Isa 48:12-22 The Lord Has Loved Him...He Will do His Pleasure on Babylon...Tell This, Utter it Even to the End of the Earth - Discussion

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Isa 48-12-22- The Lord Has Loved Him… He Will Do His Pleasure on Babylon… Tell This, Utter It Even to The End of The Earth

Isa 48:12  Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
Isa 48:13  Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.
Isa 48:14  All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
Isa 48:15  I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
Isa 48:16  Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
Isa 48:17  Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
Isa 48:18  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:
Isa 48:19  Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
Isa 48:20  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.
Isa 48:21  And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
Isa 48:22  There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

Once in Colossians and twice in the book of Hebrews we are told that the things of the Old Testament are “shadows of things to come”:

Col 2:17  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Heb 8:5  Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

Heb 10:1  For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

Our verses for this study are a prophecy of the destruction of Babylon at the hands of Cyrus. However, the physical destruction of Babylon at the hands of Cyrus, according to Colossians 2:17 and Hebrews 8:5 and 10:1 is “a shadow of good things to come”, and this prophecy typifies the climactic anti-type of the destruction of all the false religions of this world, referred to as “Babylon the great the mother of harlots and of abominations of the world” in Revelation 17 and 18. The great harlot system must be destroyed first within us, and later, this prophecy here in Isaiah 48, is also a shadow of the climactic destruction of the religions of this world at the hands of Christ and His Christ. This “end of the age… last time” event is at this very moment taking place inwardly in all the Lord’s elect, symbolized in these verses by the work the Lord is prophesying 200 years in advance that He would do to Babylon through Cyrus

1Jn 2:18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

There will also eventually be an outward end of this dispensation and an end of this age with an outward destruction of spiritual Babylon which will, at the appointed time, be replaced by “the kingdom of God”, the Lord and His elect:

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

This seemingly impossible event is prophesied in greater detail a few chapters later:

Rev 15:5  And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
Rev 15:6  And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.

We will see in a few minutes that these “seven angels” are the anti-type of Cyrus, who literally destroys the physical city of Babylon. What the Lord did through Cyrus is a type and a shadow of what He is first doing within us in this age, and it is also a type and shadow of what He will use us to do to spiritual Babylon outwardly after the first resurrection:

Isa 45:1  Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
Isa 45:2  I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
Isa 45:3  And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

Here is the very same prophecy in the book of Revelation:

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Rev 11:19  And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

Let’s take note that it is the seven angels who are the Lord’s instrument of Babylon’s destruction, as well as being made the rulers of “the kingdoms of this world” (Rev 11:15):

Rev 16:17  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 
Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

It is to the “seven angels”, typified and foreshadowed by Cyrus, whom the Lord is using and whom He will use to destroy Babylon and rule the nations of this world to which the Lord addresses these words:

Isa 48:12  Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. 
Isa 48:13  Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. 
Isa 48:14  All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. 
Isa 48:15  I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

“Which among them hath declared these things” while referring to Cyrus in its literal typical sense, it is the Lord’s elect, His “seven angels”, who “ha[ve] declared these things”. It is the Lord Himself who “makes [the work of the seven angels] prosperous”. The work of the seven angels is really the work of Christ, first in our lives, and His work in our lives in no way depends upon us, though it seems otherwise to our flesh:

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The Lord knew Cyrus “by name” hundreds of years before he was born (Isa 44:28), and He wants us to know and acknowledge that everything He did through Cyrus was just as  much a work of His hands, as was the work He did to Pharaoh through His “two witnesses”, Moses and Aaron. He wants us to know that the work of the seven angels to destroy Babylon within us and after the first resurrection is also the work of His hands:

Isa 44:28  That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

The seventh angel pours out his vial into the air precipitating the greatest ‘earthquake’ in the history of the ‘earth’. This great earthquake causes the great city of Babylon to be divided into three parts, indicating the process of judgment which has come upon the anti-type of ‘Babylon’ within, which must also come upon outward ‘Babylon” soon after the “blessed and holy first resurrection” (Rev 20:4-6).

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

An integral part of this judgment is a plague of 70-pound hailstones  (”the weight of a talent”) which symbolically comes upon Babylon which brings men (us) to their wits’ end causing them (us) to “blaspheme God” instead of repenting of their (our) sins.

