John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 48:12

"Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last." — Isaiah 48:12 (ASV)

Hearken to me, O Jacob. We have previously explained the reason why the Lord declares His eternity. It is so that we may know that He is always like Himself, and that we may not measure Him by our own capacity. He commands us to “hearken to Him”; because we are led into errors and are carried away by false opinions, in consequence of refusing to listen to Him.

And Israel, my called. When He says that “Israel has been called by Him,” He indirectly contrasts this statement with the reprobation He mentioned at the beginning of the chapter; for He showed that the Jews falsely assumed this name and idly gloried in it, since they did not prove themselves to be true Israelites. Here, on the contrary, He affirms that “Israel is His called.” Just as if a father, in rebuking his son, should call him a bastard, and yet should afterwards acknowledge him to be his son, so the Lord shows that the Jews are so greatly degenerated that He might justly reject them. However, although they do not deserve so high an honor as to belong to His family, still He pays regard to His calling, which no ingratitude or wickedness of men can annul.

I, even I. In this passage the particle אף (aph,) even, denotes continuance, for He asserts nothing else than that God is always like Himself and does not, like humans, undergo change or alter His counsel (Romans 3:3–4; Romans 11:29). On this account He says that He is the first and the last.

However, it should also be noted here that Isaiah does not speak of God’s eternal essence but applies this doctrine for our benefit. This is so that we may know that He will be to us the same as He has always been, and secondly, that we may remember to distinguish Him from idols, lest our understanding, led astray by extravagant fabrications, should turn away from the fear of Him.