Verse 8
Since God is who He is, the earth can anticipate salvation. God’s transcendence and uniqueness are not just abstract truths to be believed. They have practical and positive ramifications. Since God created the earth, He can pour out blessings on it: fertility and salvation. Even though God is ultimately responsible for everything that happens, His creation can rejoice because He will only and always do what is right.
". . . the saving of his people is the clearest expression of God’s essential character, to do right [righteousness]." [Note: Oswalt, The Book . . . 40-66, p. 206.]
In view of the Exodus, this announcement of a second exodus from Babylon would have been good news to Isaiah’s audience. But that God would reveal Himself to a pagan and use him to lead them out, rather than another Moses, must have come as an almost unbelievable shock. Truly God would do a new thing (cf. Isaiah 43:19; Isaiah 48:6). Some of the Israelites would not believe that God would do such a thing. Thus the following section sought to convince them to believe God’s promises concerning Cyrus.
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