  • Isaiah 40:12-27— Yahweh’s rhetorical questions regarding 1) His unlimited power, 2) His unmatched wisdom, and 3) His uncontested control to declare that He alone is God. As a result of believing this His people were not to fear/worry but they were to respond in trust. This trust would then result in comfort. This passage could be summarized as Yahweh’s loving confrontation of His people in order to prepare them to see that Healone as God.
  • Is 41—The preparation of the nations for “gods on trial!” Yahweh will provide three irrefutable witnesses to the nations to that declare that He alone is God, (1) A fear evoking force—the discriminating Cyrus, (2) A praise offering people—the exalted and rescued remnant of Israel, (3) A mouth shutting act-- the irreproducible foretelling of events
  • Is 42—Yahweh’s unimaginable plan is to use the blind and deaf witness, Israel, to testify that He alone is God. This plan involves these three mind blowing steps…1) A miraculous transformation (The contrast between 42:1-9, and 42:18-22). This results in 2) an invigorated new creation (Is 42:1-9) for the purpose of 3) Influencing all the nations in providing healing (42:7) and engendering praise of Yahweh (42:10-13).
  • Is 43—Yahweh will accomplish His unimaginable plan (transformation of a blind and deaf witness) through REDEMPTION which includes the aspects of 1) Ownership 2) Protection 3) Substitutionary Deliverance 4) Affection 5) Restoration 6) Purpose 7) Forgiveness 8) Abundance
  • Is 44--The ultimate “adversary” of Yahweh is not other “gods” it is the people who generate idols. Our “idols” have no intrinsic power or value they are ultimately reduced by Yahweh to mere products of the real adversaries of Yahweh—people who manufacture idols. Yahweh’s unexpected contrast in showing forth man’s folly and His own greatness is meant to get His people to return to Him. Yahweh is engendering “repentance” from idolatry through these chapters. As His people “see” the redemption He is offering and the “folly” of their ways, they are to return to Him alone as their God! As they becoming “seeing, hearing, and knowing,” witnesses of the one true God, they are to burst forth in shouting and joy because of the Incomparable Yahweh and His Redemption.
  • Is 45, 46, 47—The Incomparable Yahweh, Worth the Wait. What should you expect to see when waiting upon the only true God to act (Is 40:31)? Three Totally Satisfying acts of God… 1) A surprising deliverance, Is 45, 2) An Upholding of His People, Is 46, 3) An Unstoppable Humiliation of the Proud, Is 47.

Isaiah 48

What Should Redeemed Witnesses of The Incomparable Yahweh Do Now?

  • Introduction:

QUESTION: If you were the only invisible “God” what would you do to show yourself as the one and only true God?

NOTE: God’s Original purpose for people before the Fall…Man was to be a visible representative of the Invisible God

  • Gen 1:26-31 (Made in the image of God to represent God over creation)

NOTE: Man’s reversal of God’s purpose

  • Gen 11—The opposite of God’s original purpose—Tower of Babel—where mankind desiring to represent themselves and make a name for themselves rather than God. Because mankind confused his purpose in representing himself instead of God, God pronounced judgment and indeed gave them a name but not one they had anticipated—“Babel” which means confusion)

1

NOTE: God’s continued purpose in the OT for his new people Israel…Israel was still to be a nation of people representing God to the world 14

  • Ex 19:3-8 (esp. v. 6 A Kingdom of Priests—Priests REPRESENT GOD)
  • Jer 13:11 (God desired a people to cling to Him and represent Him and they also would be a people for renown and glory)

QUESTION: For what purpose do you see God acting in the following passages? How does this relate to His original purpose for mankind? Of what was mankind to be witnesses?

