Here again is sounded a great summons from heaven to the people of God concerning their exodus from the captivity of Babylon. It was not the first time that God has said this to them, for the Lord has said exactly the same thing: “Go 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” (Isaiah 48:23). Here is the prophet anticipating a day when God is going to lead His people out from …
“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
There is something about the very tone and content that claims my immediate attention, for here is a lament from the heart of God. There is a suggestion here that things might not have been what they are, that they needn’t have been what they have been, if only I had hearkened unto His command. There is a suggestion too that this word is not spoken to us by some ruthless dictator seeking to …
