Isaiah 44
TRIUMPHS OF GOD’S GRACE The contrast between the Lord God and idols is very obvious when we read the scriptures as well as use the common sense and logic that God gives us. Israel was a living witness for the living and true God over the man-made idols of people around them. Yet, for some reason, idols attracted those who were God’s chosen people, and they sinned in following idolatrous practices. Lest we get too lofty in our own minds, we need to consider that today, idolatry is rampant in this country and all over the world. Even so-called Christians have substituted divine guidance by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit given in the Bible, for “ministries” and practices that are designed to please people and create large attendance records in “churches.” Other modern idols are pleasure, money and fame that are actively pursued by millions of people.
Sports figures who are successful at playing games to the extent they become millionaires, are called idols. There are movie stars who are considered idols to be copied. There is even a program called “The American idol” that promotes young people into the public eye because of a special talent that gives vicarious pleasure to those who watch and listen. One famous person said, “Hockey is my life.” Another said, “I live for playing football.” Others have as their main goal in life to be successful entrepreneurs and make their ideas come to life in a thriving business. Even religion and religious practices become the focus of life for some people, rather than love for God and a willingness to do His will in every way they can. Such things substitute the “creation” for the Creator; the effect for the Cause; the idol for the Almighty Living God.
In this chapter, Isaiah contrasts God as Lord; King of Israel; Redeemer; Lord of hosts and the First and Last - with idols. Idols are gravened images that are only vanity, that have no profit, cannot see or know anything. They are made by men out of the imaginations of the perverted minds of people, who take a piece of metal and form it into an idol, or a piece of wood and make an idol out of one part of it and burn the other part to bake bread. Israel had fallen for that kind of deception and so there was a cost to be paid for ignoring God.
Despite their backsliding and apostasy, the nation of Israel is still God’s chosen earthly people. What grace that is! “Jeshurun” (Upright one) is still on the heart of God even though ungodly leaders like Manasseh and other wicked kings had led the whole nation away from God, and they became an idolatrous nation. This prophecy tells of a time when the Living Water and the Holy Spirit of God will establish the covenant testimony of Israel in a real way. The time will come when Israel will be glad of their unique relationship with God and will realize how much more important that is, than to be like the nations around them.
Any person or assembly of God’s people who belong to the Lord in any time or place, should be glad to be associated with the Lord. God forbid we would be ashamed of who we are as children of God who follow Him and obey His word. We should be delighted to be able to let others know of the special relationship we have with Him, and let them know that He wants that same connection from them by faith in Him. To be associated with divine Persons in a living, vital, eternal relationship is of greater worth than gaining the whole world.
From verse six through eight, God Himself speaks and identifies Himself as Israel’s King and Redeemer. There is no one like Him, nor ever will be. He is the Lord. he is the King of Israel. He is the Redeemer. He is the Lord of hosts. He is the First and the Last. There is no other God. He challenges the idol-worshipping world by stating His uniqueness and His eternal being. His authority and His power are unmatched by anyone or anything. His infinite knowledge, His omniscience of things yet to come, is passed on to us and all generations through His prophets whose prophecies have never failed. False prophets make failing predictions. Prophecies given through true prophets of God are one hundred percent accurate and fulfilled. The nation of Israel, in spite of all their failures, is a witness to the world as to who the Lord is. They remain as an identifiable people even though they are small and despised, persecuted and spoken against. Other great and mighty powers have risen and now are not even a memory in the minds of most people. The great empires that rose up and conquered nations around them have fallen and now are only thought of in history books. But Israel remains.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the King eternal. He is the Redeemer who has paid the price of redemption for all who believe on Him – and the day will come when He will redeem Israel. He is the Original Source of all things and He is the Creator of all things by the word of His power. He is eternal in His being and is fully verifiable by history and a real Person who lived here and dwelt among men. His power and authority come from Himself, not human beings and their opinions, or idols that are totally senseless. He knows everything because he is omniscient and controls everything because He is omnipotent. He is consciously aware of all that is going on because He is omnipresent.
The verses from nine through twenty are a satire on the foolishness of idolatry. Idols make big promises but produce nothing They produce nothing because they are nothing but a figment of imagination. The false advertising concerning idols was based only on the outward appearance of lifeless gold and precious stones. They only attraction was visual that blinded or smeared the eyes and minds of ungodly devotees to accept idolatry.
Contrast that outward sham with the power, authority and beauty of divine creation that lives and maintains itself with the cycles of life with which God made them. There is nothing shoddy or gaudy about God’s work. It is real, living and reliable from on season to another, one year to another; and down through the centuries people have counted on what God has done, and still do, even though some deny Him. His reality is not only seen by the evidence of temporal things He has created and maintains by the word of His power. It is also made evident by the things that are unseen and eternal. Those are the things that last forever, like love, grace, mercy, kindness, intelligence, faith, truth and understanding of who God is that comes through these things. These unseen things last eternally and are what really count in life. All of this comes from the Lord God who idolaters deny and reject.
