Isaiah · chapter 44 of 66
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Isaiah 44 promises to pour water on the thirsty land and the Spirit on Jacob's descendants. The Lord, first and last, declares himself the only God and Rock, and the prophet mocks the man who makes an idol from the same wood he uses to warm his house. It ends with Israel's forgiveness and redemption and with the name of Cyrus, whom the Lord calls his shepherd to rebuild Jerusalem.
Isaiah 44 continues the book of comfort (chapters 40-55) and combines three themes: the people's future blessing, the mockery of idolatry and the promise of rebuilding. It is the first passage in the book to name Cyrus, king of Persia, more than a century before he ruled, and to present him as the Lord's instrument for his people's restoration.
The chapter begins with an invitation: but now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen. The Lord who made you and formed you from the womb will help you; fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. He will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground, and his Spirit on Jacob's offspring and his blessing on his descendants. They will spring up like willows by flowing streams, and one will say: I am the Lord's.
The Lord, King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, says: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him declare it. You are my witnesses; is there a God besides me? There is no other Rock. Then the prophet describes the idol makers ironically: the ironsmith works with his coals, the carpenter measures the wood, and together they make a human figure. They cut down a tree, with part of it they warm themselves and bake their bread, and with the rest they make a god before which they bow and say: deliver me, for you are my god. They do not reflect or understand, nor ask whether what they hold in their hand is a lie.
The Lord calls Israel to remember that he is his servant, formed by him, and that he will not forget him. He has blotted out his transgressions like a cloud and his sins like mist: return to me, for I have redeemed you. The heavens, the depths of the earth and the mountains are invited to sing, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob and will be glorified in Israel.
The Lord, redeemer and maker of all things, frustrates the signs of the diviners and confirms the word of his servant. He says of Jerusalem that she will be inhabited and of the cities of Judah that they will be rebuilt. And he says of Cyrus: he is my shepherd, and he will fulfill all my purpose, and he will say of Jerusalem: she will be rebuilt, and of the temple: your foundation will be laid.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord promises to pour water on the thirsty and his Spirit on Jacob's offspring. The picture of water on dry ground shows that renewal comes from God and not from the people's effort.
The Lord, King and Redeemer of Israel, declares himself the first and the last, and says that besides him there is no god. It is one of the clearest statements of monotheism in the Old Testament.
The Lord has blotted out Israel's transgressions like a cloud and his sins like mist, and asks him to return because he has redeemed him. Forgiveness comes before repentance: the invitation to return rests on what God has already done.
The Lord says of Cyrus that he is his shepherd and will fulfill all his purpose, telling Jerusalem she will be rebuilt and the temple that its foundation will be laid. God names a foreign king as an instrument of his plan long before he reigned.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: His Spirit and his blessing. — Isaiah 44:3
Answer: As the first and the last, and besides him there is no god. — Isaiah 44:6
Answer: He makes a god, bows to it and asks it to deliver him. — Isaiah 44:15-17
Answer: A cloud and mist. — Isaiah 44:22
Answer: That he is his shepherd and will fulfill all his purpose. — Isaiah 44:28
Answer: To Jerusalem, that she will be rebuilt, and to the temple, that its foundation will be laid. — Isaiah 44:28
Isaiah 44 confronts the idolatry of every age with serious humor. The man who warms his house with the same wood he makes his god from pictures anyone who makes absolute something he made himself. In a Sunday school class you can ask what things made by us, such as work, image or plans, take God's place, and how to put the Lord back as first and last.
The chapter also encourages. Forgiveness has been given, the Spirit is promised and God uses whom he wishes, even a king who does not know him, to carry out his plan. In a small group you can pray with confidence, knowing that history is in the Lord's hands, and return to him sure that he has blotted out our transgressions.
Isaiah 44 ends with the name of Cyrus and the promise of rebuilding Jerusalem. Chapter 45 will develop that theme, calling Cyrus the Lord's anointed and affirming that the Lord is the only God who saves.
Readers understand it in two ways. Some see a prediction given by God long before Cyrus's reign in the sixth century BC; others think parts of this section were written during the exile. In either case, the text stresses that the Lord knows and directs history and uses a king of Persia to bring his people back to their land.
Jeshurun is a poetic name for Israel, which also appears in Deuteronomy 32:15 and 33:5. Its sense is related to the root meaning upright or righteous, and here it expresses the Lord's affection for his people.
Isaiah is not addressing only wooden images but all trust placed in what we make with our hands. Today it can apply to money, image or power. The central question remains: is there not a lie in my right hand?