Isaiah 48:1-11 The Furnace of Affliction
The furnace of affliction is a phrase that God uses to describe Israel’s experience in exile. Those are very evocative words. When you think of a person caught in a furnace of affliction, what are they going through? Do you feel like you have ever spent a season in the furnace of affliction? I know I have, but perhaps not for the same reasons as Israel.
In the wake of His humiliation of Babylon in Isaiah 47, God turns a blistering rebuke on Israel. Just because He has avenged her doesn’t mean that she is above reproach in His eyes. Back in Isaiah 43, He had charged her with bearing witness of His might works. Now He rebukes her for having failed in that calling. We see again the impartiality of His judgment of both the Gentiles and Jews.
In the chiastic structure of Isaiah 41-48, these opening and closing arguments are paired:
Opening Argument: Isaiah 43:9-13 God calls Israel to be His witness.
Closing Argument: Isaiah 48:1-11 God rebukes Israel for her failure to be His witness.
Isaiah 48:1-11 NKJV
God opens with a sarcastic description of the people of Judah. Judah is Israel's counterpart to Babylon of Babylonia, being preeminent among the tribes and associated with the capital city, Jerusalem. So, between Isaiah 47 and 48, we have this comparison of two haughty, entitled "daughters." She rests on her reputation and entitlement. She swears by the name of the LORD and bandies His name about--but not in truth or righteousness. She professes one thing, but that profession does follow into action. She says she trusts in the LORD, but there is little evidence of that. She has stubbornly persisted in her idolatry and is no better than Babylon in that sense.
God brings this charge against His own people, that they have not borne witness of Him or given Him glory for His mighty works among them. For the last eight chapters, God has been harping on the fact that He has declared the former things and brought them to pass, and now has pronounced new things which He will bring to pass as a witness to the world of His Godship and that He is who He says He is. But now He reveals another reason for making these predictions, and it is to safeguard His glory against His own people's treachery. God declares that He did the former things before there were any gods in Israel, so that she could not say that her idols ordained these events (48:5). Now He is declaring the new things, so that she can't dismiss Him by saying that these things are nothing new, that she already knew they would happen (48:7). These things aren't just the natural working out of cause and effect. This isn't a case of what goes around comes around or karma or fate or however you wish to dismiss it. This is God doing something deliberately and with forethought.
It is clear that God is angry with His people. He has made them glorious for His own glory, but they have become complacent and dismissive of Him and His work. They give His glory to idols or take credit themselves, and He cannot bear it.
God brings judgment on Babylon and Israel alike. When we look at Babylon’s end in the previous chapter (Isaiah 47), we see that Babylon wears herself out appealing to her astrologers and stargazers, and in the end, the pieces of wood that she called her gods are nothing more than tinder for a fire, and not even a comforting one. Babylon is given over to her destruction for her idolatry, and nothing saves her. But God deals differently with Israel.
He sends her into a "furnace of affliction" (48:10) and lets her wear herself out crying to idols, but she doesn't suffer a complete destruction. Instead, it becomes a refining process.
In verse 11, the LORD repeats the phrase “Lema’ani, lema’ani”—for My own sake, for My own sake—twice for emphasis. He has invested Himself in His people, and He is as tied to them as they are to Him. But Israel needs to understand that He alone is sovereign over their lives, and that what He gives, He can take away. Even so, He will give again to those who are faithful to Him as they endure the furnace of affliction. Once that furnace has done its refining work, the faithful remnant of Judah will return to claim their inheritance in the land of Israel.
We, as Church age believers, are now named among God’s people. We claim to rely on the LORD, just as Israel did, and we, also, can be made to endure a season in the furnace of affliction.
Can we become complacent and dismissive of His work in our lives? Can we fail to be a faithful witness for Him? Yes, we can. When life is manageable, we can live day to day with nothing really good or bad happening and never once bear witness of our glorious God to the world. If we only give Him glory when we have reached the ends of our own resources, are we surprised when He makes our lives an ongoing trial by fire? It is to His glory that we go through these trials and accept the LORD's refining of us.
