Isaiah 47:8-11 is scary. It’s scary because it sounds like the American mindset, and we know how God judged the Babylonians for their mindset.
In chapter 48, the focus shifts off of Babylon, onto the Israelites. God tells them that all this happened because they would not listen. They had necks of iron and foreheads of bronze, aka they were stubborn, stiff-necked and bull-headed. The last verse sums up the message of the previous two chapters: “There is no peace for the wicked.”
Isaiah proclaims the coming servant of the Lord in chapter 49, along with the restoration of Israel. Can you imagine how wild that message would have seemed to the hearers? Their nation had deteriorated morally. They had been conquered and sent into Babylon in exile. And here, Isaiah is proclaiming the coming Messiah, the restoration to statehood, prosperity and peace. He continues this message in chapter 50, honing in on the coming Messiah and his obedience unto the Father’s plan.
May it never cease to amaze us that this was written hundreds of years before Jesus was even born.
Omer Redden 