Isaiah 47-48

“Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, "The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!” (48:20).  Because of His love, God called His own people to reject the idolatry and sinful practices of the pagan Babylonians.  Their glittering, pleasure-loving lifestyles and their “sorceries and enchantments” (47:8-10) would end in terrible suffering (47:2-3).  God warned His people that they could not claim the name “Israel” yet behave like Babylonians (48:1).

“Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea” (48:18).  God calls us to pursue His holiness because He wants us to live in peace.