In the wake of His humiliation of Babylon in Isaiah 47, God turns a blistering rebuke on Israel. Just because He has avenged her doesn’t mean that she is above reproach in His eyes. Back in Isaiah 43, He had charged her with bearing witness of His might works. Now He rebukes her for having failed in that calling. We see again the impartiality of His judgment of both the Gentiles and Jews.
In the chiastic structure of Isaiah 41-48, these opening and closing arguments are paired:
Opening Argument: Isaiah 43:9-13 God calls Israel to be His witness.
Closing Argument: Isaiah 48:1-11 God rebukes Israel for her failure to be His witness.
Isaiah 48:1-11 NKJV
God opens with a sarcastic description of the people of Judah. Judah is Israel's counterpart to Babylon of Babylonia, being preeminent among the tribes and associated with the capital city, Jerusalem. So, between Isaiah 47 and 48, we have this comparison of two haughty, entitled "daughters." She rests on her reputation and entitlement. She swears by the name of the LORD and bandies His name about--but not in truth or righteousness. She professes one thing, but that profession does follow into action. She says she trusts in the LORD, but there is little evidence of that. She has stubbornly persisted in her idolatry and is no better than Babylon in that sense.
God brings this charge against His own people, that they have not borne witness of Him or given Him glory for His mighty works among them. For the last eight chapters, God has been harping on the fact that He has declared the former things and brought them to pass, and now has pronounced new things which He will bring to pass as a witness to the world of His Godship and that He is who He says He is. But now He reveals another reason for making these predictions, and it is to safeguard His glory against His own people's treachery. God declares that He did the former things before there were any gods in Israel, so that she could not say that her idols ordained these events (48:5). Now He is declaring the new things, so that she can't dismiss Him by saying that these things are nothing new, that she already knew they would happen (48:7). These things aren't just the natural working out of cause and effect. This isn't a case of what goes around comes around or karma or fate or however you wish to dismiss it. This is God doing something deliberately and with forethought.
It is clear that God is angry with His people. He has made them glorious for His own glory, but they have become complacent and dismissive of Him and His work. They give His glory to idols or take credit themselves, and He cannot bear it.
God brings judgment on Babylon and Israel alike. When we look at Babylon’s end in the previous chapter (Isaiah 47), we see that Babylon wears herself out appealing to her astrologers and stargazers, and in the end, the pieces of wood that she called her gods are nothing more than tinder for a fire, and not even a comforting one. Babylon is given over to her destruction for her idolatry, and nothing saves her. But God deals differently with Israel.
He sends her into a "furnace of affliction" (48:10) and lets her wear herself out crying to idols, but she doesn't suffer a complete destruction. Instead, it becomes a refining process.
Q: Why does He deal with her differently?
In verse 11, the LORD repeats the phrase “Lema’ani, lema’ani”—for My own sake, for My own sake—twice for emphasis. He has invested Himself in His people, and He is as tied to them as they are to Him. But Israel needs to understand that He alone is sovereign over their lives, and that what He gives, He can take away. Even so, He will give again to those who are faithful to Him as they endure the furnace of affliction. Once that furnace has done its refining work, the faithful remnant of Judah will return to claim their inheritance in the land of Israel.
We, as Church age believers, are now named among God’s people. We claim to rely on the LORD, just as Israel did, and we, also, can be made to endure a season in the furnace of affliction.
Q: Why does God put us through that experience? Is it for the same reason as Israel?
Can we become complacent and dismissive of His work in our lives? Can we fail to be a faithful witness for Him? Yes, we can. When life is manageable, we can live day to day with nothing really good or bad happening and never once bear witness of our glorious God to the world. If we only give Him glory when we have reached the ends of our own resources, are we surprised when He makes our lives an ongoing trial by fire? It is to His glory that we go through these trials and accept the LORD's refining of us.
Q: Are the fiery trials that we face meant for punishment or purification? What is the difference?
Q: We have been filtering these passages through the task of comforting people who are in the furnace of affliction. Where is comfort found in the ordeal? (2 Corinthians 4:7-11, James 1:2-4)
Q: Is there comfort in knowing that it is only a refining process and not a complete destruction?
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