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“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.
¹⁵ I, even I, have spoken;
    yes, I have called him.
I will bring him,
    and he will succeed in his mission.

This is a further reference to Cyrus. Israel may not have liked the idea of God using a pagan ruler, nor understood it. But the sovereign Lord who created the earth and heavens – and, we might add, they all ”stand up” at His call (12,13) – has the right to call and use anyone He chooses. Again, we see that God did what the idols could not: He ”foretold these things”.

Note the repetition of ”I” in verse 15. The key to the success of Cyrus’ mission would not be Cyrus but God, the Lord.

This is basis for success in any mission: God must call and equip you.

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.

This reminds me of that seemingly throwaway line in Genesis 1:16:

”He also made the stars.”

When I made the step up from Junior to senior school, I found (as you possibly did) that there was a palpable difference in atmosphere and tone. It felt much more strange and scary. I mean, when I was in the Juniors, I’d always respected the Head. But at High School, when a head (or deputy head) walked into the room, you had to stand. Perhaps even more intimidating, were one or two other teachers, who had a certain presence, and who made it clear, ‘Whenever I walk into the room, You stand!’ I appreciate that they might not have bothered some of the other students, but they frightened me. They inspired a certain awe.

I love the picture painted here, in Isaiah, of God’s personal involvement in the creation of ”the heavens and the earth” (Gen.1:1). See the double reference to His ”hand”. Note how all He has made stands in His presence in response to His call. Truly, ‘our God is an awesome God.’ Some human teachers may have worked out how to cultivate a certain aura, but the Lord of all is truly to be ‘feared’ – i.e. to be revered and worshipped.

“Listen to me, Jacob,
    Israel, whom I have called:
I am he;
    I am the first and I am the last.

Again we hear the call to ”Listen”. But did they? Will we?

As we have seen, there was a perpetual tug-of-war going on in the nation with, ”Jacob” regularly winning out over ”Israel”, if I may put it that way. (We ourselves know something of this battle. It is internal, and is a relentless fight between the old nature and the Holy Spirit).

The key to becoming what God wants us to be is in Him: it is in our relationship with Him, in knowing Him. The second half of verse 12 takes us pack to the Lord’s revelation of Himself to Moses (Ex.3:14), but also points us forward to Jesus (Rev.22:13). He is eternal and self-sufficient, and we find our sufficiency in Him.

It is only in God and because of Him that we can grow spiritually: become less ”Jacob” and more ”Israel”, we might say. The God who calls is also the One who equips for the fulfilling of His purposes

PRAYER: Lord God, help me to look to you and not to my own resources. May my mind and heart be more and more filled with You. Please be more real to me than anyone or anything. Dominate my whole life, and guide the entire course of my earthly journey.

‘From now on I will tell you of new things,
    of hidden things unknown to you.
⁷ They are created now, and not long ago;
    you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
    “Yes, I knew of them.”
⁸ You have neither heard nor understood;
    from of old your ears have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous you are;
    you were called a rebel from birth.
⁹ For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath;
    for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
    so as not to destroy you completely.
¹⁰ See, I have refined you, though not as silver;
    I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
¹¹ For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.
    How can I let myself be defamed?
    I will not yield my glory to another.

The ”new things” God has in mind here include the ‘second exodus’: the deliverance of the Jews from exile, the restoration of Israel, and ultimately the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom. Probably the reference to them being created ”now” (7) means ‘in God’s mind’ – so they are going to become a reality.

Derek Kidner notes God’s patience with His people here, and says it is ‘unmerited’ (9), ‘constructive’ (10) and ‘resolute’ (11). Even though they deserve to be cut off, He will ”delay” His wrath. However, He will refine them in ”the furnace of affliction” (10). Babylon would be this ”furnace” to them, as Egypt had been centuries earlier (Deut.4:20).

In all His dealings with His people, God has in mind His own ”praise” (9) and ”glory” (11). If He had totally destroyed His people, the nations would have mocked and said, ‘He can’t look after His own.’

The God of the Bible is not, as Richard Dawkins suggested, an egomaniac. If He is God; indeed if He is the God described in the pages of Scripture, He deserves the praise and thanks and adoration of the whole world. But as C.S. Lewis pointed out, in calling us to worship Him God is giving us a priceless gift. Lewis noted that when we see beauty, whether, for example, a work of art, a breath-taking view, or hear great music, our enjoyment of it is not complete unless we can express our appreciation. The worship of God, which is for His glory, also turns out to be for our good.

John Piper puts it well when he writes that ‘God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

Thought: ”For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him…” (Rom.1:21).

I foretold the former things long ago,
    my mouth announced them and I made them known;
    then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
⁴ For I knew how stubborn you were;
    your neck muscles were iron,
    your forehead was bronze.
⁵ Therefore I told you these things long ago;
    before they happened I announced them to you
so that you could not say,
    “My images brought them about;
    my wooden image and metal god ordained them.”
⁶ You have heard these things; look at them all.
    Will you not admit them?

