Isaiah 43–45

How low God's people must have sunk when the Lord's discipline leaves them untouched! But will God, therefore, give up His people? Ah no! ... So, despite all their failure, the LORD can say to Israel, "Fear not." Judged by their sad history with God, they had everything to fear. But now God will act toward them on the ground of what He has done for them in grace.

Israel had been unfaithful to His name. That brought the LORD's anger on them, though idolatry had blinded them, so they neither understood it nor felt it. In this chapter He proclaims His faithfulness — the One who had called Israel by name and made them His own.

Israel's God is the only God! He "created" Jacob! He "formed" the nation! And though, like her father, she "would surely deal treacherously, and from before birth was called a rebel" (Isaiah 48:8), He still "redeemed" her! Yes, He "called" her by her name; "you are Mine!" She can therefore witness not only against idols, but to the only God.

Even the Old Testament brings this truth out again and again: "But now thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine'" (Isaiah 43:1). ... In His wonderful grace and love, the Lord Jesus has paid our ransom price. So He has full right and title to all that we are and have. From now on we are His property. But this involves two sides — privilege and responsibility.

Each of us must have heard the voice of the Good Shepherd. Parents cannot do this for their children. A husband cannot do it for his wife. Everyone must do it for themselves. We know the wonderful passage in Isaiah 43: "I have called you by name; you are mine" (v. 1). I hope that everyone in this room is able to say this, including the children, "The Lord Jesus has called me by His name; I am His."

Isaiah 43 says it plainly: "the people whom I formed for myself" … "whom I created for my glory" … "that they might declare my praise." God had already made Himself known to them as "Redeemer" (see verse 14), having brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea. Their Redeemer was "the Holy One of Israel," their "Creator," and their "King."

The guilty people are bowed down under God's judgment. They are corrected and sorry for their sin, but close to despair. At the end of their time of trial they hear these words: "Comfort, comfort my people." Then we hear this word "Fear not" repeated in echo after echo. ... The entire latter portion of Isaiah has this comforting word from God as a refrain (Isaiah 41:10, 13, 14; Isaiah 43:1, 5; Isaiah 44:2; Isaiah 51:7; Isaiah 54:4).

How low God's people have sunk when the Lord's discipline no longer touches them! Does God then give up His people? No! ... So, despite all their failure, the LORD can say to Israel, "Fear not." Their sad history with God gave them every reason to fear. But now God will act toward them on the basis of what He has done for them in grace. So He can say, "I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine." Their own failure may mean they have to pass through the cleansing waters and the purifying fire. But the LORD can say, "I will be with you." If the Lord is with His people in all their trials, we can be sure He brings them "through."

If Israel comes through the trial into final blessing, it is not because of any merit in Israel. It rests wholly on Who God is. "For," says God, "I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour." Israel must endure the fire and the water, because God is "the Holy One." But they will come through, because God is their Saviour.

What then are our responsibilities as a redeemed people? First and foremost, the acknowledgement that we belong to Him who has redeemed us... In His wonderful grace and love, the Lord Jesus paid the ransom price for us. So He has full right and title to all that we are and have. From now on we belong to Him. But this involves a twofold aspect — privilege and responsibility. We have the privilege of belonging to Christ, of being His own... and therefore of being the special objects of His care, tenderness, and love... In sorrow, trouble, or grief — in the quiet hours of the night — when we are cut off from everyone around us — what deep comfort it is to lift our eyes to Him and remember that we are His.

The point was not so much rescue from the thing that caused the fear. It was lifting their souls above it through fellowship with Himself... The Lord's way is often to leave His people in trial and to be with them in it. Paul wanted to be rid of the thorn, but the answer came: "My grace is sufficient for you." It is a far richer mercy to have the grace and presence of Jesus in the trial than to be taken out of it. The Lord let Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be thrown into the furnace. But when He did, He came down and walked with them in it.

What was the effect of the fire in their case? It only burnt off their bonds, and set them free. Often the Lord lets us get into the fire. Its effect is to burn off the cords that tie us up — in our case often cords we tied ourselves — and we come out free. But what have we had in the fire? A sense of the presence and company of the Lord, such as we never had before.

