Isaiah 48:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Those who were privileged by Him, honored with a glorious name, selected as His heirs, and endowed with immense favors, ought to have refrained from actions that contradicted the law and should never have attempted to rebel against the Benefactor and Giver of all honor, the Distributor of such chosen and cherished gifts. Yet, in their folly, they descended into the depths of idolatry, forsaking the one true God to serve the elements of the world. Still, He extends His mercy, calling them to obedience, saying, ‘Hear my voice,’ and urging them to reclaim the noble ways of old, so they might experience uninterrupted peace. Although it may seem too late, He continues to urge them to fulfill His commands, that they might evade punishment and be freed from the chains of their enslavement. However, due to their worship of heavenly hosts and their abandonment of the Creator in favor of that which He created, He discreetly guides them. For, as the blessed Paul remarked, you ought to be teachers by now, yet you are still in need of learning the foundational truths of God's word, requiring milk rather than solid food (Hebrews 5:12). He, known as the One who exists beyond all creation and possesses eternal existence, confirms this by declaring: I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. Who can fathom existence before the very first? Just as it is inconceivable to have a beginning prior to the true and primary beginning, we cannot perceive another first beyond this. Thus, the God of all remains eternal and supreme, for He who has no beginning will never come to an end. This is a declaration of the divine glory. In contrast, the myriad of false gods or worldly elements cannot be considered first and assuredly cannot exist eternally. The stars, sun, moon, and even the heavens themselves were created, having received their beginnings and will one day cease to be; within them, nothing exists outside of the glory of the supreme and perfect Being. This assertion aligns with truth, as demonstrated by the declaration: My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens. How can that which is crafted stand in parity with its Creator, and how can it compare in glory with Him who formed it? Therefore, it is utterly irrational and deserving of reproach to worship a created being instead of the Creator—He who is eternal and the First. Instead, they erroneously assign the title of the true God to temporal creations and their own inventions, as noted in Holy Scripture (Isaiah 2:8). By His hand and right hand, God the Father calls the Son, who is referenced as such throughout the divinely inspired texts. For instance, the holy Moses affirmed: Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power; Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy (Exodus 15:6), and the blessed David proclaimed: Your hand will be lifted high, and Your right hand will be exalted (Psalm 88:14).

Come to Me and hear this: I did not speak in secret from the start; from the moment these things began, I was present. And now, the Lord God has sent Me, along with His Spirit. To whom I have previously said: Hear this, O house of Jacob, called by the name of Israel, and descended from the waters of Judah, listen now: Hearken to Me, O Jacob and Israel, whom I summon. For many are called, but few are chosen. Thus, they are labeled as called, not chosen, because they have yet to embrace the Savior.

I am, He declares, the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, both of the living and the dead, so that you connect life with the beginning and the end with Him who once died, who humbled Himself, taking on the likeness of a servant, obedient to the Father, and He humbled Himself unto death, even the death of the cross. My hand established the earth. In Proverbs, it is also stated that “by His wisdom God founded the earth, and by His right hand, He measured it,” or established the heavens, as the Septuagint translates.

The heavens heed His command and proclaim His glory. If the heavens follow the will of the Lord and move in their ordained paths, why then is the earth so proud, like ashes, refusing to acknowledge its own fragility? Gather together and listen, whether to the heavens, to all creation, or to the people of Israel. What is it that you are called to hear? That the Lord loved him—clearly referring to Cyrus and Darius, who executed the will of the Lord against Babylon, showcasing His might against the Chaldeans.

He spoke and called it forth, directing it so that none could oppose its forces. Thus, He summons them to come and listen, and from the Lord’s prophecy, they should recognize that a king from Persia and India would arise, destroying Babylon and the Chaldeans. To announce this, the prophet was sent by the Lord and His Spirit. This pertains to the Jews and their beliefs. According to Symmachus, the translation asks: who proclaimed it to him? The one whom the Lord loved, who fulfills His will in Babylon, and as the Seventy translate, to eradicate the descendants of the Chaldeans, pointing to the face of the Lord, truly beloved by the Father, who has accomplished all the Father’s will and eradicated all the demons, referred to as the seed of the Chaldeans, within Babylon, symbolizing the chaos of this world.

He Himself spoke and listened to the Son and introduced the one who invites the weary to Him, saying, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden,” and unveils what I spoke in secret from the beginning, through the divine revelations and prophetic mysteries, which remained unknown to generations past. When all these acts were performed by the Father, He was present with Him, rejoicing, and even now He says: I, who have always been with the Father and never apart from Him, continue to speak. According to the transient nature of the flesh, I say that the Lord God has sent Me and His Spirit; in this brief statement, the mystery of the Trinity is revealed to us.