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Author: Eduardo Freire Canosa
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1 "Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and invoke the God of Israel—but not in truth or righteousness—
2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel—the Lord Almighty is his name:
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.
4 For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze.
5 Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, 'My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.'
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.
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.'
8 You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ear has not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth.
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 cut you off.
10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
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.
12 "Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last.
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.
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.
15 I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I will bring him, and he will succeed in his mission.
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, with his Spirit.
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.
18 If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be cut off nor destroyed from before me."
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."
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.
22 "There is no peace," says the Lord, "for the wicked."
This canonical chapter is a hodgepodge of seven scripts. The longest script, ten and a half verses long, cements a solid foundation for the revised chapter.
Revised Chapter 48 enrols those ten and a half verses, imports nine more from seven chapters and assumes the title, "Leave Babylon, Flee From The Babylonians!"
8-9. You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ear has not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth. 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 cut you off.
Explanation: The Lord is conversing with the unfaithful house of Jacob.
Destination: Verses 8-9 integrate well in Revised Chapter 58, "Come Now, Let Us Reason Together, Says The Lord,"
43:26 Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state the case for your innocence. 43:27 Your first father sinned; your spokesmen rebelled against me. 8 You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ear has not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth. 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 cut you off.
10. See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
Analysis: The return from the Babylonian captivity, a furnace of affliction, did not really refine the people; in fact many did not know the Law of Moses (Nehemiah chapter 8). When will the affliction and testing of the house of Jacob end forever? At the end of the age. Verse 10 then evokes the last days.
Destination: Revised Chapter 60, "The City of The Lord, Zion of The Holy One of Israel,"
27:7 Has the Lord struck her as he struck down those who struck her? Has she been killed as those were killed who killed her?Second Half of 60:10 "Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion. 10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."
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.
Analysis: The clause, "For my own sake I do this," begs the question, "What does the Lord do that yields him glory?" Is it refining the house of Jacob? (v 10) is it delaying his wrath for the sake of his praise? (v 9). More likely it is redeeming the house of Jacob (Isaiah 43:14-15, 44:24-28, Jeremiah 50:33-34) which entails first forgiving its sins.
Destination: Revised Chapter 58, "Come Now, Let Us Reason Together, Says The Lord,"
1:18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. 43:25 I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. 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."
14-15. 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. 15 I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I will bring him, and he will succeed in his mission.
Destination: Obviously Revised Chapter 41, "The Lord Versus The Idols."
17-19. 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. 18 If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea. 19 Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be cut off nor destroyed from before me."
Analysis: Verse 18 conveys the Lord's regret that the house of Jacob has not paid attention to his commands. Verse 19 sets forth the consequence of disobedience: the name of the children was cut off from before him. This "house of Jacob" is either the northern kingdom eradicated by Shalmaneser king of Assyria or the kingdom of Judah eradicated by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The appellative, "your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel" (v 17) tabs the Babylonian Isaiah as the writer of these three verses.
Destination: Revised Chapter 63, "Now Our Enemies Have Trampled Down Your Sanctuary."
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.
Explanation: This verse alludes to the miracle reported in Numbers 20:1-13.
Destination: This verse integrates well in Revised Chapter 26, "The Lord Is The Rock Eternal,"
40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. Second Half of verse 49:9 They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill. 49:10 They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. 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.
22. "There is no peace," says the Lord, "for the wicked."
Analysis: The wicked see their children established around them, their homes are safe and free from fear, they spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace (Job 21:1-15). The evil man is spared from the day of calamity, no one denounces his conduct to his face or repays him for what he has done, he is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb (Job 21:30-32). Does Job contradict the Lord? No, he doesn't, because what the Lord affirms with this verse is that there is no peace for the wicked after they die.
Destination: Revised Chapter 30, "The Oracle About King Ahaz,"
22 "There is no peace," says the Lord, "for the wicked. 50:10 Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. 50:11 But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment."
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, with his Spirit.
Reason: The first half of the verse, "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," carries on from verses 1-7 and is a rhetorical build-up to the new proclamation to leave Babylon (v 6). The "first announcement" foretold the advent of a man from the east who would fulfill the Lord's purpose (Isaiah 46:11).
Destination of the first half: Here.
The second half of the verse, "And now the Sovereign Lord has sent me, with his Spirit," is spoken by the first Isaiah whom the Lord sent twice to King Ahaz. These words were Isaiah's grounds for a second audience with the monarch.
Destination of the second half: Revised Chapter 7, "The Lord's Testing of King Ahaz,"
Corrected 7:10 Again Isaiah spoke to Ahaz, 8:18 "Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion. Second Half of 16 And now the Sovereign Lord has sent me, with his Spirit."
44:23. Sing for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.
45:14. This is what the Lord says: "The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and those tall Sabeans—they will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying, 'Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god.'"
52:9. Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
52:11-12. Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the Lord. 12 But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
55:12. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
57:14. And it will be said: "Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people."
61:6. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.
62:10. Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations.
1 Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and invoke the God of Israel—but not in truth or righteousness— 2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel—the Lord Almighty is his name: 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. 4 For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze. 5 Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, "My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them." 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. 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."
12 Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last. 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.
First Half of 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: 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."
52:11 Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the Lord. 61:6 And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. 52:12 But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard. 55:12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 57:14 And it will be said: "Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people. 62:10 Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations."
45:14 This is what the Lord says: "The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and those tall Sabeans—they will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying, 'Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god.'"
44:23 Sing for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel. 52:9 Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
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