Rev 16:21  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

In the third verse of the first chapter of the book of Revelation we are clearly told that it is the reader who must “read, hear, and keep the things written in [this book]”:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

So, we the readers are given to see and hear the things of the spirit. We are the first to be judged by the fiery words of God and the first to “read… hear… and keep the words of this prophecy” (Rev 1:3):

Deu 33:2  And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Before the Lord’s words can be fire in our mouths, it must first do its fiery work within us, and we must first see ourselves as the unfaithful whore, Babylon the Great. After being judged we will then become the seven angels who, through death and resurrection from the dead (Rom 6:1-4), come out of the temple in heaven to judge and destroy Babylon.

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

This destruction of Babylon is also typified and foreshadowed as being accomplished through the hail which symbolizes the Truth of the Word of God which “shall sweep away the refuge of lies” which ‘lies’ are themselves symbolized by Babylon itself, “the great city… where also our Lord was crucified”:

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

In our last study the Lord was declaring that He is not shackled by the false, lying, Babylonian idols of our heart. There were false prophets in ancient Israel prophesying peace and prosperity for Israel, even as the nation continued its descent into the pagan worship of the nations around them. The ‘gods’ of that time were literal idols which were either carved of wood or cast of molten metal into the form of the supposed ‘gods’ of that time. The Philistine god, Dagon (1Sa 5:1-6), was supposedly half man and half fish. The “idols of [our] hearts” today are our false doctrines (Eze 14:1-9). But God is no more beholden to our false doctrines than He was to the inanimate idols of the ancient pagans.

2Pe 2:1  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

When the Lord speaks of the heavens and the earth, He is speaking of us, to our earth and to our heavens, which must be purified of all ‘the idols of [our] hearts’:

Isa 48:13  Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

The physical heavens and earth are but types and shadows of the “new heavens and new earth” to which we are being conformed, and the book of Hebrews makes clear to those with eyes that see the things of the spirit:

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves [that would be us] with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself [That is us, Joh14:18], now to appear in the presence of God for us:

Christ had earlier made it clear that He would enter into us:

Joh 14:18  I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to [“enter into”] you.

Notice how often the Old Testament refers to us as ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’:

Lev 26:19  And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:

Deu 4:26  I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

Deu 11:21  That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

Psa 113:6  Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!

Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 

Isa 37:16  O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.

Isa 40:10  Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
Isa 40:11  He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
Isa 40:12  Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

Isa 44:24  Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

Isa 66:1  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

All these statements are addressed to the Lord’s people, symbolized by the phrase, “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth”. Are ‘the Lord’s people’ only the righteous of this world? No “Hear heavens, and give ear O earth” is not addressed to us as the righteous of the world. It is more aptly addressed to us as “the chief of sinners":

Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isa 1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 
Isa 1:5  Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Isa 1:6  From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
Isa 1:7  Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

Mar 2:17  When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Being humbled and coming to see just how all flesh is wicked is essential to being prepared to be a priest of God who can “be touched with the feeling of our infirmities”, and we are as He is in the world (1Jo 4:17):

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Our Head was “made sin” (2Co 5:21), but was not given to commit a single trespass, but “His body” knows all about trespasses, and through ‘His body’ He is not only a sin offering, but through us Christ also fulfills the trespass offering as the scapegoat and the second bird of the offering for the incurable leper as given us in Lev 16 and 14 respectively. As such we are as much an offering for the sins of the world as is the Lord Himself because “as He is so are we, [and we must] fill up in [our] body that which is behind [lacking] of the afflictions of the Christ in [our] bodies for His body’s sake which is the church”:

Lev 16:7  And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Lev 16:8  And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
Lev 16:9  And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD'S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
Lev 16:10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:

Our sufferings are right here in Colossians 1:24 declared to be “for you… the church” just as much as were the sufferings of Christ Himself. “As He is so are we in this world”, and that being true we, too, are “a living sacrifice… for a scapegoat… filling up what is behind [lacking] of the afflictions of Christ in [our] flesh for His body’s sake which is the church… to make an atonement with Him (Lev 16:10)”.