They were plundered because of the One they rebelled against. And because of Him they will be delivered, pardoned, and blessed. He, the LORD, is the only God, and He is just as much the only Saviour... It is He Who for His own sake will blot out their transgressions and justify them. Before that day comes, we already know what is still a secret to them: the great salvation by His grace. That is the only way He can deal with the guilty and stay just. Christ, the cross, is the only key.

If God brings Israel through the trial into final blessing, it is not because of any merit in Israel. It is entirely because of Who God is. "For," says God, "I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." Israel must endure the fire and the water, because God is "the Holy One." But God will bring them through, because He is their Saviour.

All through Isaiah He is called "the Holy One of Israel." This title of the Lord, who deals with His people in judgment and in mercy, appears twenty-five times in Isaiah… The phrase appears in only six other passages in the whole Old Testament. The Holy One of Israel is Jehovah. He is the Redeemer of His people… This Holy One is the Creator.

The name "Holy One of Israel" implies that the God of Israel is completely separated from all evil, because His eyes are too pure to look at evil.

Many Old Testament passages spoken to Israel tie their salvation to God's own action for them, and prove that He alone could save them… "I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior" (Isaiah 43:3). "I, I am the LORD, and besides Me there is no savior" (verse 11)… The name Jesus carries divine glory with it; it means Jehovah the Saviour. These great texts make it clear that none but God could be the Saviour… but of Jesus the angel said, "He will save His people from their sins." Then who else could He be but God?

In the Old Testament, except in Exodus 21:30, the word is kopher, which means 'a covering.' It is related to kaphar, often translated 'atonement'… In the New Testament the word is lutron, or antilutron, from a verb meaning 'to loose, set free.' Christ gave Himself, His life, a ransom for many.

In the past, God gave Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba over to judgment to ransom His people from their power. In the same way, He will give the nations that have persecuted Israel over to judgment in the future. For in God's sight His people are "precious", and "honourable," and "loved" by God.

God reveals Himself this way despite all the rebellion of the people. Israel has been against Him; but He is for Israel. But in order to be this He must first be their Redeemer, and then the source of all the good He will produce in them… God takes away their sins. He says, "I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins."

They have been plundered because of the very One they rebelled against. Because of Him they will also be delivered, pardoned, and blessed. For as He, Jehovah, is the only God, so He is also the only Saviour… Before that day dawns, we already know what is still a secret to them: the great salvation by His grace. By that grace alone He can deal righteously with the guilty. Christ, the cross, is the only key.

Israel had been unfaithful to His name. That unfaithfulness brought the fury of Jehovah on them, though they neither understood nor felt it, since idolatry had blinded them. In this chapter He declares His own faithfulness. He is the One who had called Israel by their name and made them His own.

In the past, God gave Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba over to judgment, to ransom His people from their power. So in the future He will give up to judgment the nations that have persecuted Israel. He does this because in God's sight His people are "precious," and "honourable," and "loved" by God. So despite all their failure, God is with them. He will gather them back to their land from the ends of the earth.

The answer is that God made choice of them in His sovereign wisdom. Deuteronomy 7-8 says the Lord did not choose them because they were more in number than any other. In fact they were the fewest. No, the only reason that God could give for His choice was that He loved them. Nothing in them drew out His love in contrast with others. The reason lay in His own nature. Here lies the solid foundation of the blessing into which the Lord brings His people.

Isaiah 43 dwells on Israel's relation to Jehovah. It looks not at their sins and their punishments, but at His unfailing faithfulness in sovereign grace. Clearly this still awaits fulfilment, since it goes far beyond anything given in the past... Jehovah will certainly stand by Israel, and more openly in the future than in the brightest memory of the past. He will bring their seed from the east and the west, from the north and the south (verses 5, 6). This far exceeds the return from Babylon. And not Gentiles, but Israelites only are in view here.

In these passages God, speaking under the national name Jehovah, has said three times over that He has redeemed Israel as a nation. Yet the accepted interpretation is that He has deceived Israel with false hopes. It says that when He spoke of Israel, He really meant something entirely different! Is it credible that Christians should dare to charge such deception on the One "who cannot lie"? If God could so cruelly deceive Israel, what reason have we to believe He is not equally deceiving us?

