Sudden Fulfillment
Isaiah 48:1 – Listen to this, O family of Jacob, you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’ and are descended from Judah, who take oaths in the name of the LORD, and invoke the God of Israel – but not in an honest and just manner. 2 – Indeed, they live in the holy city; they trust in the God of Israel, whose name is the LORD who commands armies. 3 – “I announced events beforehand, I issued the decrees and made the predictions; suddenly I acted and they came to pass. 4 – I did this because I know how stubborn you are. Your neck muscles are like iron and your forehead like bronze.
verse 5 – I announced them to you beforehand; before they happened, I predicted them for you, so you could never say, ‘My image did these things, my idol, my cast image, decreed them.’ 6 – You have heard; now look at all the evidence! Will you not admit that what I say is true? From this point on I am announcing to you new events that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about. 7 – Now they come into being, not in the past; before today you did not hear about them, so you could not say, ‘Yes, I know about them.’
verse 8 – You did not hear, you do not know, you were not told beforehand. For I know that you are very deceitful; and you were labeled a rebel from birth. 9 – For the sake of my reputation I hold back my anger; for the sake of my prestige I restrain myself from destroying you. 10 – Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have purified you in the furnace of misery. 11 – For my sake alone I will act, for how can I allow my name to be defiled? I will not share my glory with anyone else!
These verses are presented in the context of the fall of Babylon (see verse 20, and also yesterday’s devotional titled ‘Warning to Babylon’ covering some of Isaiah 47. I can only imagine how impossible it must have seemed that Babylon would ever fall. Any prediction of its demise was probably met with mocking skepticism from heathen and believer alike.
A common theme in Isaiah is the repeated descriptions of how God is the only One who can announce events ahead of time. This reminder is repeated over and over again trying to appeal to a stubborn audience of dishonest believers who are in rebellion. They confess God with their lips but they live like the heathen trusting in their idols and lucky charms – all of which are forecasting lies about the future. God would have let His people destroy themselves but He has a name and a prestige to uphold – so He permits His people to be refined through suffering.
Do we sometimes struggle between two lives? Living for God and living for self? Are we stuck between the heavenly and the earthly – knowing that God is real but living as though He isn’t – being carried along by the popular narratives contrived by the world? God is not finished with us. His sudden prophetic fulfillments will cause stiff necks to turn and melt bronzed foreheads – as people will be compelled to think, reason, and conclude – God is very real. He does what He says He will do – no matter how unlikely it may seem to the rest of the world. Watch and pray! God will act! Things will change according to His plan! We are precious to Him and He will not lose you so easily.
While we may be permitted to suffer in the furnace of misery know that God is refining you and has not let go of you. He wants you to believe that He can do the impossible. His predictions are sure and will happen in ways that will defy all worldly explanation. There’s still time to flee Babylon and enter into the Lord’s protection. His arms are outstretched waiting to receive you with endless love. Let’s run to Him today!
Where two are gathered 