Isaiah 48

Isaiah 48:1

9. Comfort from Israel’s Return after Chastening (Chap. 48)48:1, 2 God here addresses the captives of Judah in Babylon. Most of them are probably apostate; only a few are faithful to Jehovah. He complains that they call themselves by the name of Israel (prince of God) but they are not princes. They are descended from Judah (praise) but they do not praise Him. They confess the God of Israel but they do not confess their sins. They call themselves after the holy city but they are not holy. They lean on the God of Israel but they are not godly. 48:3-5 Jehovah had predicted their history well in advance, and it came to pass as foretold. Knowing their stubbornness and hardness, God proclaimed what He would do so they wouldn’t credit it to their idols when it happened. 48:6-8 Now He is going to predict something newthe restoration from captivity under Cyrus. He is doing this so that they will not be able to say, “Of course I knew it all along.” 48:9-11 He will end the exile for Judah, not because of their merit, but for His own sake. He has refined them, not like silver in literal fire, but in the furnace of affliction (the Babylonian captivity). Now He will restore them for His own name’s sakea name that has been profaned by them. He will not share the credit for this restoration with their idols. 48:12-16 Presenting Himself as the eternal, absolute God (the First and the Last), the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the Arranger of history, the God of prophecy, He announces that He will raise up one whom He loves (Cyrus) to defeat the Babylonians and to deliver the people of Israel. Notice all three Persons of the Trinity in verse 16the Lord GOD and His Spirit, and Me (i.e., Christ). Here the subject turns almost imperceptibly from Cyrus to his Antitype, the Lord Jesus, who will deliver the nation from their worldwide dispersion at His Second Advent. 48:17-19 Again the LORD appeals to the people of Israel as their Redeemer, their God, their Teacher, and Guide. If they had obeyed Him, they would have enjoyed peace, righteousness, fertility, and uninterrupted fellowship with Him. 48:20-22 He calls on the godly remnant to go forth from Babylon and joyfully proclaim the Lord as their Redeemer (see Rev_18:4). Verse 21 was fulfilled in the exodus from Egypt. If Jehovah did it once, He can do it again. The wicked Israelites who refuse to obey the Lord by separating themselves from Babylon and all it stands for can never know peace.