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Isaiah 48

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Israel's Stubbornness and Hypocrisy 1–8

1
Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of Jehovah, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness ​
2
(for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; Jehovah of hosts is his name): ​
3
I have declared the former things from of old; yea, they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them: suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. ​
4
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; ​
5
therefore I have declared it to thee from of old; before it came to pass I showed it thee; lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. ​
6
Thou hast heard it; behold all this; and ye, will ye not declare it? I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, which thou hast not known. ​
7
They are created now, and not from of old; and before this day thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.
8
Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from of old thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou didst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb. ​

God Refines Israel for His Name's Sake 9–11

9
For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. ​
10
Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. ​
11
For mine own sake, for mine own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be profaned? and my glory will I not give to another. ​

The Lord, Creator and Deliverer 12–15

12
Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. ​
13
Yea, my hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spread out the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. ​
14
Assemble yourselves, all ye, and hear; who among them hath declared these things? He whom Jehovah loveth shall perform his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. ​
15
I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him; I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

The Call to Obedience and Peace 16–19

16
Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; from the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and his Spirit. ​
17
Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Jehovah thy God, who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. ​
18
Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: ​
19
thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the grains thereof: his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me. ​

Command to Depart from Babylon 20–22

20
Go ye forth from 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, Jehovah hath redeemed his servant Jacob. ​
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. ​
22
There is no peace, saith Jehovah, to the wicked. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Isaiah 48

Verse 1

not in truth, nor in righteousness — Swearing by the LORD's name was commanded (Deut 6:13), and the oath was to be taken 'in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness' (Jer 4:2). The house of Jacob, 'called by the name of Israel' (the name given in Gen 32:28), keeps the form of the oath and the name, but the truth and righteousness behind them are missing.

Verse 2

stay themselves upon the God of Israel — Samak, to prop or lean on, the verb of 26:3, 'Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.' Here the leaning is by name only: 'they call themselves of the holy city'. Paul describes the same posture: 'thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law' (Rom 2:17).

Verse 3

the former things — Rishonot, what was declared first and has since come to pass, and this is the proof the LORD sets against idols, 'let them shew the former things' (41:22). The pair of 'former things' and 'new things' is also in 42:9. 'I did them suddenly, and they came to pass' is the pattern of Josh 21:45, 'all came to pass'.

Verse 4

thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass — 'Obstinate' is qasheh, hard. The neck that will not bend is the 'stiffnecked people' of Ex 32:9, of whom Stephen says 'ye do always resist the Holy Ghost' (Acts 7:51). Ezekiel is given a face and a forehead of equal hardness to meet 'a rebellious house' (Ezek 3:8–9).

Verse 5

Mine idol hath done them — The prophecy comes beforehand so that the event cannot be credited to 'my graven image, and my molten image'. The danger was real: Jews in Egypt later said that since they left off burning incense to the queen of heaven, 'we have wanted all things' (Jer 44:18). The LORD says elsewhere, 'my glory will I not give to another' (42:8).

Verse 6

new things… hidden things — 'Hidden' is natsar, guarded or kept. The 'new things' are set against the former things of v.3, as in 42:9, 'new things do I declare'. Paul speaks of the gospel in like terms: 'the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began', which 'now is made manifest' (Rom 16:25–26).

Verse 8

thine ear was not opened — Hearing is given by the LORD: of the Servant, 'The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear' (50:5). Here the ear 'was not opened', and the LORD, who 'knew', names the charge: that they would 'deal very treacherously' (bagad, the word of Hos 5:7, 'they have dealt treacherously against the LORD') and be 'called a transgressor from the womb'.

Verse 9

will I defer mine anger — Arak, to lengthen, the verb of 'lengthen thy cords' (54:2): the anger is drawn out and held back. The ground is the LORD's own name, 'for my name's sake', as in Ps 106:8, 'he saved them for his name's sake'. What is spared is the people: 'that I cut thee not off', answered by 'his name should not have been cut off' in v.19.