It was Christ Himself who told us clearly:

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

As His Father sent Him, “even so” Christ is sending us. Which begs the question, “Exactly what did His Father send Him to accomplish?” That question is answered very clearly for us in this same gospel:

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

It is Christ Himself who considers us, “His body” to be Himself, as is repeated over and over in scripture:

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

It seems counter-intuitive that “the chief of sinners” can also be called the Lord’s people, whose lives will be offered as a living sacrifice with the Lord’s sacrifice, as the saviors of this world, but that is exactly what we are told must happen. The Lord’s people who love Him most are those who see themselves as those who have sinned most, as the Lord tells us when we are first a self-righteous Pharisee:

Luk 7:36  And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.
Luk 7:37  And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
Luk 7:38  And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
Luk 7:39  Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
Luk 7:40  And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
Luk 7:41  There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
Luk 7:42  And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
Luk 7:43  Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. 
Luk 7:44  And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
Luk 7:45  Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
Luk 7:46  My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
Luk 7:47  Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

Now we should begin to understand that every word about how evil and rebellious Israel was and how her sins exceeded the sins of the nations around her is addressed first to us as His bride in the New Testament, and what “Live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4) means.

We should also be able to see and understand that even these words are addressed to the Lord’s people who see themselves as “the chief of sinners”:

Isa 48:16  Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
Isa 48:17  Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. [“…but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”]
Isa 48:18  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:
Isa 48:19  Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
Isa 48:20  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. 
Isa 48:21  And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
Isa 48:22  There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

“Go forth of Babylon” is the inspiration for the same commandment give us in:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

It is the water flowing out of the Rock which sustains us even while we are wandering around in the wilderness and desert, which is Babylon. Where did that water originate? In the New Testament body of Christ, we are still drinking of that same “Rock”:

1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

The incredible stubbornness displayed by Israel in the wilderness and the death in the wilderness of all those over 20 years of age, are all types and shadows of our own carnal-minded, stubborn and rebellious old man who cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 15:50).

Let’s become familiar with who we first are as the Lord’s people. If we do not see ourselves as Cain who killed his own brother, as Pharaoh who oppressed the Lord’s people, and now as Babylon continuing to oppress the Lord’s people, then the scriptures will profit us nothing, and we will be nothing more than self-righteous Job.

Notice to whom Jeremiah 22 is addressed:

Jer 22:2  And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

And what symbol does the Lord use as a type of His people, the “the king of Judah… and [his] servants”?

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

The Lord also mentions ‘the heavens and… the earth’ when speaking to His people in Zechariah:

Zec 12:1  The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

The burden of the Word of the Lord is “for Israel”. The Word of the Lord is only for the Lord’s elect who are healed of their spiritually blind and spiritually deaf “marred” condition and composition.

Look again at how our study began today:

Isa 48:12  Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. 
Isa 48:13  Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

In Isaiah 1:3, in Jeremiah 22:2 and 29 and now here in Isaiah 48:12-13 are all accounts of the Lord speaking to His own people, and He refers to them as “the heavens and the earth”.

I have been emphasizing how “the dream is one” principle is carried throughout the scriptures:

Gen 41:25  And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

Following that principle, the Lord has seen fit to say most everything He says twice but using different words to do so. Such is the case when He tells us “the Lord… stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth”. The point He is making is that it is He who “formed the spirit of man” within him as “the heavens” within us, and for the moment the heavens within us are bound up in a vessel of clay, which He calls “the earth”. It is these “earthen… vessels of clay”, which He also calls “corruptible… flesh and blood”.

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

The Lord reveals to His elect that it is He who has created both our heavens and our earth, and He wants His elect to know that the heavens and the earth, our minds and our bodies and all that takes place in both, are the work of His hands, and the script was written for every man before he was ever born. So of course, “when [He] calls unto them, they stand up together”:

Isa 48:12  Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
Isa 48:13  Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them. (ASV)

There was no way anyone in Isaiah’s day could possibly have known that the Medo-Persian empire would one day conquer the mighty Assyrian-Babylonian empire of King Nebuchadnezzar, much less name the Persian king who would conquer Babylon. Yet that is exactly what the Lord did through His servant Isaiah 200 years before it happened, foretelling that event and even giving us the name of the Persian King who would carry out the Lord’s will concerning the rebuilding of His temple:

Isa 44:24  Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; 
Isa 44:25  That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;
Isa 44:26  That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:
Isa 44:27  That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:
Isa 44:28  That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

This again is a prophecy of the work of the Lord’s elect whom He is using to build His temple today.

Isa 44:26  That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: 

The Lord “confirms the word of His servant and performs the counsel of His messengers” because His messengers do not think above what is written, and they tremble at His words.

Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

1Co 4:6  Now these things, brothers, I applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us ye might learn not to think above that which is written, so that ye may not be puffed up, one over the one against the other.

That is our study for today. Here are the verses for next study:

Isa 49:1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
Isa 49:2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
Isa 49:3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
Isa 49:4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.
Isa 49:5 And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.
Isa 49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
Isa 49:7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.