48:1–2  Hear this, O house of Jacob, you who are named Israel—though you stem from the lineage of Judah—who take oaths in the name of the Lord and invoke the God of Israel, though not in truth or in righteousness, who call yourselves of the holy city, upheld by the God of Israel, whose name is the Lord of Hosts:

That’s a really interesting introduction. They’re on the Jacob/Israel level. They’re even named Israel, even though they are Judah. That’s kind of an anomaly, because Judah was, anciently, a tribe of Judah, or the kingdom of Judah, in contrast with the kingdom of Israel, the Ten Tribe kingdom in the north. They were called the houses of Israel and Judah. Israel, in the north was taken captive by the Assyrians, and Judah in the south was taken captive by the Babylonians. Today, we have a situation in Palestine where the Jews have come back, or some Jews have come back from captivity and are occupying the land of their inheritance. However, they’re occupying more than just the area of Judah, in the south. They’re occupying the north, also, which was previously occupied by the Ten Tribes of Israel. And, the Jews are calling themselves Israel, which they never were called before. Yes, they are of Israel, because they were one of the Twelve Tribes, or maybe more than one. The kingdom of Judah, anciently was composed of the tribes of Benjamin, Judah, and part of Levi. And the tribes in the north also had some Levites among them. And so, we have this situation existing in the world, today. In fact, there are those of Judah who call themselves Israel, which is kind of an unnatural thing, “who take oaths in the name of the Lord, and invoke the God of Israel, though not in truth or in righteousness, who call yourselves of the holy city, upheld by the God of Israel, whose name is the Lord of Host!.”(verse 2) That’s also what we have today; they claim that Jerusalem is their capitol. Whereas, anciently, the city of Jerusalem was in the tribe of Benjamin, in the area of the land of Benjamin. They say that they have rights there, inherent rights to re-occupy the land, to take it from the Arabs, because of their former covenants.

Under what conditions, however, did Israel, anciently, inherit the Promised land? It was under conditions of faithfulness to the covenant. Keeping all the laws of the covenant. And Moses did not bring the Israelites, could not bring them into the Promised land until they did keep all the law of the covenant. So long as they were still into idolatry he could not bring them; that’s why they wandered for forty years in the wilderness. That’s why that whole generation that came out of Egypt died, except for Caleb and Joshua. And so, under those conditions, they could inherit the Promised land and have claim upon the land of their fathers, yes. Without those conditions, without keeping the law of the covenant, do they have claim upon it? Not really; they’d be just like any other nation going in and taking possession of it. They did get a mandate from the British, and certainly, that was the hand of God working in history to bring about the return of the Jews. But they don’t have a right to the land unless they keep the law of the covenant. And maybe that’s why it says here, “they take oaths to the name of the Lord God of Israel,” which they do. They’re there praying at the wailing wall, but not in truth or in righteousness. Why? Because it’s not in accordance with the law of God, the pure law of God . They have a set of rules and regulations and ordinances that are man-made, today, for the most part, and so you can see why this would apply. Their righteousness is self righteousness. It’s not God’s righteousness. And God’s righteousness will not be established among them until the Servant comes and teaches them that. The Servant personifies righteousness.

Is the whole thing, then, a sham? No. It’s a preparatory stage. If you wonder why they have no peace over there, this is it. The Rabbis we review it and say, “It’s all non religious people, and they’re 95 percent of the population. And they’re living all these immoral lives and they would just live the Sabbath day and keep it holy and put on their phylacteries and all that, we’d be okay.” That’s how they would look at it. Always so convenient!

48:3  The prophecies of the events of the past I made known long beforehand; no sooner did they issue from my mouth, than I caused them to be announced. Then, suddenly, I acted and they came about.

There’s that word, suddenly, again. The mouth is a metaphor for the Lord’s servant in the book of Isaiah. So is tongue and lips. And in Isaiah there are two mouths, and so on, because the King of Assyria is also one. He’s the opposite number; he’s the alternative voice. Voice is another one. And we saw, already, that the Lord’s Servant is a true prophet.
And when he prophesies it comes about exactly as he predicts. And that is a proof of his legitimacy. The Jews have these prophecies, both the ones of the past and the ones through the living prophet, as proof of the existence of God, or who represents him. And, not just the Jews, only, but all of the Lord’s people, because he is addressing the House of Jacob, but those who were named Israel in the beginning, too.