When I was a boy, one of the comics I devoured was called ‘The Dandy’. In it there was a character named ‘Brassneck’ – a rather fun and loveable metallic type figure. I very much enjoyed reading about him.

But there was nothing funny or attractive about Israel’s resistance of God.

Again, the Lord speaks about all He foretold. He had given them many promises that had already come to pass (e.g. the ‘exodus’ from Egypt, the conquest of Canaan, and their subsequent growth and prosperity as a nation). He did this so that they would not be able to say that their gods had brought all of this about. But then, as now, people were largely unwilling to face up to the evidence (see 6b). Derek Kidner calls them ‘determined sceptics’.

‘There are none so blind as those who will not see.’

But they claimed (1,2) to be the Lord’s people!

PRAYER: Lord, have mercy on us please. Keep us from being ‘unbelieving believers’.

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.

A speaker at a church house party kept repeating the same point: ‘Things can change.’ If he said it once, he said it many times over the course of the week-end.

I simply want to point out to all those of us waiting for the Lord, that although the wait may be long, and require much patience, things can change suddenly and rapidly when the time is right – when it is God’s time.

“God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which he must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves.” A.W. Tozer.

God’s timing is perfect, and when it is time for Him to move we may be surprised at the speed at which things do change.

“Listen to this…”

Verse 8a reads like this in ‘The Message’:

“You’ve never been good listeners to me.
    You have a history of ignoring me…”

A great, much-respected Christian leader was in a meeting with a colleague, and he was momentarily distracted and not fully attentive. His colleague noticed this and mentioned it to him. Immediately, without making any excuses, the great man apologised sincerely. He said it is a basic element of Christian courtesy to give your full attention to someone who is speaking to you, and he was truly sorry he had failed to do so.

Israel, as a nation, had not been good at giving undivided attention to their God, and this is one of the themes of chapter 48. (See vv.1,12,16-18). There is a sadness in the air; His people were the losers for this failure to listen. As we are going to see, their unwillingness to listen to God meant that they didn’t experience the peace of God.

“He has given them his law; he has spoken to them through his prophets, but they have not listened, and they are still not listening! How different their history might have been, and how different their present relationship with God might have been, if only they had listened to his word (18-19)! And because this problem is still unresolved, their return to the land will not bring the fullness of blessing they hope for. They will spoil the next chapter in their history, just as they have spoilt all the previous ones.’ (Barry Webb: Isaiah, p.191).

What about us? Can we really point the finger? How well do we listen?

In his outstanding book, ‘Reading the Bible Supernaturally’, John Piper calls for ‘patience and aggressive attentiveness’ to the text of Scripture.

…you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city
    and claim to rely on the God of Israel –
    the Lord Almighty is his name…

(You claim to be citizens of the Holy City;
    you act as though you lean on the God of Israel,
    named God-of-the-Angel-Armies. The Message).

I seem to remember a man being in the running for the U.S President, some years ago now, and for a time he stirred up quite a bit of excitement. He was charming, charismatic and very good looking. But the question was asked, ‘Where’s the beef? It was a question about substance, and I think this blazing rocket fell to the earth quite quickly. It seems too many people decided the ‘beef’ was lacking.

‘Where’s the beef?’ That question could have been asked of Israel at the time Isaiah wrote these words, and it is still relevant today. We may ”call” ourselves church members, and ”claim” to ”rely” on God, but do we really?

Paul, in Titus, writes about those who ”…claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him” (1:16).

We may well ask, ”Where’s the beef?”

Or, to change the food type, ”Where’s the fruit”?

”…by their fruit you will recognise them” Matt.7:20.

‘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…

‘Jacob’ was crooked, a deceiver – as twisted as a barley sugar stick! The name can mean ‘supplanter’. But he was given the name ”Israel” after his encounter with the angel at ‘Peniel’ (Gen 32:28), and this spoke of better things: a new name and a new nature. In a chapter that highlights a lot of the ”Jacob” character in the history of God’s people, it’s good to be able to hold on to the hope in the name ”Israel”.

That they came ”from the line of Judah” also points to their high destiny (Gen 49:10) even though they lived well below the level of their privileges, taking ”oaths in the name of the Lord”, invoking Him in their prayers, ”but not in truth or righteousness”.

”…  you who use God’s name to back up your promises
    and pray to the God of Israel?
But do you mean it?
    Do you live like it? (The Message).

I am reminded of Jesus saying to the Samaritan woman:

 ”Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’ ” (Jn.4:23,24).

It is only through the New Covenant, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, that we are able to fulfil God’s intentions for our worship of Him, even though this will inevitably always fall short of perfection this side of eternity.