Isaiah 48, Isaiah, Babylon, repentance.

 Isaiah 48, Isaiah, Babylon, repentance.

Imagine the people of the Lord in Babylon. They are always tempted to think that other gods are more powerful than the Lord. However this chapter explains why Judah is in Babylon. Although they claim to worship the Lord, it is not true:

1,2 “And now listen to this, family of Jacob,
    you who are called by the name Israel:
Who got you started in the loins of Judah,
    you who use God’s name to back up your promises
    and pray to the God of Israel?
But do you mean it?
    Do you live like it?
You claim to be citizens of the Holy City;
    you act as though you lean on the God of Israel,
    named God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

8  (...)
    I know that you’ve acted very treacherously
    and that you have been called a rebel since you were born.    

Although Judah worship the Lord, they also worship other gods; that is why the Lord reveal future things - Judah should have no execuse that the Lord spoke:

5
That is why I revealed to you what would happen long ago.
    I told you about them before they happened.
    I did this so you couldn’t say,
    “My gods have done these things.
    My carved idols and my metal idols
        have commanded them to happen.”

The Lord has shown many signs to Israel:

3
From the beginning I revealed to you what would happen.
    These words came out of my mouth,
        and I made them known.
    Suddenly, I acted, and they happened.

but Israel is stuborn:

4
I know that you are stubborn.
    Like iron, you are hardheaded.
    Like bronze, nothing gets through your thick skull.
5
That is why I revealed to you what would happen long ago.
    I told you about them before they happened.
    I did this so you couldn’t say,
    “My gods have done these things.
    My carved idols and my metal idols
        have commanded them to happen.”
6
You’ve heard these words.
    Now look at all this.
        Won’t you admit it?

The Lord still wants Judah, Israel by his side.

9
For my name’s sake I’ll be patient.
    For my glory’s sake I’ll hold my anger back from you,
    rather than destroy you.
10
I have refined you,
    but not like silver.
    I have tested you in the furnace of suffering.
11
I am doing this for myself, only for myself.
    Why should my name be dishonored?
    I will not give my glory to anyone else.
12
Listen to me, Jacob,
    Israel, whom I have called.
        I am the one.
            I am the first and the last.
13
My hand laid the foundation of the earth.
    My right hand stretched out the heavens.
    When I call for them, they both stand.

One more sign, a prophecy:

14
Gather together, all of you, and listen.
    What idol has revealed such things?
    Yahweh loves Cyrus.
    He will carry out Yahweh’s plan against Babylon.
    He will use his strength against the Babylonians.
15
I alone have spoken.
    I have called him.
        I will bring him here, and he will succeed.

The Lord calls his people to repent:

17 This is what Yahweh, your Go’el, Qedosh Yisrael, says:

I am Yahweh your Elohim.
    I teach you what is best for you.
    I lead you where you should go.
18
If only you had listened to my commands!
    Your peace would be like a river that never runs dry.
    Your righteousness would be like waves on the sea.
19
Your descendants would be like sand.
    Your children would be like its grains.
        Their names would not be cut off or wiped out in my presence.

The Lord ordains his people to leave Babylon:

20
Leave Babylon; flee from the Babylonians!
    Shout for joy as you tell it and announce it.
        Shout it out to the ends of the earth.
            Say that Yahweh has reclaimed his servant Jacob.
21
They weren’t thirsty when he led them through the deserts.
    He made water flow from a rock for them.
    He split a rock, and water gushed out.

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

It is difficult to think that this text was written by Isaiah because he lived before the Babylonian captivity; how woud he say:"Leave Babylon; flee from the Babylonians!"