Isaiah, Prophet of Salvation, Book 7, part 6

God’s judgment upon Israel gave Babylon power for a season. God used Babylon to test and refine Israel, which is the overall purpose of divine judgment. To refine is to remove “dross” (Isaiah 1:25) and “chaff” (Matthew 3:12).

The Promise Keeper

Isaiah 48: 9 says,

⁹ “For the sake of My name I delay [arak, “extend, make long”] My wrath [aph, “nose”], and for My praise [tehilla, “song of praise”] I restrain [chatam, “muzzle”] you, in order not to cut you off [karath, “cut, cut off, or make a covenant”].

When God acts “for the sake of My name,” it is to keep his promises. When God makes a promise, His “name” (i.e., reputation) is at stake. If He were unable to keep His promises for any reason, it would be a disaster for the universe, for God would either prove Himself to be incapable or foolish. Either way, God would prove to be less than sovereign.

The Hebrew way of saying, “delay My wrath,” is literally to “extend My nose.” An angry man was pictured as having flared nostrils. Likewise, patience (or long-suffering) is written as having a long nose. The Hebrew metaphor indicates that because God has promised to save us (Israel and ultimately the world as a whole) through the New Covenant, He delays judgment.

We see this in the century-long delay of judgment upon Jerusalem after the 185,000 Assyrian troops were destroyed. The judgment was delayed until the great regime change when Babylon conquered Assyria. Hence, the prophet seems to ignore Assyria entirely. He focuses upon the next empire, Babylon, as if it were the dominant power in His day.

God Muzzles Israel

The prophet also says, “I restrain you in order not to cut you off.” The Hebrew word again suggest a double meaning just under the surface. The word chatam means “a muzzle,” which was used to restrain animals so they do not bite or do something that would require the owner to cut them with a whip. God too muzzles us (as we see today with the masks) to restrain us for our own good.

The word karath, “to cut off,” is also the word used to make a covenant. So we read in Genesis 15:18, “On that day the Lord made [karath, “cut”] a covenant with Abram.” The covenant was described earlier in Genesis 15:9 and 10, where Abram took animals and “cut them in two.”

In Isaiah 48:9, however, the word karath is used to tell Israel that God would not cut them off. Instead, He was keeping His covenant that He “cut” with Abram for His name’s sake.

God Refines Israel

Isaiah 48:10 continues,

¹⁰ Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

The purpose of refining metal is not to destroy the metal but to remove the impurities. Hence, the metaphor for divine judgment is to apply “fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8)—not to destroy those who are being judged, but to purify them so that they can be saved. The Greek word for brimstone (i.e., sulfur) is theion, divine “incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Revelation 5:8). The word is derived from Theos, “God.” In other words, it is God’s way of purifying people to “burn” them as incense, so that they are induced to pray for deliverance.

This fire and brimstone is “the second death,” John says in Revelation 21:8. The first death is mortality, which we received from Adam’s sin. The second death is its antidote, dying to self, being crucified with Christ, so that we may also live (Romans 6:6). The basic principle is found in a literal rendering of Romans 6:7, “for he who died has been justified from sin” (The Emphatic Diaglott). Hence, the first death is the problem; the second death is the solution.

All Glory Goes to God

Isaiah 48:11 says,

¹¹ For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; for how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”

If the fire of God were to destroy Israel, then the promises of God would fail, not only to Israel to but “all the families of the earth” who were to be blessed by the seed of Abraham (Genesis 12:3). For this reason, God says, “I will act,” that is, “I will take action.” God cannot simply destroy them for their sin while blaming men for what they have done by their own “free will.” No, if men’s “free will” had been able to thwart the promises of God, thereby profaning His name, then He should never have made promises that He could not keep.

But thankfully, we have a sovereign God who had the wisdom to draw up a plan that would succeed. Creation will indeed fulfill its purpose. He will receive a well-deserved song of praise (tehilla). And because He has done this by His own power, wisdom, and love, His glory will not go to someone else. The devil will not win. The devil will not succeed in obtaining 98 percent of humanity, as many have been told. In the end, there will be no songs of praise to the devil for his great power and glory.

The Successful Messiah

Isaiah 48:12 says,

¹² “Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. ¹³ Surely My hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand together.”

Here God repeats for emphasis the fact that He is the alef-tav, the One who knows the beginning and the end, the One who was at the beginning and will be at the end of the story. He said so in Isaiah 41:4 and again in Isaiah 46:10. There should be no doubt that God will succeed and win. All things have come out of Him, they go through Him, and they go back to Him, Paul asserts in Romans 11:36. Nothing has come out of Him that will not go back to Him.

Isaiah 48:14, 15 then presents the great Deliverer, the Messiah, saying,

¹⁴ “Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon, and His arm will be against the Chaldeans. ¹⁵ I, even I, have spoken; indeed, I have called him, I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.

Cyrus, of course, was the first “messiah” and deliverer from the Babylonian captivity. On the surface, the promise here is that Cyrus “will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon,” because “I have called him.” But this is also an end-time prophecy of Christ, who will also be “successful” on a greater scale by overthrowing Mystery Babylon.

Christ’s first work on the cross provided the legal basis for this deliverance, making us legally perfect by covering our sin. Christ’s second work completes this deliverance by overthrowing the beast systems, by removing authority from Mystery Babylon, and by giving authority to the overcomers. The success of this plan was assured by Christ’s death on the cross.