Isaiah 48:12-22

Isa 48:12

Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

Then God tells them to hearken unto him as he calls them by both their name, Jacob and Israel.  He refers to them as “my called.”  This calling carries two meanings.  One is that God called them out of Egypt as he stated previously otherwise known as the furnace of affliction and the second calling is of those who are the Elect of God within Israel, the true born again believer in Christ who are called out of the world.  Then God declares that he is the only true God and that just as he formed them in the beginning, he will deal with them in the end.  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:8)  God is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the ending which means he will never forsake his people even unto the end.  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:20)

Isa 48:13

Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

Then God brings in once again His creation of the world and universe.  He is trying to get this point through to the people that he is the one true God and that he is their Creator.  He created the earth and with his right hand spanned the heavens which means it only took one swipe of his hands to create the universe and all it contains.  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. (Genesis 1:16)  The earth and universe stand up together as evidence that God is the true Creator in contrast to the false idols which just sit on a shelf and remain totally dumb which means they could not create anything because the non-existent cannot create something existent unless they first exist with life and that does not describe the false gods.

Isa 48:14

All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared

these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.

Then the LORD speaks to the entire house of Judah and asks which among them which is the false gods that have declared such a thing which was to come to pass.  Which one of the false gods could actually predict such things and then bring it to pass?  This is the question they were to ponder.  Then the LORD states that he has loved Cyrus because he has endowed him with such tremendous abilities.  Cyrus and his army is going to bring down the empire of Babylon while the LORD is the one who is giving Cyrus the power and authority to being them down and conquer them.

Isa 48:15

I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

The LORD declares that he is the one who has spoken these things and that he is the one who called Cyrus and brought him from the east who will subdue the kingdom of Babylon.  The LORD will make sure his way is prosperous, that is, that all hindrances will be removed and his campaign will be totally successful against the Babylonians.

Isa 48:16

Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.

Now Isaiah confirms his commission from the LORD to the people of Israel.  He is asking them to hear what he has to say.  He spoke nothing in secret or couched them in mysterious words but he spoke plainly to them.  The he tells them from the time that his words began to flow, he was the one who prophesied in Judah but he did not prophesy things from his own mind but the LORD God had commissioned him to bring the message of warning and encouragement to the people of Israel.

Isa 48:17

Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

Then the LORD continues to address them as their redeemer who will redeem all the elect within Israel and in the political sense will redeem them from the hands of the Babylonians by Cyrus.  Then the LORD refers to himself as the Holy One of Israel which means he has the power and authority based upon his own holiness to redeem Israel both in the spiritual sense of the word and the political nation to free them from captivity.  The LORD teaches them to profit by their afflictions which should teach them tremendous lessons.  Then he also taught them to profit while they were in Babylon.  Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; (Jeremiah 29:5)  Instead of seething in anger, they were to be profitable in the lives they were to lead in Babylon for the next seventy years.  The LORD would lead them in the direction he would have them to go.  He would teach them to be obedient to his law and he would guide them and teach them while they were in Babylon provide they would learn and profit from their captivity.  Then the LORD would guide them out of their evil ways and back into his fold by their obedience so they know the right way they should go which is in the ways of the LORD.

Isa 48:18

O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:

Here was the desire that God had for them if they had remained obedient to him and not gone after the false gods and their idols.  Their peace would have been like that of a river always increasing and flowing and they would have remained secure in that peace if they stayed obedient.  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. (Isaiah 26:3)  Their righteousness would have been as the waves of the sea which kept on coming on the shore.  They would have righteousness upon righteousness if they would have kept obedience to God.  These would have advanced their spiritual prosperity as they would have kept growing in the LORD.

Isa 48:19

Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

Then instead of the LORD having to discipline them in the hands of the pagan countries who took liberties with them and caused many to die which meant every death was the end of a family line.  If they remained obedient their family lines would have grown to such number like the uncountable sand of the sea.  Then their offspring would have been like the gravel which means their children would have children and the family lines would have continued.  Once the man had died, his name would have been cut off from the generations to come and their disobedience caused their own destruction as they would have been destroyed because of their disobedience.

Isa 48:20

Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.

Then at the end of seventy years, they will be freed from Babylon by the decree of Cyrus and it will be a time of great joy as they are allowed to return to the land.  Then they will be able to tell all those nations and people that it was the LORD who redeemed them from the hand of oppressive Babylon.   Even though Cyrus was the earthly vessel the LORD used, it was he who orchestrated the entire campaign to defeat Babylon and to free the Jews and bring them back into the land.

Isa 48:21

And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

When Israel was going through the wilderness they had become thirsty because water was not readily available so they approached Moses with the mindset of almost stoning him, so Moses went to the Lord and told him everything and the Lord stood on the top of the rock and told Moses to smite the rock and water came out of the rock and the people were able to drink.  Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. (Exodus 17:6)  That episode with Moses was a picture when the Lord Jesus Christ would be smitten for the sins of his people and then out of him would flow rivers of living water which would be for the true believer to drink in their souls.  Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (John 4:10)  Zechariah had prophesied that when the Lord Jesus Christ would be smitten, then a fountain would be opened to the house of David and Jerusalem which is pointing to the indwelling Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.  In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. (Zechariah 13:1)

Isa 48:22

There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.