Commentary - Isaiah 48:20-22

Bird's-eye view

This brief section serves as the triumphant conclusion to a major movement in Isaiah's prophecy. After a searing indictment of Israel's idolatry and stubbornness, and a majestic declaration of Yahweh's absolute sovereignty over history, the prophet issues a gospel command. The command is to depart, to flee, to get out of Babylon. This is, in the first instance, a literal command for the Jewish exiles to leave their place of captivity once Cyrus gives the decree. But as with all such prophecies, the literal event is a picture, a type, of a much greater spiritual reality. Babylon is more than a Mesopotamian city; it is the archetypal city of man, the world system in rebellion against God. Therefore, this command echoes down through the ages, finding its ultimate fulfillment in the call for believers to come out of the world, to separate from corrupt religion, and to identify with the redeemed people of God. The passage is saturated with the language of a new Exodus, culminating in the stark declaration that defines the two cities, the two humanities: for the redeemed, there is miraculous provision and joy; for the wicked, there is no peace.

The structure is a crescendo. It begins with an urgent imperative ("Go forth! Flee!"), moves to the mandated proclamation of this good news ("Declare! Cause this to be heard!"), states the substance of that news ("Yahweh has redeemed His servant Jacob"), illustrates the result of that redemption with Exodus imagery (water from the rock), and concludes with a divine verdict that separates the redeemed from the unredeemed ("There is no peace for the wicked"). It is a complete gospel packet in three verses.

Outline

Context In Isaiah

Isaiah 40-48 forms a distinct unit. The section begins with the great announcement of comfort for God's people ("Comfort, comfort my people," Isa 40:1) and the promise of a new Exodus. Throughout these chapters, God, speaking through His prophet, has been systematically dismantling the claims of idols. He has challenged them to predict the future, to do anything at all, demonstrating their utter impotence. In contrast, Yahweh has declared Himself to be the sole Lord of history, the one who declares the end from the beginning, who calls Cyrus by name generations before he was born to accomplish His purpose of liberating Israel. Chapter 48 is the climax of this argument. God confronts Israel's hypocrisy and idolatrous history, reminding them that He is refining them in the furnace of affliction for His own name's sake. After this final rebuke and declaration of His own glory, the logical and gracious conclusion is the command to leave the idolatrous empire of Babylon. This command is therefore not just a political opportunity but a theological necessity. To remain in Babylon would be to identify with the idols that God has just spent nine chapters demolishing.

Key Issues

The Gospel According to Isaiah

We must never read the Old Testament prophets as though they were simply writing about ancient tribal disputes. They were preachers of the gospel, and Isaiah is preeminent among them. This passage is a beautiful example of the gospel logic that permeates all of Scripture. The indicative precedes the imperative. First, the statement of fact: "Yahweh has redeemed His servant Jacob." Then, the command based on that fact: "Go forth from Babylon!"

This is the same logic Paul uses in the New Testament. Because you have been crucified with Christ, therefore put to death what is earthly in you (Col 3:3-5). Because you are a new creation, therefore walk in newness of life (2 Cor 5:17). God does not say, "If you manage to escape from Babylon, I will consider redeeming you." He says, "I have redeemed you, now live like it. Get out of there." Redemption is the basis of our exodus, not the reward for it. This redemption was accomplished historically for Israel through the work of Cyrus, but it was accomplished ultimately and finally for all of God's people through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Cyrus, the one who breaks the gates of bronze and cuts the bars of iron in sunder, setting the true captives free.

Verse by Verse Commentary

20 Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, cause this to be heard, Bring it forth to the end of the earth; Say, “Yahweh has redeemed His servant Jacob.”

