Isaiah 48:1

Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah. They swear by the name of the Lord and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. For they call themselves the holy city and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts is His name.

I have declared the former things from the beginning. They went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them. I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. Because I knew that you are an obstinate and a stiff-necked people, those that have a neck of iron sinew and a brow of brass, I have even from the beginning declared it to thee. Before it came to pass, I showed it to thee, lest you should say that my idol has done them, and my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.

Thou hast heard, see all this, and will not ye declare it? I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them. They are created now, not from the beginning, even before the day when you heard them not, lest you should say, "Behold, I knew them." Yea, you have not heard them; you knew them not. Yea, from the time that your ear was not open, for I knew that you would deal very treacherously and was called a transgressor from the womb.

Father, as we look at this passage tonight and consider your word, I pray that you would continue to guide us through the Scriptures by your Spirit. Teach us, give us understanding and application, and continue to transform us, Lord, by the renewing of our minds. We need you to work in us, Lord. Apart from you, we can do nothing. We are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as being of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of you.

So we pray, Lord, that as we cast ourselves upon you tonight, even confessing at this very moment our insufficiency, you would reign and rule and teach. For we ask it in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen. You can be seated.

The people of Jerusalem, there in the nation of Judah, their allegiance to God was a sham.

They appeared outwardly to have a true devotion to God. But God says to them, "Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and come forth out of the waters of Judah." He says, "I want you to listen up, Jacob, the one that was called to be governed by God, even you, Judah, the one that was really set aside as a tribe above the other tribes there in Israel."

He continues, "Listen up. You swear by the name of the Lord; you make mention of the God of Israel, but it's not in truth. It's not in righteousness. It is all just an external display to those that are around you." Unfortunately, at this point in time, the people even believed themselves to have been walking in righteousness. They believed that they were actually doing it in truth. They had deceived themselves; they had a self-deceived heart.

There in the city of Jerusalem was that vast temple, awesomely filled with gold and silver and adorned in so many different ways. They had the temple, the priesthood, and all the sacrifices and offerings that they would offer there. Day after day, week after week, and month after month, they would observe the feast days and the new moons. They would fast at the appointed times. Yet, all of it was a sham. So much so that God would tell them, as we've already seen back in Isaiah chapter one, that their worship towards Him had become sin.

There is a way in which our worship can become wickedness if our heart is removed from the Lord. These people, although they would go to the temple and offer sacrifices to God, were also offering sacrifices to other false gods. As we considered last week, they were offering sacrifices to some of the Babylonian deities, to Bel and to Nebo, as mentioned in Isaiah chapter 46, verse one.

As a result of their idolatry and their turning away from God, God has prophesied that a judgment was going to come upon them, that He was going to punish them for their wickedness. We have considered, as we've been going through the book of Isaiah, that God's punishment is always purposeful. I have made the statement that God's punishment is for the purpose of purification. We see that time and time again; He is refining His people, but still they refuse to turn to Him.

It was during the time that Isaiah would write these prophecies and speak these things to his own people there in Judah and Jerusalem that they would see the Assyrian armies, led by King Sennacherib, come through their nation and almost completely destroy them. If it had not been for the mercy of God and the grace of God, the people of Judah and Jerusalem would have been completely devastated.

By the Assyrian invaders, God graciously fought on their behalf and destroyed a huge number of the Assyrian army in one night—185,000, as we see in Isaiah chapter 37. Yet, even after that near destruction, they still would not receive the corrective word of God. They belittled Isaiah the prophet and mocked him. In Isaiah chapter 28, we see that they said his message was repetitive. They remarked, "Line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little." They mocked the messenger of God, suggesting he ought to be given to the children's ministry because he was just so repetitive.

However, God was speaking to them line upon line and precept upon precept. That's exactly what He says in Isaiah chapter 28. He was speaking to them in this fashion, but they would not receive it. Therefore, He declared that He would speak to them with stammering lips and another tongue, which was a prophecy indicating that they would be carried away as captives to Babylon. If they would not hear and heed God's word spoken in their own language by one of their own prophets in the Hebrew tongue, then they would be taken away to Babylon to receive it in another language. Ultimately, through the Babylonian captivity, their idolatry would almost completely be eradicated.

It is unfortunate that they had to go to such lengths to finally receive God's correction. We know that there may even be some here tonight who, from your own life experiences, understand that you had to reach the very depths before you finally received the correction of the Lord. Perhaps tonight, as I mention this, you have family members or friends who come to mind. You see how you have shared the truth with them, having been in the position of a prophet of God, sharing the word of God with them for years. Yet, they continue to stiffen their hearts and necks against the Lord, walking in rebellion against Him.

