God does not want to share His glory with false gods or anything that substitutes for a false god. One simple example of a substitute would be someone putting their trust in money and giving glory to their wealth as providing for them, protecting them, etc. instead of recognizing God’s hand of blessing in their life.
If we put our trust and faith in something other than God, then as His children, He will discipline us to help us come back to a relationship with Him and remove our faith in the “idol”. In Isaiah 48 we read about how God brought about captivity in Babylon for His people and then after the right time, set them free again.
His goal is to remain in a proper relationship with His people and maintain His name, or reputation. If I were to oversimplify it for a moment, it is not unlike when we punish our children to correct certain behavior. Maybe for us, it is sending them to their room or providing other consequences. For God, we see it on a larger scale and with His people as a whole.
The best approach is to submit to God and God alone. Do not be stubborn and resist Him, putting our trust in anything else.
Israel’s Obstinacy
1“Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel
And who came forth from the loins of Judah,
Who swear by the name of the LORD
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth nor in righteousness.
2“For they call themselves after the holy city
And lean on the God of Israel;
The LORD of hosts is His name.
3“I declared the former things long ago
And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them.
Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
4“Because I know that you are obstinate,
And your neck is an iron sinew
And your forehead bronze,
5Therefore I declared them to you long ago,
Before they took place I proclaimed them to you,
So that you would not say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’
6“You have heard; look at all this.
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you new things from this time,
Even hidden things which you have not known.
7“They are created now and not long ago;
And before today you have not heard them,
So that you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8“You have not heard, you have not known.
Even from long ago your ear has not been open,
Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously;
And you have been called a rebel from birth.
9“For the sake of My name I delay My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.
10“Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
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.
Deliverance Promised
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.
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.
16“Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the first I have not spoken in secret,
From the time it took place, I was there.
And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
17Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
“I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit,
Who leads you in the way you should go.
18“If only you had paid attention to My commandments!
Then your well-being would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19“Your descendants would have been like the sand,
And your offspring like its grains;
Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.”
20Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this,
Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
21They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts.
He made the water flow out of the rock for them;
He split the rock and the water gushed forth.
22“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the LORD.
Take a few minutes in prayer. Quietly ask God to show you any areas of your life where you are putting your trust in something other than Him. Ask Him to help you surrender these parts of your life to Him fully. Give Him thanks that He cares for you.
Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ
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