Isaiah 48:1-9 Hear you this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah… Hear ye this: this is something well worth the earnest attention of men; their truest worth and their lasting interests are bound up in the knowledge and regard of it. I. MAN'S CRIMINAL INCONSISTENCY WITH HIMSELF. (Vers. 1, 2.) Men may go very far in conduct which is quite at variance with "the spirit which is in them:" they may say or do one thing, and be the very opposite. One might think that though this were so in their dealings with one another, it would never be true in their attitude toward the heart-searching God. Yet in nothing is there more insincerity, more hypocrisy, than in religion. Men "swear by the Name of the Lord... but not in truth." To pretend before God, to affect a piety which is not felt, is not only useless and worthless; it is in the last degree offensive and perilous (see Matthew 23.). II. MAN'S HARDENING OF HIMSELF. (Ver. 4.) Men are obstinate, or hard (marginal reading): they harden their heart before God and against him, so that their neck is "an iron sinew, their brow brass." 1. They will not be what God requires that they should become - his children, his servants, his friends, his followers. 2. They will not do what he charges them to do - will not work righteousness, justice, equity; will not refrain from impurity, from intemperance, from dishonesty, etc. 3. They will not hear what he summons them to heed; they turn a deaf ear to his entreaties and his warnings (Proverbs 1.). They go so far in obduracy, in hardness, that, though they know that their Divine Father, their gracious Saviour, is speaking to them, they close their souls to his message of truth and love. III. GOD'S EVIDENCE CONCERNING HIMSELF. (Vers. 3, 5-8.) God adduces proof from his foreknowledge and revelation that he is unquestionably the true and living God - that One in whom and in whom alone they should put their trust. It is not only by such proof as this, but by many evidences, that God establishes his claims upon us. He "leaves not himself without witness;" he abundantly confirms his truth: the material universe, with its beauty, its bounty, its order, its magnificence; the spiritual nature of man, including his conscience; the life, the works, the truth of Jesus Christ; the character and design of the gospel of peace and righteousness; its glorious achievements, etc. IV. GOD'S REASONS IN HIMSELF. (Ver. 9.) 1. Ample reasons for Divine beneficence are to be found in the Divine nature - that God is what he is accounts for all the grace and mercy which abound in the earth. 2. In the interests of the universe God must act so that his children shall revere and praise him. Otherwise the most disastrous disbelief would prevail. - C. Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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