Isaiah 48:16

48:16-22 The Holy Spirit qualifies for service; and those may speak boldly, whom God and his Spirit send. This is to be applied to Christ. He was sent, and he had the Spirit without measure. Whom God redeems, he teaches; he teaches to profit by affliction, and then makes them partakers of his holiness. Also, by his grace he leads them in the way of duty; and by his providence he leads in the way of deliverance. God did not afflict them willingly. If their sins had not turned them away, their peace should have been always flowing and abundant. Spiritual enjoyments are ever joined with holiness of life and regard to God's will. It will make the misery of the disobedient the more painful, to think how happy they might have been. And here is assurance given of salvation out of captivity. Those whom God designs to bring home to himself, he will take care of, that they want not for their journey. This is applicable to the grace laid up for us in Jesus Christ, from whom all good flows to us, as the water to Israel out of the rock, for that Rock was Christ. The spiritual blessings of redemption, and the rescue of the church from antichristian tyranny, are here pointed to. But whatever changes take place, the Lord warned impenitent sinners that no good would come to them; that inward anguish and outward trouble, which spring from guilt and from the Divine wrath, must be their portion for ever.

Isaiah 48:16 . Come ye near unto me, &c. — That you may the better hear me. Here, as in Isaiah 48:14 , Jacob and Israel are summoned to hearken to the prophet speaking in God’s name, and as a type of the great prophet, by whom God has in these last days spoken unto us. I have not spoken in secret — I have not suppressed, concealed, or kept back the counsel and word of God, or any part thereof, but have declared it openly and publicly. See note on Isaiah 45:19 , where these very words are spoken by God in his own name, as they are here by the prophet in God’s name. From the beginning — From the first time that I began to prophesy until now: or, if the prophet be considered as uttering God’s words, the meaning is, From the beginning of my taking you to be my people, and revealing my mind to you. From the time that it was, there am, or rather, was, I — These words also, as well as the former, are the words either, 1st, Of the prophet; and so the sense is, From the time that I was first called to be a prophet, I have been there, that is, I have diligently pursued my prophetical function; I have hearkened, from time to time, to hear what God would speak to me, that I might impart it to you: or, 2d, Of God; and then the sense may be this: From the time that I first foretold it, I was there to take care to effect what I predicted.

And now — This is opposed to the foregoing words, from the beginning; the Lord God and his Spirit — God, by his Spirit, or God, even the Spirit, namely, the Holy Ghost, to whom the sending and inspiring of God’s prophets is ascribed, 2 Peter 1:21 ; hath sent me — Namely, the prophet, who yet was a type of Christ, and so this may have a respect to him also.

Come ye near to me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the {s} beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath {t} sent me. (s) Since the time that I declared myself to your fathers. (t) Thus the Prophet speaks for himself, and to assure them of these things.

Come ye near unto me, that you may the better hear me, as it follows. A speech of God after the manner of men. I have not spoken in secret; I have not smothered the counsel and word of God, but have plainly and publicly declared it. unto you; or, I have openly revealed my mind to you. See Poole "Isaiah 45:19" , where these very words are spoken by God in his own name, as here by the prophet in God’s name; and so all comes to one. From the beginning; either, 1. From the first time that I began to prophesy until this time. Or, 2. From the beginning of my taking you to be my people, and of revealing my mind to you. See Poole "Isaiah 41:26" . From the time that it was these words also, as well as the former, are the words, either, 1. Of the prophet; and so the sense seems to be this, From the time that I was first called to be a prophet, I have been there, i.e. I have diligently pursued my prophetical function; I have hearkened from time to time, to hear what God would speak to me, that I might impart it to you. Or, 2. Of God; and then the sense may be this, From the time that I first spoke of it, or foretold it, I am or was there, to take care to effect what I had foretold; I minded it carefully from that time, as being then more especially obliged to do it, lest my truth or power should be questioned.

Or the words may be thus rendered and explained, from the time that this shall be , when the time appointed for the doing of this work shall come, there I will be, to encourage and assist Cyrus in the work. There am I : this is opposed to those foregoing words, from the beginning. God and his Spirit ; God by his Spirit; or, God, even the Spirit or the Holy Ghost, to whom the sending and inspiring of God’s prophets is ascribed, 2 Peter 1:21 . Hath sent me , to wit, the prophet Isaiah; who yet was a type of Christ, and so this may have a respect to him also.