Maybe they even have a spirituality—a term that people in our culture today toss around quite a bit. They might say, "Well, he's a very spiritual person." You wonder what exactly that means. They try to explain it by saying, "Well, he's very contemplative and he meditates," so they label him as very spiritual. They may have an appearance of spirituality, an appearance of godliness even. Perhaps they even attend a church that occasionally uses biblical themes or maybe they even throw around a Bible.

In reality, their worship has become wickedness because their hearts are removed from God. While they go to a church, the rest of their lives are filled with rebellion and stubbornness towards the word and work of God.

We read in verse two that they call themselves the holy city. In Jerusalem, they presented themselves as very spiritual, professing that they trusted and depended upon God, but it was just a facade. Verse two reveals that they stay themselves upon the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts is His name. They have an appearance of trusting in Him, but it is not reality.

He continues in verse three, stating, "I have declared the former things from the beginning, and they went forth out of my mouth. I showed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass because I knew that you are obstinate, that your neck is an iron sinew and your brow is brass. I have even from the beginning declared it to you before it came to pass. I showed it to you, lest you should say, 'My idol has done them, and my graven images, my molten images, have commanded them.'" Judah was without excuse; their turning away from God had absolutely no justification.

They had seen God do great things. Looking back in their history, they remembered how God had called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans and how He provided for and protected Abraham as he wandered in the promised land as a sojourner. They could see how God led them through Isaac and Jacob and the patriarchs, the twelve tribes, and how ultimately they ended up in Egypt, where they were a blessed people. However, they succumbed to tyranny and found themselves under severe and harsh taskmasters.

But God delivered them. He sent Moses to bring them out, and ultimately it was not Moses, but the mighty hand and outstretched arm of God who brought ten plagues upon the Egyptians and then totally destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. The children of Israel crossed over on dry ground. In the wilderness for forty years, God tended to them and took care of them, even though they were still stiff-necked and hard against the Lord, constantly complaining. Yet, in His mercy and grace, God cared for them and brought them into the promised land. He gave them cities that they did not build and vineyards.

They were a blessed people, and they could see throughout their history the Ebenezers, these stones of remembrance that God had set up for them to say, "Look, this is what your God has done." Before He even acted, God would tell them what He was going to do prophetically. Here, He announces to the people, "The former things from the beginning went forth out of my mouth. I showed them unto you, and then I did them." Suddenly, God says, "Before I acted, I spoke to you so you would know that it was me who is working." How cool is that?

In Amos chapter three, we read, "Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants, the prophets." Before God acts, He speaks. Before He works, His word comes forth so that we would know what He is going to do and that we could recognize, "God did this." One of the things about prophecy is that God has spoken to us about all these different things that are still yet to come to pass. When they come to pass, we will be able to say, "God said this would happen," just like the reemerging of the nation of Israel in 1948.

If you read commentaries and Bible study books going back to the 1400s and 1500s, you will find passages that talk about Israel becoming a nation. A lot of times, they will spiritualize it or center its fulfillment in the United States. When America, the New World, came about, people called this land the New Jerusalem. Some Bible teachers claimed this was the fulfillment of the prophecy that Israel would rise once again. They were wrong because in 1948, national Israel rose again. We can look back and say, "God said it would come to pass."

Ezekiel chapter 36 and 37, the Valley of Dry Bones, is just one passage. There are several others as well. Isaiah chapter 66 talks about who has seen such a thing, a nation being born in a day. Their God fulfills His word, and we can look back and say, "See, God makes good on His word." Jesus told His disciples, "Not one jot or tittle will pass until all is fulfilled." God's word will be fulfilled, and there is far more predictive prophecy in the Bible than you and I recognize. It will all come to pass.

God tells His people there in Judah, "You are completely without excuse. I have revealed Myself time and time again. I have prophetically told you what is going to come to pass before it happens, and then I accomplished My word." As we have been seeing in Isaiah chapter 40, until this passage here in chapter...

We've been seeing how God is contrasting His ability and His power to show what is going to come to pass against the false gods that the children of Israel worship. These idols, He says, are nothing. Silver and gold, the work of men's hands. Eyes they have, but they don't see; mouths they have, but they don't speak. Here they are, bowing down to these false gods, devoting themselves to these idols. God is repeatedly in this passage showing them the foolishness of this, saying they can do nothing. But I show you what is going to come to pass before it happens. I've told you what happened all the way in the past before man ever existed. I told you about the creation. I'm the one who formed the heavens. I'm the one who stretched out the heavens and made the earth. I weighed the mountains in a balance.

Throughout these chapters, we've been seeing how God is saying, "Here is My power, and look at these gods that you're bowing down to. They're worthless. They're foolish. They're stupid." He says, "From the beginning, I've declared to you what is going to come to pass." Then I made My work come to pass quickly so that you would not say, "Well, my idol has done this," or "My graven image or my molten image has commanded them." How insane it is for these people, the people of God, who would see God work in miraculous ways, and then they would take those works and apply them to their false gods.

