FRAMEWORKS:
Isaiah 48: A New Word for Israel – get
out of Babylon!
v.1,2
God addresses Israel
v.3-5
Looking to the Past
v.6,7
A New Message
v.8-11
Israel's failure, the Lord's activity and why
v.12-13
The Almighty One
v.14-15
He comes to discipline Babylon
v.16-20
The Lord, Israel, and their failings
v.20-22
The Call to leave Babylon
[Preliminary
notes: In this prophecy the Lord addresses Israel [v.1,2]
n an ironic tone, confirmed by the language of verse 4a and references
to idols in v.5. He confronts them with their past [v.6a] comes
to this wayward people with a new message [v.6b,7]. They had failed
Him [v.8] but He had held back [v.9] from destroying them completely,
merely disciplining them [v.10] so His name would not be maligned
[v.11]. He calls them to realise that He, the One who had called
them into being [v.12] was the Creator of the world [v.13]. He
comes, He says, although your idols didn't tell you this [v.14a
more irony], to deal with the Babylonians [v.14b,15]. The prophet
reinforces the power of this message by reaffirming that he has
been sent by God [v.16]. [An alternative understanding of this
verse is that it could be as if the invader was conforming his
role]. The Lord comes to His people as their teacher [v.17] and
if they had listened to Him over the years, they would have known
constant peace [v.18] and future generations would have survived
[v.19] but now He is setting this prophecy as a marker in history
as a call to them to leave Babylon [v.20] and He will lead and
provide for them as He had done in the past [v.21], reminding
them that He deals with the righteous, not the wicked [v.22] –
a low-key reminder-warning.]
v.1,2
God addresses Israel
v.1
His hearers identified by background
v.1
‘Listen to
this, you [i]
descendants of Jacob,
you who are [ii]
called by the name of Israel
and [iii]
come from the line of Judah,
v.1b,2
His hearers identified by what they do
you
who [i]
take oaths in the name of the Lord
and [ii]
invoke the God of Israel –
but not in truth or righteousness –
v.2
you who [iii]
call yourselves citizens of the holy city
and [iv]
claim to rely on the God of Israel –
the Lord Almighty is his name:
v.3-5
Looking to the Past
v.3,4
What the Lord had done and why
v.3
I foretold
the former things long ago,
my mouth announced them and I made them
known;
then suddenly I acted, and they came to
pass.
v.4
For I knew
how stubborn you were;
your neck muscles were iron,
your forehead was bronze.
v.5
Again what He had done and why
v.5
Therefore I
told you these things long ago;
before they happened I announced them
to you
so that you could not say,
“My images brought them about;
my wooden image and metal god ordained
them.”
v.6,7
A New Message
v.6
Face them but now see the new thing's He's saying
v.6
You have heard
these things; look at them all.
Will you not admit them?
‘From
now on I will tell you of new things,
of hidden things unknown to you.
v.7
What He is saying is brand-new
v.7
They are created
now, and not long ago;
you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
“Yes, I knew of them.”
v.8-11
Israel's failure, the Lord's activity and why
v.8
In the past they failed to listen to Him
v.8
You have neither
heard nor understood;
from of old your ears have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous you are;
you were called a rebel from birth.
v.9
He has held back from destroying them completely
v.9
For my own
name's sake I delay my wrath;
for the sake of my praise I hold it back
from you,
so as not to destroy you completely.
v.10
He's given them affliction to purify them
v.10
See, I have
refined you, though not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
v.11
He's done this for the sake of His name in the world
v.11
For my own
sake, for my own sake, I do this.
How can I let myself be defamed?
I will not yield my glory to another.
v.12-13
The Almighty One
v.12
Realise who He is – beginning and end
v.12
‘Listen to
me, Jacob,
Israel, whom I have called:
I am he;
I am the first and I am the last.
v.13
He is the one who created the world and upholds it
v.13
My own hand
laid the foundations of the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summon them,
they all stand up together.
v.14-15
He comes to discipline Babylon
v.14
Your idols didn't see this coming but Babylon is about to be disciplined
v.14
‘Come together,
all of you, and listen:
which of the idols has foretold these
things?
The Lord's chosen ally
will carry out his purpose against Babylon;
his arm will be against the Babylonians.
v.15
The one bringing discipline is coming at my call
v.15
I, even I,
have spoken;
yes, I have called him.
I will bring him,
and he will succeed in his mission.
v.16-20
The Lord, Israel, and their failings
v.16
God has sent me by His Spirit
v.16
‘Come near
me and listen to this:
‘From
the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;
at the time it happens, I am there.'
And
now the Sovereign Lord has sent me,
endowed with his Spirit.
v.17
I, the Lord, teach and guide you
v.17
This is what
the Lord says –
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
‘I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you what is best for you,
who directs you in the way you should
go.
v.18
If you had obeyed from the outset your lives would have been onflowing
peace
v.18
If only you
had paid attention to my commands,
your peace would have been like a river,
your well-being like the waves of the
sea.
v.19
Your generations would have survived
v.19
Your descendants
would have been like the sand,
your children like its numberless grains;
their name would never be blotted out
nor destroyed from before me.'
v.20-22
The Call to leave Babylon
v.20
So now, leave Babylon for I'm redeeming you
v.20
Leave Babylon,
flee from the Babylonians!
Announce this with shouts of joy
and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth;
say, ‘The Lord has redeemed his servant
Jacob.'
v.21
Your forefathers ‘missed it' when I first led them out of Egypt
v.21
They did not
thirst when he led them through the deserts;
he made water flow for them from the rock;
he split the rock
and water gushed out.
v.22
This peace only comes to the righteous
v.22
‘There
is no peace,' says the Lord, ‘for the wicked.'
[Additional
Note: What is remarkable about this prophecy is that
it was spoken about events many decades in the future and so there
is a twofold sense to it. First, that God is declaring what WILL
happen in the years to come in respect of Babylon which has now
yet risen to ascendancy and, second, it will be there in the archives
for future generations to act as both a warning but also a reassuring
hope that when Israel do end up being taken into exile in Babylon,
that will NOT be the end of them.]