Now Is the Time for Response: Since chapter 40 the Poet has been involved in a battle to win the community’s acceptance of a message about deliverance and blessing; the Poet has sounded increasingly hysterical as it seems that this battle will never be won (see, e.g., 42:18–25; 43:22–28; 45:9–13; 47:8, 12). Chapter 48 brings the confrontation and the challenge to its climax. It follows chapter 47 very strikingly, for chapter 48 addresses Jacob-Israel as confrontationally as chapter 47 addressed Babylon. It is almost as if Jacob-Israel was in the same danger as Babylon. The dynamic might even recall that of Amos 1–3, where the prophet warns of disaster to come on Israel’s neighbors, only at the end to turn on Israel itself.

The key elements in the prophet’s scandalous vision of Yahweh’s purp…