16. not … in secret—(Isa 45:19). Jehovah foretold Cyrus' advent, not with the studied ambiguity of heathen oracles, but plainly. from the time, &c.—From the moment that the purpose began to be accomplished in the raising up of Cyrus I was present. sent me—The prophet here speaks, claiming attention to his announcement as to Cyrus, on the ground of his mission from God and His Spirit. But he speaks not in his own person so much as in that of Messiah, to whom alone in the fullest sense the words apply (Isa 61:1; Joh 10:36). Plainly, Isa 49:1, which is the continuation of the forty-eighth chapter, from Isa 48:16, where the change of speaker from God (Isa 48:1, 12-15) begins, is the language of Messiah. Lu 4:1, 14, 18, shows that the Spirit combined with the Father in sending the Son: therefore "His Spirit" is nominative to "sent," not accusative, following it.

16 . I have not spoken in secret ] Cf. ch. Isaiah 45:19 . from the beginning; from the time that it was ] The sense is somewhat obscure. The pronoun “it” cannot refer to the world or the creation, which would require to be expressed; the implied antecedent must be the subject of which the prophet is speaking, the purpose of Jehovah against Babylon. The “beginning” will therefore be either the origin of revelation in general, or of the series of prophecies now being fulfilled. The meaning may be paraphrased thus: Jehovah has never from the beginning spoken in dark and uncertain oracles, and He does not conceal Himself now when events are already moving towards the accomplishment of His words; He is there , interpreting as well as guiding the course of history. That Jehovah is the speaker thus far cannot be questioned, in spite of the last clause of the verse. For the phrase “ there am I ,” comp. Proverbs 8:27 (in the mouth of the personified Wisdom of God). and now the Lord God &c. ] Render: and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me and (i.e. with) His spirit ; “His spirit” being not a second subject along with Jehovah, but a second object. For the idea cf. ch. Isaiah 61:1 and Zechariah 7:12 . The Spirit is never spoken of in the O.T. as the sender of the prophets, or as an independent agent distinct from Jehovah. The isolation of this sentence from its context raises doubts as to its genuineness.

The sudden change of speaker disconnects it from what precedes, and it is equally unsuitable as an introduction to Isaiah 48:17-19 , where Jehovah Himself is again introduced by the ordinary prophetic formula. A prelude to ch. 49. (Delitzsch) it cannot possibly be; and it is utterly arbitrary and unnatural to suppose that the words are spoken by the “Servant of Jehovah.” If they are genuine they are undoubtedly words of the prophet, who here calls attention to himself and his mission, in a way which has no parallel in ch. 40–55. Duhm and Cheyne hold that the words are interpolated; the motive for their insertion being a misunderstanding of the first part of the verse. Taking “from the beginning” and “from the time that it was” to refer to the Creation, the editor supplied the contrast (“and now”), which he believed the author to have in his mind.

Verses 16-22. - THE THIRD ADDRESS. Israel is reminded of God's merciful teaching and leading in the past (vers. 16, 17); expostulated with on their disobedience (vers. 18, 19); exhorted to go forth boldly and joyfully from Babylon (vers. 20, 21); and finally warned that God's blessings - even such a blessing as deliverance - are no blessings to any but the righteous (ver. 22). Verse 16. - I have not spoken in secret from the beginning . God, "from the beginning," i.e. from his first dealings with Israel, had raised up a succession of prophets, who had declared his will, not "in secret," or ambiguously, but openly and plainly, so that all who heard might understand (comp. Isaiah 45:19 , and see the comment ad loc .). From the time that it was, there am I ; i.e. "from the time that the earth was, there (in the succession of my prophetic messengers) was I." It was I who spake by their mouth, and thus announced my will publicly. And now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me . Dr. Kay supposes that "one Divine Personage is here sent by another" - the Second Person of the Holy Trinity by the First and by the Third; but it is against the analogy of faith that the Third Person should send the Second. Probably Mr.

Cheyne is right in suggesting that "here a fresh speaker is introduced," and also right in his supposition that the fresh speaker is "the prophet himself," who tells us that he is now carrying on the goodly succession which has been "from the beginning," and is sent to deliver his message by God (the Father) and his (Holy) Spirit. On the tendency of Isaiah to "hypostatize" the Spirit of God, see the comment on Isaiah 40:13; and compare Mr. Cheyne's note on the same passage ('Prophecies of Isaiah,' vol. 1. p. 243). Isaiah 48:16

(16) Come ye near unto me. —Here the address would seem to be made to Israel. At first Jehovah appears as the speaker, and as using much the same language as before. At the close the prophet appears abruptly, as speaking in his own person. Perhaps, indeed, the prophet is the speaker throughout. A paraphrase will perhaps help to explain the sequence of thought. “I have not from the beginning of my prophetic work spoken in dark, ambiguous speeches like the oracles of the heathen. From the time that the great work began to unfold itself I was present, contemplating it. Now the time of revelation has come. The Lord God hath sent me (this is the Hebrew order); and His Spirit. This gives, it is believed, an adequate explanation. By some interpreters the closing words are referred to the mysterious “Servant of the Lord,” and by others the Spirit is made the object and not the subject of the word “sent.”