Why Does God Put Up with Us? For His Glory and Our Benefit

Isaiah 48

I will delay my anger for the sake of my name, and I will restrain myself for your benefit and for my praise, so that you will not be destroyed. . . . I will act for my own sake, indeed, my own, for how can I be defiled? I will not give my glory to another. (Isa 48:9,11)

Main Idea: For his glory and our benefit, God delays his anger and refuses to destroy his people despite their sins.

1. The Sovereign God Predicts and Works History to Win His Stubborn People (48:1-8).
   1. God has predicted the future and brought it to pass (48:1-3).
   2. God does this to win his stubborn people (48:4-8).
2. The Patient God Refines His People for His Glory and Our Benefit (48:9-11).
   1. God puts up with his people for his own sake (48:9).
   2. God refines his people for their benefit (48:9-10).
   3. God’s ultimate purpose in their salvation is his own glory (48:11).
3. The Eternal God Will Bring Cyrus to Achieve His Purpose (48:12-16).
   1. God is the “I Am” (48:12-13).
   2. God alone foretold Cyrus and will bring him to succeed (48:14-16).
4. The Loving God Will Send Another to Redeem His People (48:16-22).
   1. The mysterious “sent one” speaks (48:16).
   2. If only God’s people had obeyed his word (48:17-19)!
   3. God the Redeemer covers his people’s transgressions (48:17,20-22).

The Sovereign God Predicts and Works History to Win His Stubborn People

Isaiah 48:1-8

Several years ago I was attending a large conference, and a popular pastor was there speaking about the mandate Christ has given the church to evangelize the lost. He shouted dramatically, “Is there anything in the universe worth more than a human soul? If you can think of anything, I challenge you to step to the microphone right now and tell us what it is!” At that moment, I thought of an answer: the glory of God! God’s glory is worth more than the salvation of every human soul. I think if I had stepped up to the microphone and said that, the pastor might have said, “Oh yes, of course that! But other than that . . .”

How easy it is for us to get so swept along in the fervor for winning the lost that we forget that God esteems his own glory as far greater than all the worth of every human being who has ever lived. But the joy of the gospel is that the themes of God’s glory and human salvation end up harmonizing beautifully. God is most glorified in his universe by his salvation of a vast multitude of sinners through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The concept that God saves sinners primarily for his own name’s sake is taught plainly in this chapter.

God calls on his people to hear him and addresses his people as the “house of Jacob—those who are called by the name Israel and have descended from Judah” (v. 1). The problem is, they are in no way living up to the covenant heritage these names signify. They swear by the name of the Lord but not in truth or righteousness. They call themselves members of the holy city (Jerusalem), and they supposedly lean on the God of Israel, but it is all a hypocritical sham.

In this section of the chapter God plainly exposes the astounding stubbornness of his people: he says their forehead is like bronze, the sinews of their necks are bands of iron (v. 4). They heard God speak again and again through the prophets but did not understand and refused to obey. The ears of their hearts were closed and they were treacherous, rebels from birth (v. 8).

To win such a people, God has done some astounding things through his prophets. He has done what no idol could do, neither what any man could conceive: he has foretold events in past history and brought them to pass (v. 3). These refer to the many prophecies that were fulfilled in Israel’s history, including the multiplication of Abraham’s seed, their enslavement in Egypt, and the awesome way that God brought them out of Egypt and established them in the promised land (Gen 15). God did such things specifically to win the hearts of his people away from idols (v. 5).

But not only had God done this for centuries in the past; he was even now continuing to do this before their very eyes. In verses 6-7 he refers to the present pattern of prophecies Isaiah was continuing to give them concerning Cyrus the Great’s destruction of Babylon and the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Isa 44–45). But even more importantly, he will predict the sufferings of the servant of the Lord, Jesus Christ, beginning in the very next chapter, Isaiah 49, and even more clearly in some chapters that follow (Isa 52–53).

The Patient God Refines His People for His Glory and Our Benefit

Isaiah 48:9-11

God then explains to his stubborn people why he puts up with us so patiently. God is uppermost in his own affections and ultimately does everything in the universe “to the praise of his glory” (Eph 1:14). It is so easy for us in our pride to think that God has put human salvation at the highest level of importance in all creation. But Isaiah 48:9-11 makes plain that God does it for his own glory. This is such a strong message that God speaks it twice in verse 11: “I will act for my own sake, indeed, my own.”

God says it is for his own sake that he delays his anger against his people; he is patient with them and doesn’t instantly sweep them away. God has by grace left his people a remnant in every generation. So also God is measured, patient, and careful with the church of Jesus Christ, not instantly lashing out against us when we sin but giving us time to repent (Rev 2:21). Peter tells us that God’s patience is to bring about salvation (2 Pet 3:15). This passage tells us that God does it so that his glorious name won’t be defamed among the nations (cf. Ezek 36:22).

Instead of destroying Israel for her idolatry, God willed to refine her in the furnace of affliction. The immediate reference must be the exile to Babylon, and the analogy is the purification of silver, in which the fiery heat brings to the surface the dross that can be skimmed off. However, God says the refinement of his people in the exile was not like that, for such a refining is effective in the case of silver, but the Jews would return from exile still wicked in their hearts. Only Christ’s final work of sovereign grace on our hearts in glorification will end forever the corruption that characterizes us to the depths of our beings.