We see that all the way back in the book of Exodus. You remember, God brings the children of Israel out of Egypt by a mighty hand. Then they come before Mount Sinai, and Moses goes up on Mount Sinai to meet with God. What happens while he's on the mountaintop? The children of Israel come to Aaron and say, "As for Moses, we don't know what happened to him. So we want you to make us a god that we can worship." They give him all their golden earrings, and he tells Moses, "I just took the golden earrings and threw them in the fire, and out came this calf." What were the people saying? "Here is the god that brought us out of Egypt." They are attributing the works of the mighty God to their idols.

Even today, we are guilty of the same in our own nation. We see the blessed provision of the one true God, according to God's common grace upon humanity, and we attribute it to our intellect. We attribute it to our amazing ability, scientifically, whatever it may be. We fail to recognize or be thankful that God ultimately is the one who ordained it and allowed it. I believe just as Judah was without excuse, we are without excuse as well. You have heard, "See all this, and will you not declare it?" He said, "You've..."

Seen how I've worked? Why will you not proclaim my praises? You attribute it to your idols, and yet you will not declare that I am the one who has brought these things to pass. I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them.

He says, "Now I'm speaking to you new things. I've told you things in the past that I am going to do, and I fulfilled those things. And now I'm speaking a new prophetic word to you. They are created now and not from the beginning, even before the day when you heard them, lest you should say, 'Behold, I knew them.' I am doing new things, and I'm declaring to you these new things that I am going to do. They may blow your mind, but I'm declaring them to you so that you would know that I am the one who works, and you will have no way to attribute these to your false gods."

What sort of new things was God going to do? Well, we've already seen it previously in the book of Isaiah. He says, "I'm going to do a strange work, a peculiar work. I'm going to turn against you. I, who once blessed you, will now turn against you, and I'll deliver you into captivity." That was a new work, and it probably would have blown a lot of people's minds.

There were many detractors in Isaiah's day. Many naysayers were saying, "No, that will never happen." This continued from the time of Isaiah, in the later part of the eighth century BC, until right at the time of Jeremiah, when the nation was just about to go into captivity with the Babylonians. Jeremiah was the lone prophet saying, "We are going into captivity," while the rest of the prophets in the nation were saying, "No, no, no, peace, peace, you're wrong." God says, "No, no, don't say peace, peace, because this judgment will come."

Even though there were detractors, even though there were naysayers saying, "No, no, no, no, no," the prophecies of Isaiah and the prophecies of Jeremiah would come to pass. God says, "No, I am doing a new work, and I want you to know what I am going to do because surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants, the prophets."

I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things that you did not know. They are created now, not from the beginning, even before the day when you heard them, lest you should say, "Behold, I knew them." You did not hear them; you did not know them. From that time, your ear was not open, for I knew that you would deal very treacherously, as you were called a transgressor from the womb. I knew that you would deal very treacherously. I imagine that had to grieve the heart of God greatly to be able to say this to His people whom He loved and cherished.

I knew that you would deal very treacherously. I knew that you would turn away from me. Why did God speak these things to them? Why did He declare to them the things that He was going to do before He did them? It was so that they would know that it was Him, even in their sin, even in their idolatry. They would still have to recognize that He is God.

Even those today who disregard God or say that there is no God hate the fact that God has placed in them a conscious recognition that He is. Paul, the apostle, speaks about this in Romans chapter one, where he says, "Although they did not like to retain God in their knowledge." There are people today who don't want the idea of God to even be in their minds. Yet they cannot get rid of it because God has hardwired it there. I think it's so cool. Although they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, the person who completely removes that is given over to a debased mind. Romans chapter one says they do those things that are unseemly.

Here, these people were transgressors through and through. They were obstinate and rebellious. Yet God continues to reach out to them. He continues to call out to them. The nations around them that had done the same wickedness were rightly judged by God and were completely destroyed. Yet Israel continues. Even to this day, there are nations mentioned in the Bible and the Old Testament that are not nations today. There are people groups mentioned that do not exist today.

Consider the Amalekites of Exodus chapter 17, that group of people that came and unrighteously fought against the children of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness. God said, "I will destroy them." Ultimately, God destroyed the Amalekites. You will not find an Amalekite today; they were completely destroyed. There are a number of people groups in the Old Testament that God declared judgment against. Why? Because they had sinned; they had completely departed from the Lord. They were wicked through and through, just as God says to Judah here.

So why is it that Judah would not be consumed like the Amalekites? Why is it that Judah would not...

Be destroyed like the Babylonians? Well, look at verse nine. "For my name's sake will I defer my anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut you not off. Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver is refined. I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. And for my own sake, even my own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be polluted? And I will not give my glory to another."

Israel's very existence is proof that God is not like you and me. In the book of Hosea, God clearly declares, "I am not a man." Yes, we are created in the image of God, but we are not entirely like Him in the least. If we were in the position of God and someone had sinned against us repeatedly, like the people of Judah, we might just say, "You know what? Smite button. Goodbye. You're done." Yet God is not like us.

