LHC Midday Word: The Book of ISAIAH

Stubborn Israel

‘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.

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.”

You have heard these things; look at them all.

Will you not admit them?

‘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.

So you cannot say,

“Yes, I knew of them.”

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.

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.

Israel freed

‘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.

16 ‘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.

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.’

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.

‘There is no peace,’ says the Lord, ‘for the wicked.’

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Isaiah 48: “numberless” (v.19)

What’s the right formula for church growth? Good advertising? Slicker services? Eloquent preaching? Modern music? Here’s another question. What’s the point of larger numbers, if the people aren’t really living for the Lord? Now hear Isaiah “if only you had paid attention to my commands … your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like the numberless grains” (vv.18-19). Churches want better attendance (quantity), but the higher priority is making disciples (quality). Doing that brings quantity, not the other way round.

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The Book of ISAIAH- Chapter 48

- Read by David Suchet -