International Sunday School Lesson January 15 2023 Winter #7
Isaiah 48:3-8 ESV “The former things I declared of old; they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. (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.
Isaiah 48:3-8 ESV
Isaiah 48:17 ESV Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.
Isaiah 48:17 ESV
Notes
Background
- Pulpit: The present chapter, which terminates the second section of Isaiah’s later prophecies, consists of a long address by God to his people, partly in the way of complaint, partly of combined premise and exhortation. The address is divided into three portions, each commencing with a call on Israel to pay attention
- God is in control not us or something else. Trouble and difficulty is a teacher.
You are Obstinate — Isaiah 48:3-4
Hard heart
Hebrews 3:12-13 (ESV) Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. [13] But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
God’s promises are true
Joshua 23:14-15 (ESV) “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. [15] But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you,
Announced Beforehand — Isaiah 48:5
- Pulpit Mine idol … my molten image. It has been already observed (see the comment on Isa 40:18) that there was a strong tendency to idolatry among the Jews, not only before, but during the Captivity. Ezekiel says that those among whom he lived were “polluted after the manner of their fathers, and committed whoredom after their abominations; made their sons pass through the fire, and polluted themselves with all their idols” (Eze 20:30, Eze 20:31); nay, went so far as to declare boldly, “We will be as the heathen, as the inhabitants of the countries, to serve wood and stone” (Eze 20:32).
New Things — Isaiah 48:6-7
- The Gospel Unexpected –1 Corinthians 2:8-10 (ESV) None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. [9] But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— [10] these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
Called a Rebel — Isaiah 48:8
- We were all rebels — Ephesians 2:1-3 (ESV) And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— [3] among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Teaches Us — Isaiah 48:17
- Romans 5:3-6 (ESV) Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, [4] and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, [5] and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. [6] For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
Concluding Thoughts
- Look to God for Deliverance
- Give the credit to God
- Hardship Teaches Us
Leave a Reply