48:4  For I knew how stubborn you were—your neck was an iron sinew, your brow brazen—

The brazen brow is usually associated with a harlot, in the Old Testament: “brazen hussy!” You’ve heard that. “And your neck was an iron sinew. “ That, of course, is not a very feminine thing. That’s more like the men. They have stiff necks, prideful and hard-hearted.

48:5  therefore I told you them beforehand; I announced them to you before they transpired, lest you should say, My idols did it; my graven and wrought images caused it!

Here, again, we see that the Lord’s people are into idolatry, and are willing to ascribe to their idols, through the works of men’s hands, through the science and technology of the day–all of their accomplishments. In fact, when I lived over in Israel the typical reaction of the people to the Jews coming back to the promised land was, “We did this. We did this by the strength of our arm.” They left God totally out of it. In most of the Kibbutz’s they would have that point of view, nearly all of them being non-religious. And the rabbis, even themselves, in the beginning, opposed the immigration to the Promised land, and said, “We’re forfeiting the mission of the Messiah, the Servant, by going back to the Promised land.” They actually opposed it, to begin with. But, when they saw the success of the Zionists, who were non-religious. But when they saw their success, they, themselves, joined the immigration. And now they’ve become quite a powerful force in Israel and are trying to influence many government decisions. They’re very much in the middle of government. But, the typical viewpoint, there, is that “God didn’t really do this. We did this.” But God has more in mind than just a Zionist return to Palestine and the setting up of a Babylonian economy there. That’s not the plan; that’s not the prophecy. Prophecies are more wonderful than that, and the Lord is working to bring those about. And he will bring them about at the advent of his servant. And, all those who are part of Babylon who don’t ascend to Zion, or Jerusalem, in that day, will be destroyed with Babylon when that whole economic structure collapses.

48:6  But you have heard the whole vision; how is it you do not proclaim it?

The whole vision, or the apocalyptic vision. Or, sometimes the king James version translates it, “the vision of all.” The vision of all things. The whole thing, the end from the beginning, the very cosmic vision of how it will be. Not just a little part of it. “ How is it you do not proclaim it?” Because that’s what you’re called to do. You’re the covenant people of God, and your job is to testify of those things–testify that God is true; that he’s real, that he’s the only God, that he predicts the future. You should be part of the plan, instead of getting involved with the economies that are going to be destroyed, and all of the politics associated with it. That’s not part of God’s plan, nor his vision, nor his prophesies.

48:6–7  Yet as of now, I announce to you new things, things withheld and unknown to you, things now coming into being, not hitherto, things you have not heard of before, lest you should say, Indeed I knew them!

Why? Because they’re the covenant people and they think they know it all. They think they know everything there is to know about the Old Testament, about God. They have scholars and they argue among themselves about little points of debate and they know it inside out. What else is there to know? They know the whole law.

Now, there’s something amiss about that. And, so what the Lord does is to kind of jar them to a sense of reality. He announces new things, predicts new things. How? Through the Servant. And those things are not totally new because the way that the Lord prophesies the future, or Isaiah does, is to predict new things patterned after old things. But what is new about them is that the new things are kind of composites of things of the past; they don’t repeat exactly what happened in the past. It’s not just a complete new version, not just a repeat of something that happened in the past, but a repeat of types of things that happened in the past, several events at the same time in conjunction with each other, something kind of unexpected that they haven’t heard of before. And when it comes to pass, then they know that here we have a prophet of God. That much they do know; they do know the law. In Deuteronomy, that Moses gave, where a prophet prophesies the truth, then he is of God. If he doesn’t, then he’s not. That would be something would cause them to take notice.

48:8  You have not heard them, nor have you known them; before this your ears have not been open to them. For I knew you would turn treacherous; you were called a transgressor from the womb.

–the new things that he’s going to say–” before this your ears have not been open to them.” And that’s why they haven’t heard them. Not just the ears of the Jews, perhaps, but all people who are of the covenant lineage who have not yet renewed the covenant with the Lord, on his terms. “For I knew you would turn treacherous; you were called a transgressor from the womb.” Now, we’re all in that case because we’re all tending to do evil. And if we’re not born into the true paradigm of righteousness and the fullness of truth, then we tend to be transgressors, all of us, from the womb. Some of us reach an awakening later on in life and turn to God and renew the covenant with him. But, a whole people born into an apostate situation would be described as transgressors from the womb.

48:9  For my own name’s sake I have bridled my wrath; on account of my renown I have shown restraint toward you by not entirely destroying you.