The command is sharp, urgent, and doubled for emphasis: Go forth... Flee. This is not a casual stroll. There is an urgency to it. Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, represents a place of spiritual danger, a corrupting influence. To linger there is to be compromised. This call is echoed in the New Testament's warnings to "come out from among them and be separate" (2 Cor 6:17) and the final call to flee the Babylon of Revelation, which is apostate Jerusalem, just before its destruction in A.D. 70: "Come out of her, my people" (Rev 18:4). The principle is timeless: God's redeemed people are not to be entangled with the world's corrupt systems, whether they be political, cultural, or religious. And this departure is not to be a somber, reluctant affair. It is to be accompanied by a sound of joyful shouting. Why? Because the departure is not an end in itself; it is the consequence of a glorious reality that must be proclaimed. The message is simple, profound, and world-altering: Yahweh has redeemed His servant Jacob. This is the gospel. It is a declaration of what God has done. He has bought His people back from slavery. This is not news to be whispered in a corner; it is to be shouted, broadcasted, brought forth to the very ends of the earth.

21 And they did not thirst when He led them through the waste places. He made the water flow out of the rock for them; He split the rock, and the water gushed forth.

Having declared the fact of redemption, the prophet now illustrates the consequences of it. The journey out of Babylon will be like the journey out of Egypt. It will lead through waste places, through deserts. But the redeemed will not be left to their own devices. Just as God provided for Israel in the wilderness, so He will provide for them again. The specific reference is to the miracle at Horeb (Exodus 17) and Kadesh (Numbers 20), where God provided water from a rock. This is a potent image of God's supernatural provision. He does not lead His people where His grace cannot sustain them. The apostle Paul tells us exactly what this rock signified. That rock, he says, was Christ (1 Cor 10:4). Jesus is the smitten rock from whom the living waters of the Spirit flow to all His people. So this is not just a promise of physical water for the returning exiles; it is a gospel promise of the life-giving Spirit for all who are redeemed by Christ and are making their pilgrimage through the wilderness of this world.

22 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says Yahweh.

This final verse is a thunderclap. It is a divine declaration, spoken by Yahweh Himself, that draws a sharp, unbridgeable line between two groups of people. For His redeemed servant Jacob, there is joyful shouting and miraculous provision. But for the wicked, there is no peace. The term "wicked" here refers to those who remain in Babylon, both literally and spiritually. It refers to the Chaldeans, yes, but also to the unrepentant Israelites who have grown comfortable in their idolatry and refuse the call to "flee." Peace, shalom, is not merely the absence of conflict. It is wholeness, well-being, flourishing, right-relatedness to God and man. The wicked, by their very nature, are at war with God. They have rejected His rule and His redemption. Therefore, they cannot know peace. They may experience temporary pleasure, or distraction, or a false sense of security, but true, settled peace is impossible for them. This is a judicial statement. It is not that the wicked unfortunately lack peace; it is that God declares they have no right to it. It is a condition that is inseparable from their rebellion. The only path to peace is the one outlined in verse 20: to hear the declaration of redemption and to flee from Babylon in faith.

Application

The application of this passage lands on us with the same force it landed on the exiles. We too live in Babylon. Our culture, with its proud towers, its rampant idolatries of self and sex and state, and its contempt for the law of God, is Babylon. And within the visible church, there are many Babylonian territories, places where the gospel has been compromised, where worldly wisdom is honored, and where the fear of God has been replaced by the fear of man. The command to us is the same: "Go forth! Flee!"

This means a decisive break with the world's way of thinking and living. It means refusing to blend in. It means cultivating a distinctively Christian life, which will inevitably look strange to our neighbors. But this is not a grim retreat into a holy huddle. It is a joyful exodus, fueled by the good news that Yahweh has redeemed us in Christ. Our lives should be a "joyful shout" that testifies to the reality of His grace. As we journey through the waste places of this life, we are not alone. Christ, our smitten Rock, goes with us, and from Him flows the living water of the Spirit to sustain us, refresh us, and empower us.

And finally, we must take the antithesis of verse 22 to heart. We live in a world that is desperately seeking peace through politics, through therapy, through wealth, through escapism. But God has spoken, and His word is final: "There is no peace for the wicked." We must not offer a false peace to anyone. The only peace available is peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1). Our task is to proclaim the redemption of Jacob, to call people out of Babylon, and to point them to the only source of living water and lasting peace, who is Christ the Lord.