Old Testament - Isaiah 48
Isaiah is a call to repentance. Only through repentance can we stand in the presence of God.
This call was not heard, and as a result, the Israelites were destroyed as a nation and sent into exile in Babylon.
Later their is a prophecy of restoration. Yet how can a dead nation come to life? How can a scattered and defeated nation be restored? How can sin be atoned for? How can God be just without destroying us?
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, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.
ISAIAH 48:1
For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name.
ISAIAH 48:2
I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.
ISAIAH 48:3
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
ISAIAH 48:4
I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.
ISAIAH 48:5
Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.
ISAIAH 48:6
They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.
ISAIAH 48:7
Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
ISAIAH 48:8
For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.
ISAIAH 48:9
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
ISAIAH 48:10
For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.
ISAIAH 48:11
Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
ISAIAH 48:12
Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens when I call unto them, they stand up together.
ISAIAH 48:13
All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
ISAIAH 48:14
I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
ISAIAH 48:15
Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
ISAIAH 48:16
Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
ISAIAH 48:17
O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea
ISAIAH 48:18
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.
ISAIAH 48:19
Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
ISAIAH 48:20
And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
ISAIAH 48:21
There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.
ISAIAH 48:22
1:33:26
26:40
8:30
10:38
9:24
5:45
2:34:12