Now, we saw that in the second World war, with six-million Jews destroyed, killed. But the Jewish people were not entirely destroyed. And so again, in the end of days, God will bridle his wrath. “Wrath” being a personification of wrath in the king of Assyria who will try to destroy the Lord’s people again. That’s his whole quest, is to do away with the opposition. And the people of God are his main focus. And yet, the Lord is going to save his people out of that. When he says, “for my own name’s sake, on account of my own renown,” it means that he, himself, is their savior. People are saved, for his sake. Later on, we’ll see that people are saved for the Servant’s sake, also. There are many servants. They’re all saviors. And here, in this sense, he’s paying their price for them. All they have to do is turn toward him and they would be saved, be delivered.

48:10  See, I am refining you, though not as silver; I am testing you in the crucible of affliction.

These destructions that happen among them on account of their wickedness and idolatry, on account of their treachery, are meant to refine them and to purify them and bring them back to a remembrance of God. They’re also a test, as the test of Hezekiah’s people, a crucible of affliction. In a crucible precious metals are refined. And that’s the whole idea, is to bring a people up to a refined state. Precious metals, as I’ve mentioned, identify a celestial type category among the people of God–semi precious, the terrestrial category. The common metals and stones, in the prophets and in Isaiah, represent the lower category of people, those who pertain to the underworld. So, pain is a way that refining happens. It also brings about a birth, or rebirth, a renewal of the Lord’s people. As in chapter thirty eight of the book of Isaiah, where Hezekiah suffers grievously. And he’s renewed and reborn on a higher spiritual level.

48:11  For my own sake, on my own account, I do it, that my name be not dishonored, nor my glory, which I give to no other.

Because if they’re all wiped out what would that say about God, their God? That he didn’t save them either; he was just like the idol gods. That would be a disgrace. So, he intervenes on their behalf for his own sake; he bears their burdens. He pays their price, he suffers their afflictions, as we’ll see in chapter 53. “Nor my glory which I give to no other.”

He retains his own glory. But, in fact, we saw that he gives his glory to Israel, in chapter 46:13. Because all those who are of God in part of his scenario acquire glory, or he glorifies them, exalts them. But its his glory to give; it belongs to no other. It implies that there are those who are assuming glory to themselves, and honor that rightly pertains to God. Otherwise, he wouldn’t keep saying this kind of thing.

48:12  Hear me, O Jacob, and Israel, my elect: I am he who was at the first, and I am he who is at the last.

So, it’s not just confined to Judah, here. They stem from the lineage of Judah, but it’s addressing that whole category of the Jacob/Israel level. We also saw that idea in chapter 40, where Zion and Jerusalem were commissioned to Jacob and Israel, and they were to proclaim to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!” That’s the lesser level–it’s Judah and Jacob and Israel; any of those names of the tribes are the lesser level. Zion and Jerusalem is a whole new entity.

“Hear me, O Jacob, and Israel, my elect.” The ones who are called of God. The whole idea being that that calling and that election should be confirmed upon them after they pass the test of loyalty. Then they become Zion. “I am he who was at the first, and I am he who is at the last.” And that is a very comforting idea, because the God of Israel who started off this whole thing is also going to come and finish it. He’s not going to leave things undone. The same God who did these wonders, anciently, is going to come and do these wonders in the end of time. And he’s been there all along, of course, he’s not just “first and last” but he encompasses all. And the idea of the Alpha and Omega, in the Greek New Testament is the same thing. The Hebrew letter, aleph, is the first letter. And the last letter is tav. So, he’s also Aleph Tav. And, in fact, originally, the whole Hebrew alphabet was an outline of the plan of salvation. The aleph represented the beginning and so it went all the way through, explaining the whole plan of salvation and purpose of creation. That knowledge has been lost.

48:13  It was my hand that founded the earth, my right hand that stretched out the heavens; when I call them, they arise at once.

And we saw that in chapter forty, at the foundation of the earth. And here, the right hand, the hand of the Lord, had something to do with the creation, as well. We’ve already seen that before. God created the earth, but his right hand, in some premortal stage, or stage, participated in the creation: “My right hand has stretched out the heavens.” This is no ordinary individual that comes here to fulfill the purpose of God, in preparation for the Millennium, the coming of the Lord. This is an individual who has been around a long, long time. “When I call them, they arise at once.” That is, these stars of the heavens, very similar to chapter forty, where each one is given a name, and when he calls them they arise “The heavens”, meaning the stars of the heavens, who represent exalted beings. “Lift your eyes, heavenward, and see who formed these, he who brings forth their host by number, calling each one by name.” (Isaiah 40:26)
In Egyptian mythology stars represent exalted beings who were once mortal. Paul talks about that, also, in comparing different degrees of glory: one glory like that of the sun, one like that of the moon, and one like that of the stars. “When I call them they arise at once.” And so should you, is the idea, here. And that’s why they got there, that’s how they got exalted-- because they responded. They were obedient and kept the law and word of God. He calls them by their new name that they receive as they ascend to the next level.

