In Name Only

Isaiah 48:1-11

When much is given much is required, my friend and barber would often say, Rice you do not have to worry about being a has-been, you’re a never was.  It takes a good friend to wake one up when they are on a path to failure, and most of my youth and early adult life had no structure, no plan, and for sure no goals.  I had the family name of Rice, and that name was closely associated with the church and the Christian faith, and if someone had asked me if I was a Christian, my answer would have been yes. 

Many in Isaiah’s time who were from the house of Jacob and who were called by the name Israel, who swear by the name of the LORD and confess the God of Israel, were much like me in my early life.  God is telling Isaiah to tell them, “they swear by the name of the LORD and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right.  For they call themselves after the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the LORD of hosts is His name.”  But they forgot or never really knew the God of Abraham; they were Jews much like I was a Christian, in name only.

God is reminding Judah of His faithfulness, of how He had sent the prophet to proclaim what He was going to do, the past events are making reference to what the prophets spoke of both the blessing and the curses.  It was always Judah’s choice, God had made it clear both by His prophet the cost of sin, and the blessing of obedience.  Now no one should want God to refer to you as having a bronze forehead, for nothing can get through such a head and a neck of iron is stiff and does not have the ability to turn.  It is a picture of God’s people not willing to hear or repent, and I’m fearful that is the Church of 2014.

It is important to remember Judah is a captive, we often forget that many in the church are being held in captivity by sin, and these powers have names:  lust, greed, fear, and all kinds of sexual sins.  Many of us, like the people of Isaiah’s time, have no understanding of how sinful we are and how much God loves us.  Timothy Keller gives this insight into our problem: “The gospel says you are more sinful and flawed than you ever dared believe, but more accepted and loved than you ever dared hope.”  When we come to grips with this, we are open to the new things God has for us.

Speaking of “New Things” God is going to announce new things to Judah before they come into being, things like the use of Cyrus to deliver His people.  In verses 8-9, God declares that His peoples ears have been closed to His commands, and He is calling them to listen, and that will require acting on what is heard.  If only we in the Church were as concerned for the name of God, as God is, how different our world would be.

In verse 10, we see God as the Silversmith subjecting His people to a fire that removes all the impurities; often God uses affliction and pain to do this.  God reminds all of us He will not share His glory with anyone.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice