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?