Isaiah 48:1-2 – Unworthy Called Ones
In these two verses we have the unworthy called ones. Jehovah acknowledges that they look to Him formally in the covenant of grace. And what does that mean? They call upon Him in the covenant of grace to look upon them and to judge them and to bring them to discipline if there be need. Now for the godly, the true Israel of God, this is a heartfelt desire. Are you in Jesus Christ, and does this not ring true in your life? Do you not desire to be Christlike? Do you not wish for an end to sin in your life? We read here that they make mention of Him. That is, they speak about Him one to another. This is something that we who are Christians do often, do we not? We delight to speak of the things of God, don’t we? And it says here that the people of Israel lean or rest upon Him, at least outwardly. They seem to see that their trust cannot be in riches. They fly away. Their trust cannot be in their health, because that can fail. Their trust is not ultimately in their own strength, for they find that it becomes weak. There is no trust in anything ultimately, but in looking to Jehovah through His only begotten son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There in verse two, they are called, or they call themselves by the holy city. The holy city was the place where the king dwelt, the king who was the covenant head of his people, the king who protected them, the king who saved them from their enemies, even as our mediatorial King delivers us from far greater enemies, and from the greatest enemy of all, our own sin.
But there were many, sadly, who did all this merely in an outward fashion. There were many in Isaiah’s day, and there are many today, who profess to be believers whose religious exercises are fake. Outwardly they may look good. Outwardly they may believe they are spiritual, but they are fake and hypocritical. And God makes this quite clear here. They do not do all this in truth. It’s not done from the heart. If you’ve been acting religiously, and that’s all there is to it, the blessings of being in covenant with God are not for you, but they may be. If you will turn to Jesus, forsake your fakery, turn away from your treason, turn to Jesus Christ, put your trust in him, He will give you the blessing of being His.
Questions
- What are signs of being a Christian?
- What was wrong with the people described here?
Prayer Points
- Pray for the preaching and hearing of God’s Word tomorrow.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.