This section recapitulates the revelation that Yahweh predicts the future so that when what He predicts happens people will recognize that He is the only true God. He can cause new things to happen because He alone is the Creator.503
48:1-2 The Lord called on His people to pay attention to what He had to say to them and to respond appropriately (cf. 42:18; 46:12). The many descriptions of the Israelites in these verses reminded them of their origins and their identity, their commitments to and their appreciation for Yahweh, and their present relationship with Him. In view of all this, they needed to heed what He said. They had not done this as they should have in the past.
48:3 God had frequently in Israel's past predicted what He would do, and then He did it. Sometimes the fulfillments were not what His people had expected, illustrating His sovereign creativity. Nevertheless, He had remained true to His word.
48:4-5 God had done this because His people were stubborn when it came to trusting Him. If He had not done this, they would have concluded that some idol had been responsible for the turn of events. They, like all people, resisted trust in a sovereign God preferring rather to make their gods in their own image and so control them. People are by nature like animals in that we often refuse to go a certain way simply because our Master wants us to go that way. The neck of iron pictures unwillingness to bow in submission. The brazen forehead represents an opinionated person with a closed mind or a shameless person who persists in sin.
Having reminded His people of His ways, God now gave them a new prediction.
48:6 God called His people to consider carefully what He had just revealed and they would have to admit that it was true. It was important that they come to a clear understanding of His ways because He was making other predictions about the future (i.e., Cyrus, return from exile, the coming Servant). They needed to know that He is in charge and that He is dependable. What He revealed was hidden in that its time and method of fulfillment were not specific, but the content itself was clear enough having been revealed generally before (cf. Gen. 15:18-21; Deut. 30:1-5).
48:7 What God was predicting was brand new; it was not something He had revealed previously. His people had not heard this specific prediction before. Moses or another prophet had not revealed it. God chose when to reveal it as well as what to reveal.
"It [predictive prophecy] is given not so we can know the future, but as confirmatory evidence that we can and should trust God. To use it for the purpose of knowing the future and thus making ourselves secure is only another form of idolatry."504
48:8 The Israelites had not listened to the message that predictive prophecy was to teach them. They did not welcome the idea that God could surprise them and so keep them trusting Him. Instead they wanted to know the future so they would not have to trust Him. Rebellion against God is part of human nature. They did not know what He was going to do, but He knew their hearts.
48:9 Even though Israel had been prone to idolatry (v. 5) and had been congenitally rebellious (v. 8), God had not cast her off. Why? He had made commitments to be gracious to Israel and to honor Himself in His dealings with her so the rest of the world would trust Him. The fact that God did not abandon Israel when He could have done so justly manifested His grace.
48:10 By allowing the Babylonian exile God was not casting off His people but disciplining them so they would come to their senses and follow Him more faithfully thereafter. The difficult times Israel had been through were fires of refining, not fires of destruction.505In refining silver, the craftsman burns away all the dross. If God had refined Israel that way there would have been nothing left of the nation. Affliction is a sign that God has chosen and loves His people; it is not a sign that He has not chosen and does not love them (cf. Heb. 12:3-13).
48:11 Ultimately, however, it is for His own sake that God does what He does. He is the only true God, so people must see this. They come to see it in His just but merciful dealings with Israel. Then they give Him glory, where alone it belongs.
