The Failure of Israel/Judah And His Intention For Them (Isaiah 48:1-11).
“Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel,
And are come forth out of the waters of Judah.
Who swear by the name of Yahweh, and make mention of the God of Israel,
Not in truth nor in righteousness,
When they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel.
Yahweh of hosts is his name.”
God now calls through Isaiah to His sinful people as Jacob/Israel who come forth from the waters of Judah. This unusual description suggest he is speaking to people now living in Judah, not to people abroad. As a whole they make up Jacob and Israel. This distinction confirms that Isaiah is still in Palestine speaking to the remnants of Judah.
They are of the house of Jacob, and they are called by the name of Israel. Their credentials are good. And they have come from the waters of Judah. ‘The waters' may refer to the waters that break in a woman prior to birth. Or it may see Judah as a spring from which flow his people. They live in Judah and bring forth their children there. Compare the waters of Shiloah that go softly (Isaiah 8:6).
And they are not only called by the name of Israel, but they swear by the name of Yahweh. This may refer to official oaths taken in court, stating that in such oaths the name of Yahweh is still used. Or it may simply indicate that old traditions die hard, and when they bind themselves with an oath they still do it in Yahweh's name, just as a modern Atheist may say, ‘By God'. And they make mention of the God of Israel, that is keep Him in remembrance in their outward worship. Thus formally they still declare themselves to be Yahwists.
But there is a fatal flaw. All this is not in truth or in righteousness. It is not a genuine response, nor does it produce obedience to the covenant. In real terms it is a pretence.
‘When they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel.' (For ki as ‘when' see Isaiah 16:12) Even as they call themselves of the holy city and stay themselves on the God of Israel they are not being genuine. They are not holy. They are not really resting in Him. It is not in truth or in righteousness (see also Isaiah 48:4). In reality they have turned from Yahweh and His ways. Here was irony indeed. They boasted that they were the holy city, and they were anything but holy.
‘Yahweh of hosts is his name.' This is a reminder to them of Who God is. They speak of Yahweh and the God of Israel, but are they aware of Whom they are speaking? Let them remember that He is Yahweh of hosts and thus God of the hosts of heaven and the hosts of earth.
“I have declared the former things from of old,
Yes, they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them,
Suddenly I did them and they came about.
Because I knew that you are obstinate,
And your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow bronze,
Therefore I have declared it to you from of old.
Before it came about I showed it to you,
Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my graven image and my molten image has commanded them.' ”
God now tells them why He always tells them and shows them clearly what He is about to do before He does things, and then does them suddenly. It is so that they will not be able to say, ‘My idol has done it'. For He knows that they are obstinate, and that their neck is of iron, totally unbending, and their brow is of bronze, firm and unyielding, so that given half a chance they will credit it to their idols and their images. (The graven image is one of wood, the molten image is one of wood plated in precious metal).
This exemplifies what we have seen in Isaiah 48:1-2. Outward conformity to Yahweh, but their real interest and concern is for their gods.
What the former things were that had been prophesied we are not told, but there are enough prophecies prior to this time to make a selection. They could include the promises to Abraham about his seed being many, and about the land becoming theirs, and about his descendants being kings. Multiplicity of children, land inheritance and relationships with a king were things that would be important to them. And it could include the deliverance from Egypt and earlier prophecies of Isaiah, some even exact to timing (Isaiah 16:14; Isaiah 21:16), and the defeat of Sennacherib (Isaiah 29:5-8; Isaiah 30:31-32; Isaiah 31:5-9; Isaiah 33:3-4), with many other examples in between. The point is that Yahweh has been able to declare what would happen when an idol could not, simply because it was He Who was going to bring it about. And as they all knew, these things had happened.
“You have heard it, behold all this,
And you, will you not declare it?
I have shown you new things from this time,
Even hidden things which you have not known,
They are created now and not from old,
And before this day you did not hear them,
Lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them'.”
Then God challenges them as to why they do not declare what they have heard about Him from the past. Why do they not give Him the honour due to Him and reveal it to the world? (That is what they should be doing as His witnesses - Isaiah 43:10).
But there is not only the past. He has shown them new things, the return of their exiles from all parts of the world, the rise of Cyrus, the destruction of Babylon, the coming of the day of Yahweh, the establishing of the everlasting kingdom in peace and righteousness, the coming of the greater David through Gods powerful and unique working. These are things that God has created now. They will happen because of His word. And they had not been told of these before lest they be self-complacent and self-congratulatory and say, ‘Look, I knew that already'.
“Yes, you did not hear. Yes, you did not know,
Yes, from of old your ear was not opened,
For I knew that you dealt very treacherously,
And were called a transgressor from the womb.”
He has just previously told them that they had heard (Isaiah 48:6) and known (Isaiah 48:6-7) about what He had declared and done, but now He admits that they had not really heard, they had not really known. Their ears are heavy, their eyes are closed (compare Isaiah 6:10). They have not allowed it to come home to them. And this is because they are so treacherous, because they are transgressors even from birth. This reference to them as transgressors is constant (Isaiah 46:8). And there are equally as many transgressors today.
The word for ‘treacherous' means to do something contrary to the covenant (1 Samuel 14:33), it is used of a friend who fails in friendship (Job 6:14-15), and of family disloyalty (Jeremiah 12:6), and it signifies a failure to honour one's word (Isaiah 33:1). All these were true of Israel. To be a transgressor from birth indicates that they have been set in sin and disobedience right from a young age (compare Psalms 51:5-6; Psalms 58:3). They were ‘born like it'.
So the truth is that the Servant is in a sad state of disobedience and rebellion.
“For my name's sake I will defer my anger,
And for my praise I will refrain for you,
That I do not cut you off.
Behold I have refined you, but not as silver,
I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
For my own sake, for my own sake I will do it,
For how should it be profaned?
And my glory I will not give to another.”
But God will not allow His purposes to be frustrated like this. Somehow He will yet produce from them a righteous Servant. Let them not think that God is not aware of what they are. It is for His own name's sake that He defers His anger, not punishing them as they deserve. It is so that He will finally receive the praise due to Him that He refrains from cutting them off, although it is something which is for their benefit too (‘for you'). For He will refine them, not as silver is refined in fire, but in the furnace of affliction (Isaiah 4:4; compare Deuteronomy 4:20; Ezekiel 22:18-22). There His choice will come to fruition. From there will He produce His pure remnant (Isaiah 6:13). And He will do it for His own name's sake (repeated for emphasis), so that no one else might receive His glory, and so that His name might not be sullied.
So here we see God's determination to fulfil His sovereign purpose in spite of what His people have proved to be. And yet He will not do it without purifying them. For then He would deserve no praise. No, He will bring about their purification through affliction (and we learn later especially through the affliction of His own special Servant (Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12)). And then He will accomplish His purpose through them.