Verse 10

the furnace of affliction — Kur, a smelting furnace, the word for Egypt, 'the iron furnace' (Deut 4:20; 1 Kings 8:51), from which Israel was brought out to be 'a people of inheritance'. 'Refined' is tsaraph, the silversmith's verb (Zech 13:9, 'refine them as silver is refined'). The choosing, bachar, is said to take place in the furnace.

Verse 11

how should my name be polluted? — Chalal, to profane, the word of Ezek 20:9, 'I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen'. Ezekiel gives the same ground for the restoring: 'I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake' (Ezek 36:22). 'My glory will I not give to another' is also 42:8.

Verse 12

I am the first, I also am the last — This is the claim made in 44:6, 'I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God'. Christ takes the words in Rev 1:17, 'I am the first and the last', and in Rev 22:13. 'I am he' is the LORD's self-declaration also in 41:4, and 'my called' recalls 'I have called thee by thy name' in 43:1.

Verse 13

hath spanned the heavens — Tapach, to spread out; 'laid the foundation' is yasad, the verb of Ps 102:25, 'Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth', which Heb 1:10 applies to the Son. The heavens that 'stand up together' at his call are those he 'calleth… all by names' in 40:26.

Verse 14

The LORD hath loved him — The one loved is left unnamed here and named earlier: 'He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure' (44:28), 'his anointed, to Cyrus' (45:1). The verse is put as the challenge of 43:9, 'which among them hath declared these things?' Jeremiah 50 describes the same fall of Babylon and the Chaldeans.

Verse 16

the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me — The speaker who says 'I have not spoken in secret' (the LORD's words also in 45:19, and Christ's in John 18:20) is now one who is 'sent'. The same two names open 61:1, 'The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me', which Christ read in Nazareth: 'This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears' (Luke 4:18–21).

Verse 17

thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel — Go'el, the kinsman who buys back (Lev 25:25), joined to Isaiah's title 'the Holy One of Israel' (1:4; 41:14). 'Teacheth thee to profit' uses yaal, the verb said of idols that cannot: 'a graven image that is profitable for nothing' (44:10). The LORD alone teaches and leads in 'the way that thou shouldest go'.

Verse 18

O that thou hadst hearkened — The same wish is voiced in Ps 81:13, 'Oh that my people had hearkened unto me', and in Deut 5:29, 'O that there were such an heart in them'. Peace (shalom) 'as a river' is promised to Jerusalem in 66:12. Christ weeps over the city with a like word: 'If thou hadst known… the things which belong unto thy peace!' (Luke 19:41–42).

Verse 19

as the sand — This is the figure of the promise to Abraham: 'I will multiply thy seed… as the sand which is upon the sea shore' (Gen 22:17). 'The offspring of thy bowels' echoes the promise to Abraham, 'out of thine own bowels' (Gen 15:4). The promise outlasts the loss: Hos 1:10 repeats it, and Paul cites 'the sand of the sea' for the remnant (Rom 9:27).

Verse 20

The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob — Ga'al, the verb behind 'thy Redeemer' in v.17. The summons to leave is repeated in 'Flee out of the midst of Babylon' (Jer 51:6), and of the later Babylon, 'Come out of her, my people' (Rev 18:4). The news goes 'with a voice of singing', as in 52:9, 'he hath redeemed Jerusalem'.

Verse 21

he caused the waters to flow out of the rock — The event of Ex 17:6, 'thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it', is the pattern, and the LORD promises the same for the return: 'rivers in the desert' (43:19). Ps 78:15 remembers it, 'He clave the rocks in the wilderness', and Paul writes that 'that Rock was Christ' (1 Cor 10:4).

Verse 22

There is no peace… unto the wicked — The line closes ch.48 and, with 'saith my God', ch.57 (57:21), and these are its only two occurrences in Isaiah. It answers v.18: the peace that would have been 'as a river' is for those who hearken. Paul cites Isaiah's 'The way of peace they know not' (Isa 59:8) in Rom 3:17.