LESSON 19

GOD’S CALL TO HIS PEOPLE

ISAIAH CHAPTER 48

God reminds the house of Jacob and all who have placed their faith in Jehovah that “there is no peace to the wicked.”  Each of the three main divisions of the last 27 chapters of Isaiah end on the same theme.  This first division of nine chapters has reminded the family of God that idols or idol worship brings no inner peace.  Isaiah directed by the Holy Spirit rebukes the Jewish captives for their lack of a deep rooted faith.  On the surface, they talk about their faith in the God of Israel and love for Jerusalem, but their life and conduct dishonors the holy city.  As a point of interest, this is the first time Jerusalem is referred to as the “Holy City.”  Isaiah 52:1 also refers to Jerusalem as “the Holy City.”  It should not be lost, as far as attention goes, to the child of God today that Jerusalem is the most contested city 2,700 years later, but we will deal with this later.

In Isaiah 48:3-8, the writer deals with the former things and new things.  What is referred to here is the Exodus from Egypt and probably includes the deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib.  The prophets that God sent to His people had declared what was to happen, and in verse 3 God suddenly did what was promised.  Now God is announcing new things in Isaiah 48:6 that the Lord has in store for Israel and for all nations.  The problem was these captives had settled down for 70 years in Babylon, and many did not want to leave. It would not be an easy thing for them to pack up and go back to Jerusalem with its long journey of hardship.  These Jewish people were stubborn and not excited about the new things that God had in store for them.

God had chosen Israel to be His people, and Isaiah 48:9-11 shows that the preservation and protection of Israel are connected with the honor of a covenant-keeping God.  The promise here is that God would go before them and that they had nothing to fear.  Child of God, stop and consider Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you WILL perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”  Add to that the promise of II Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.” 

The servant of the Lord appeals to the nation, and I think here we have the Lord Jesus Christ Himself appealing to Israel and to all His people to flee from disobedience and the bondage that sin brings.  If only Israel had obeyed the Word of God, they would not have been in bondage; and if we would listen to the message of God’s Word, we too can avoid disaster.  “There is no peace, says the Lord to the wicked.” (Isaiah 48:22).  That message applies in our day as it did to those who God had sent Isaiah as prophet.  In our day we must be careful as a church not to grow complacent with our large churches and even larger programs that bring in much wealth.  Let us remember that God alone brings peace to the heart, and only as we live our lives on the principles of God’s Word can we really know real peace.