The very fact that today, in the year 2010, there is still a group, a nation called Israel in that land, which is considered the promised land, is proof that God is not like us because He is still gracious to them. He is still merciful to them. Sure, there are some of the bloodline of Abraham, called Jews, who have put their faith in Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah, but largely they have not. It would be an unbelievably small percentage that have put their faith in Jesus as Messiah.

Largely, that nation, which is called by God to be priests to this world, has been headstrong against Him, stiff-necked against Him, and they have sinned and done wickedness just as every other nation in the world. They deserve the judgment of God. Other nations were consumed with unquenchable fire and wrath, and yet Israel has gone through difficulty, no doubt.

They have faced the Assyrian invasion, the Babylonian invasion, the destruction during the Maccabean period, and the destruction by the Roman Empire. They have been cast out of Russia, cast out of Spain, and cast out of Europe. Then there was the Holocaust of the Second World War.

When you look at all these different things they have gone through, all these trials and afflictions, they still remain. Why do they remain? Because of God's grace and His mercy. Yes, they have gone through fire, but it has not been the fire of incineration like Sodom and Gomorrah.

It's been said that the fire of affliction is a trial by fire, as we read here. God describes it as a refining fire. He says, "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver is refined, not with a real fire." He is speaking figuratively. He states, "No, I've chosen to use the furnace of affliction. I've allowed you to go through trial. I've allowed you to go through difficulty." All of that has been for your refining, and He has done this for His own sake.

Judah deserved every bit of God's judgment and wrath, just as all the other nations of this world do. Yet, God gave them mercy. Why? For His own name's sake. What does that have to do with it? Well, God chose Abraham. He called Abraham and said, "You are going to be my servant, and I'm going to bless you. I'm going to make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. Everyone who blesses you shall be blessed, and everyone who curses you shall be cursed. In you, all the nations of the world shall be blessed." This is found in Genesis chapter 12. Then, He reaffirmed His covenant with Abraham in Genesis chapter 15.

God made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants. Because of that covenant and because God honors His name and His promises, He said, "I will not allow my name to be shamed because of you. So, I will not destroy you." God's heart is revealed through Moses's actions in Exodus chapter 32. I previously mentioned the story in Exodus where the children of Israel departed from the Lord and bowed down to the golden calf.

As Moses was on the mountain, God told him in Exodus chapter 32, "You need to get down because the people down there are doing things that are wicked." Moses went down the mountain and saw everything that was going on. God said this to Moses in Exodus chapter 32, verse 9: "The Lord said unto Moses, 'I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now, therefore, let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them. I will make you a great nation.'"

How tempting would that have been? God said to Moses, "You know what? I'm angry with these people, Israel. We're going to destroy them. I'm going to pour out my wrath upon them, completely consume them, and we'll start over with you. They won't be the children of Israel; they'll be the children of Moses. How does that sound, Moses?"

I believe this was a test for Moses, and his actions would reveal the heart of God. Moses besought the Lord, as recorded in verse 11 of Exodus chapter 32.

The Lord, his God, said, "Lord, why does your wrath wax hot against your people, which you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say, 'For mischief did he bring them out to slay them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce wrath and repent of this evil against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self and said unto them, 'I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven. And all this land that I have spoken of, will I give to your seed that they shall inherit it forever.'"

And the Lord relented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. Why did God relent there? Well, because of his namesake, just as we see here in Isaiah chapter 48. Because of the Lord's namesake, he says, "I will relent." Remember, mercy is not getting what we deserve. The people of Judah in Jerusalem deserved all of God's wrath and all of God's punishment, just as we do, but they didn't receive what they deserved. Neither do we. We deserve all of God's wrath and all of God's punishment, but in Christ, we have received not only mercy; we have received exceeding grace.

So, while Babylon would be destroyed, the people of Judah would merely be refined. A large number of them would go into Babylon into captivity, but a few would return. A remnant would return, one of the themes of the book of Isaiah, because God's punishment was for their purification. God is merciful. God is gracious. God forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin.

What ought to be our response? Isaiah 48, verse 12 says, "Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called. I am he, I am the first, I am also the last. My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth. My right hand has spanned the heavens. When I call unto them, they stand up." What ought to be our response? It is to simply hearken unto the Lord. The word "hearken" there is the Hebrew word "Shema." Perhaps you've heard that word before, because in Deuteronomy chapter six, verse four, there is a passage that every Jew knows to be the Shema. The Shema says...

Deuteronomy chapter six, verse four states, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. The Shema, when we read in Deuteronomy six, verse four, begins with the word "hear." This is the very same Hebrew word that is translated as "hearken" in verse twelve of Isaiah forty-eight. It literally means to hear, to listen, and to obey.

