These are the special dealings of God with Israel and the reasons for them.
We have the distinction of Israel—who is unrighteous though making use of the Name of the Lord—prophecy, the means of showing it was God's doing, making shame of idols. But Jehovah acts for His Name's sake. He spares, defers, refines Israel—choosing her in "the furnace of affliction," shows Himself the only God, and executes judgment, doing His pleasure on Babylon. If Israel had been faithful, her peace would have flowed like a river. But Israel will prove, as well as Babylon, that Jehovah is faithful to His Name, that "there is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord."
This was necessary in judging Babylon—the judgment of Israel, chosen, and saved. Before chapter 45: 25, it was Israel justified, as a whole, in the Lord, and glorying in Him.