46:6 - Most human beings spend their whole lives working hard for money that they can then spend on other man made things. Instead of pagan images...our "gold and silver" are turned into phones, cars, tvs, houses, etc. These things become our idols. These material goods become objects of obsession for us and they distract us from truly worshipping God. Our form of idolatry is just as absurd as the kind that was taking place in ancient Israel. 2 Peter chapter 3 talks about what the things of this world will be worth in the end...they are fuel for the fire of God's judgment. The only things that last through eternity are the righteous and godly choices we make and words we speak. Don't waste the short time you have on this earth chasing after meaningless garbage...live life as an act of worship and choose to make an eternal difference in the lives of people around you.
46:12-13 - We are usually so mule-headed that we wallow in our sins and push ourselves further and further away from God. We tell ourselves that we are so messed up that we could never approach God with our "issues," and this passage tells us that we are right! The only difference is that we are told here that God brings His righteousness to us (He brought it through Jesus Christ). He draws near to us with His righteousness, so that it is always within our grasp. It has nothing to do with us being good enough and everything to do with God being good enough for both of us.
47:6 - Because God was angry that His people, the people He has specifically chosen and saved, broke the covenant with Him...He was willing to profane His own heritage...He was willing to allow His name and His character to be mocked and denigrated by the world so that His people could be disciplined and would return to Him. The Babylonians did not have a more powerful god...they were simply used by the one and only God as a tool of discipline for His people.
47:12 - This passage is dripping with sarcasm..."Babylon, go ahead, keep trusting in your POWERFUL spells and enchantments...keep trusting in the crazy bald priest with the face-paint and the freaky rituals, I'm sure those will protect you. I'm sure those incantations will allow you to be successful against the creator of the universe...oh wait..."
47:14 - The might of Babylon is nothing compared to the power of the Most High God. Everything the Babylonians have...every victory they have won is because God has allowed it to take place. Isaiah assures them that they are about to find out just how meaningless and ineffective their pagan sorcery really is.
48:4 - Because God knows how stubborn and ignorant His people are (All people are in fact), He is willing to let them experience pain and suffering so that they will be refined and so that they will become who they have been called to be.
48:10-11 - The key part of the refining process that the Israelites are going through is that God's name will be made great in the world. People were created to be in connection with God...we were created to worship in His midst...when God allows us to go through hard times and to go through trials, the excess in our life is stripped away and we are actually freed to worship Him in an unhindered fashion. His discipline always has a point...it is to bring His people back to what they were supposed to be doing all along. Allow the sufferings of this world to drive you into the presence of God, not away from Him.
48:12-13 - What about God is not worthy of worship? Nothing. He is everything we need, and we will not be whole...we will not be complete until we acknowledge and understand that truth. There is nothing you can do in this world that is greater than simply worshipping God with your life. That is the highest form of good...worship God and the rest will fall into place.
48:22 - Those who never turn to God...those who never allow themselves to be transformed by His righteousness, will never be whole. They ill never truly be at peace.
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