But now He delivers and saves them (Isaiah 43). He created them for His glory... Jehovah had formed this people for Himself. Yet the people had grown weary of their God, and had, as it were, made Him serve with their sins. But now He pardons it all for His own glory. What a glorious and striking testimony to Him! In grace to the sinner, when the sin becomes unbearable, He puts away the sin instead of the sinner. This is what God has done through Christ.

Last of all, the guilty people will be bowed under the judgment of God — chastened and repentant, but near despair. At the end of their time of trial they will hear these words: "Comfort, comfort My people!" Then we hear this word "Fear not" repeated and multiplied, echo after echo. Fear not, My love will comfort you, I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will be with My servant. Have I not redeemed you? Am I not with you? Fear not, I will refresh you. Fear neither shame, nor insult, nor reproach. You are Mine, and I have received you in grace. The whole last part of Isaiah has this comforting word from God as a refrain.

Israel had been unfaithful to His name, and that brought the fury of Jehovah on them. They did not understand it and did not feel it, because idolatry had blinded them. Yet in this chapter He proclaims His faithfulness — He who had called Israel by their name and made them His own.

As we have seen, fear of their enemies stopped the people from building the Lord's house. Now comes the cure. Think how often we read in Isaiah, "Fear not; I am with you." And the Psalmist cries out, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" Nothing drives out fear like the assurance of the Lord's presence. But it is comfort and encouragement together. It reminded the people that if the Lord called them forward into danger, He Himself was among them. He would go before them to show them the way, as He had done in the wilderness.

Isaiah 43 is about Israel's relationship with Jehovah. It looks not at their sins and their punishments, but at His unfailing faithfulness in sovereign grace. This still awaits fulfilment, because it goes far beyond any partial fulfilment in the past... Jehovah will certainly stand by Israel, and more openly in the future than in the brightest event of the past. He will bring their offspring from the east and the west, from the north and the south (verses 5, 6). This goes far beyond the return from Babylon. Not Gentiles, but Israelites only are in view here.

In one of these passages God speaks of making Israel a sharp threshing tool. In another He speaks of gathering her sons and daughters from the ends of the earth. In a third He speaks of her return to Him with her transgressions forgiven. All this fits Israel's state exactly. But is the Church a sharp threshing tool? Has the Church ever been scattered to the ends of the earth? Does anyone ever speak of the Church as estranged from God and then coming back forgiven?

Note the many declarations Jehovah makes. "I have redeemed you," "I will be with you," "I have loved you," "I have made him," "I am the LORD, I will make a way in the wilderness." All God's people can lay claim to these blessed words of promise and assurance. In the end Israel will have and enjoy these great blessings.

How precious to His faithful remnant will be the promise of the Great Shepherd in Isaiah 43:5, "Fear not, for I am with you." It is addressed to them — and in a general way to us all — in answer to the words of faith in Psalm 23, "I will fear no evil, for you are with me."

In the past, God gave Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba over to judgment to ransom God's people from their power. So in the future, He will give up to judgment the nations that have persecuted Israel. He does this because, in God's sight, His people are "precious," and "honourable," and "loved" by God. So, despite all their failure, God is with them, and will gather them back to their land from the ends of the earth. They bear God's name, and He created them for His glory. So in bringing Israel into final blessing, God is acting for the glory of His great name.

Two other words are yamin and teman. They mean 'the right hand.' Translators render them 'south' because the Israelites pictured themselves facing East when they spoke of the points of the compass.

Again, you can see that He gathers His people Israel from all nations. So I think the idea that the British nation is the ten tribes is foreign to Scripture. I think this expression, "out of all nations," should at once dispel the illusion. The truth is that no one knows where they are, except God Himself, and when the time comes, He will find them, and bring them, in His own way.

But again, in one of these passages God speaks of making Israel a sharp threshing instrument. In another He speaks of gathering her sons and daughters from the ends of the earth. In the third He speaks of her return to Him with her transgressions forgiven. All this exactly fits Israel's state. But is the Church a sharp threshing instrument? Has the Church ever been scattered to the ends of the earth? Or does Scripture ever speak of the Church as estranged from God and coming back forgiven?

