Then he gathers up the sum of what He has been saying in a final appeal.
_Hearken unto Me, O Jacob, and Israel My Called: I am He; I am First, yea, I am Last. Yea, My hand hath founded Earth,_[122] _and My right hand hath spread Heaven; when I call unto them they stand together._
_Be gathered, all of you, and hearken, Who among them_--that is, the Gentiles--_hath published these things_?--that is, such things as the following, the prophecy given in the next clause of the verse: _Whom Jehovah loveth shall perform His pleasure on Babylon, and his arm_ shall be on _the Chaldeans_. This was the sum of what Jehovah promised long ago;[123] not Cyrus' name, not that a Gentile, a Persian, should deliver God's people, for these are among the new things which were not published beforehand, at which the traditional Israelites were offended,--but this general fiat of God's sovereignty, _that whomever Jehovah loves_, or _likes, he shall perform His pleasure on Babylon. I, even I, have spoken_--this, in ver. 14_b_, was My speaking. _Yea, I have called him; I have brought him, and he will make his way to prosper._ Again emphasize the change of tense. Cyrus is already called, but, while the prophet speaks, he has not yet reached his goal in the capture of Babylon.
Some ambassador from the Lord, whether the prophet or the Servant of Jehovah, now takes up the parable, and, after presenting himself, addresses a final exhortation to Israel, summing up the moral meaning of the Exile. _Draw near to me, hear this; not from aforetime in secret have I spoken; from the time that it was, there am I: and now my Lord, Jehovah, hath sent me with His Spirit._[124]
_Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, Holy of Israel, I am Jehovah thy God, thy Teacher to profit, thy Guide in the way thou shouldest go: Would that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments, then were like the River thy peace, and thy righteousness like the waves of the sea! Then were like the sand thy seed, and the offspring of thy bowels like its grains!_[125] _He shall not be cut off, nor shall perish his name from before Me._
And now at last it is time to be up. Our salvation is nearer than when first we believed. Day has dawned, the gates are opening, the Word has been sufficiently spoken.