46:12
God speaks to those who are “stubborn-hearted” and “far from righteous”. Two things to note from this. The first is that God is disarmingly honest about the rebels. They are not people who have a “different perspective”, but rebel sinners. Their hearts are stubborn and they are far from righteousness. But a second thing to note is that God is speaking to them. There is still hope. Likewise, there may be individuals that we despair of, we look askance at our society. We should not react by pretending that people are not as bad as they seem, we should not close our eyes to the reality of the situation, but neither should we lose hope.
46:13
Why should we not lose hope? Because God is bringing His salvation near. It is coming and will not delay. In the immediate context this was God’s words to Israel, speaking of their rescue from Babylon, but the greater application is the salvation found in Jesus. Notice also that His salvation involves God granting His splendour. God does not save us but leave us as bedraggled specimens pulled out of the raging sea. He starts a work of transformation on our lives. So there is utter reality about the true nature of our condition, and wonderful glory about the true nature of God’s salvation.
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