God displays in these vital verses the central concept that our eternal benefit and his ultimate glory are perfectly harmonized in the gospel. In verse 9 the CSB includes the phrase “for your benefit” (Hb lak) before the words “and for my praise,” which beautifully completes the balance between God’s concern for his glory and for the good of his people.

In verse 11 God emphasizes his jealousy for his own glory, saying with eternal finality that he will not share his glory with any created being. This is strong evidence for the doctrine of the Trinity and for the deity of Christ in that Jesus prays in John 17:5, “Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with that glory I had with you before the world existed.” If Jesus were not fully God in the mystery of the Trinity, such a prayer would be blasphemous.

The Eternal God Will Bring Cyrus to Achieve His Purpose

Isaiah 48:12-16

God reminds his people of his utter uniqueness—this is exactly why he cannot share his glory with another (v. 11). He is the “I am,” the actual true and living God, the only one who exists. He was God at the beginning of all things, and he will be the same God at the end of all things. He established the earth with his own right hand and spread out the heavens; he summons them, and they all stand up at his call. This is the actively ruling King who brings Cyrus, whom he loves, to achieve his purposes. God has announced this publicly, not in some mysterious occult riddle that only an inner circle of enlightened priests could decipher (v. 16a).

The Loving God Will Send Another to Redeem His People

Isaiah 48:16-22

At this point, we hear the mysterious insertion of another voice interrupting the prophecy: “And now, the Lord God has sent me and his Spirit” (v. 16b). This may be the voice of the Suffering Servant who will be introduced plainly in the next chapter. The affliction of the exiles will not bring about the final salvation of Israel, but the work of the Suffering Servant, the Redeemer, will.

Thus in verse 17 the Lord identifies himself again as Israel’s “Redeemer,” who will work to redeem Israel from the bondage that sin has caused. This sin is made plain by the fact that God had spoken a clear word of righteousness by his law. If Israel had obeyed God’s commands perfectly, a Redeemer would have been unnecessary. Instead, Israel’s peace would have been like a river, and his righteousness would have been like the waves of the ocean. Israel’s life would have been one of rich blessing—numberless descendants and a name that would never be cut off (vv. 18-19). But Israel had been unwilling (Matt 23:37). So they need the Redeemer whom he will send.

Verses 20-21 speak of the immediate work of Cyrus and the ultimate work of the servant, Jesus, in the familiar terms of the exodus. When Cyrus has finished his work in destroying Babylon, the exiles will leave Babylon with joy and singing to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. But they will just be setting the stage for the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, to come and work the true exodus by his death and resurrection. And when the gospel of Christ comes by faith into the hearts of God’s exiled people in every nation on earth, they will “leave Babylon” and declare with shouts of joy that God has redeemed his people. God calls on his holy people to come out of Babylon so that we will not share in her plagues or judgments (Rev 18:4).

But those who refuse this gospel and who continue to live in wicked rebellion against God will know no peace (v. 22).

Applications

It is so essential for us to understand God’s zeal for his own glory and to see our salvation as a part of that. We should ask God to work a similar zeal in our own hearts so that we stop putting human worth above that of God’s glory.

Second, we should realize how stubbornly rebellious we Christians are and how resistant to follow God’s beautiful laws (vv. 4,8,18-19). We are no better than they were, and we need God to do a continual work in our hearts by his Word, his Spirit, and his Redeemer, Jesus Christ. The more we submit to his perfect law by his Spirit, the more our peace will be like a river and our righteousness like the waves of the sea. But the more we behave wickedly, the less we will experience the peace of God.

Finally, we Christians should rejoice at our redemption from captivity in the “Babylon” of sin. We should declare with shouts of joy to the ends of the earth in missionary effort that, in Christ, God has redeemed his people!

Reflect and Discuss

1. How does this chapter reveal God’s patience with his people?
2. How does this chapter reveal the stubbornness of God’s people, not merely the Judahites of Isaiah’s day but Christians in our own day?
3. In what ways did God refine stubborn Israel in the Bible? How does he refine his people in our day?
4. What is the significance of God’s repeated statements in this chapter, “For my own sake, indeed, for my own, I do this” (vv. 9,11), when it comes to God’s refining of stubborn Israel? How does this relate to our own salvation?
5. How do God’s predictions of the future serve his purpose in redeeming stubborn Israel? How does his bringing of Cyrus the Great fit into his plan?
6. How does God appeal in this chapter to his people in every generation to listen to his word and heed it? How would such an obedient life lead to our peace being like a river (v. 18)?
7. How does the final verse (22) explain much of the trouble in our modern-day world?
8. How is verse 22 completely answered by Christ’s redeeming work on the cross, as well as by Romans 5:1: “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”?
9. Why should we as sinners seek God’s refining today, though it means suffering for us?
10. How can we use the message of this chapter—God’s sovereign power in controlling history to achieve his salvation plan—to preach the gospel to our unsaved relatives, neighbors, coworkers, and acquaintances?