Introduction
We come to the end of the first section of Isaiah 40–55. What a journey it’s been so far! The audience is the exiled community from Judah, exiled to Babylon, exiled because of sin.
The prophecy came through Isaiah long before Babylon became the world power. Isaiah announces that the exile is coming and, even more astonishing, that the return from exile would come.
Isaiah prophesies the beleaguered state in which the exiles would have the hardest time believing that God had not forgotten them and would have the power, against the machinations of empire, to deliver them.
But that’s exactly the word God has for them, something never heard of before: he would bring back his people, they would not be lost, scattered, and assimilated into the world, and he would do it by using a pagan king to send them back.
All of this was too much to believe. Which is the problem the prophet addresses in chapter 48.
The biggest problem Israel had in the exile was not Babylon.
Their biggest problem was themselves, which is why after predicting the fall of Babylon’s gods, Bel and Nebo, and after predicting the fall of Babylon itself, now the prophet addresses their stubborn hearts.
One of the wonderful breakthroughs people have as followers of Jesus takes place when it clicks for someone that their problem is not their circumstances.
It’d be easier to climb Everest than for someone to believe that their unhappiness is not due to the people, history, and circumstances in their life. We attribute the problem to externals. We say things like, I’m in a bad marriage because of my spouse. I am anxious because the world is so unstable and scary. I drink excessively because my childhood left me with deep scars.
Countless people believe that if they had a good spouse and the world were safer and their parents were more caring—and their co-workers kinder, and things not so expensive, and a hundred other good things—they would be thriving humans.
But Isaiah is here to say, Even if all those things were true, you’d still be left with a massive problem: You.
Do you believe that if you had $100,000 more right now, life would be better? I’m really tempted to believe it. But the answer is, No, it would not be. You’d give yourself some comforts, some extra highs, but if you don’t change yourself fundamentally, when the comforts and highs wear off, you’ll be back in a hole, actually a deeper hole, because if money didn’t cure your condition, now you’re even more disoriented.
And so, the way God through Isaiah invites us out of that self-deception is by talking to us about God’s glory, purpose, and voice.
God’s glory overcomes rebellion.
From God’s perspective, Israel’s problem is not Babylon. So what is the problem?
Isaiah 48:1–4
“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—
you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city
and claim to rely on the God of Israel—
the Lord Almighty is his name:
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.
For I knew how stubborn you were;
your neck muscles were iron,
your forehead was bronze.
The problem is that Israel’s professed identity does not match their inner disposition. Their words do not match their heart.
God calls them out. He says, 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 . . . you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and claim to rely on the God of Israel.
All of these are really good things. So what’s the problem? They claim to rely on the God of Israel, they invoke his name, but not in truth and righteousness. There’s a disconnect.
If someone is married but they look at other men/women and approach other men/women in ways that are unbecoming, there’s a disconnect between their legal and spiritual identity and their inner reality.
Not in truth or righteousness means that God’s word is not informing their relationship to God or people (like the poor, the immigrant, the widow, the orphan).
Why are they lacking in truth and righteousness? Is it ignorance? They just don’t know? No. it’s deeper than that.
God says (v 4), I knew how stubborn you were; your neck muscles were iron, your forehead was bronze.
Stubbornness is different from ignorance. Stubbornness is a refusal to be compelled, to change one’s mind. Stubbornness is a deterrent to relationship and connection because relationship and connection imply a coming together, a yielding to one another. If I say, I like things the way I like them, I see things the way I see them, we’re not going to connect.
My wife is a good example of God’s relationship to Israel. She would come to me with things, and I was unyielding, and she would cry, and I’d remain unmoved. But she never stopped pursuing me.
In verse 8, God says, 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.
A rebel from birth. If you’re dealing with a rebel from birth, it’d be easier to cut your losses and be done. But God’s name and glory are inextricably tied to Israel. So he announces what he’s going to do before it happens, and then he brings it to pass.
Verse 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.
Verse 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.’
What’s God doing there? He’s forestalling the people’s idolatry. He knows they’re stubborn and prone to say, My idol blessed me. So he announced the former things, and now he tells them new things.
From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you. They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today.
It’s not just that God foretold things of old like the exodus. Now he’s telling them new things, like the exile, things never seen before. All this foretelling is his way of correcting their idolatry and stubbornness.
The word of God, the Bible, does this same thing to all of us. We are stubborn. We chart our life in the way we think it should go. We inevitably get ourselves in trouble. But God’s word, which has been written long before any of us was born, already anticipated all our problems and prescribed the solutions.
Isaiah 48:9–11
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.
See, I have refined you, though not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
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.
Why is God so patient with Israel?
God is a redeemer. He doesn’t just make new, shiny things; he restores broken things.
Another reason for his patience with Israel is God’s own glory and name. God entered into covenant with Israel. If Israel ceases to exist, it reflects poorly on God. Moses argues this way with God back at Sinai.
After the Israelites make the golden calf and turn to worship it, God’s wrath flares up and he says, These people are stiff-necked. Stubborn. I am going to destroy them and make you, Moses, into a great nation. But Moses says, LORD, why would you destroy your people that you brought out of Egypt? Why should the Egyptians say that you brought them out to wipe them off the face of the earth? Remember your covenant with Abraham and relent from your anger.
And so here in Isaiah, many centuries later, God says, 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. . . 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.
God’s glory overcomes our rebellion. God has sworn on oath by his own name that he will have a people for his praise for all eternity.
So even though we are constantly moving away from him in rebellion, he is constantly moving toward us, and he will win.
God’s purpose shapes history.
Isaiah 48:12–16
“Listen to me, Jacob,
Israel, whom I have called:
I am he; I am the first and I am the last.
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.
“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.
I, even I, have spoken;
yes, I have called him.
I will bring him,
and he will succeed in his mission.
“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.
It’s difficult for the exiles to overcome the reality of Babylon, that is, the monumental threat that they are to Israel’s wellbeing. For this reason, the Lord comes back to his creative power again and again.
He says, I am he. I am the one who laid the foundations of the earth and spread out the heavens. And I will dispatch Babylon. I’ve chosen my ally. I’ve called him. I will bring him. And he will succeed.
This word is incredible. Think about how much we need this word. Babylon is an oppressor to God’s people.
In the book of Revelation, there’s a whole chapter dedicated to the fall of Babylon, but by this time Babylon had been destroyed for over six centuries. So what is the Babylon of Revelation? Rome. Babylon now is the symbolic word for empire, the use of power—be it military, political, legal, or economic—to oppress the peoples of the world.
And what God was announcing in Revelation is that Rome, like Babylon of old, would fall. And, of course, it did, a few centuries later.
God will accomplish his purpose.
He brought down Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and every other empire that opposes his Messiah. He will establish his kingdom.
The points he makes in verses 13 and 15 are, I set up the creation. I shape history.
I think it’s easier for us to believe that he’s the Creator than it is for us to believe that he’s the Shaper of history. Why do I say that? Because we constantly fret about world affairs as if wars and rumors of wars and violence and abuses of power were a new thing.
Every ruler will bow at the name of Jesus and give an account for their use and abuse of power.
The kingdom of the world [will] become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever (Rev 11:15).
Do not fear and do not misplace your trust. I hear Christians talking about political power like it’s kingdom-of-God power. Our God is building his kingdom with his word, not with a sword.
Let the world fret while we work as agents of peace/shalom and witness, by word and deed, to the true king.
God’s voice creates the future.
Isaiah 48:17–19
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.
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.
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.”
I’m not sure of the value of engaging in the game of “what might’ve been.” If instead of moving to Chicago, you had moved to Florida, what might’ve been? Or if instead of becoming a teacher, you had become an accountant, what would’ve happened?
A few months ago, it was my 30th anniversary as a follower of Jesus, and as I was recounting with my family the goodness of God, I tried to think of what might’ve been if God had not intersected me when I was eighteen and far from him. Where would my life have gone? How much regret?
Where would I be today?
Is it valuable to entertain such scenarios?
Well, the Lord engages in a game of what would’ve been, not what might’ve been because there’s no guessing for God. He knows exactly what would’ve been IF Israel had paid attention to his commands. He tells them, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea. 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.
Things would’ve turned out quite different for stubborn Israel if they had listened to the Lord, if they had believed that he teaches them what is best for them. You would not have gone into exile. Your descendants would have been like the sand. That’s what would’ve been. But let’s focus on what WILL be.
Remember, through this prophecy the Lord is rousing them to take action as he creates something new. What is that new thing? A new exodus.
Isaiah 48:20–21
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.”
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.
Verse 20 has so much energy. He’s directing the way they should go. So he says, Leave. Flee. Announce. Proclaim. Send it out to the ends of the earth. Say it.
Leave Babylon. Flee from the Babylonians! I know you think this is crazy, that this is never going to happen. But it’s happening and you need to be ready. Ready like when Israel left Egypt in haste. Keep your backpacks on. It’s time to go.
