Isaiah 48:12Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

For those whom He honored and who received a name of glory, chosen to inherit His blessings, and bestowed with great privileges, should never have turned against His commandments or dared to rebel against the Giver of all gifts and honors. Yet, in their misery, they ignored this truth, immersing themselves in idolatry, abandoning the true God to serve the elements of the world. Nevertheless, He still shows them mercy; calling them to obedience with the command, "Hear my voice," and urging them to fulfill the noble paths of their ancestors so that they may attain uninterrupted prosperity. Even though they have strayed too far, He continues to instruct them, seeking to shield them from judgment and free them from the chains of their subjugation. However, because they chose to worship the host of heaven and, in forsaking the Creator, bestowed divine glory upon created things, He quietly guides them back. As the blessed Paul pointed out, "You need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!" (Hebrews 5:12). He is the One who exists beyond all and has no end; as indicated by the proclamation, "I am the First, and I am the Last" (Isaiah 44:6). Who can fathom what exists before the beginning? Just as it is impossible to imagine a prior origin before the truest beginning, certainly nothing else can be first before the First. Thus, the Almighty God is eternal and above all; for He who has no beginning has no reason to ever cease to be. This speaks to the divine majesty. In contrast, the throngs of false deities, or the elements of creation, cannot be conceived as eternal or preeminent, for the stars, the sun, and the moon, and the heavens before them, were all brought to existence and have a definite beginning; they, too, will one day cease to exist. In them, one cannot find anything that does not fall under the sovereignty of the Supreme and Perfect Being. The truth in this assertion is confirmed by the statement: "By my hand the earth was founded, and my right hand made the heavens" (Isaiah 48:13). How can that which is created parallel with the Creator, and how can it rival the glory of Him who brought it into being? Therefore, it is utterly foolish and deserving of condemnation to worship a creation rather than the Creator, the Eternal and the First. Instead of honoring the One who exists eternally, they attribute the title of true God to transient creations and their own handiwork, as it is written, "Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands" (Isaiah 2:8). Through His hand and His right hand, God the Father calls the Son. We see this referred to in numerous passages of the Holy Scriptures. For instance, the revered Moses articulated: "Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power," and the blessed David proclaimed: "Your hand will be lifted high; your right hand will be exalted" (Exodus 15:6; Psalm 89:13).

I previously said: Listen, O house of Jacob, called by the name of Israel, descended from the waters of Judah; now hear Me, O Jacob and Israel, whom I have called. For many are invited, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14). Thus, He refers to them as called, but not chosen, because they have not yet accepted the Savior. I am, He proclaims, the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the living and the dead (Revelation 22:14, Revelation 1:18), ensuring that you associate life with the beginning and the end with the one who was dead—who humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant, obedient to the Father, even to death, the death of the cross (Philippians 2:7). My hand founded the earth. Hence, in Proverbs it states: ‘By wisdom, God established the earth, and with His right hand, He measured it’ (Proverbs 8). He commanded the heavens to obey and declare His glory. Yet, if the heavens follow the Lord’s will and operate within their order, why does the earth exalt itself, being mere ashes (Sirach 10:9), refusing to acknowledge its own fragility? Gather and listen, whether to the heavens, the entire creation, or the people of Israel. What is the command to hear? That the Lord has loved him—undoubtedly referring to Cyrus and Darius, who accomplished the Lord’s will against Babylon and exhibited His strength against the Chaldeans. He proclaimed it by name, guiding the way so that none would dare to oppose its might. Therefore, He summons them to come and listen, revealing through the prophecy that a king from Persia and India would arrive to annihilate Babylon and the Chaldeans. To announce this, the prophet was sent by the Lord and His Spirit. This relates to the Jews and their understanding. However, according to Symmachus’ translation: who proclaimed it to him? He whom the Lord loves, who does His will in Babylon, and according to the Seventy, to eradicate the offspring of the Chaldeans, pointing to the face of the Lord, who is genuinely loved by the Father and has fulfilled the Father’s will, destroying within Babylon—all the offspring of Chaldeans, which symbolize demons. He Himself spoke and heeded the Son, bringing forth the one who calls to the weary, ‘Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden’ (Matthew 11:28), and reveals what I spoke in secret from the beginning—through divination and the mysteries of the prophets, unknown to previous generations. As these things were accomplished by the Father, He was with Him, rejoicing, declaring even now: I, who was eternally with the Father and never apart from Him, now also speak (John 14). In this brief passage, the mystery of the Trinity is presented to us.