Getting Israel to Listen

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PASSAGE: Isaiah 48:1-22

COMMENT: In this chapter, the Lord cries out to a proud and stubborn Israel to hear Him (“Hear ye this” – v.1; “thou heardest not” – v.8; “Hearken unto me” – v.12; “assemble yourselves, and hear” – v.14; “hear ye this” – v.16; “O that thou hadst hearkened” – v.18).  He tells about His dealings with them and His attempts to get them to listen.

WHAT DOES IT SAY?

1.                   Israel is obstinate (proud and stubborn).  Her ________ is as iron and her _________ like brass.

2.                   Israel was called a transgressor from the ____________.

3.                   God refined Israel in a furnace of ______________.

4.                   If Israel had listened to the Lord, she would have had peace like a __________.

5.                   But, in the end, there is no peace to the ____________.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

1.                   God said that He had shown some “new things” to Israel (v.6).  What are some things that God did with Israel that He had not done with any other nation?  See Deuteronomy 4:32-34; Psalm 147:19-20. What are some of the new things that God has done for us?

2.                   God identifies Himself as the first and the last seven different times in the Bible (Isaiah 41:4; 44:6; 48:12; Revelation 1:11, 17; 2:8; 22:13).  What is He saying about Himself when He calls Himself the first and the last?

3.                   God says of the heavens, that when He calls unto them, “they stand up together” (v.13).  What is He saying about the obedience of creation to their Maker?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ME?

1.                   To what is God referring when He says that Israel swears by Him, makes mention of Him, and even stay themselves upon the God of Israel, but they do not do so in truth or in righteousness (v.1-2)?  How can someone be so visibly strong but so far from what God would have them to be?

2.                   In this chapter, God pleads with Israel to listen to Him and complains that they do not (see v.1, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18).  In fact, the chapter is loaded with a number of reasons why Israel should listen to Him.  See how many of those reasons you can find.

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