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

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.

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).

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).

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!