This is not just a casual hearing, as if a fire engine is going by the church and you hear the sirens. It is to hear and to actually pay attention, to listen, and then to obey what is being said. Every one of us has been in a situation where we are in a crowd of hundreds of people, and everybody is talking. There are conversations going on all around us, creating a fever pitch of noise. In the midst of this, you hear the murmur of all these conversations.

However, if someone about twenty feet away calls your name, you suddenly shift from merely hearing to actively listening. You look over at them, make eye contact, and they begin to speak to you. At that moment, you are not only hearing the conversations but truly listening. The person speaking to you will know if you are genuinely listening based on whether you obey or act on what they are telling you to do. This is what it means to Shema.

There are other words in Hebrew that can be translated as "hear" or "hearken," but this word is very specific. It means to hear, to pay attention, to listen, and then to act on what has been said. God says to His people, "I want you to hear me. I want you to listen to me, and I want you to obey. Harken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called."

It is important that He reminds them of Jacob and Israel. Jacob was a deceiver; he deserved wrath and judgment. Yet, God called him and brought forth a new people, Israel, those governed by God. "You are my called. I am He; I am the first, I am the last. My hand," He says, "laid the foundation of the earth." Here, God is contrasting His power and authority.

With the false gods that they bowed down to and worshiped, God is saying, "I’m the first, I’m the last. Your false gods, you had to create them, but I’m the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, the one who was, and is, and is to come. I laid the foundations of the earth. I’m the creator God, and I’m the one who measured the heavens with the span. I call them to stand, and they stand up."

God called unto them at creation, and they stood up. Even more than that, all of creation stands at God's beck and call. They are all under God's complete authority. What a contrast that is here! The creation, the heaven of heavens, the earth, is under the command and dictate of God. Yet man is rebellious. The stars obey God's command; the earth, all of God's creation, except for men. God's people are obstinate and disobedient, but the rest of His creation does what He wills.

So, He says to His rebellious people in verse 14, "All you assemble yourselves and hear. Which among them has declared these things? The Lord has loved him, and he will do His pleasure on Babylon, and His arm shall be on the Chaldeans." The heavens and the earth are under God's command and authority; they do as He wills. With that in view, God says to His rebellious people, "Assemble yourselves and hear." Assemble yourselves in Shema, the Hebrew word for "hear," "listen," and "obey."

Then He asks, "Which among your idols is able to declare these things? Which of your false gods is able to tell you what’s going to happen before it comes to pass?" The idols of Judah were useless. They could not hear, they could not listen, they could not obey, and they could not declare the things that God can declare.

What sort of things? Well, He reminds us of the prophecy that we learned of in Isaiah chapter 45, the prophecy of Cyrus. "The Lord has loved him; he will do His pleasure on Babylon, and His arm shall be on the Chaldeans." The idols were just that—they were idle. But God had declared that Cyrus would come and that he would accomplish all of God's will upon the Chaldeans. This one that God called from the East to rise up, to set the...

People are free from their captivity in Babylon. I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him, I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. God spoke of Cyrus. God would call Cyrus, bring him forth, and make him prosper. Everything that God would set before him, God would direct him to accomplish. The useless things that man often boasts and trusts can do none of these things, but God does. He calls, he brings forth, and he makes to prosper.

Then again, in verse 16, God says, "Come you near unto me and hear this." Draw near to me, God says, and Shema—hear, listen, and obey. I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From the time that it was, there I am. And now the Lord God and his Spirit have sent me. Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord, thy God, which teaches thee to profit, which leads thee by the way that you should go.

Oh, that you had hearkened to my commandments! Then had thy peace been as a river and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea. Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof. His name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

"Come near and listen," he says. It's as if God leans into his rebellious children and says, "Come here. I want to talk to you." I haven't been one that hid my plans from you. I have not spoken secretly. They could not accuse God of hiding his wisdom and his counsel from them because, from the beginning, he had revealed everything that he was going to do.

The Lord God and his Spirit have sent me. Clearly, this servant speaking here in verse 16 is Jesus. God the Father and God the Holy Spirit have sent one that is from the beginning to declare the counsels of the Lord, to declare the mysteries of the Lord. Only Jesus can be identified as the speaker here in this passage. We see the whole of the Trinity, the whole of the Godhead speaking here.

Here, Jesus is speaking: "I am the one that reveals and declares the counsels of God." God the Father and God the Holy Spirit have sent me from the beginning to declare these things. And I am the Lord, thy Redeemer. I love the words that God uses here to identify himself to his people. He says, "I am the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the Lord, your God."

And Jesus, what does He do? What is part of His ministry? Well, He teaches and He leads. We see here in this passage, in verse 19, "Thy seed also had been the sand of the sea, thy offspring." Actually, am I in the right chapter? Oh, that you'd hearken unto me! In verse 18, "My commandments, your peace would have been as a river and your righteousness as the waves of the sea." The Lord, the Redeemer, is not unlike the idols that man bows down to. He teaches and He leads. He directs us in the way that we are to go.

