Isaiah 44

Isaiah 44:1

44:1-5 In these verses we hear the heartbeat of the Lord for His people. His love is unextinguished by all their sin. He calls them Jacob (supplanter), Israel (prince of God), and Jeshurun (upright). He who made them, formed them, and chose them will help them. The promise of the Spirit was partially fulfilled at Pentecost but it will have its final and complete fulfillment at the Second Advent. Then the thirsty ground, both literal and figurative, will experience floods of water. Israel’s offspring will flourish, and they will not be ashamed to identify themselves by the name of Israel and by the name of Jacob and by the LORD’s name. (Or verse 5 may mean that Gentiles will identify themselves with Jehovah and with His people, see Psa_87:4-5.) 44:6-8 The LORD, the King of Israel, is uniquethe only true God. He challenges any so-called god to predict the future as He does, especially with regard to the ancient people, Israel. His people need not fear any challenge to His supremacy. They are His witnesses that He has foretold the future, and that He is the only God. He Himself does not know of any other genuine Rock; how then could Israel know of any? 44:9-11 Those who make an image are doomed to shame and disappointment. The idols are useless and powerless. 44:12-17 Here is a blacksmith making an idol for a rich man. He works hard, forming it into the desired shape. But then he has to stop for a breakhe needs food, drink, and a rest. If the idol maker runs out of strength so quickly, what about the inanimate image which he makes? Or here is a craftsman, making a wooden idol for a poor man. He chisels away at the block of wood until the figure of a man appears. Maybe he himself had planted the tree. He uses some of it as fuel to warm himself, some to bake his food, and some to make a god. Then he falls down and worships a god of his own creation. 44:18-20 Because of their refusal to see, God has shut the eyes of the idolaters. They never stop to think that the same tree that is their master is also their servant, that they worship part of it and use part for household chores! They feed on what is worthless as ashes, they are led astray by a delusion, they cannot deliver themselves from their bondage, and they never face up to the fact that the god they hold in their hand is a lie. 44:21-23 Israel is called to remember that God is their Creator who never forgets them, and that they are His servant. He has blotted out the cloud of transgressions that hid His face from them; He has bought them back from bondage and invites them to return to Him. All creation is invited to sing and shout, because the LORD has redeemed Jacob. 44:24-27 God presents Himself to the faithful remnant as Redeemer, Jehovah (the LORD), Creator, Protector, and Restorer. He frustrates the predictions of the Chaldean babblers and . . . diviners and the wisdom of the wise. He confirms the predictions of His own prophets that Jerusalem and Judah will be restored, and that His people will return from captivity under the decree of Cyrus. 44:28 This prophecy concerning Cyrus is remarkable in that it mentions him by name 150 to 200 years before he was born. It is also amazing that God calls him “My shepherd.“Again Cyrus is named as the one whom God will use to deliver His people from Babylon and to authorize the rebuilding of the temple. Josephus, the Jewish historian, wrote: Now Cyrus learned this (as to building the Temple) by reading the book that Isaiah had left of his own prophecies 210 years before. . . . These things Isaiah foretold 140 years before the Temple was destroyed. When Cyrus, therefore, had read them, and had admired their divine character, an impulse and emulation seized him to do what was written.