"Hear," "Listen," are the repeated imperatives (Isa 48:1,12,14,16) designed to lead deaf and blind Israel (Isa 48:6,8; 42:18-20; 51:1) to recognize their hypocrisy (Isa 48:1-5), and what God would do (Isa 48:6-8) for his own glory. God would defer his anger (Isa 48:9) not because they don't deserve his full wrath, but in order to display his own glory in his persistent compassion (Isa 48:9-11).
God Will Free His People from Babylon Through Cyrus (Isa 48:12-22)
God reaffirms his plan to use Cyrus for his own redemptive purpose (Isa 48:14,15). Christ, the servant of the Lord (Isa 42:1-13; 49:1-6), appears to be speaking in Isa 48:16b with a reference to the Trinity: "And now the Sovereign Lord (the Father) has sent me (the Son) endowed with his Spirit (the Holy Spirit)." When we resist God's word by not listening (Isa 48:17-19), idolatry prevails, which never profits (Isa 44:9). "Peace...like a river" is not seasonal but perpetual; it is not experienced by the wicked (Isa 48:22).
Practical Application: "If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea" (Isa 48:18)
Truism: There is a transient evanescent peace that comes from the world (John 14:27), but we have real peace when we have peace with God (Romans 5:1).
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