Read Isaiah 45—48

See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

Isaiah 48:10

The Jews had become comfortable and complacent in their Babylonian captivity. They had followed the counsel of Jeremiah (Jer. 29:4–7) and had built houses, planted gardens, and raised families; and it would not be easy for them to pack up and go back to the Holy Land. But that was where they belonged.

Had they obeyed the Lord in the first place, they would have experienced peace and not war (Isa. 48:18–19), but it was not too late. He had put them into the furnace to refine them and prepare them for their future work. “Leave Babylon” was God’s command (v. 20). God promised that He would go before them and prepare the way, and they had nothing to fear.

One would think that the Jews would have been eager to return to their land to see God do new and great things for them. But they had grown accustomed to the security of bondage and had forgotten the challenges of freedom. The church today can easily grow complacent with its comfort and affluence. God may have to put us into the furnace to remind us that we are here to be servants and not consumers or spectators.

Something to Ponder

When were some times you could have avoided a lot of trouble if you had obeyed God in the first place?