Deeper Commentary
Isaiah 48:1 Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of Yahweh, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth nor in righteousness-
This prophecy is addressed to Judah, the Jewish exiles in Babylon. Who called Jacob by the name of Israel? It was God, hoping that the exiles like the historical Jacob would change to Israel. But they didn't. This usage of Jacob / Israel is very common up until this point (Is. 40:27; 41:8,14; 42:24; 43:1,22,28; 44:1,5,21,23; 45:4; 46:3; 48:1,12; 49:5,6). But after Is. 49 we will read of Zion and Jerusalem rather than Jacob and Israel. The Divine hope had been that Jacob would change to Israel. But as Isaiah progresses, especially in so called 'third Isaiah' from Is. 55-66, we find a far harsher spirit of criticism and judgment upon the people for having refused the great salvation and restoration offered. It's as if God accepts that Jacob will not change to Israel, and instead the prophecies speak of a far future time with a different form of God's people, known as Zion.
He called them by this name, but they didn't respond by calling upon Yahweh's Name; they spoke of "the God of Israel" but not sincerely. Exactly as they had done before they went into captivity: "Though they say, Yahweh lives, surely they swear falsely" (Jer. 5:2). They accepted the existence of Yahweh, but that is not the same as calling truly upon His Name. Just ticking a box to the effect that 'I am not an atheist' will not save anyone. The exile had not reformed them, as this prophecy will go on to say.
The exiles did not reject Yahweh,
but as explained on :5, they were heavily involved in idolatry as well,
apparently justifying this as a form of Yahweh worship. They called
themselves by the name of Israel and swore by the name of Yahweh, and
identified themselves as the people of Zion (:2). The emphasis is upon
their naming of themselves, whereas God had wanted to place His Name upon
them; see on Is. 44:5. And so we have here a
powerful warning to nominal
Christians, who use the culture and nomenclature of the true faith and yet
whose hearts may be far from it. The exiles were
similar to how they had been before they went
into captivity; there had been no repentance. For according to Jer. 5:2,6
they also swore by Yahweh but insincerely- and that's why the Babylonians
destroyed them: "Though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives;’ surely they swear
falsely... Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them". Despite
this lack of repentance and spiritual progress, still Yahweh was intent on
saving them.
Isaiah 48:2 (for they call themselves of the holy city, and rest
themselves on the God of Israel; Yahweh of Armies is His name)-
Possibly the most hypocritical of the
exiles were those who claimed to have originated from Jerusalem- the upper
classes of priests and nobles. "Even if they call themselves 'from the
Holy City'". They leaned or trusted on God externally but God wants those
"Whose mind is stayed upon You" (Is. 26:3 s.w. "rest themselves"). Their
heart was not trusting in Him. They just said they trusted in Him. And
this is the crucial difference. As so
often, form had dominated over content. As explained on :1, the exiles
were very culturally loyal to Zion and proclaimed their "rest" or trust in
Israel's God; and yet as explained on :5, they were heavily involved in
idolatry as well, apparently justifying this as a form of Yahweh worship.
And they didn't want to return to Zion and reestablish Yahweh's Kingdom.
And so He reminds them that He, the God of Israel, is Yahweh of Armies.
His unlimited power articulated through His Angelic hosts could actually
bring about in practice the restoration of the Kingdom.
Isaiah 48:3 I have declared the former things from of old; yes, they went
forth out of My mouth, and I showed them: suddenly I did them, and they
happened- This sudden action of God may refer to the sudden fall of
Babylon described in Is. 47. See on :5. This is being cited as an
encouragement to the exiles to see the powerful hand of their God in human
history, to realize this was in fulfilment of His prophetic program, and
they could take it further. His prophetic words had come out of His mouth;
this was the intimacy achieved in the Divine-human encounter through the
words of inspired prophets. "The words of the prophets are written on the
subway wall", read en passant, heard, treated as ordinary and
incidental... but the wonder of Divine inspiration, the fact these words
and ideas dropped from the mouth of God was overlooked then as it is now.
