ISAIAH 48

GOD WILL REFINE ISRAEL FOR HIS GLORY 

God tells Israel that He will save them, despite their unfaithfulness and resistance. God is planning on doing something new with Israel, something that the false gods could never accomplish or take credit for. Although God has allowed for the Israelites to be exiled by Babylon, He has plans to restore and redeem them through Persia’s defeat of Babylon.

God does not refine the Israelites for their glory, but for His own. If the Israelites listened to God all along, their lives would have been filled with more rest and peace. Isaiah uses the illustration of God providing water in the desert (Exodus 17) to remind Israel of His care for them.