Isaiah 48: Always Teaching

The Lord continually reveals Himself and His identity to His people through the prophets and throughout the scriptures.

Here are some of the things that God is teaching Israel about Himself in Isaiah 48:

• God reveals His plans and things to come long ahead of time so that He, not idols, may receive the credit (vs. 3-5).

• God is able to do new, surprising things that His people do not expect and have never heard of before (vs. 6-8).

• God holds back His anger and wrath for the sake of His name that is among His people (vs. 9-11).

• God is the first and the last, He is the author of Creation (vs. 12-13).

• God's ways lead to good for His people (vs. 17-19).  (Though I am not in the "prosperity gospel" camp, I do believe in a general correlation between following the principles of scripture and living a blessed life.  Verse 18 would support that understanding: "O that you had paid attention to my commandments!  Then your prosperity would have been like a river, and your success like the waves of the sea.")

It is important to always be keeping our eyes and ears open, to scripture as well as to our own experience yet today, to discover the spiritual lessons that God is teaching us about Himself!