Isaiah 48:4 Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an
iron sinew, and your brow brass- This hard hearted attitude of the
Jews is commented upon by Ezekiel, who lived amongst these Jewish exiles
in Babylon. God took into account their skepticism and hard hearts, and
had therefore made amazing prophecies ahead of time, predicting Cyrus by
name 150 years before (:5). We see here God's earnest desire to convince
even the hard hearted, and not to just turn away from them if they
rejected Him, but to construct His purpose ("project" may be a better
word) in order to somehow still incorporate them within His salvation
purpose. It's similar to how He mapped out the path of Israel through the
wilderness lest they see war and be discouraged (Ex. 13:17). He
could have justifiably reasoned that what they had seen in the plagues and
at the Red Sea ought to have been enough to motivate anyone to follow Him
for the rest of their lives. But He was and is sensitive to our sins and
unjustifiable weaknesses; and we should be likewise to others.
So often hardness is condemned: ‘hard of neck’ that is, stiff-necked, stubborn (Ex. 32:9; 34:9); "hard of face", "hard of heart" (Ez. 2:4; 3:7). "Your brow brass" is the image used for the hard, shameless brow of a prostitute (Jer. 3:3; Ez. 3:7). This was how they were before going into captivity, and they had not been reformed by the exile. So much of the language used about the exiles in Babylon is used also of how they were before the captivity. We are to be soft clay in the hand of the potter. But we live in a world where hardness is almost glorified and softness is seen as weakness. We see hardness on the media all the time, anger and bitterness. And it affects us. Again we note that Judah went into captivity because "they are brass and iron" (Jer. 6:28)- the exile hadn't reformed this. The refining fire had not brought forth any silver (:10) but still Yahweh wanted to save them.
Isaiah 48:5 Therefore I have declared it in advance to you from of old;
before it came to pass I showed it to you; lest you should say, ‘My idol
has done them, and my engraved image, and my molten image, has commanded
them’-
See on :4. This is a tragic reflection of the deep seated belief in idols amongst the exiles. It took some generations for them to quit idolatry, and I have noted throughout the book of Esther the extent of idolatry amongst the Jewish exiles. Ezekiel's ministry was to the exiles already in Babylon, and he frequently condemns their idolatry. It seems that the decree of Cyrus for the restoration and the "sudden" fall of Babylon (:3) were ascribed by the Jews to their idols. Hence the repeated emphasis that God had predicted these things, and even named Cyrus, well in advance. He and His prophetic word were to be given the credit, and not the idols.
Israel had previously wanted to believe that the gods summarized in the golden calf had brought them out of Egypt (Ex. 32:4), and so God knew they were likely to attribute their deliverance from Babylon as being thanks to their gods. For as Ezekiel makes clear, they were idolaters in Babylon. They were so hard hearted. Why didn't God just give up with them? Every honest man asks himself the same question about himself. But God's grace keeps on and on trying. He did so because of His Name and not because of their righteousness (:11). The argument is that because God knew they were stubborn and unresponsive, He had declared this in advance. The 'former things' were therefore the things of Israel's sins and weaknesses. Those former things will not ultimately come to mind, but God's argument is that He "declared" those things, His love was so great for Israel that He went into the relationship knowing those former things. He will not accept that they had only sinned because they were merely doing what their idols commanded them- because before that, from the beginning, He had chosen His people, well before their encounter with Babylonian idols. And He chose them foreknowing their apostacy: "I knew you would be utterly faithless and I called you a rebel from birth" (:8). Hence He pleads with them "Will you not declare / admit it?" (:6). That Yahweh had declared and foretold Israel's miserable, unfaithful past is one thing; but it becomes of ultimate moment when factored into Yahweh's argument that despite all that unfaithfulness, He will still save Israel into an amazing future salvation and restoration. His past patience and love for them, totally unrequited, is evidence of this. For time and again, Yahweh's argument in Isaiah is that He is a God who can and will ultimately save His people. This came to full term in Yahoshua, Yah saves, Jesus. Apart from the specific prophecies, we could say that the spirit of Yahweh's salvation in Christ is found throughout later Isaiah.
Isaiah 48:6 You have heard it; see all this; and you, will you not declare
it? I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which
you have not known- LXX "Ye have heard all this, but ye have not
known: yet I have made known to thee the new things from henceforth, which
are coming to pass". As explained on :5, the exiles knew the prophetic
words of Isaiah about the fall of Babylon and the decree of Cyrus and the
restoration; but they attributed these events to their idols.
They had
heard but not known God's word in their hearts. And this is the challenge
to all Bible readers; as to whether we are just hearing or reading God's
word on a surface level, or whether we really know these things in the
Hebraic sense of 'knowing'.
