I found this passage in Isaiah 48:12-16.
Here’s what the passage says:
“Listen to Me, Jacob, Israel whom I called;
I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.
13 Assuredly My hand founded the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I call to them, they stand together.
14 Assemble, all of you, and listen!
Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure against Babylon,
And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15 I, yes I, have spoken; indeed I have called him,
I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.
16 Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
From the time it took place, I was there.
And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
I think in the near future I’ll have to study this passage more in-depth as its nearly 3 AM here and its late to start looking at the Hebrew. But some quick observations.
- Whoever is talking and calling Himself “I” is God. Notice the attribute of God and/or characteristics of this individual that definitely isn’t an ordinary human being:
- Use of the Divine Title of God in verse 12: “I am the first, I am also the last“
- Creator in verse 13a-b: Notice He says about Himself “My hand founded the earth,” and “My right hand spread out the heavens;“
- Sovereignty: Verse 13c states “When I call to them, they stand together” with this referring to the earth and heaven which He can rule over them.
- Divine Authority: In verse 14 He states “Assemble, all of you, and listen!“
- Eternal is suggested: Verse 16 mention that He’s been around from the beginning.
- Yet though the One speaking is God yet notice that in verse 16 He went on to say “the Lord God has sent Me,” suggesting another Divine Person. This suggest more than One Person within the Godhead.
- The One who sent this Divine Speaker also sends “His Spirit.” If we understand the One who is sent is God the Son, then the One who sends both the Son and the Spirit is of course God the Father. Thus we see Three Members of the Trinity mentioned here in one verse.
- The Idea of God being sent to His people is profound. Imagine reading this passage for the first time. That would be such an amazing truth that God will be sent to be with us. This theme is not to be taken lightly; in fact a reader’s curiosity would then be what other details does the book of Isaiah contain about the coming of God as being sent. Sometimes people doubt the various prophecies in Isaiah concerning the Messiah or even of God being Incarnate. But if we see this passage clearly talk about God being sent by God then our expectation for further details about the Divine Messiah within Isaiah is warranted.
The Domain for Truth 
Great insight! Love that. What an amazing God we serve.
Exactly. A few weeks ago I was drawn to start going through Isaiah yet once again, line by line, word by word, slowly, prayerfully. It’s utterly amazing when you stop to think about it. Indeed the Trinity, indeed The Father, indeed the Son, indeed God’s Holy Spirit. I found the following overview of Isaiah to be an excellent roadmap to be mindful of while studying Isaiah: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/prophecy/prophets/prophets-of-the-bible/isaiah-the-prophet/ This will be my next study after I finish the Musings of the Gospel of John and I have already started but the posts come later. I have heard it said that the book of Isaiah is the Gospel of John of the Old Testament and I have a tendency to believe it. I’m excited. Blessings brother Jim!
It should be noted that I cannot agree with all of the statements of faith for the Church of God: https://cogwa.org/about/fundamental-beliefs/ but I did find this particular overview presented a good overview.
Thanks for that link, its a good survey with the book’s key theme, authorship, etc. I look forward to your posts on Isaiah brother. That would be a major undertaking but it will be very informative for me to learn from when you do this series Bruce. Where are you at now with your reading of Isaiah?
Chapter 8 so I have a way to go and I don’t want to rush it so it could be a while. I’ll keep you posted!
Beautiful!!!!!!
Thanks! Wow what time did you wake up? I imagine the bright morning sun woke you guys up in the great outdoors??? Just prayed for your trip to go well
Thanks for praying! No sun, heavy clouds, wind and rain! I have a video and post. God is teaching me many lessons through this!
Reblogged this on Nelson MCBS.
So many passages in Isaiah that make you want to jump and cheer at the the hidden meaning that is revealed by the light of the NT! Your insights show why.
pax,
dora
Thanks for reading this! One of these days I need to do a more thorough study on Isaiah, it always seems to have so much gold waiting to be told!!! God’s Word is so soo amazing! Have a blessed Saturday sister
Reblogged this on clydeherrin.
Amen, Jim. Isaiah is full of these hidden prophecies. In this passage, it’s clearly God the Son talking. Jesus is the alpha and omega who holds all things together (Rev.1:8; Col.1:16-17). Even Babylon is seen throughout Isaiah (and Tyre in Ezekiel) as a prophetic metaphor for the antichrist kingdom that will ultimately be toppled by Messiah in Revelation 18. As God said through Ezekiel about the King of Tyre, “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering…(Ezek.28:13). When was the literal King of Tyre in the Garden of Eden? Obviously, a prophetic metaphor going on here.
Wow good argument from Ezekiel that the referent goes beyond Tyre but the Evil One. Well argued! It’s amazing what historical and grammatical ordinary hermeneutics discover in God’s Word. Oh and attention to detail. Attention to detail is so important in many areas of life and that Include studying the Scriptures amen???
Amen! and AMEN!!
And amen! Have a blessed day GW!
I especially liked this from Isaiah 48 that you quoted: “From the beginning I have not spoken in secret,”
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Excellent! This is a very revealing OT passage regarding the Trinity. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Thanks for reading this! How is your shift this Saturday?? I hope and pray the work load continues to be reasonable
Thanks, brother! The workload this entire weekend is very reasonable. The boss said this “should” continue for the next several weekends. How was your Saturday?
[…] Fascinating: Messianic Prophecy and Trinity in Isaiah 48:12-16 […]
magine reading this passage for the first time. That would be such an amazing truth that God will be sent to be with us.
Amen to this!
I’ll be speaking on this great subject! This is insightful.
God bless you as you preach and teach my dear brother Jeff! Do you have your preaching online?
Yes, brother. Here is one from our church YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/HOzzoV9fHPA
I was trudging through Isaiah some time ago and this passage really struck me between the eyes as well! I think you make a good case. It seems hard to escape that there more than one divine Person speaking or being spoken of here. Truly, you can preach the whole gospel straight from the pages of Isaiah!
Thanks for reading this! Have you written any posts of your reading of Isaiah??
Every time I read Isaiah I find something new
There’s many good truths hidden in Isaiah
[…] Fascinating: Messianic Prophecy and Trinity in Isaiah 48:12-16 […]
[…] Fascinating: Messianic Prophecy and Trinity in Isaiah 48:12-16 […]
Reblogged this on Cycle of Tehara and commented:
I enjoy reading this type of in-depth discussion of Bible verses. The book of Isaiah contains very important prophecies regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (chapter 9) and his suffering on our behalf as our savior (chapter 53). If you look, verses foreshadowing Christ–as well as references to the Triune nature of God–are sprinkled liberally throughout the entire Old Testament. I think it’s time a read the book of Isaiah again, this time paying more attention to chapter 48.