Thoughts On Isaiah 48:4-11

[4] Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass, [5] I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, ‘My idol did them, my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’ [6] “You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known. [7] They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them, lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’ [8] You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a rebel. [9] “For my name’s sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. [10] Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. [11] For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. (Isaiah 48:4–11, ESV)

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This is how God describes unbelieving Israel: 1) You are obstinate, 2) your neck is an iron sinew, 3) your forehead brass, 4) you are idolaters, 5) you are foolish, 6) you are liars, 7) you are spiritually deaf and stupid, 8) you are wicked/sinful/treacherous/rebellious, 9) you are the fallen children of Adam (born with a sin nature)!

Yet there are so many who profess to be "Christians" who still think that they will be blessed by God for supporting physical Israel today, even as they murder their enemies! This is because they do not know God nor His Word!

May You O Lord purify Your Church, may You strengthen Your people and expose the goats, the wolves, the serpents, the servants of the devil, so that the Church can be who You have called her to be - a herald of Your Word, not a promoter of war and worldliness!

Yet God did not completely wipe them off the face of the earth when they broke His covenant - why? 1) For His own glory/for His name sake, 2)for Christ's sake, He must be born a Jew under the law to save His people, 3) for the sake of His elect people/all those He chose in Christ before the foundation of the world. (see Ephesians 1:3-14 & Romans 9:1-29)

Therefore, we must conclude that man is allowed to be, even though he deserves to be consumed by God's just and holy wrath, because God is still at work saving sinners! Christ Jesus will not return until all of His people are redeemed from every tribe, language, people, and nation! (see Revelation 5:9-10) So as we eagerly await His return (see Hebrews 9:27-28), may we be about our Father's business, and therefore proclaim the beauty and sufficiency of Christ Jesus to save sinners, for He alone is worthy of all our praise!