The "new things" are now defined in the following verses; and they include the realization of God's grace toward them despite their treachery (:8), His amazing desire to push forward the work of their salvation. Again Israel are asked to be God's witnesses in the court case about whether Yahweh can in fact save such a sinful people. With the change of a consonant we can translate "and you, will you not bear witness?". Yet the "new things" are "hidden things" which Israel had not yet experienced and to which their ear had not been opened (:8). The things of the new covenant of Jer. 33:3 (“difficult things which you know not”). These are the things Paul speaks of, the things prepared in salvation for those who love God, which eye has not seen, but are revealed by the Spirit given to those who truly repent...
Isaiah 48:7 They are created now, and not from of old; and before this day
you didn’t hear them; lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them’-
"They are created now" in the sense that
creation is by a word, and God is now uttering the word of new creation-
that His people will in fact have salvation in a restored Kingdom.
See
on Eph. 1:9,10. LXX "say not thou, Yea, I know them". Their attitude to
the prophecies was that 'Sure, we know all that stuff'. But it was surface
level reading and hearing; they refused to perceive the wonderful reality,
that the events connected with Cyrus, the fall of Babylon and the decree
for restoration had all been foretold and were all part of Yahweh's saving
purpose. As noted on :3, "The words of the prophets are written on the
subway wall", read en passant, heard, treated as ordinary and
incidental... but the wonder of Divine inspiration, the fact these words
and ideas dropped from the mouth of God was overlooked then as it is now.
Isaiah 48:8 Yes, you didn’t hear; yes, you didn’t know; yes, from of old
your ear was not opened- Their deafness to the real import of the
prophetic word (see on :5-7) was their own fault, but they were confirmed
in this by not having their ears and eyes opened by God. And yet He was
willing and eager to open their ears (see on Is. 42:18 "Hear, you
deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see"; 43:8). But they
didn't hear or know as intended because they didn't want to; they were
unwilling for their narrative of life and self-identity in the prosperity
of Babylon and Persia to be so radically interrupted.
For I knew that you dealt very treacherously, and were called a transgressor from the womb- The allusion is to the naming of Jacob from the womb. He was a heel-catcher, and treacherous. Their treachery is described in the word used of Babylon and Assyria's treachery against them (Is. 33:1; Lam. 1:2). And it is used of their marital unfaithfulness against Yahweh (Jer. 3:11,20; 5:11). Knowing that this is how they would be, Yahweh had still entered a relationship with them, exactly as Hosea did with the unfaithful Gomer. Hosea's relationship with her reflected that of God with an Israel who likewise were "treacherous" to Him (Hos. 5:7; 6:7 s.w.). His foreknowledge of their sins was thereby an even greater display of His passionate love, hope and grace toward His people.
Alternatively we could see "the womb" as Egypt, from whose waters, of the Red Sea, the nation was born. Ez. 20:5 is relevant: "And I made Myself known in the land of Egypt (cp. :7) and I said to them, Cast away each man the abominations of his eyes, and do not contaminate yourselves with the idols [of Egypt]". They took the idols of Egypt with them; and they were doing the same in Babylon.
Isaiah 48:9 For My name’s sake will I defer My anger, and for the sake of
My praise will I refrain for you, that I not cut you off- "Cut off"
is the word used of how the Assyrians had threatened to cut down the cedars of the temple (Is.
37:24; 2:13; 10:34). And the Babylonians actually did this (Is. 14:8). But the Jews
then cut down cedars and made idols from them (Is. 44:14 s.w.),
acting like the Babylonians, and ignoring the great grace shown in
Yahweh's averting or deferring the threatened Assyrian destruction of the temple by
cutting down its cedars. See on Is. 48:9. But by not immediately judging
His people for their unfaithfulness to Him (see on :8), God's grace as it
were earns yet more praise for Him; from us, the spiritually discerning.
Even though so classically undeserving, Israel were saved "for His Name's
sake" (Ps. 106:8; Ez. 20:9; 36:22 etc.)- and the same applies to the New
Israel, baptized into the same saving Name of grace. They were not
punished according to their sins for the Name's sake which they carried,
and so will it be with us (Is. 48:9)- but we have to treat others baptized
into the same covering Name in this same way as we are treated!
Isaiah 48:10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen
you in the furnace of affliction- LXX "Behold, I have sold
thee, but not for silver", similar to the idea of Is. 50:1 and Is. 52:3:
"Which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your
iniquities were you sold... You were sold for nothing".