Isaiah 35 (esp. v. 10) –A people who would be shouting joyfully God’s praises

Isaiah 41:10-16 (esp. v. 16)—A people who would be rejoicing in the only God

Isaiah 43:1-7 (esp. v. 7)—A people formed for God’s glory

Isaiah 43:20-21 (esp. v. 21)—A people who will declare God’s praise

Isaiah 44:21-23 (esp. v. 23)—A people in whom He wants to show His glory

KEEP ALL OF THIS IN MIND AS YOU READ ISAIAH 48 BELOW

Isaiah 48 (Brent Aucoin’s Translation)
48:1 Hear this, house of Jacob—
those being called by the name “Israel”
and those coming out from the loins of Judah
those swearing by the name, “Yahweh,”
and by the God of Israel they boast—
not in truth and not in righteousness
48:2 indeed, from the Holy city they are called,
and upon the God of Israel they lean, Yahweh of Host is His name—
48:3 the former things from long ago I have declared.
And from my mouth they went forth.
And I have caused them to be heard.
Suddenly, I act. And then they come.
48:4Because I know that you are hard.
And a tendon of iron is your neck.
And your brow is bronze.
48:5Thus I have declared to you from long ago.
Before it came I made you hear.
Lest you say, “My idol did them.”
And “My image and my cast statue commanded them.”
48:6 You have heard. See all of this!
And you...will you not declare it?
I will make you hear new things from now on
and things being kept that you have not known them.
48:7Now they are created and not from long ago.
And before today…even you have not heard them.
Lest you say, “Behold I knew them.”
48:8Moreover, you did not hear.
Moreover, you did not know.
Moreover, from long ago your ear was not opened.
For, I knew dealing treacherously you would deal treacherously
and one rebelling from the womb you have been called.
48:9On account of my name,
I delay my anger.
And on account of my praise
I have restrained for you.
So as to not cut you off.
48:10Behold, I have refined you,
but not as silver.
I have chosen you
in the furnace of affliction
48:11On account of me…on account of me I act.
For how can it be profaned?
And my glory to another I will not give. / 48:12Listen to me Jacob!
And Israel, my called one!
I am He!
I am the first.
Yes, I am the last!
48:13Yes, my hand established the earth.
And my right hand spread out the heavens.
When I am calling to them,
they stand together.
48:14Gather all of you and hear!
Who among them will declare these?
Yahweh loves him.
He will perform his pleasure against Babel.
And His arm (against) Chaldeans
48:15 I, I , I speak.
Yes, I have called him.
I have brought him.
And he has made his way successful.
48:16Draw near to me. Listen to this.
From the first in secret I did not speak.
From the time of its being there I was.
And now Lord Yahweh has sent me and His Spirit.
48:17Thus says Yahweh,
your Redeemer, the Holy one of Israel,
“I am Yahweh, your God,
the one instructing you to profit,
the one leading you in the way you should walk.”
48:18“Oh that you would have listened to my commandments,
so that your wholeness would be as a river,
and your righteousness as the waves of the sea.”
48:19“And your seed would have been as the sand,
and your offspring from your loins as its grains.
Its name would not be cut off and not destroyed from my presence.”
48:20“Go out from Babel!
Flee from the Chaldeans.
In a voice of rejoicing declare!
Make this heard!
Bring it forth until the ends of the earth!
Say ‘Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob!’”
48:21 They did not thirst
in the deserts where He led them;
water from the rock he made flow for them.
And he split the rock.
And water flowed out
48:22There is no wholeness, Yahweh says for the wicked.

Synthesis of Isaiah 48

Just as Isaiah 40:1-11 served as an introductory prologue to the message of Isaiah 40-66, Isaiah 48 seems to serve as a summary and/or conclusion to chapters 40-47. Isaiah 48 has themes and motifs that appear for a final time before Isaiah moves on to emphasize other matters in Isaiah 49-66. After the assurance that the Babylonian deities would be shown to be impotent (46) and the promise of vengeance against the proud empire of Babylon (47), Isaiah 48 turns from addressing Lady Babylon to once again addressing the exiles with a concluding exhortation to be witnesses for Yahweh and flee Babylon.

After Yahweh’s overthrowing of Babylon and her deities, the only obstacle to the exiles’ redemption was Israel herself. The main complication of Israel’s past condition and possibly even her then present condition in exile was her lack of understanding that Yahweh alone was the only deity. Certainly, Israel swore by the name of Yahweh yet not in “truth or righteousness” (48:1). Israel was quick to credit other deities for that for which Yahweh was responsible (48:5). Israel was characterized as stubborn (48:4). Yahweh’s actions against Israel in this historical drama of exile and redemption from captivity were to purify this people (48:10). Israel also had the opportunity to experience all the blessings of the covenant that Yahweh had made with her ancestors, yet Yahweh, according to the conditions of the covenant, had to severely curtail the blessings associated with the covenant because of her unfaithfulness (48:18-19). Her “peace” or “wholeness” could have been abundant but like the wicked there would not be wholeness if she did not repent (compare 48:18 w/ 48:22).

Just as chapter 46 was addressed to Israel, Yahweh again commands Israel to hear and listen in 48. The content of the message that the stubborn Israelites were to hear can be generalized to emphasize that Yahweh alone was the only deity. For example the content of verse three emphasizes previous events that Yahweh had declared which had (or would shortly) materialize/d (i.e. Cyrus’ deliverance). Yahweh had issued predictive prophecy that had been fulfilled to demonstrate that it was He that was acting and not an idol (48:4-5). Upon the next command to listen in 48:12, Yahweh declares emphatically, “I am He, I am the first. Surely I am the last.” A rare construction conveying clear emphasis occurs in verse 15. The pronoun “I” occurs twice before a first person verbal form. The emphasis is that Yahweh is the one acting and speaking. Again in verse 17, when Yahweh speaks, He declares that He is Israel’s god. Finally upon the conclusion of Isaiah 48, the final command to Israel, Yahweh exhorts the exiles to flee Babylon and proclaim one message to the ends of the earth—it is Yahweh who has redeemed Israel. Yahweh desired to create redeemed witnesses for Himself to declare His praise and glory as the only God.