In Psalm 32, verse 8, God says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go. I will guide you with my eye." We saw previously in Isaiah chapter 30, verse 21, "And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left." God is the one who teaches us the way. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." He directs our paths.

Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6 state, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths or make your path straight." In verse 20 of Isaiah chapter 48, He says, "Go you forth of Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans. With a voice of singing, declare you, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth. Say, 'He, the Lord, has redeemed His servant Jacob.'"

They thirsted not when He led them through the desert, and He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. He claimed the rock, and the waters gushed out. "There is no peace," saith the Lord, "unto the wicked." They were deserving of all of God's judgment and all of God's wrath, and yet they would receive mercy. Not only that, they would receive grace as they went into captivity in Babylon. God would not allow them to be consumed, but the Babylonians would see destruction by the hand of the Medo-Persian Empire. The children of Israel from Judah and Jerusalem would be released, and they would be led by the Lord through the wilderness.

God says, "When you leave, I want you to leave with joy and singing and rejoicing, declaring to the rest of the world that God is the one who has done this. I want you to proclaim the praises of the one who lets you out of captivity." Did you know that's the same?

The Lord has given us a calling, as stated in 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 9. Peter says that we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, God's holy nation, a peculiar people. What is our purpose? It is to declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. This is the same message He gave to those who were set free from their captivity in Babylon. He speaks to us as we find ourselves captive to the things of this world, to sin and death, and He sets us free. When we are liberated, He instructs us to proclaim His praises, the one who called us out of darkness and into this marvelous light.

However, He reminds the people at the end of chapter 48 that there is no peace for the wicked. Israel would receive peace as a result of God's merciful grace, but wicked Babylon, both of old and in the future, will receive the recompense for their wickedness. Because of the covenant that God made with Abraham, the children of Israel experienced redemption. In contrast, the Babylonians, guilty of the same kind of wickedness as the children of Israel, faced judgment. In Christ, although we are guilty and deserving of punishment, we receive grace and mercy. The rest of the world, not in Christ by grace through faith, abides under judgment.

Continuing on to Isaiah chapter 49, verse 1, we read, "Listen, O Isles, unto me, and hearken, you people from afar." The Lord has called me from the womb, and from the bowels of my mother, He has made mention of my name. He has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand, He has hidden me and made me a polished shaft in His quiver. He said unto me, "You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified."

Then I said, "I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain. Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God."

In Isaiah chapter 49, God shifts His attention. Now He speaks to the nations surrounding Judah and Jerusalem. Previously, in chapter 48, His message was directed to His own people. But now He calls out, "Listen, Shema, O Isles, and hearken, you people from afar." God speaks to all the rest of the nations.

From the womb, from the bowels of my mother, He has made mention of my name. The "me" in this passage is clearly the Messiah; it's clearly Jesus, as we're going to go through it. You'll see it. Why do we know it's Jesus? Well, number one, He is called by God the Father from the womb. He was made mention of prophetically before His birth.

In Luke chapter one, verse 31, remember the angel Gabriel came to Jesus's mother and told her, "Behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Jesus." So, before His coming forth, He is announced. Not only that, in Micah chapter five, verse two, we are told where He would be born—in Bethlehem.

In this passage, verse two states that He made my mouth like a sharp sword. Ephesians chapter six, verse 17 says the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Hebrews chapter four, verse 12 states that the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.

In Revelation chapter one, verse 16, Jesus is revealed to John while he is on the island of Patmos. It says, "And He had in His right hand seven stars, and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword." In Revelation chapter two, verse 16, Jesus speaks to the churches, saying, "Repent, or else I will come unto you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth."

In Revelation chapter 19, verse 15, again speaking of Jesus, it says, "And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, and with it He shall smite the nations, and He shall rule them with a rod of iron, and He treads the winepress of the fierceness of Almighty God." Then, down in verse 21, it states, "And the remnant that were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth, and all the birds were filled with their flesh."

So, who is the one that has the sword that comes out of His mouth? Jesus. As we read here in Isaiah chapter 49, verses one and two, this one calls out to the nations, "Listen, O isles, hearken to me, you people from afar. The Lord has called me from the womb, and from the bowels of my mother He has made mention of my name. He has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hid me."

What does that mean? In the shadow of God the Father's hand, Jesus, the Messiah, is hid. Jesus was hid and protected by the Father until just the right time.

Remember just a short time after Jesus's birth, while he was still in Bethlehem, his earthly father, Joseph, was told in a dream to get out of there. He was instructed to go down to Egypt because Herod was going to come and try to kill the child. As a result, Herod sent and had the male children under two killed in Bethlehem. God protected Jesus during this time.