Or "But not as silver" might mean that He would not destroy them
in the fire of condemnation, but rather would use the fire of affliction
to refine them. Or that despite the refining process in exile, no silver
had emerged. LXX "I have rescued thee from the
furnace of affliction", just as Daniel's friends had been. They were
representative of all the exiles. But despite that 'rescue', they refused
to leave Persia. Nor would they perceive their prosperity in Babylon /
Persia as in fact a furnace, a living out of condemnation. They chose for
the most part to remain in it. The idea may be that
despite the refining
fire of the affliction of exile, they had still not become as silver; the
dross was not removed. This is the tragedy of Israel's long history; so
much fire, but the dross still held on to, and not removed. And it is so
in the lives of so many associated with the new Israel.
Isaiah 48:11 For My own sake, for My own sake, will I do it; for how
should My name be profaned? I will not give My glory to another- We
sense here the struggle within God, which we see too throughout Hosea,
especially in Hos. 11:8. They had been unfaithful and treacherous to Him,
and His anger was kindled (:8,9); they needed to be judged. But He had
refrained the expression of that anger (:9). On one hand, He cannot let
His Name be profaned; but on the other, He will not give His glory to
another. This conflict is at the very heart of His being, for His "own
sake". The fact the pole of His grace and mercy emerges stronger than the
pole of His anger and judgment is not to say that He is simply soft
hearted. That triumph of mercy over judgment is the result of real
conflict and tension within the heart of God Himself, at the very core of
His character.
God will not let His Name be polluted by His people (Is. 48:11; Ez. 20:9).
Isaiah 48:12 Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel My called: I am He; I am
the first, I also am the last-
The Hebrew could imply "O Jacob whom I
called Israel" (see on :1), again referring to the Divine hope that Jacob
would change to Israel. The same God who calls His people has also called
the heavens and earth into existence (:13 "Mine hand
also" AV).
He who was the first is also the
last. He will be with us to the end, to the future, which for Him is
infinite, ["the last" is s.w. "the uttermost"]. The
calling and usage of pagan Cyrus (:15) was a worked example to the Jews of
how God could have used every one of them.
Isaiah 48:13 Yes, My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My
right hand has spread out the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up
together-
The idea of calling things which don’t exist into existence (Rom. 4:17)
has suggestions of creation (Is. 41:4; 48:13). The new, spiritual creation
is indeed a creation ex nihilo,
an act of grace. Incomprehensible to the modern mind, the natural creation
involved the creation of matter from out of God, and not out of any
visible, concrete matter which already existed. The physical creation
therefore looked forward to the grace of the new creation- creating people
spiritually out of nothing, counting righteousness to them which they
didn’t have, treating them as persons whom they were not.
Isaiah 48:14 Assemble yourselves all of you, and hear; who among them has
declared these things? He whom Yahweh loves shall perform His will on
Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans-
It is hard to understand Yahweh's "love" for Cyrus. We can detect an open attitude to who this servant is- whoever is the beloved of Yahweh will do His will on Babylon. And the prophecies of Revelation interpret that servant as the Lord Jesus. Or perhaps the idea is that if God so loved Cyrus just as a man may love his hammer or tool in his hand, how much more does He love His servant Israel. LXX offers "out of love to thee I have fulfilled thy desire on Babylon, to abolish the seed of the Chaldeans".
Babylon fell so that Persia would take over the administration of the 127 provinces where the Jews were scattered, and would allow them to return to Judah. The cup of judgment which Judah drunk for 70 years was passed to Babylon (Is. 51:22). This accounts for Isaiah’s repeated and detailed emphasis on the coming fall of Babylon for Judah / Israel’s sake (e.g. Is. 47). Although they had sinned, Yahweh showed His gracious love for His people by bringing down Babylon. “For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called you [Cyrus] by name: I have surnamed you, though you have not known Me " (Is. 45:4). World geopolitics are manipulated for the sake of God's people. And yet we can refuse to participate in the program, as the exiles did. Likewise the iron curtain was removed from the USSR to allow preachers of God’s Truth to take it to those once in darkness. And English has become the lingua-franca of the world, enabling Christian preaching to now penetrate societies literally world-wide. See on Ezra 2:1. But "Israel would not". I explained on Is. 46:1 and Is. 47:11 that Cyrus did not particularly destroy "the Chaldeans" as envisaged in these prophecies. He did not respond to Yahweh's love and refused to "know Him". And so these things are more fully to be realized in the fall of latter day Babylon at the hand of the Son of God's love, the Lord Jesus.
