announcement uttered in the preceding, and to be repeated immediately
afterwards--is called _new_ in contrast to the old prophecies of the
Lord already fulfilled; _hidden_ in contrast to the facts which are
already subjects of history, or may be known beforehand by natural
ingenuity. _To be created_ is equivalent to being made manifest,
inasmuch as the hidden Divine counsel enters into life, only by being
manifested, and [Pg 188] the prophesied events are created for Israel,
only by the prophecy. Ver. 8: "Thou didst not hear it, nor didst thou
know it, likewise thine ear was not opened beforehand; for I knew that
thou art faithless, and wast called a transgressor from the womb." I
have, says the Lord, communicated to thee the knowledge of events of
the Future which are altogether unheard of, of which, before, thou
didst not know the least, nor couldst know. The reason of this
communication is stated in the words: "for I knew," &c. It is the same
reason which, according to vers. 4, 5, called forth also the former
definite prophecies regarding the Future, now already fulfilled, viz.,
the unbelief of the people, which requires a _palpable_ proof that the
Lord alone is God, because it is but too ingenious in finding out
seeming reasons for justifying its apostacy. All that is perfectly in
keeping with, and suitable to the stand-point of Isaiah, but not to
that of "the great unknown," at whose time the conqueror from the East
was already beheld with the bodily eye; and Habakkuk had long ago
prophesied the destruction of the Babylonish world's power, and
Israel's deliverance; and Jeremiah had announced the destruction of
Babylon by the Modes much more distinctly and definitely than is done
here in the second part of Isaiah. In ver. 16 it is said: "Come ye near
unto me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret;
from the time that it was, I was there, and now the Lord God hath sent
me and His Spirit." The sense is: Ever since the foundation of the
people, I have given them the most distinct prophecies, and made them
publicly known (referring to the whole chain of events, from the
calling of Abraham and onward, which had been objects of prophecy); by
mine omnipotence I have fulfilled them; and now I have sent my servant
Isaiah, and filled him with my Spirit, in order that, by a new
distinguished prophecy, he may bear witness to my sole divinity. It is
only the accompanying mission of the Spirit which gives its im