APPLICATIONS

Yahweh Is the Only Incomparable God

The entire message of Isaiah 40-48 is that Yahweh alone is the only God and there is nothing that compares with Him. Chapters 46-48 continue to develop and expand this argument. Furthermore, this truth is precisely what Israel, God’s people, needed to hear in its idolatrous condition. God’s people this day also struggle to understand the incomparability of Yahweh. Just as Israel compared other gods and idols to Yahweh, God’s people today struggle not normally with physical idolatry but spiritual idolatry. God’s people regularly put their trust in and find their satisfaction in something other than the Creator God, Yahweh.

Yahweh Demonstrates His Incomparability through His Sovereignty

Yahweh “declares,” “calls,” “speaks,” “establishes,” and “forms” so that His plans will be accomplished. All of this is indicative of His absolute sovereignty over the created order. Because of His sovereignty, “declaring” events before they happen is not a problem. It is part of His grand demonstration of who He is. God’s sovereignty consists not in simply a knowledge of what is happening in history but the actual orchestrating of the events of history. This orchestration is simply one of Him “speaking” and then events are set in motion to come to reality. Certainly the Isaiah terminology evokes the creation account of “speaking” and then events “materializing.”

Those who continue to behold God’s sovereignty at work and do not acknowledge Him however, are not simply lacking in faith, but are “rebellious.”

Yahweh Demonstrates His Incomparability through His Predictive Prophecy

Chapter 48 turns once again toward Israel and initially exhorts them in a scolding way to “hear” a message. The message that God wanted His people to hear is God’s ability to simply declare events and then the events materialize. Assuming that the book of Isaiah was written by the 8th century prophet, Isaiah, all of what is written in Isaiah 40-48 was predictive prophecy at the time of its writing. For the generation of the exiles in Babylon, these referents in Isaiah 40-48 that had been prophesied over a century earlier were materializing in full view before their idolatry-masked blind eyes.

Yahweh uses the revelation of His plans to humans sparingly but very purposefully. One purpose is ultimately to provide enough evidence of His sovereign abilities so that no one can claim that any other god can do the same. In addition, He limits the revelation so that nobody can become secure in their knowledge. Oswalt states, “Enough information in enough time so that it will be unmistakably clear that God is in control of history, but not enough so that people can become secure in their own foreknowledge and not need to live in dependence on God.”[1]

The later point should be a caution to all who strive to construct a paradigm of precisely how the future will be orchestrated by God. Revelation was partial at the time of the exile. There is no additional revelation in the rest of Scripture that tells us that God has given to His people all that He knows about the future. Thus, humility should be exercised in dealing with revelation of the future because it is still only partial.

Yahweh’s use of any pre-knowledge and subsequent fulfillment is meant to glorify Him alone and exalt Him alone as the incomparable Sovereign.

Yahweh Demonstrates His Incomparability through His Discipline of His Chosen People

Isaiah 48:10 gives a purpose for Yahweh’s activity on behalf of His people. He is refining them—but not as silver would be refined in a furnace of fire. He refines His people in the “furnace of affliction.” The affliction of severe circumstances is used by Yahweh to help His people reconsider and repent from trusting in anything else other than Yahweh. Israel’s calamity of the exile was discipline from the hand of Yahweh. Oswalt encouragingly states, “God’s election is demonstrated in the furnace of affliction as it is in pleasant places. It is precisely because Israel is the chosen of God that He is unwilling to leave them in an unrefined state.”[2] Ultimately Yahweh desires that His people be in a state of undivided loyalty to Him so that His people will declare His praises and His glory alone.

Yahweh Demonstrates His Incomparability through His Keeping of His Covenant

Another declaration by Yahweh laments that because of their disobedience He could not bless them as He desired. Wholeness, fruitfulness, and an exaltedness had been promised to His people. The terminology echoes back to all of the antecedent covenant promises and curses that Yahweh established with His people. The curses materialized. Yahweh ultimately keeps His covenant—blessings or curses—with His people. Again, this leading of His people into His ways so that He may bless them is evidence that He alone is God—“I am Yahweh the one instructing you to profit, the one leading you in the way you should walk.” (v. 48:17)

Yahweh Demonstrates His Incomparability through His Redemption of His People

Isaiah 48:17 uses “Your Redeemer” as a title for Yahweh. The message that the exiles were to declare on their way back home after fleeing Babylon was, “Yahweh has redeemed His servant Jacob.” Before Isaiah 40-48, the terminology of “redemption” is not used by Isaiah. Isaiah 43 and Isaiah 44 especially develop the theme of redemption and what that involves. Without going into a biblical theology of Isaiah 43-44, redemption as portrayed in those chapters involves, Yahweh’s ownership of His people (43:1), Yahweh’s protection (43:2), Yahweh’s substitutionary deliverance (43:3), Yahweh’s affection (43:4), Yahweh’s restoration (43:5-6), Yahweh’s specific intent for the object of redemption (43:8-21), Yahweh’s forgiveness (43:22-23; 44:22-23), and Yahweh’s blessing (44:1-5).