isaiah 47 and 48

Read Isaiah 47 and 48 at Bible Gateway.

The Hebrew paragraph divisions:

Isa 47:1-3 {p} Babylon’s throne to be removed, her shame seen, for YHVH will take vengeance
Isa 47:4-7 {p} Babylon no longer the Lady of kingdoms, for she showed Israel no mercy
Isa 47:8-15 {p}Babylon’s sorceries + enchantments shall not save her when her trouble arises suddenly
Isa 48:1-2 {s} Hear this, O Jacob, who swear by the name of YHVH but not in truth or righteousness;
Isa 48:3-11 {p} YHVH has spoken, that Jacob might know He is God: He will defer His anger for the sake of His name
Isa 48:12-16 {p} YHVH is Creator: he whom YHVH loves shall perform His pleasure on Babylon
Isa 48:17-19 {s} I am YHVH your God who teaches you to profit: Oh that you had heeded My commandments!
Isa 48:20-22 {p} Flee from Babylon with singing! For YHVH has redeemed Jacob, He gave them water for their thirst

The strong themes:

Isa 46:3-47:3 {sx4+p} YHVH God will uphold +save +deliver Israel, not idola/ He will take vengeance on Babylon
Isa 47:4-7 {p} Babylon no longer the Lady of kingdoms, for she showed Israel no mercy
Isa 47:8-15 {p}Babylon’s sorceries + enchantments shall not save her when her trouble arises suddenly
Isa 48:1-11 {s+p} Hear O Jacob: YHVH has spoken, that you might know He is God: He will defer His anger
Isa 48:12-16 {p} YHVH is Creator: he whom YHVH loves shall perform His pleasure on Babylon
Isa 48:17-22 {s+p} You profit by heeding My commandments; now, flee Babylon, for I have redeemed you

The chiastic structure of Isa 46:8-48:16:

1a.1) Isa 46:8-10, Remember the former things of old, for I am God, who declare the end from the beginning;
1a.2) Isa 46:11 {s} I have called him – like a bird of prey – to execute My counsel from the east, from a far country;

1b) Isa 46:12-13 {s} Listen, you stubborn-hearted + far from righteousness: I bring My salvation in Zion;

1c) Isa 47:1-3 {p} The virgin daughter of Babylon shall sit in the dust, for I will take vengeance;

central axis) Isa 47:4, As for our Redeemer, YHVH of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel;

2c) Isa 47:5-15 {p+p} The daughter of the Chaldaeasn shall sit in silence, for your trouble shall fall upon you;

2b) Isa 48:1-6, Hear, who call themselves by My name, but not in righteousness: {s} I know your obstinancy;

2a.1) Isa 48:3-11 {p} I have declared the former things from the beginning, for I am God, and not your idols;
2a.2) Isa 48:12-16 {p} I have called He whom I love to perform My pleasure on Babylon: He shall prosper in His way.

And a second structure:

1a) Isa 48:17-18, I am YHVH: Oh that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would be great;

1b) Isa 48:19 {s} Your descendants would have been as the sand/ His name not cut off before Me;

central axis) Isa 48:20, Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With a voice of singing, declare, proclaim this, utter it to the end of the earth;

2b) Isa 48:20b-21, “YHVH has redeemed His servant Jacob!”/ He gave them water to drink from the rock;

2a) Isa 48:22 {p} There is no peace, says YHVH, for the wicked.

The sense that I get from the first structure, is that in the first half of the structure, the one who is called from the East like a bird of prey, was the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar. For Jacob had transgressed God’s commandments without repentance, and so they could not prosper. The LORD tested him in the furnace of affliction. But in the second half of the structure, the One who is called this time, is the One whom YHVH loves, who is executing the LORD’s purpose against Babylon. Cyrus, called “My anointed” in previous passages, took down the kingdom Nebuchadnezzar built, but Messiah Yeshua is fulfilling the greater prophecy for which Cyrus was a type: He, whom the LORD loves, will execute all the LORD’s pleasure upon Mystery Babylon the Great, so that her kingdom shall be no more.

Therefore the central axis of the second structure, is: Go forth from Babylon, and flee the Chaldaeans! Get out of that city, just as God called Lot to depart from Sodom …:

And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Rev 18:4-5