Throughout Jesus's earthly ministry, we see in the Gospels that the scribes and the Pharisees rose up to try to capture and kill him. Yet, he would go right through the middle of them, and they were not able to take him. Why? Because he is hidden in the shadow of God's hand. Jesus speaks in Isaiah 49:2, saying, "He made me a polished shaft in his quiver; has he hid me?" The words "polished shaft" could also be translated as "choice arrow." Jesus is that well-polished, sharpened choice arrow, fashioned for the specific purpose of delivering a death blow to the enemy.

Jesus was sent to accomplish a specific task. He speaks of a sharp sword in relation to the Jews who were near to him, where a sword could reach them, and of a polished shaft or choice arrow in relation to the Gentiles who were far off. God is able to reach anyone he sets out to reach with his word. His word is described in the Scriptures as being like a sword and also like a fitly placed arrow.

In this context, we read of the Messiah, Jesus, who says in verse three, "You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified." Some people have a hard time with the Messiah being called Israel. They wonder about this reference: "You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified." The context of this chapter indicates that the passage is clearly speaking of the Messiah. Therefore, this reference to Israel must be a title applied to the Messiah.

Why is it applied to the Messiah? First, because the Messiah comes from Israel; he is a representative of Israel. Secondly, the Messiah fulfills the title of Israel better than the children of Israel ever did. The name Israel means "governed of God," which implies that Israel is to be the one who perfectly does the will of God. Only Jesus fulfills that reality.

And so you are my servant, O Israel, to glorify me. Jesus, what was His desire as He prayed to the Father in John, chapter 17? That He would glorify the Father, that the Father would be glorified in the Son. Continuing on, in verse four, it says, "Then I said, 'I've labored in vain. I've spent my strength for nothing and in vain, yet surely my judgment is with the Lord and my work with my God.'"

This also causes some people to be confused. They ask, how could this speak of the Messiah in verse four? If the Messiah is saying His labor has been in vain, how could Jesus ever view His labor as being in vain? The person who poses that question fails to recognize that Jesus, when He was here upon the earth, was fully God and fully man. As we read in Hebrews, chapter four, verse 15, He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.

So, Jesus was tempted to be discouraged. Imagine the kind of temptation towards discouragement that must have come upon our Lord, the Messiah, the night that He was arrested. There is Jesus being arrested as one of His disciples kisses Him on the cheek to betray Him to His captors. As this happens, all of His disciples flee in fear. One of them, the prime guy, Peter, denies Him three times.

The next day, as He stands before the Roman governor in that region, all the people who just a few days before had said, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord," are now saying, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" Do you think He was tempted to be discouraged? I think He was. He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.

Here, I think we see the temptation that came upon the Messiah, prophetically announced. He says, "I have labored in vain. I spent my strength for nothing and in vain." Paul, the Apostle, was tempted by the same discouragement. In Galatians, chapter four, he says in verse 11 to the church of Galatia, "I am afraid for you, lest I bestowed upon you labor in vain." In verse 20, he says, "I desire to be present with you now, so I may change my voice, for I stand in doubt of you."

How would one know if their labor had been in vain? Well, consider the work of the farmer. He purchases the land, prepares the land, and plows the land.

He plants the land. If there's no harvest at the end of the season, he would know all his work was for nothing. He has labored in vain. The temptation that came to Jesus, as well as the temptation that came to Paul the Apostle, as he looked upon the church at Galatia, was the thought that he had labored in vain. He spent himself bringing the gospel to them in Galatia specifically, and they completely departed from it. He wondered, where is the fruit?

Jesus also came and labored for three years, investing in his disciples. On the night that he was betrayed, they all split, and he was tempted to see it as futile work, tempted to be discouraged. However, he never fully gave in. Why? He knew his reward was with the Lord, as we see at the end of verse four: "My just reward is with the Lord." What reward did he focus upon? Hebrews chapter 12, verse two states, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

What joy was set before him? Many people say it was you and I being redeemed, and that may very well be the case. However, what was the reason for his coming or his purpose in this passage? At the end of verse three, it is to glorify the Father. I think more than seeing us as the reward, the reward that Jesus saw was the glorification of the Father. The thing that he was doing was glorifying the Father. For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross.

Now, God the Father speaks encouragement to the Son in verse five of Isaiah 49. "And now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him. Though Israel be not gathered yet, shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength." Here is the Messiah speaking. God the Father is speaking to the Son, saying, "It is a very light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles, that you may be salvation unto the end of the earth."

If Jesus' primary and only work when he came was to bring the people of Israel back to God the Father, then it would have appeared to be a work...

That was in vain when they cried, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" He would have every reason to be discouraged at that moment, but God the Father says, "Listen, I am not only sending you to bring Jacob back to me. It's a very light thing for you to do that, but actually, I am sending you to be a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth."

