Yeshayahu 42 | "What I Said at the Beginning: See, it Has Come, and I Tell You Now What Will Be"

The prophecies of consolation in Yeshayahu serve two primary purposes that recur throughout these chapters. The first is practical – to inspire the people of Israel to leave Babylon, embark on the journey, and ascend to the Land of Israel. The second, perhaps more significant, is conceptual – God seeks for the people of Israel to understand the source of their consolation.

The central theme running through the entire book of Yeshayahu is the struggle against arrogance and the call to internalize the sovereignty of God. In the first part of the book, this struggle is directed at a nation under the looming threat of destruction, with the prophet offering an opportunity for repentance and salvation. In the second part, which we began studying yesterday, the prophet addresses a nation that has already been exiled and devastated, offering a path to redemption. In both cases, Israel’s obligation is the same: to recognize that salvation comes from God, that He orchestrates history and all its events, and that reliance on human power is futile.

A well-known joke tells of a Jew searching for parking in Tel Aviv for an hour. In desperation, he promises God that if he finds a spot, he’ll donate 500 shekels to charity. Just as he speaks, a car pulls out, leaving him a spot. He quickly looks heavenward and says, "Never mind, I managed on my own." The goal is to ensure that Israel does not make the same mistake. Therefore, God does not rush to redeem them but first explains: the redemption that will come – it comes from Me.

The contrast between God's ability to reveal the future to His prophets and the inability of idols to do so is a recurring theme in Yeshayahu, often expressed through the term "the former things" (הראשונות). For example: "I am the Lord: this is My name, and I share not My glory with others, My praise with idols. What I said at the beginning (הראשונות): see, it has come, and I tell you now what will be afresh before it pushes through the earth; you will hear it first from Me." (Yeshayahu 42:8–9) This theme continues in the next chapter: "Were all the nations to gather, the people to come into session, who of them could tell this? Who could speak of this before (וראשונות)? Let them bring their witnesses to vindicate them, so that hearers may say, 'This is true.' No – You are My witnesses, so say the Lord, My servants whom I chose, so that you should know, and trust in Me and understand that I am He; before Me, no god was made, and after Me – no other." (Yeshayahu 43:9–10)

As in the first part of Yeshayahu, redemption will be complete only if the message is internalized and the people of Israel exalt God’s name and sing praise to Him: "Sing out to the Lord a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go to sea, and all that fill it, distant coastlands and you who live there.." (Yeshayahu 42:10)