In this chapter, the Lord cries out to a proud and stubborn Israel to hear Him (“Hear ye this” – v.1; “thou heardest not” – v.8; “Hearken unto me” – v.12; “assemble yourselves, and hear” – v.14; “hear ye this” – v.16; “O that thou hadst hearkened” – v.18).  He tells about His dealings with them and His attempts to get them to listen.

What Does It Say?

1. Israel is obstinate (proud and stubborn).  Her ________ is as iron and her _________ like brass.
2. Israel was called a transgressor from the ____________.
3. God refined Israel in a furnace of ______________.
4. If Israel had listened to the Lord, she would have had peace like a __________.
5. But, in the end, there is no peace to the ____________.

What Does It Mean?

1. God said that He had shown some “new things” to Israel (v.6).  What are some things that God did with Israel that He had not done with any other nation?  See Deuteronomy 4:32-34 [32] For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? [33] Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? [34] Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
   See All...; Psalm 147:19-20 [19] He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. [20] He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.
   See All.... What are some of the new things that God has done for us?
2. God identifies Himself as the first and the last seven different times in the Bible (Isaiah 41:4Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.
   See All...; Isaiah 44:6Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
   See All...; Isaiah 48:12Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
   See All...; Revelation 1:11Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
   See All..., Revelation 1:17And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
   See All...; Revelation 2:8And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
   See All...; Revelation 22:13I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
   See All...).  What is He saying about Himself when He calls Himself the first and the last?
3. God says of the heavens, that when He calls unto them, “they stand up together” (v.13).  What is He saying about the obedience of creation to their Maker?

What Does It Mean to Me?

1. To what is God referring when He says that Israel swears by Him, makes mention of Him, and even stay themselves upon the God of Israel, but they do not do so in truth or in righteousness (v.1-2)?  How can someone be so visibly strong but so far from what God would have them to be?
2. In this chapter, God pleads with Israel to listen to Him and complains that they do not (see v.1, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18).  In fact, the chapter is loaded with a number of reasons why Israel should listen to Him.  See how many of those reasons you can find.