Notice He does not say, "I want you to bring my salvation to the end of the earth." He says, "You are my salvation." What does Jesus mean? Jehovah is salvation. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, the Holy One.

In verse seven, it states, "To him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to the servant of rulers." Kings shall see and arise; princes shall worship because of the Lord that is faithful and the Holy One of Israel. He shall choose. The Father continues speaking to the Son. The one whom man despises, but also the nation of Israel abhors, is Jesus, who was despised and rejected even by His own people.

However, Jesus is the chosen Christ, the Messiah, and He is therefore the one who shall receive praise, honor, and glory, even from those considered to be the honorable of this world. As it says, "Kings shall see and arise; princes shall also worship." Every knee will bow.

Thus says the Lord in verse eight, "In an acceptable time, I have heard thee; in the day of salvation, I have helped thee. I will preserve thee, and I will give thee for a covenant of the people to establish the earth and to cause to inherit the desolate heritages."

That you may say to the prisoners, "Go forth!" and to them that are in darkness, "Show yourselves!" They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in high places. The Father, speaking to the Son, says, "I will help you in the right time. I will preserve you through everything that Jesus would go through here upon the earth, even the cross."

God the Father says, "I will help thee. I will preserve thee." Jesus relied completely upon the Father during His earthly ministry. He rendered Himself completely under the Father's care and control. He could do nothing of Himself without the Father, as He says in the Gospel of John.

Jesus is given not only to bring the covenant, but He is given as the covenant. We see in this passage, "I will give thee for a covenant to the people." He is the new covenant. He doesn't only receive or reveal the new covenant.

And what is the ministry of the Messiah, or what does it include? It includes saying to the prisoners, "Go forth," and to those that are in darkness, "Show yourselves." It encompasses setting the captives free and bringing light to those who are bound in darkness. As we will see when we get to Isaiah chapter 61 in several weeks, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, as Jesus speaks in Isaiah 61:1, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted and to proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Jesus comes and fulfills that ministry.

In verse 10, it states that they shall not hunger, nor thirst. Neither shall the heat of the sun smite them, for He has had mercy on them. He who has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall He guide them. I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from afar, and lo, these from the North and from the West, and these from the land of Sinim. Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth. Break forth into singing, O mountains, for the Lord has comforted His people and will have mercy on His afflicted.

This message applies both to those leaving Babylon in the sixth century, when they were set free by Cyrus, king of Persia, and ultimately by the hand of the Lord behind Cyrus, and to those leaving the bondage and captivity of sin and death. Jesus leads, feeds, and protects those who are lost. He gives drink to those who are thirsty. All who come from afar, from the North and from the West, and from the land of Sinim, are included.

There is some debate and discussion about what Sinim refers to here. Some people believe that it is Egypt, while others suggest it refers to the land near Mount Sinai, the wilderness of Sin. Still, others think it could refer to those all the way out in the Orient, essentially China. Regardless of the actual interpretation of Sinim, it is clear that Jesus redeems the lost, the thirsty, and the dying sinner from every corner. None are outside of His reach. I would say that every single one of us here tonight is very thankful for that. He did not only come to a small group of people called the children of Israel; He came for all mankind.

And so He says in verse 13, "Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth." Why? Because...

The Lord has comforted His people. How? By the prophetic promise of the coming Deliverer. He comforts His people with this promise of the Messiah. This verse, verse 13, closes out the section from Isaiah chapter 40 to Isaiah 49. Remember, Isaiah 40, verse 1 began with, "Comfort you, comfort you, my people," says your God. Now, this serves as the second bookend to the passage as it encourages us to sing, be joyful, and break forth in singing. Why? Because the Lord has comforted His people and will have mercy upon His afflicted. What a great blessing! We have received the comfort of the Lord.

Jesus said in John chapter 14, "I will not leave you comfortless, but I will send the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who will guide you in all truth and teach you all things." Not only has the Lord comforted us by His Holy Spirit, but He has also given us mercy in great abundance. We have not received what we deserve in Christ. We have found that we are no longer under the wrath and judgment of God. Babylon, the wicked of this world, will receive the judgment and wrath of God.

Although Judah and Jerusalem were guilty of the same sins and worthy of the same punishment, they received His mercy and grace because they were in Abraham, the one with whom God made a covenant. We are of a greater name, not called by Abraham, but called by Christ. In Christ, we have grace and mercy in abundance.

Let's stand and pray together. Father, I thank You for Your Word, and I pray that You would cause this to be on our minds and in our hearts as we finish out this week. Help us, Lord, to think on these things and to meditate upon this passage. Consider what it is that You would speak to us or what You may have us share with friends and family members as we talk with them tomorrow and the next day. God, we do thank You that You've given us mercy and grace, although we are guilty of sin and deserving of punishment. We praise You tonight for Your forgiveness. We thank You and praise You in Jesus' name. Amen.