Isaiah 48:1-8
The monthly prognosticators, the stargazers and other astrologers (Isaiah 47:13) have always abounded at the expense of a credulous public. In spite of their claims, predicting the future is in no-one’s power. God alone knows what is to come and He reveals to us in His Word what we need to know of it (Isaiah 46:10; Acts 1:7). The accomplishing in the past of events which had been foretold by the prophets is one further proof of the existence and omnipotence of God (v. 5; cf. John 13:19). The former things, long predicted, have come to pass (v. 3). This proves that the new things are, and will be, the work of God too (v. 6; Matthew 13:52). Today it is possible for all, and Jews especially, to search out the Scriptures, in order to be convinced of these things. Many centuries in advance, the rejection of their Messiah was clearly announced by the greatest of the prophets in the very chapters we are reading. Sadly, not only Israel, but man in general has become "obstinate"; his neck is an iron sinew; his brow is of brass (v. 4); his ear is shut (v. 8). Above all, his heart is hard (Isaiah 46:12).