# 26 2026 Dev. Isa.48:12. God, “The First and the Last”! Read all of chapter forty-eight first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.
Isaiah 48 continuing from the last two chapters Isa. 46,47, God, through the prophet, is telling Israel how the people have failed to live up to the expectation of their covenant with God. “… you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and invoke the God of Israel—but not in truth or righteousness—”.
Vs.1-8 “Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob… From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today… You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ears have not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth.” It is not just Israel, what about today, what about us?
Vs 9-11 God is delaying His punishment. “so as not to destroy you completely…For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.”
Israel Freed
Vs.12-15 “Listen to me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: ‘I am he; I am the first and the Last'” God claimed His glory, He is the creator of the heavens and the earth. The king of Babylon will be replaced by “the Lord’s chosen ally… and he will succeed in his mission” the Medes and the Persians will defeat Babylon and occupy the city.
Vs.16-22 The prophet is qualified, “come near and listen to this…And now the Sovereign Lord has sent me, endowed with his Spirit. This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the ways you should go.” You did not listen, if you had “your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea.Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains…” The prophet reminds them of the time in the desert, they had water, they had food, God took care of them. The prophet ends the chapter with: “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.” Today we apply this passage to ourselves. There are consequences for our actions, particularly, when our Christianity does not display the heart of God, peace, mercy, kindness, generosity, and humility.
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Heavenhigh 