Israel Must Be Refined
Isaiah 48 “Y’all listen to this, house of Jacob, those who are called by the name of Israel, and have come out of the waters of Judah. Who swear by the name of YHWH, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness— for they call themselves citizens of the holy city, and rely on the God of Israel; YHWH Almighty is his name. I have declared the former things from of old. Yes, they went out of my mouth, and I revealed them. I did them suddenly, and they happened. Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow bronze; therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I showed it to you; so that you would not say, ‘My idol has done them. My graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’ You have heard it. Now see all this. And y’all, won’t y’all declare it?“I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known. They are created now, and not from of old. You didn’t hear them before today, so you cannot say, ‘Yes, I knew them.’ Indeed, you did not hear. and you did not understand. Even long ago, your ear was not opened, for I knew how treacherous-treacherous you are, and were called a rebel from the womb. For my name’s sake, I will defer my anger, and for my praise, I hold it back for you so that I don’t cut you off. Look, I have refined you, but not like silver. I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I will do it; for how would my name be profaned? I will not give my glory to another.
“Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he. I am the first. I am also the last. Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens. when I call to them, they stand up together.
“All y’all must assemble and listen! Who among them has declared these things? He whom YHWH loves will do what he likes to Babylon, and his arm will be against the Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken. Yes, I have called him. I have brought him and he will succeed in his way.
“Y’all come near to me and listen to this:
“From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it happened, I was there.”
Now Lord YHWH has sent me with his Spirit.
YHWH, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, says: “I am YHWH your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go. Oh that you had listened to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your offspring also would have been as the sand and the descendants of your body like its grains. His name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.”
Y’all must leave Babylon! Y’all must flee from the Babylonians! With a voice of singing y’all are to announce this, tell it even to the end of the earth; say, “YHWH has redeemed his servant Jacob!” They didn’t thirst when he led them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. He also split the rock and the waters gushed out.
“There is no peace”, says YHWH, “for the wicked.”