The ignorance and lack of reason that is in believing and trusting idols, is described with sarcasm. The craftsman who makes the idols gets hungry and is weak. He has to take a rest in order to continue making something that he thinks is powerful. He makes marks and lines, and draws forms on a piece of wood to carve out an image that comes from his own imagination. The wood that is left over: chips, sawdust, pieces broken and discarded that come from the same piece of wood from which the idol was made, is used to make a fire to keep warm by or to bake bread to live by. The wood-cutter, the carpenter, the craftsman use their trades to make an idol, and then bow down to the product of their own making. We consider that the heights of foolishness.
Sadly though, idolatrous forms have found their way into Christendom. Counterfeit worship has taken the place of worship in spirit and in truth. Traditions and rituals have claimed the emotional senses of counterfeit Christians and some believers who have been sidetracked by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Catholicism claims to change bread and wine into the flesh and blood of Christ. Protestantism has made the worship of the Lord into a musical production that entertains the minds and controls the emotions of those who sit and listen to wonderful productions. Lively music instead of serious heart-felt thoughts expressed from humble and contrite spirits, has taken over the place of true worship.
What people think about the Lord has taken the place of the Lord Himself. It was because of cases like this Isaiah wrote, “He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul.” Neither are they willing to say this “thing” in my right hand is a lie. Idol-gods of whatever sort they are: money, power, fame, pleasure – they all deceive people. They are powerless to save a soul; they do not give real meaning to life; they do not produce true joy and lasting happiness. The most serious thing of all is they do not prepare a person to meet God, and they cannot keep a person out of hell.
God offered mercy to the nation of Israel, and he offers mercy to every individual now who will return unto the Lord for the redemption that He alone can give. The many sins of the Jews would be canceled out, and forgiveness granted if and when they will return to the Lord. When the repentant soul returns to Him and responds in faith to His offer of mercy and forgiveness presented in the Gospel, there is rejoicing in heaven among angels and on earth among the redeemed of the Lord.
The Lord is described as the all-knowing, all-powerful and all-present God who created all things, including each individual “in the womb.” Personhood comes from God at conception. He the Redeemer, is the Designer of every individual person, making each one unique. There are no two people exactly alike out of all the billions who have ever been conceived and given life by God. All idolaters have been deceived by false prophets and diviners who claim much, but produce nonsense. God’s truth is the standard of all righteousness, and His word is always absolutely reliable, accurate and unchanging. God’s truth has always been and always will be, the tried and proven standard that exposes the fallacy of all the vain imaginations of false teachers and idolaters. This chapter ends with a remarkable prophecy naming Cyrus by name, about 150 years before he became the ruler who arranged for Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem after seventy years of captivity. Isaiah prophesied that Jerusalem would fall under conquest 100 years before it happened, and that a new temple would be built 200 years later – even long before the first one was destroyed. Sure enough, Jerusalem was conquered, the temple was destroyed, the Jews were taken into captivity just as Isaiah had prophesied. Then Cyrus released Jews to return to Jerusalem, and later under the leadership of Ezra, another temple was built.
The premise of this chapter is clear: God, our God, is the One True God. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows all, controls all, and is in every place all the time. Nothing is hidden from Him. The idols which the Jews had turned to were deceptive imaginations from the sinful minds and hearts of men. Any person who falls into the soul- damning trap of idolatry of whatever kind it is, is lost. But God is willing to save and forgive those who come in faith to Him no matter how far they have strayed.
Isaiah 44:6, 9. “Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and His Redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the First and I am the Last; and beside me there is no God… They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they might be ashamed.” CONTRASTS. The Lord, Master, Supreme Ruler over all – Or the vanity of gold images to whom foolish men call. How far removed from reality is such as this – One from the heights of glory, the other the abyss.
The King of Israel, to David’s throne the Promise – Delectable things of idolatry, absolutely no profit. The future is bright when Christ reigns on the throne – Deceived by a lie when one is left alone.
The Redeemer has evidence in hands, feet and side – Idols see and give nothing seeking people to divide. The price paid to redeem us far exceeds every cost – To trust in vain idols means that poor soul is lost.
Angels and saints know who is the Lord of hosts – Idols see nothing and are as deaf as wooden posts. The Lord God alone is indeed the first and the last – Those bowing to images fall under judgment’s hot blast.
“How far removed men have gone, O Righteous God, from the truth of who Thou art to the deception of their own dark minds. To make an idol or graven image and then bow to the folly of their own design is darkness deep and awful. How gracious Thou art to allow men to hear of Thyself and repent of their sin and believe to the saving of their souls. Have mercy on them, O God, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.”