But now He delivers and saves them (Isa. 43). He created them for His glory... The Lord had formed this people for Himself. But the people had grown weary of their God, and had, as it were, made Him serve with their sins. But now He pardons it all for His own glory. What a glorious and striking testimony of Him! In grace to the sinner, when the sin becomes unbearable, He puts away the sin instead of the sinner! This is what God has done through Christ.

Here again the Holy Spirit led the apostle to borrow words from various parts of the Old Testament. The passages include Isaiah 52:11, Ezekiel 20:34, 2 Samuel 7:8, 14, and Isaiah 43:6... Here He says, "I will receive you, and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me." It is our new relationship in positive blessing, and it assumes God has given us the divine nature.

"Lord" and "Almighty" are the two Old Testament names of God. He was "Almighty" to Abraham, and "Lord" to Israel; and now He says "Father" to you, and you are My sons and daughters.

We might have expected Isaiah 43 to contain more warnings and judgments. Instead it opens on a note of grace… In the face of their evil, God falls back on His original purpose and His redeeming work. The people were looking for redemption by power, and that is the main theme here, as the following verses show. But soon the far deeper work of the suffering Servant comes before us — redemption by blood.

"Create" (bara), if we are to distinguish the words, refers to the efficient cause; "make" (asah) points to the formal cause; and they have another word (yatsar), which brings in the material.

But now He delivers and saves them (Isa. 43). He created them for His glory… Jehovah had formed this people for Himself, and the people had grown weary of their God; and, as it were, had made Him serve with their sins. But now He pardons it all for His own glory. What a glorious and striking testimony to Him! In grace to the sinner, when the sin becomes unbearable, He puts away the sin instead of the sinner. This is what God has done through Christ.

In perfect agreement with that, we find in Isaiah 43 the words, "I formed this people for myself." … "whom I created for my glory."… "They will proclaim my praise." God had already made Himself known to them as "Redeemer" (see verse 14). He had brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea. Their Redeemer was "the Holy One of Israel," their "Creator," and their "King."

The whole chapter is marked by two things. First, God declares what He will do in His sovereign mercy for His poor blind and deaf people, whom He had set up to be His witnesses to the other nations. He will bring down their foes… and He will deal with their sins, as indicated in verse 25. This chapter does not reveal how He will do this in righteousness. But the result will be that this people, whom He had formed for Himself, will in the end proclaim His praise, as verse 21 says.

God created man for His glory, like a well-tuned instrument. Man was made to answer the touch of His infinite goodness with intelligent and joyful thanksgiving. But the devil spoiled God's handiwork. He put distrust of God into the heart of man. The chord was lost and the music died out. When God came into the garden, no songs of praise met Him. Adam — a fallen man, a sinner against God — cowered away in silent fear from the One who loved him and had lost him.

God gave them a separate and favoured position as a nation. So the prophet describes them as the "people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears" (Isa. 43:8). They completely failed to use the privileges and opportunities God gave them.

The Jews, by their love of idols, were the blind people who had eyes and the deaf who had ears. Yet they alone of all nations were Jehovah's witness and His servant. They will yet know, believe, and understand.

At the end of the chapter Israel are the deaf and blind. As Jehovah's earthly people they were perfect in privilege, but sadly — blind. Self-will and disobedience had darkened their eyes. But grace will intervene and save them from the ends of the earth (Isa. 43), though they are the blind people who have eyes and the deaf who have ears.

God has already foretold that He will step in for Israel. Now He appeals to the nations, so that His ways with Israel may bring them to acknowledge the true God. Israel had seen the glory of Jehovah with their own eyes and had heard His law. Yet they turned blindly to idols and were deaf to the warnings of the prophets. Still, in their restoration they will become a witness to the one true God.

The nations may gather and meet in conferences, trying to govern the world. But they cannot declare the former things, and even less the things to come. Let them hear and confess that this is the truth.

We might have expected that Isaiah 43 would contain further warnings and judgments. Instead it opens on a note of grace… Faced with their evil, God falls back on His original purpose and His redeeming work.