48:14  All of you, assemble and hear: Who among you foretold these things? It is him the Lord loves, who shall perform his will in Babylon; his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.

48:15  I myself have spoken it, and also called him; I have brought him, and I will prosper his way.

So, again, we have the Creator God, the one who founded the earth; and this is the one who lends the Servant his authority. The Servant foretold these things. It is him the Lord loves. He’s called the Beloved of the Lord. And that is a type. John the Beloved is such and individual, a beloved disciple. Abraham is called a beloved, in the book of Isaiah. And those are types of this Servant. He’s also one whom the Lord loves, or who is beloved of the Lord .

And what is he going to do? He’s going to prophesy the future, and it will come to pass. He’s going to perform his will on Babylon . His arm will be against the Chaldeans. The arm being the arm of the Lord, the Lord’s servant. The Lord’s going to intervene in Babylon, through the agency of the Lord’s servant. Remember, he’s the bird of prey from the east, that comes against the idolaters, against the wicked. So it implies the end of the Babylonian empire, and the Lord is going to prosper his way. “I have brought him.” The end of chapter forty six says he’s brought righteousness from the east. “I’ve brought near my righteousness, it is not now far off.” This is him, the hand, the right hand, the arm, the bird of prey, righteousness–this is the person, it’s all one individual who has this great power, whom God endows with this great power. “I, myself, have spoken it,” he says. And you can’t turn away God’s word. He’s already said that. What he has spoken, he brings to pass. What he has planned, he does. (Isaiah 46:11) “I’ve also called him from the east, from afar, and I will prosper his way,” So, he can’t fail. Just like Moses could not fail.

48:16  Come near me and hear this: I have not made predictions in secret; at their coming to pass, I have been present. Now my Lord the Lord has sent me; his Spirit is in me.

Now, here we see a beautiful transition from the Lord speaking to the Servant speaking. And you get this, a lot, in Isaiah. You get this affinity and this merging of the Lord and his servant. The one and the other ; the one empowers the other. The one speaks in the name of the other. He uses the same kind of language that the Lord does. He speaks in the name of the Lord and says, “come near me and hear this. I’ve not made predictions in secret.”

So, one of the ways he proves his validity is that he predicts what is true, publicly. And the fact that he keeps harping on that idea means that there are many disbelievers out there. There are many people who don’t believe him, or who are skeptical about who this individual may be.
So, he keeps saying that he’s going to predict these things and they are going to come to pass just like he predicts them. And, presumably, he does that a number of times to show people that he really is of God. “ At their coming to pass I have been present.” So, he made the predictions and they came to pass. He was there. “Now my Lord Jehovah has sent me.” “Sending” is that mission of an apostle. Apostle means, “one who is sent,” shaliach, in Hebrew. That’s what it means–one who is sent in the name of the Lord. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.,” Isaiah says. “His spirit is in me.” The Lord has endowed him with his spirit, as we saw in chapter forty two. It just radiates from him and we can see that he’s from God; he’s a powerful person. Chapter 42:1 says: “My servant whom I sustain, my chosen one in whom I delight, him have I endowed with my spirit. He will dispense justice to the nations,” or to the Gentiles.

48:17  Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, your Redeemer: I the Lord your God instruct you to your good, guiding you in the way you should go.

48:18  Had you but obeyed my commandments, your peace would have been as a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea;

48:19  your offspring would have been as the sands in number, your descendants as many as their grains. Their names would not have been cut off  and obliterated from my presence.

So, basically, there are two ways the people can go. One is, to respond to the Lord who has sent his servants, or they have to respond to the servant; if they don’t respond to him, positively,–if they disbelieve him, if they revile him, if they mar him–as we see in chapter 52–then they will be destroyed. They’ll be cut off; their names will be obliterated, cut off from being the covenant people of God. They are actually part of that Babylon conglomerate that gets destroyed.

