In Isaiah, chapter forty-eight, verses one through twenty-two, this chapter reveals that Judah was a people who professed to follow God and call upon His name, but who had, in reality, broken covenant with Him, rejecting the truth of His Word and living unrighteously before Him. They had a form of religion, yet they denied God His rightful place in their lives. “I 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,” as in verse five, through the prophets, God foretold Israel’s captivity and release, proving that He is the one true God. No worshiper of idols and demons can accurately predict the future or foretell specific events as the God of Israel can. “Thou hast heard, see all this; and will ye declare it? I have shew thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them,” as in verse six, includes the coming Messiah, the new heavens, and the new earth.
“Hearken unto me, O Jacob,” as in verses twelve through fifteen, this prophecy again alludes to Cyrus as God’s chosen instrument to overthrow Babylon. “The Lord God, and His Spirit, hath sent me,” as in verse sixteen, refers to the coming Messiah, who is empowered by the Holy Spirit, as in chapter sixty-one, verse one. “Go ye forth of Babylon,” as in verse twenty, is a declaration that would take on great importance for the people of God toward the end of their seventy-year captivity in Babylon, as they prepared to leave that country and return to Judah according to Cyrus’s decree. They were to depart from Babylon with speed and joy as they left the land of their captivity behind.