Jehovah had formed this people for Himself, but the people had grown weary of their God. They had, in effect, made Him serve with their sins. But now He pardons it all for His own glory. What a glorious and striking testimony to Him! In grace to the sinner, when the sin becomes unbearable, He puts away the sin instead of the sinner. This is what God has done through Christ.

But once they are brought into contact with Christ the personal Servant, their eyes will be opened. Then the works of God will be displayed in the nation for all to see, as they were in the one blind man of John 9: "that the works of God might be displayed in him"… Israel's eyes will be opened, and they will know the Lord and believe. So they will be His fitted witnesses (Isa. 43:10) against idolatry, and witnesses of the one true God, beside whom there is no other.

This blinding is a judgment from God — He Himself gave them sightless eyes and ears that do not hear. But why? It is not a random judgment. Matthew 13:13-15 shows that Israel's willful blindness came before the blindness God imposed.

All the nations are warned to pay attention to God's declaration about the future of Israel. They may gather and meet in conferences, trying to govern the world. But they cannot show the former things, still less the things to come. Let them hear and confess that this is the truth.

Nothing proves divine intelligence more clearly than telling the future. This is the main challenge the Old Testament makes to the false gods. No wonder it left them speechless, even though they had once claimed so loudly to speak messages from the gods. While it was only a matter of puzzling those who asked, they could deceive with answers that could be taken two ways. But Isaiah, in the sharpest and severest style, shows that they are utterly powerless to reveal the future.

Among the nations who followed idols such things were unknown, and God raises the challenge: Who among the nations "declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring THEIR WITNESSES to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true" (Isa. 43:9). But to Israel He says, "You are MY WITNESSES, declares the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen … Before ME no god was formed, nor shall there be any after ME. I, I AM THE LORD, AND BESIDES ME THERE IS NO SAVIOUR" (vv. 10-11).

God has foretold His sovereign intervention on behalf of Israel. Now He appeals to the nations, so that His ways with Israel may bring them to acknowledge the true God. Israel had seen the glory of Jehovah with their own eyes and had heard His law. Yet they turned blindly to idols and were deaf to the warnings of the prophets. Still, when God restores them they will become a witness to the one true God.

Because they loved idols, the Jews were the blind people who had eyes and the deaf who had ears. Yet of all the nations they alone were Jehovah's witness and His servant. They will yet know, believe, and understand.

Ever since God called Abraham, he and his descendants, the nation that came from him, have been God's chosen witnesses that there is only one God, and that Jehovah is He. Israel, as we saw, failed completely in this testimony. So the Gentile nations conquered them, and their long captivity and scattering followed. The Church's testimony, as we have also seen, is of another kind. It is a testimony to the perfect grace in which she stands, and to the finished redemption in which that grace has been shown to her.

It was God Who once, because of their sins, "profaned the princes" and people of Israel. It is He Who, for His own sake, will blot out their transgressions and justify them. Before that day dawns we already know what is still a secret to them: the great salvation by His grace. By that grace alone can He deal with the guilty and remain righteous. Christ, the cross, is the only key.

Among the nations who followed idols such things were unknown, and God raises the challenge: Who among the nations "can declare this, and show us former things? let them bring forward THEIR WITNESSES, so that they may be justified; or let them hear, and say, It is truth" (Isa. 43:9). But to Israel He says, "You are MY WITNESSES, declares the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen … before ME no god was formed, nor shall there be any after ME. I, EVEN I, AM THE LORD; AND BESIDE ME THERE IS NO SAVIOUR" (vv. 10-11).

The Jews, by their love of idols, were the blind people who had eyes and the deaf who had ears. Yet they alone of all the nations were Jehovah's witness and His servant. They will yet know, believe, and understand.

Israel had seen the glory of Jehovah with their own eyes and had heard His law. Yet they turned to idols and shut their ears to the warnings of the prophets. Still, when God restores them, they will become a witness to the one true God.

The unity of God is the foundation truth of the Old Testament. It was the central testimony the Jewish people were responsible for, in a world that everywhere else had given itself to idols.