And you’re going to announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. My salvation cannot be contained or hidden. It needs to be shouted and proclaimed.
Send it out to the ends of the earth. This salvation is not just for Israel. It’s for the whole world. Say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob.”
He brings up the water from the rock that he gave them in the desert to locate for them the kind of deliverance that was coming.
Do you hear the rumbling of a new exodus? I parted the waters of the sea. I’m parting the so-called makers of history to create a highway for my people. You’re going home.
Isaiah 48:22
“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
The wicked here are the ones who will not listen to the word of the Lord.
In verse 18 he had just said to them, If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would’ve been like a river. Peace/Shalom is the gift for those who listen to the Lord. There is no peace for the wicked, for the ones who ignore the commands of the Lord.
The redeemed listen to the Lord.
The command to listen in this chapter is like nothing else in the whole book. Verse 1, Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob. Verse 12, Listen to me, Jacob. Verse 14, Come together, all of you, and listen. Verse 16, Come near me and listen to this.
God was about to do something that had never been done before, bring an exiled nation back home, and he did not want them to miss it because of their refusal to listen.
When Jesus came to Israel, he found the nation in exile once again. They were in the land, but they were by no means free.
Rome ruled over them. But bigger than Roman oppression was the oppression of sin. People were sick, demon-possessed, sheep without a shepherd, condemned to death—every single one of us.
Jesus came to lead a new exodus out of exile. It’s why every gospel writer quotes Isaiah 40:3 to explain the ministry of Jesus, prepare the way of the LORD . . . make a highway for our God. The ultimate return from exile is here.
When Cyrus sends the exiles home, Babylon ceased to be an issue. But the biggest issue was still present, their sin. (We’re going to see more of this in the next few chapters of Isaiah.)
We all live in exile, away from God, away from home, because of sin. If all the external circumstances in our lives were perfect, we would still have a massive problem: ourselves. The poison is within.
And it’s why Jesus came to expose us to the glory of God, accomplish the purpose of God, and be the voice of God in our lives that takes us all the way home. But we must listen to him.
At the mount of transfiguration, when Jesus shines like the sun and is enveloped by a cloud and Moses and Elijah appear and talk with him, do you know what they were talking with Jesus about? Matthew and Mark don’t tell us. But Luke does. He says, They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). That word departure translates the Greek word exodos. Jesus’ death was an exodus, a departure. He went through death and resurrection ahead of us, and he leads a whole procession in his train, out of the exile that is this sin-infested, evil-corrupted, death-oppressed world. Jesus brings the final exodus to pass.
At the mount of transfiguration, Peter, James, and John became sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men who were with him, Moses and Elijah. And then a cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.
Listen to him. The voice of Jesus creates our future.
Do you belong to Jesus? If so, he has taken you out of exile by a new exodus and brought you into the family of God.
But if you belong to him, you must listen to him. The redeemed listen to the Lord. The people of Isaiah’s day called themselves the people of God, but not in truth and righteousness.
We don’t listen to Jesus because we’re stubborn.
Why do you think God keeps saying to the people, Listen to me. Listen to me. Come together and listen? Because he knows that we don’t listen. We may hear the words, but the intended outcome doesn’t come to pass, because we’re not listening. We listen much faster to some yahoo on social media about all kinds of things than we listen to Jesus.
We could take every word of Jesus in the gospels and make examples out of them. Let’s do just one. Jesus says, It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35), but we think it’s more blessed to receive than to give. We do. If we really believed him, the amount of generosity that would flow from us would do so much good for our communities and the world. And I know the Lord is growing us in this, and we’re all in different places on this journey.
But do we take him at his word in every way, in everything?
Finally, we don’t listen to Jesus because what he tells us is unbelievably good. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true.
God came to the exiles and said to them, Leave Babylon. Flee from the Babylonians! And they had a hard time believing it. It was too good to be true. Except it wasn’t—because it’s God.
Jesus comes to us and says to us, The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news. But we don’t want to repent. What he says to us is, You can leave your sin behind. You can stop your addictions. You don’t have to talk about people that way, or see yourself as a victim, or live selfishly, or take and take and take instead of give, give, give. You don’t have to disrespect your body, or use it to get attention. You don’t have to be anxious about what people think about you. You can have peace, joy, love. That’s the life of the kingdom. Repent and believe the good news.
But we don’t want to repent. We stubbornly believe that Sin is better. It’s why we stay there far longer than we ever should.
You are your biggest enemy. Let Jesus create your future by his voice. The redeemed listen to the Lord.