Come ye near unto me— See chap. Isaiah 45:19-20. From the time that it was, there am I, means, "From the time that this expedition of Cyrus began first to exist:" And now the Lord God hath sent me, and his Spirit: "And now, when the event is hastening to its completion, Behold, I am present, sent by Jehovah, with the Spirit of the Father, to your succour and assistance." That now refers to the immediate time of their deliverance, appears from the 20th verse, and we have often observed, that the prophets speak of future events as if present. See Vitringa, and the more spiritual interpretation in the REFLECTIONS.
Related Commentaries of Isaiah 48:16
Isaiah 48:16
16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.