God had to choose some nation, and in this He was both sovereign and wise. He chose the Jews. He formed them for Himself, so that they would be His witnesses and would declare His praise (Isaiah 43:10, 21).

Israel is the standing witness to the world that God is the one God. Men "may know and believe" that God is the eternal One – none before Him, and no one after – the "I AM," and the only Saviour.

He is first named this way in Deuteronomy 32:39. "See now," He says, "that I, even I am the Same, and there is no god with Me … I lift up My hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever!" Jesus says, I am "the living One" … "I am He" should read "I am the Same," meaning the self-existing One.

God selected Israel as a nation to hold the truth of Jehovah's Godhead and of Jehovah's law, and to testify to these great truths among other nations who worshipped idols. In this trust they proved themselves false witnesses. They copied their neighbours and worshipped idols, and they dishonoured the law. Where Israel failed as a witness for the truth, because of their evil heart of unbelief, their Messiah was perfect throughout … one of His titles that shows He is fit for it is the Faithful and True Witness (Rev. 1:5; Rev. 3:14).

Whoever else may have let the light of the testimony go out, it has never gone out for God, and it never will. "You are my witnesses, declares the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen."

It was because of Him whom they rebelled against that they were so plundered. Because of Him they will also be delivered, pardoned, and blessed. For as He, Jehovah, is the only God, so is He just as much the sole Saviour... Before that day dawns, we already know the great salvation by His grace, which is still a secret to them. By that grace alone He can righteously deal with the guilty. Christ, the cross, is the only key.

Only He could speak as He did through Isaiah: "I am He," or "I am the same; before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me" (43:10)... None but the Eternal One could speak like this. When it pleased Him to do so, He could and would reveal Himself.

Idols are contrasted with Jehovah, but cannot for one moment be compared with the true God. Jehovah is the Maker; an idol has to be made. Once made, it does not carry others — it has to be carried. Set in its place, it cannot move, cannot answer the cry of need, and cannot save from trouble.

The unity of God is the foundation truth of the Old Testament. It was the central testimony for which the Jewish people were responsible, in a world everywhere else given over to idolatry. We must add that Jehovah, the God of Israel, was that one Jehovah — His proper name in relationship with His people on earth.

Israel was therefore left with Him alone for salvation. But then came a world-wide invitation: "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other" (Isa. 45:22). The world too is left with Him alone.

Many Old Testament passages addressed to Israel tie their salvation to God's own action on their behalf. They prove beyond doubt that He alone could save them... "I, I am the LORD, and besides Me there is no Saviour" (verse 11)... The name Jesus carries divine glory with it; it means Jehovah the Saviour. These great texts make it clear that none but God could be the Saviour... but of Jesus the angel said, "He will save His people from their sins." Then who else could He be but God?

Who among the nations "can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring THEIR WITNESSES to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true" (Isa. 43:9). But to Israel He says, "You are MY WITNESSES, declares the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen … Before ME no god was formed, nor shall there be any after ME. I, I AM THE LORD, AND BESIDES ME THERE IS NO SAVIOUR" (vv. 10-11).

In reference to Israel, God can say, "I declared and saved and proclaimed." Before they turned to idols, God had already declared the past and the future for Israel. He speaks as the I AM, to Whom the future is present, so He can say "I saved." Having saved, God can say to all the world that Israel are "my witnesses … that I am God."

God has had two great purposes in view in setting Israel apart to Himself as His special people. One was that there should be a testimony to the unity of God, and that He alone should be worshipped: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." (Deut. 6:4.)

Many Old Testament passages spoken to Israel tie their salvation to God's own action for them, and they prove that He alone could save them… "I, I am the LORD, and besides Me there is no Saviour" (verse 11)… The name Jesus carries divine glory with it. It means Jehovah the Saviour, and these great texts make it plain that none but God could be the Saviour… but of Jesus the angel said, "He will save His people from their sins." Then who else could He be but God?

