Major Prophets · Chapter 48 of 66

Isaiah 48

God addresses stubborn Israel in Babylon, insisting He foretold events beforehand so they could not credit their idols. He refines them in the furnace of affliction for His own name's sake, declares Himself the first and the last, and appoints a deliverer against Babylon. He grieves that disobedience forfeited peace like a river, then calls them to flee singing, redeemed, warning that the wicked have no peace.

What happens in Isaiah 48

The LORD summons the house of Jacob, people who swear by His name but not in truth. He reminds them He announced former things long ago and brought them suddenly to pass, so they could not attribute history to their carved images. Now He reveals new, hidden things they never knew. Because Israel is obstinate, with an iron sinew for a neck, God defers His anger for His own name's sake, refining them in the furnace of affliction rather than for silver.

He declares Himself the eternal One who founded earth and stretched the heavens, and names the deliverer He loves who will strike Babylon. As their Redeemer He teaches them to profit and laments that had they heeded His commandments, their peace would have flowed like a river. Finally He calls them to leave Babylon with singing, watered as in the wilderness, though the wicked have no peace.

Isaiah 48 in context

Isaiah 40 through 48 forms the Book of Comfort addressed to Judah anticipating Babylonian exile. Chapter 48 closes this first movement, concentrating its trial against the idols: the LORD alone predicts and then fulfills. Cyrus, the Persian named earlier, is the one God loves to overthrow Babylon around 539 BC.

The tone mixes tenderness and rebuke toward a covenant people who are unfaithful yet not abandoned, preparing for the Servant songs beginning in chapter 49.

Main themes of Isaiah 48

Isaiah 48 (KJV)

1Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. 2For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name. 3I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. 4Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; 5I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. 6Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. 7They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. 8Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb. 9For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. 10Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 11For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. 12Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. 13Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. 14All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. 15I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. 16Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me. 17Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. 18O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: 19Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me. 20Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob. 21And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. 22There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

Verses to carry from Isaiah 48

“Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.”Isaiah 48:12

“Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.”Isaiah 48:17

“O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:”Isaiah 48:18

Reflection

God grieves over peace that could have flowed like a river if only His people had listened. Consider where you have refused His clear word and settled for less than the peace He offered. His discipline is not rejection but refining, and even His rebuke carries the invitation to come out, be redeemed, and go forth singing.

A prayer from Isaiah 48