“Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.”
My Notes
What Does Isaiah 48:16 Mean?
This verse contains one of the most mysterious statements in Isaiah. A speaker — possibly the Servant of the LORD or the Messiah — says: "I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I." Then a shift: "and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me."
The Trinitarian overtones are hard to miss. Someone who has existed "from the beginning" and has "been there" from the time anything existed is now being sent by the Lord GOD and His Spirit. Three persons are present: the speaker (who is eternal), the Lord GOD (who sends), and the Spirit (who sends alongside).
The phrase "from the beginning" and "from the time that it was" claims pre-existence — the speaker isn't a later addition to the story. He's been there since the start. And now, this eternal person is being sent on a mission. The sending implies incarnation — an eternal being entering time with a specific purpose.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does this verse's Trinitarian overtones (speaker, Lord GOD, Spirit) deepen your understanding of who God is?
- 2.What does it mean that the eternal one is 'sent' — that God enters time on a mission?
- 3.How does knowing that you are the destination of a divine mission change your sense of value?
- 4.Does the presence of the Trinity in the Old Testament surprise you? How does it connect to what you know from the New Testament?
Devotional
"From the beginning... there am I. And now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me." Three persons. One verse. The Trinity in the Old Testament.
This is one of those verses that stops you if you're paying attention. Someone is speaking who claims to have been present from the very beginning of all things. That's a claim only God can make. And then that same speaker says: the Lord GOD and His Spirit have sent me. The eternal one is being sent.
Who is eternal and yet sent? Who has been there from the beginning and yet enters history on a mission? The New Testament answers: Jesus. The Word who was with God from the beginning (John 1:1) and was sent by the Father and the Spirit into the world.
Isaiah gives us a glimpse of something Christianity would later articulate fully: God is not alone. There is a conversation within the Godhead. There is a sender, a sent one, and a Spirit. And the mission they're coordinating isn't abstract — it's aimed at you.
The most mysterious truth in Scripture — that God is Trinity — appears here in seed form. The eternal one speaks. The Lord GOD commissions. The Spirit empowers the sending. And the result of this divine collaboration is that someone comes to you with a message that was never spoken in secret.
You are the destination of a Trinitarian mission. Let that sink in.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Come ye near unto me, hear ye this,.... An address to the Jews, to attend the ministry of Christ, and hear the doctrine…
Come ye near unto me - (see Isa 48:14). I have not spoken in secret - (See the notes at Isa 45:19). The idea here is,…
Here, as before, Jacob and Israel are summoned to hearken to the prophet speaking in God's name, or rather to God…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture