Commentary - Isaiah 48:12-16

Bird's-eye view

In this magnificent passage, God confronts His wavering people, Israel, who are languishing in Babylonian exile. He does this by reminding them of who He is in the most absolute terms. He is the eternal, self-existent Creator of all things, the sovereign Lord of history, and the one who speaks and it is done. The argument is a straightforward appeal to His resume. He grounds His promise to redeem them from Babylon in the unshakeable reality of His power over creation and His absolute control over the affairs of nations. He challenges the pathetic idols of Babylon to match His prophetic track record, knowing they cannot. The passage climaxes with God's announcement that He is raising up a deliverer, Cyrus, to accomplish His will. The final verse contains a stunning shift in speaker, where the Servant of Yahweh, the pre-incarnate Christ, declares that He has been sent by Lord Yahweh and His Spirit, giving us a profound glimpse of the Triune Godhead at work in the redemption of His people.

This is not a God who is trying to persuade His people by means of emotional appeal. This is the God of heaven and earth stating the facts of the case. He is God; there is no other. He made everything, He controls everything, and He has already declared what He is about to do. The only reasonable response is to listen, trust, and obey. The comfort He offers is not a soft pillow, but rather the granite certainty of His sovereign power and His covenant faithfulness.

Outline

Context In Isaiah

This passage sits in the second major section of Isaiah, often called the "Book of Consolation" (chapters 40-66). After thirty-nine chapters of judgment, the theme shifts dramatically to comfort and redemption. God is speaking to a people in exile, a people who might be tempted to think that the gods of Babylon are stronger than Yahweh. Throughout this section, Isaiah relentlessly contrasts the living God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, with the dead, man-made idols that have to be carried around in processions. Chapter 48 is a climax of this argument. God has been recounting His predictive prophecies to prove His unique deity. Here, He brings that argument to a sharp point, applying it to their immediate situation. He will raise up Cyrus to overthrow Babylon, and He is telling them this before it happens so that when it does, they will know beyond all doubt that He alone is God and that their salvation is His work alone.

Key Issues

The God Who Is, Was, and Will Be

The entire force of this passage rests on God's self-revelation. He does not begin with Israel's feelings or their predicament. He begins with Himself. "I am He." This is the bedrock of all reality. Before anything was, God is. He is the uncreated Creator, the uncaused cause. When He says He is the first and the last, He is claiming exclusive rights to the beginning and the end of all things. History is not a series of random events; it is a story that He is writing, and He has already written the final chapter. For a people in the midst of a messy and painful historical moment, this is the ultimate comfort. Their circumstances are not in charge. Their Babylonian captors are not in charge. The God who is the Alpha and the Omega is in charge, and He is speaking to them directly.

Verse by Verse Commentary

12 “Hear Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.

The summons is personal and covenantal. He addresses them as Jacob, reminding them of their conniving, heel-grabbing past, and as Israel, the name given after Jacob wrestled with God, reminding them of their identity as a people chosen and called by Him. Their identity is not rooted in their own performance but in His sovereign call. Then comes the foundation: "I am He." This is the declaration of pure being. He is the one absolute in a universe of contingent things. He is the first, before all things, and the last, after all things have run their course. This is a direct assault on the polytheism of Babylon. Their gods had origin stories; Yahweh has none. He simply is. And this eternal God is the one who has called them.

13 Also, My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together.

God's claim to be the eternal one is not an abstract philosophical point. It is backed up by the evidence of the cosmos. He points to the heavens and the earth as Exhibit A. His "hand" and "right hand" are anthropomorphic ways of speaking about His personal power and authority. He did not just wind up the universe like a clock; He founded the earth and spread out the heavens. The imagery is that of a master architect and builder. More than that, His creation is not a rebellious subject. It is an obedient army. When He calls to the stars and galaxies, they "stand together" at attention. The God who has this kind of effortless command over the entire universe can certainly handle the Babylonian empire. Our faith is too often small because our view of God the Creator is too small.

14 Assemble, all of you, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? Yahweh loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon, And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.

The call to "assemble" is a challenge. God is summoning everyone to the courtroom, including the false gods and their prophets. The question is rhetorical: "Who among them has declared these things?" Which idol predicted the rise of Cyrus and the fall of Babylon? The silence is deafening. Only the living God declares the end from the beginning. Then He makes the declaration. The "him" He refers to is Cyrus the Great, the Persian king. God's love for Cyrus is not a salvific love, but a sovereign, purposeful love. God chose this pagan king for a specific task: to carry out His "good pleasure" on Babylon. God's good pleasure here is judgment. Cyrus is the instrument, the unwitting servant, who will execute God's sentence against the Chaldeans. God's arm, His power in action, will be revealed through the armies of Persia.

15 I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him, I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.

God leaves no room for misunderstanding. The repetition, "I, even I," is for emphasis. There is no other agent involved. The rise of Cyrus is not a geopolitical accident. It is a direct result of God's Word. God spoke it. God called him. God brought him. And God will make his mission successful. This is the doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty over history, stated as plainly as possible. The most powerful rulers on earth are but pawns on His chessboard. Their successes are not their own; they are granted by the God who raises up kings and brings them down.

16 Draw near to Me, hear this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. So now Lord Yahweh has sent Me, and His Spirit.”

This verse is breathtaking. It begins with God reiterating the clarity and public nature of His revelation. Unlike pagan oracles who mutter in secret, God has spoken openly from the beginning. He has been present and active in all the events of history; "from the time it took place, I was there." But then, the speaker shifts. A new person begins to speak, one who still says "I was there," but who then says, "So now Lord Yahweh has sent Me, and His Spirit." Who is this? This is the Servant of the Lord, the pre-incarnate Word, the Son of God. He claims to have been there from the beginning, a claim of deity, yet He speaks of being sent by "Lord Yahweh" (the Father) and being accompanied by "His Spirit." Here, in the heart of the Old Testament, the curtain is pulled back for a moment, and we see the glorious mystery of the Trinity. The one God who is the first and the last is also a fellowship of persons: the Sender, the Sent One, and the Spirit. The redemption from Babylon, and the ultimate redemption from sin, is a Trinitarian project.

Application

The message of this passage is a direct antidote to the fear, anxiety, and faithlessness that so easily beset the people of God. We, like the exiles in Babylon, are often tempted to look at the overwhelming power of the world system and conclude that God is absent or impotent. This passage commands us to lift our eyes.

First, we must ground our faith in the character of God as Creator. The God who spun the galaxies into existence with a word is not struggling to manage the affairs of your life or the chaos of our modern world. His power is not a matter of speculation; it is on display every time you look at the night sky. Second, we must trust His sovereign control over history. Political leaders, cultural movements, and economic forces are not in charge. God is. He raises up and puts down rulers to accomplish His good pleasure. Our task is not to despair over the headlines but to trust the One who writes the story. Third, we must rest in the clarity of His Word. God has not spoken in secret. He has given us everything we need for life and godliness in the Scriptures. We have no need to seek out secret knowledge or hidden messages. Finally, our salvation and our hope are secured by the work of the Triune God. The Father planned our redemption, the Son accomplished it by being sent, and the Spirit applies it to our hearts. The entire Godhead is for us. Therefore, we can and must hear Him, draw near to Him, and trust Him completely.