Isa 48:22 | KingComments | STEP | This part of the prophecy of Isaiah, Isaiah 40-48, ends with the serious declaration of the LORD that there is no peace for the wicked. The peace of the obedient ( ) is unknown to the wicked. Peace is the result of obedience ( ). It seems to be an anticlimax, but Isaiah does not lose sight of the reality when speaking about salvation and the glorious things associated with it. He refers to the wicked in Israel. It is the people who are indifferent to the will of God, a condition that prevents them from experiencing peace and receiving the blessings promised to the righteous in (cf. ). This statement is repeated, with a small variation, at the end of Isaiah 57 as the conclusion of the next part (Isaiah 49-57). In more detail we find this statement at the end of the book, at the end of Isaiah 66, as a conclusion of the last part (Isaiah 58-66). Here this statement concludes the testimony concerning Babylon that began in Isaiah 46:1 and more generally the whole part Isaiah 40-48. In the remainder of the book there is no mention of Cyrus or Babylon or of the idolatry that was the subject of the LORD’s protest. In the next part (Isaiah 49-57) it is not about the first great sin of Israel, idolatry, but about the second great sin of Israel, the rejection of Christ, the true Servant of the LORD.

‏ Isaiah 48:22

No Peace for the Wicked

This part of the prophecy of Isaiah, Isaiah 40-48, ends with the serious declaration of the LORD that there is no peace for the wicked. The peace of the obedient (Isa 48:18) is unknown to the wicked. Peace is the result of obedience (Jn 14:15 ; 21 ; 23 ; 27). It seems to be an anticlimax, but Isaiah does not lose sight of the reality when speaking about salvation and the glorious things associated with it. He refers to the wicked in Israel. It is the people who are indifferent to the will of God, a condition that prevents them from experiencing peace and receiving the blessings promised to the righteous in Isa 48:18 (cf. Rev 22:14-15).

This statement is repeated, with a small variation, at the end of Isaiah 57 as the conclusion of the next part (Isaiah 49-57). In more detail we find this statement at the end of the book, at the end of Isaiah 66, as a conclusion of the last part (Isaiah 58-66).

Here this statement concludes the testimony concerning Babylon that began in Isaiah 46:1 and more generally the whole part Isaiah 40-48. In the remainder of the book there is no mention of Cyrus or Babylon or of the idolatry that was the subject of the LORD’s protest. In the next part (Isaiah 49-57) it is not about the first great sin of Israel, idolatry, but about the second great sin of Israel, the rejection of Christ, the true Servant of the LORD.