Isaiah 48:15 I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him; I have
brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous- The Jews of Isaiah’s day would have had big problems with the idea of a
pagan king like Cyrus becoming the King of Israel and being Yahweh’s
special “servant” and even Messiah; see on Is. 45:1. Folk have the same
problem and resistance to the idea today. But passages like Is. 45:9-13,
Is. 48:14-16 and much of the material that follows the servant songs, are
in fact seeking to answer objections to this- e.g. by saying that God is
the potter and men are mere clay, and He will raise up precisely whom
He wishes- even pagan Cyrus- to be His man, the arm of His salvation,
at least potentially.
Isaiah 48:16 Come near to Me and hear this: ‘From the beginning I have not
spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I’. Now the Lord
Yahweh has sent me, with His Spirit- As often in Isaiah, we
have a case here of a 'voice' suddenly speaking, an interjection which can
appear unexpected because it is so sudden. Is. 40:6-8 is the clearest
example but we have noted these voices / interjections several times in
Isaiah. I suggest that this is another example: "Now the Lord Yahweh has
sent me, with His Spirit". This could be Isaiah speaking, or it could be
the voice of the "servant" figure, just as we suddenly have in Is. 61:1:
"The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to
preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken
hearted".
The sending forth of Isaiah was the sending forth of God's word to His
people (s.w. Is. 6:8; 9:8). Isaiah like the Lord Jesus and like us, was
the word made flesh; his prophetic word about Cyrus and the restoration
was published and not spoken in secret, and he was sent in the power of
the Spirit to authenticate his message. And in Isaiah, the man became his message; there was a congruence
between him personally and the word preached. In the immediate context,
Isaiah himself was the servant messenger sent forth (s.w. Is. 42:19;
48:16; 61:1); hence GNB "Now the Sovereign LORD has given me his power and
sent me". But he was largely rejected, and Jewish tradition has it
that Isaiah was sawn in two by Hezekiah's son Manasseh (Heb. 11:37). And
so the messenger came to fulfilment in the Lord Jesus.
Isaiah 48:17 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel-
As
Hosea ‘redeemed’ Gomer in His attempt to force through His fantasy for her
(Hos. 3:1), so Yahweh is repeatedly described in Isaiah as Israel’s
go’el , redeemer (Is. 41:14; Is. 43:14; Is. 44:6,24; Is. 47:4; Is.
48:17; Is. 49:7,26; Is. 54:5,8). The redeemer could redeem a close
relative from slavery or repurchase property lost during hard times (Lev.
25:25,26, 47-55; Ruth 2:20; Ruth 3:9,12). The redeemer was also the
avenger of blood (Num. 35:9-28; Josh. 20:3,9). All these ideas were
relevant to Yahweh’s relationship to Judah in captivity. But the promised
freedom didn’t come- even under Nehemiah, Judah was still a province
within the Persian empire. And those who returned complained: “We are
slaves this day in the land you gave…” (Neh. 9:36). The wonderful
prophecies of freedom and redemption from slavery weren’t realized in
practice, because of the selfishness of the more wealthy Jews. And how
often is it that the freedom potentially enabled for those redeemed in
Christ is in practice denied them by their autocratic and abusive brethren.
I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the
way that you should go- LXX "I have shewn thee how thou shouldest
find the way wherein thou shouldest walk". The
way to Zion had been prepared (see on Is. 40), but they had to walk in it.
They were being led in that way, potentially, just as many are today- but
they refused to walk in it. The idols and the Gentile nations amongst whom
they lived would not "profit" them (s.w. Is. 30:5,6; 44:9,10; 47:12); but
as the book of Esther makes clear, they were profiting well, apparently,
from remaining amongst them. But the only real "profit" would be if they
quit all that and returned to Zion. But they saw no "profit" in being
forgiven and restored as God's people (s.w. Job 35:3).
Isaiah 48:18 Oh that you had listened to My commandments! then your peace
would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the
sea- This was the potential possible if they had repented and
returned to Judah. The promises to Abraham
(:19) and the coming of the Messianic seed of Abraham could have been fulfilled;
but because Israel chose to be wicked, there was no such peace: “There is
no peace… unto the wicked” (:22).
Because of His capacity to imagine, to see possible
futures, God feels rejected both by His children and by His wife at the
same time. Hence the poignancy behind His words of regret here, seeing
what could have been. Likewise "Oh that they would have a
mind such as this always" (Dt. 5:29), "O Israel, if you would but listen
to Me" (Ps. 81:8,13). It's as if He could see the potentially happy future
which they could've had stretching out before Him.
Isaiah 48:19 your seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of
your body like its grains: his name would not be cut off nor destroyed
from before Me- The new covenant
offered to the exiles at this time by Jeremiah and Ezekiel was based on
the Abrahamic promises. The promises to Abraham
and the coming of the Messianic seed of Abraham could have been fulfilled
then, had they repented (:18).
The offspring of
their
body could have been as sand grains; they really could have personally
been as Abraham. Likewise for us, the receipt of the promises to Abraham
means that we stand absolutely with him (Gal. 3:27-29). But the LXX reads
as if despite their refusal of these things, all the same God would not
totally reject them: "Neither now shalt thou by any means be utterly
destroyed, neither shall thy name perish before me". And yet the
plain sense of the context is surely that God would cut off the name of
His people (Rom. 11:20). Later Isaiah speaks of this and describes a new
version of "Israel" who would inherit the restored Kingdom. But they had
not yet been cut off- hence the intensity of the appeal in :20 to leave
Babylon quickly. Before Yahweh cut their name off.
Isaiah 48:20 Go forth from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans; with a voice
of singing declare, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth: say,
‘Yahweh has redeemed His servant Jacob’-
Perhaps at this point Babylon had already fallen and Cyrus was urging the Jews to return to Zion. The redemption of Jacob referred to the consistent Isaianic image of God paying to redeem His people from debt slavery in Babylon. Hence the idea of redemption is connected to Jacob [the exiles] being a "servant" or slave. The nuance here is that by buying them out of slavery in Babylon, Yahweh had purchased them as His own servant or slave. They were returning to the home family, that of Yahweh in Zion, but with joy at becoming His slave within the family. It was to be a change of masters, just as baptism is presented in Rom. 6. For the new Israel, the redemption or ransom is in the Lord's blood, which He says He gave "as a ransom for many". Yahweh would pay them for their service: "I, Yahweh, love justice; I hate robbery with injustice. I will pay their wages faithfully" (Is. 61:8). We have here the exact picture of the prodigal son, who wished to return to the paternal family as a paid labourer.
Leaving Babylon with a voice of singing / joy is in view in Is. 55:12: "For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace". But this was a commandment in Is. 48:20, which the exiles generally disobeyed. They returned hardly with joy, but with nervousness and expectation only that there might be some material benefit for themselves. Yet Jer. 31:8,9 predict this return as being with tears, along with comfort from Yahweh. In Is. 48:20, the return would be with joy. Such a mixture of emotions is reflected in the Songs of Degrees. And it is about the only realistic, imaginable word picture of entry into salvation: "With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will carry them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water... I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and gather them... a great company, they shall return here" (Jer. 31:8,9). The redeemed exiles were to "declare" the great salvation they had experienced, just as we are to declare it to the world. But "declare" is a common idea in second Isaiah; Yahweh repeatedly claims to have "declared" the future, the salvation of His people. This salvation was "the end" which He declared from the beginning (Is. 46:10; 42:9; 44:7; 43:12 "I have declared and I have saved"); and in this chapter (Is. 48) Yahweh uses the word of His declaration of Israel's future salvation (Is. 48:5). Those who have been saved will join Yahweh in declaring this great salvation as their experience. This is the basis of our witness- not information about the Bible, not theory nor theology, but our personal experience of the Gospel of salvation and redemption.
Consider all the calls to leave Babylon:
"Go forth from Babylon, flee" (Is. 48:20)
"Depart [s.w. eschew, withdraw from, desist from], go out from there... go out of the midst of her" (Is. 52:11)
"Flee out of the midst of Babylon, go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans... Be the first to leave!" (Jer. 50:8)
"Flee out of the midst of Babylon and save every man his life... go away from the midst of her" (Jer. 51:6,45)
"Come! Flee from the land of the north... Come, Zion, Escape [slip away] you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon" (Zech. 2:6,7)
"Come out of her My people" (Rev. 18:4; 2 Cor. 6:17).