The Holy One of Israel, because that’s the title emphasizing his attribute of holiness that they should emulate. He’s their Redeemer. His intentions are totally good. They should not be alienated from him, because he wants to redeem them from their fallen state, the state that they’re in. But, perhaps they can’t imagine that there’s anything higher than what they’ve already got. “I, the Lord your God,” your covenant God, your God, “ instruct you to your good.” Good being a synonym of covenant keeping. He’s going to instruct them in covenant keeping. And, also, good implies covenant blessings. Covenant blessings, the Divine blessings that come with covenant keeping. He wants to lift them higher than they are now. “Guiding you in the way you should go.” The way you should go is not down, but up. It’s not crooked, but straight. And how does he guide them? Through his Servant. “Come near me and hear this. My Lord Jehovah has sent me; his spirit is in me.” It’s like Moses guided them in the wilderness, as he guided them on the exodus. That’s in chapter 63:11-14. They were guided by the shepherd, Moses, on the exodus.

“Had you but obeyed my commandments, which are the law of the covenant, your peace,” which is synonymous with salvation,” would have been as a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” Sea, and river, in Isaiah, though, are powers of chaos. The king of Assyria personifies sea and river. So why does he use that imagery? He uses this imagery because at that time that power of chaos will be subdued. It will no longer be the river and flood and sea in commotion. It will be a peaceful river and a peaceful sea. It will be like chapter 11:9, “And the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God as the oceans are overspread with waters.” These are peaceful waters; they’re subdued. They’re in harmony, now. “Your peace would have been as a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” Righteousness being a metaphor for the Lord’s servant , so, he having something to do with their instruction, their guidance, their keeping of the law of the covenant–as Moses was a mediator of that covenant to Israel in the Sinai wilderness –so they must claim their righteousness. They must claim him and what he represents. He represents the Lord . The Lord has sent him.

“Your offspring,” which is a covenant blessing, “would have been as the sands, in number. “ In other words, the blessing of Abraham, whose posterity would be as numerous as the sands of the seashore and as the stars of heaven, in multitude, signifying earthly and heavenly posterity. They’re promised the blessing of Abraham, here. “Your descendants as many as their grains. Their names would not have been cut off and obliterated from my presence,” which is the other alternative. “In the past, had they but obeyed my commandments, they would have been blessed. And they would not have been cut off.” Are you going to make the same mistake, now, when it’s offered to you–you’re off the blessing of Abraham, on the one hand, or being cut off from being the covenant people of God, on the other? We’re faced with the same situation as we were in the past. So, how are you going to respond? How are you going to respond to the Lord’s servant?

48:20  Go forth out of Babylon, flee from Chaldea! Make this announcement with resounding voice; broadcast it to the end of the earth. Say, The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.

Why? Because it’s going to be destroyed. Destruction is now imminent. The Servant is given power in Babylon to perform his will on Babylon, “his arm shall be against the Chaldeans,” verse 14. The Chaldeans are the Babylonians. It’s just a way of saying the inhabitants of Babylon. They must flee; they must get out of there. It’s like they would get out of Sodom and Gomorrah if it was being destroyed, like Lot did . In fact, in chapter thirteen Babylon is destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah were. So, wouldn’t you flee, if you knew it was going to be destroyed ? “Make this announcement with resounding voice; broadcast it to the end of the earth. Say, The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.” So, here again, we have the two-fold message. The destruction of Babylon. And if you want to be cut off and obliterated you stay there. Or, the redemption of Jacob, his servant, Jacob, the one who serves God. Not the Jacob that is saying he is of God, who calls himself Israel, but the one who actually serves him. And the announcement is worldwide, broadcasted to the ends of the earth: “Make this announcement with resounding voice.” And that’s the Servant’s mission. His mission is to all nations. It’s like that of Moses to Israel, in Egypt. Except in this case Israel is not just in Egypt, it’s all over the world, it’s dispersed, it’s in captivity, it’s scattered throughout all the nations of the world. So that’s why the Servant’s mission is to all the nations–to gather Israel out. Voice is a metaphor describing the Lord’s servant. He’s the voice of the Lord.

48:21  They thirsted not when he led them through arid places: he caused water to flow for them from the rock; he cleaved the rock and water gushed out.

A Wandering in the Wilderness. Just like Moses cleaved the rock and water gushed out. So, what does that tell you? That this exodus out of Babylon is like the ancient exodus out of Egypt, and the wandering in the wilderness that followed. Where does that wandering in the wilderness lead? The Promised land, of course, to inheritances of land that they receive in the Millennium, in the new paradise.

48:22  But there is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked.