Trust God
When God wanted the Israelites to return to Jerusalem, they did not want to trust God.
This is a Bible Study. Have your own Bible handy to look up the references mentioned.
If you do not have a Bible, I invite you to go to BibleGateway.com or another online Bible.
1. “There are those who say that Judah and Israel are different. God contradicts that thinking in this verse. The whole house of Israel is addressed here, and they belong to the chosen line through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume III. [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983], 301)
2. “God told them that they were hypocritical in using His name and identifying with His city but not obeying His will (Isaiah 48:1-2).” (Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament Prophets. [Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2002], 53)
3. “God reminds the audience that he told the people about past and future events, caused words to go out from his mouth.” (Smith, Gary V., The New American Commentary, Volume 15B, Isaiah 40-66. [Nashville, B & H Publishing Group, 2009], 318)
4. “Verse 4 provides a logical basis (‘because, for’) for God’s action in 48:5, God’s motivation for acting was because of his knowledge that the Israelite nation was ‘hard, stubborn (as in Exodus 32:9; 33:35; 34:9).” (Smith, 318)
5. “Knowing these things about his people, God purposely decided to tell his people about his plans long before any of these things happened.” (Smith, 319)
Stubborn
6. “God reminds the stubborn listeners in 48:6a that they have heard all these things he revealed to them in the past; consequently, they are held accountable for what they know.” (Smith, 319)
7. “These new things are new because they were created now, not a long time ago.” (Smith, 320)
8. “If Israel had this little receptivity and this much unfaithfulness toward God, one can understand why it would be a waste of time for God to reveal more about the new things in 48:7.” (Smith 322)
9. “The two reasons this verse gives to explain God’s action are ‘for my own name’s sake’ and ‘for the sake of my praise.’” (Smith, 323)
10. “The something new was an act of pure grace. God would not totally destroy his people. This new act continued the purpose that God had always had, that of bringing praise and honor to his great name.” [Max Anders and Trent C. Butler (2012). HOTC Vol. 15: Isaiah. B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved from https://read.lifeway.com]
11. “In the end God will not allow his name to be profaned by sinful and rebellious people. They must either be judged or transformed through forgiveness.” (Smith, 324)
References
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
In this article Scripture quotations taken from KJV.
Max Anders and Trent C. Butler (2012). HOTC Vol. 15: Isaiah. B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved from https://read.lifeway.com
McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume III. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983
Smith, Gary V., The New American Commentary, Volume 15B, Isaiah 40-66. Nashville, B & H Publishing Group, 2009
Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament Prophets. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2002