There is a repeated sense of urgency, after the pattern of the call of Lot to leave Sodom (Gen. 19:17 "flee for your life"). But like Lot, the exiles didn't want to leave and many didn't. The fact Babylon wasn't destroyed as planned was because God so loved His people who had wrongly chosen to remain there. "I will bring them from the north country" (Jer. 31:8)- but they had to make the decision to leave. Whether slipping away or boldly upping and going... God will take anyone on the journey- if they want to make it. He will not drag people against their will. But His enthusiasm is great.
“Come out from among them and be separate” (2 Cor. 6:17) is picking up the language of Is. 48:20; 52:11; Jer. 50:8; Zech. 2:7 concerning the return of the exiles from Babylon. The edict of Cyrus for the Jews to return to the land was reapplied to God’s command to us to leave the spirit of Babylon, the Gentile world, and go up to do His work. The returned exiles are us. God told His people to flee from Babylon, to come out of her and return to His land and Kingdom (Is. 48:20; 52:7; Jer. 50:8; Zech. 2:7). Babylon offered them a secure life, wealth, a society which accepted them (Esther 8:17; 10:3), houses which they had built for themselves (Jer. 29:5). And they were asked to leave all this, and travel the uncertain wilderness road to the ruins of Israel. They are cited in the NT as types of us in our exit from this world (2 Cor. 6:17; Rev. 18:4). Those who decided to obey God’s command and leave Babylon were confirmed in this by God: He raised up their spirit to want to return and re-build Jerusalem, and He touched the heart of Cyrus to make decrees which greatly helped them to do this (Ezra 1:2-5). And so the same Lord God of Israel is waiting to confirm us in our every act of separation from the kingdoms of this world, great or small; and He waits not only to receive us, but to be a Father unto us, and to make us His sons and daughters (2 Cor. 6:18).
The command to flee Babylon must be compared with Is. 52:12: "For you shall not go out in haste, neither shall you go by flight: for Yahweh will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your vanguard". Although the exodus from Egypt was in many ways a pattern for the exiles to leave Babylon, in distinction from then, they would not "go out in haste" (s.w. Dt. 16:3). They would not be persecuted in Babylon, leading them to flee. Rather they were to "flee" from Babylon spiritually (Is. 48:20) of their own volition and desire.
Isaiah 48:21 They didn’t thirst when He led them through the deserts; He
caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; He split the rock
also, and the waters gushed out- Just as everything had been provided
for them when they left Egypt, so they need not worry about the logistics
of returning to Judah. The practical issues which loom in the minds of
those confronted with the Gospel of the Kingdom will all likewise be dealt
with by the God who desperately wants us to say "yes". But the exiles generally said "no", and so these
things are reapplied and reinterpreted to new Israel who say "Yes"
to the invitation to participate in the restored Kingdom of God in Judah. The Lord Jesus spoke of how out of Him would come
"living water", not still well water, but bubbling water fresh from a
fountain (Jn. 4:11; 7:38). And He invites His people to drink of it. It
was this kind of water that bubbled out of the smitten rock. Ps.
78:15,16,20; 105:41; Is. 48:21 describe it with a variety of words:
gushing, bursting, water running down like a high mountain stream, "flowed
abundantly"... as if the fountains of deep hidden water had burst to the
surface ("as out of the great depths", Ps. 78:15). So the Lord was saying
that He was like the rock, and we like Israel drinking of what came out of
Him.
We note here that the rock gave water throughout the wilderness journey (Is. 48:21). This would surely necessitate that the giving of water at Horeb was not a one-off solution to a crisis. There is a word play in the Hebrew text of Is. 48:21: "He led them through the Horebs [AV 'desert places']" by making water flow from the rock. The Horeb experience was repeated for 40 years; as if the rock went on being smitten. Somehow the water from that smitten rock went with them, fresh and bubbling as it was the first moment the rock was smitten, right through the wilderness. It was living, spring water- not lying around in puddles. Isaiah and other scripture uses the quenching of thirst as a figure for salvation (Is. 41:17; 48:21; 49:10). Whoever has a thirst for salvation will get it- the key thing is that we thirst after righteousness, as the Lord taught in the Beatitudes.
Isaiah 48:22 There is no peace, says Yahweh, for the wicked- "The
wicked" are the Jewish exiles of :18 who refused the potential peace with
God which was offered if they repented and returned to Judah to
reestablish His Kingdom of peace.
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