Isaiah 48:3

“I have declared the former things from the beginning, &c.] From the time of their first ancestors, from the time of Abraham their father, to whom was declared what should befall his posterity; that they should sojourn in Egypt, be afflicted there, and come out from thence with great substance; that they be brought into the land of Canaan, and the inhabitants of it being driven out before them, (<011513>Genesis 15:13-18). And they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them; they were told to Abraham by word of mouth; they were shown to him in prophecy: I did them suddenly, and they came to pass; for very quickly these things began to take place, even in Abraham’s time; for his seed being a…”

“former--things which have happened in time past to Israel (Isa 42:9; Isa 44:7-8; Isa 45:21; Isa 46:10). suddenly--They came to pass so unexpectedly that the prophecy could not have resulted from mere human sagacity.”

“I have declared the former things - That is, in former times I have predicted future events by the prophets, which have come to pass as they were foretold. Though the fulfillment might have appeared to be long delayed, yet it came to pass at the very time, showing it to be an exact fulfillment of the prophecy. The design of thus referring to the former predictions is, to remind them of their proneness to disregard his declarations, and to recall to their attention the fact that all that he said would be certainly accomplished. As a people, they had been prone to disbelieve his word. He saw that the same thing would take place in Babylon, and that there also they would disbelieve his…”

“48:3 The Lord had forewarned Israel of what was going to happen in the Exile.”

“declared: Isa 41:22, Isa 42:9, Isa 43:9, Isa 44:7, Isa 44:8, Isa 45:21, Isa 46:9, Isa 46:10 and I: Isa 10:12-19, Isa 10:33, Isa 10:34, Isa 37:7, Isa 37:29, Isa 37:36-38; Jos 21:45, Jos 23:14, Jos 23:15 Isaiah 48:4”

“After this summons, and description of those who are summoned, the address of Jehovah begins. "The first I have long ago proclaimed, and it has gone forth out of my mouth, and I caused it to be heard. I carried it out suddenly, and it came to pass. Because I knew that thou art hard, and thy neck an iron clasp, and thy brow of brass; I proclaimed it to thee long ago; before it came to pass, I caused thee to hear it, that thou mightest not say, My idol has done it, and my graven image and molten image commanded it." The word הראשׁנות in itself signifies simply priora; and then, according to the context, it signifies prius facta ( Isa 46:9), or prius praedicta ( Isa 43:9), or prius eventura (…”