Isaiah 48:7

They 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. THEY ARE CREATED NOW, AND NOT FROM THE BEGINNING - literally, not from that time-not from of old (Hebrew, mee'aaz (H227)). Not like natural results from existing causes; the events when they take place are like acts of creative power, such as have never before been "from the beginning." EVEN BEFORE THE DAY WHEN THOU HEARDEST THEM NOT - Hebrew, 'even before the day (of their fulfillment) and (when), thou hast not heard them.' Maurer translates, 'before the day (of their occurrence) thou hast not heard of them' - i:e., by any human acuteness; they are only heard of by the present inspired announcement. But the English version is more literal, and gives good sense, if for "when" we transl...

7._Now for the first time have they been created. _The Prophet shews that he is not reasoning about things that are known, or that have been learned by actual experience; and his object is, not merely to correct that haughtiness which is natural to all men, (for they claim for themselves what belongeth to God alone,) but likewise that no part of this event may be ascribed to fortune or to any other cause. In various ways do men rob God of the glory that is due to him, and direct all their faculties towards distributing among the creatures that which belongs to Him alone, so as to leave Him nothing but a bare and empty name. That the people might not think that they had been vanquished by the power of the Babylonians, or that it was by human strength or by chance that they were afterwards restored to liberty, on this account he so frequently repeats and reiterates, that this is the work o...

1-8 The Jews valued themselves on descent from Jacob, and used the name of Jehovah as their God. They prided themselves respecting Jerusalem and the temple, yet there was no holiness in their lives. If we are not sincere in religion, we do but take the name of the Lord in vain. By prophecy they were shown how God would deal with them, long before it came to pass. God has said and done enough to prevent men's boasting of themselves, which makes the sin and ruin of the proud worse; sooner or later every mouth shall be stopped, and all become silent before Him. We are all born children of disobedience. Where original sin is, actual sin will follow. Does not the conscience of every man witness to the truth of Scripture? May the Lord prove us, and render us doers of the word....

THEY ARE CREATED NOW - The Septuagint renders this, Νῦν γίνεται _nun_ _ginetai_ - ‘Done now;’ and many expositors interpret it in the sense that they are now brought into light, as if they were created. Aben Ezra renders it, ‘They are decreed and determined by me.’ Rosenmuller supposes that it refers to the revelation, or making known those things. Lowth renders it, ‘They are produced now, and not of old.’ Noyes, ‘It is revealed now, and not long ago.’ But the sense is probably this: God is saying that they did not foresee them, nor were they able to conjecture them by the contemplation of any natural causes. There were no natural causes in operation at the time the predictions were made, respecting the destruction of Babylon, by which it could be conjectured that that event would take place; and when the event occurred, it was as if it had been created anew. It was the result of

EXPOSITION The present chapter, which terminates the second section of Isaiah's later prophecies, consists of a long address by God to his people, partly in the way of complaint, partly of combined premise and exhortation. The address is divided into three portions, each commencing with a call on Israel to pay attention: ISAIAH 48:1, "Hear ye this," etc.; Isaiah 48:12, "Hearken unto me," etc.; Isaiah 48:16, "Come_ _ye near unto me, hear ye this," etc. ISAIAH 48:1 THE FIRST ADDR

THEY ARE CREATED NOW, AND NOT FROM THE BEGINNING,.... Not that they were now done or brought into being, for as yet Cyrus was not born; though the raising of him up, and holding his right hand, and his executing the counsel of God, are spoken of as if they were already done, because of the certainty of them, Isaiah 45:1. Aben Ezra interprets "created" by "decreed"; though these were not now decreed by God; for no new decrees are made by him; but those which were made by him of old were now revealed and made manifest by prophecy, which is the sense of the phrase; so Kimchi observes, "the time when they went out of the mouth of God is the time of their creation.'' Thus in like manner the incarnation of Christ, his sufferings and death, and salvation by him, things decreed from eternity, are spoken of in this prophecy as if actually done, because of the clear manifestatio

Isaiah 48:1. _Hear 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._ There always were false professors, and I suppose there always will be till Christ comes. A Judas was among the twelve apostles, and we cannot wonder that we find such in every church, but what a dreadful thing it is to wear the name of God, and yet not really to serve him, to be called Christians, and yet not to be like Christ! It must be a very God-provoking thing to be called by his name, and then insult it by not being true to it. Isaiah 48:2. For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD

CHAPTER 48 The Divine Restatement Concerning His People, Their Condition and Future 1. _Their condition and Jehovah's predictions (Isaiah 48:1)_ 2. _Jehovah acts for His Name's sake (Isaiah 48:9)_ 3. _I am He” (Isaiah 48:12)_ 4. _Israel's future blessing (Isaiah 48:17)_ 5. _No peace for the wicked (Isaiah 48:22) _ This chapter touches once more upon the different phases of Jehovah's messages from Chapter s 40-47. Israel's apostate condition, Jehovah's sovereign grace and mercy towards them, Cyrus ...

A RECAPITULATION OF THE ARGUMENT FROM PROPHECY. To the original text a redactor has added a commentary (bracketed below) from a different standpoint. Whereas the prophet regarded Israel as having more than paid the penalty of her sins, the additions represent her as obstinately and inveterately sinful, and long addicted to the worship of images. Hearken, says Yahweh to His people [proud of their nationality and attached to His cultus]. Long ago I predicted what later I suddenly accomplished. [Knowing thine inveterate obstinacy, Isaiah 48:4] I announced beforehand my intentions [lest thou shouldst attribute the events to thine idols, Isaiah 48:5_ b_]. Thou hast heard. wilt thou not admit it? Now I announce things hitherto unrevealed [lest thou shouldst say, I knew them,...

I HAVE SHEWED THEE NEW THINGS— The _new things_ refer to the prophesies respecting the deliverance of the Jewish people by Cyrus, and the consequence of that deliverance. _They are created now,_ says the prophet, speaking of the first revelation of these things. The idea is elegant; for what is revealed exists by the word which proceeds from the mouth of God; which is the character of creation. The next words may be rendered, _And not from the beginning, nor before this day, hast thou heard them._ See commentary on Isaiah 48:3...