God chose Israel as a nation to keep the truth of Jehovah's Godhead and of Jehovah's law, and to testify to these great truths among other nations who worshipped idols. "You are my witnesses, says the LORD, that I am God" (Isa. 43:10, 12; Isa. 44:8). In this trust they proved themselves false witnesses, and everyone knew it. They worshipped idols openly, copying the nations around them, and they dishonoured the law. At every point where Israel failed as a witness for the truth, because of their evil heart of unbelief, their Messiah was perfect… and one of His titles which expresses His fitness is that of the Faithful and True Witness (Rev. 1:5; Rev. 3:14).

The Jews, with their love of idols, were the blind people who had eyes and the deaf who had ears. Yet they alone of all nations were Jehovah's witness and His servant. They will yet know, believe, and understand… for as He, Jehovah, is the only God, so He is also the only Saviour… It was God Who once, for their sins, "profaned the princes" and people of Israel. It is He Who for His own sake will blot out their transgressions and justify them. Before that day dawns, we know the great salvation by His grace. By that grace alone He can deal with guilty people and still be just: Christ, the cross, is the only key.

No sermon is as powerful as the one drawn from experience… If I speak what my soul knows, and not what I have only heard from others, I speak in power… tell it out faithfully and clearly, by lip and life, so that the blessed Saviour may get praise for the salvation He has given.

God is the God of eternity. Before time was — "before the day" — God can say I AM; and God is omnipotent, for none can deliver out of His hand or hinder His work.

There is another word which, though it may be used as a description, can hardly be excluded from being a name of God. Hu, Atta Hu, "you are the same," the unchangeable One (see Deut. 32:39); "I am He, the same and besides me no god." I am He, Hu, Atta Hu: Psalm 44:4; Isaiah 41:4; 43:10, 13; Jeremiah 5:12. It is in the sense of the immutable existing One, which is true of God only.

In Isaiah 43:10 we have Ani hu (I, He) spoken by Jehovah… the hu (He) is essential and immutable existence.

Among the nations who followed idols such things were unknown. God raises the challenge: Who among the nations "can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring forth THEIR WITNESSES, that they may be justified; or let them hear, and say, It is truth" (Isa. 43:9). But to Israel He says, "You are MY WITNESSES, says the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen … before ME there was no God formed, and there will be none after ME. I, EVEN I, AM THE LORD; AND BESIDE ME THERE IS NO SAVIOUR" (vv. 10-11).

They will yet know, believe, and understand. They have been so plundered because of Him whom they rebelled against. They will be delivered, pardoned, and blessed because of Him too. Jehovah is the only God, and just as truly the only Saviour. For Israel's sake He had sent them to Babylon and brought down their pride… Once, for their sins, God "profaned the princes" and people of Israel. For His own sake He will blot out their transgressions and justify them.

Isaiah predicts what Israel will discover at His second coming: the rejected and despised One is Jehovah. "Therefore My people shall know My Name, therefore they shall know that I am He" (52:6). The words "I am He" (Ani Hu) are a divine Name. Our Lord used it when He said "I am" to the woman at the well, and again to the group in the garden of Gethsemane.

John 10:28-30. — Compare Deut. 32:39, Isa. 43:13. Hengstenberg: "Jesus assumes to Himself the possession of the power which belongs to Jehovah."

Centuries later, Assyria and then Chaldea carried the nation into captivity. Again and again Jehovah sent them promises that He would deliver them by redemption. He called Himself "Jehovah, your Redeemer (Goel)," and added other titles such as "the Holy One of Israel" (Isa. 41:14; 43:14; 44:6, 24; 47:4; 48:17). In these and other prophecies, Jehovah reminds His earthly people that He has the sole "right of (their) redemption." At the appointed time He will redeem the nation for ever, by His exalted Servant, from their bondage to Gentile rule.

Isaiah calls Him "the Holy One of Israel" all through the book. This title appears twenty-five times there, and it belongs to the Lord who deals with His people in judgment and in mercy… The Holy One of Israel is Jehovah. He is the Redeemer of His people… This Holy One is the Creator… He appeared as the Holy One among His people, and they did not know Him but despised Him.

The name "Holy One of Israel" implies that the God of Israel is completely separated from all evil, for He is of purer eyes than to behold evil.

We might have expected Isaiah 43 to hold more warnings and judgments, but it opens instead on a note of grace… Faced with their evil, God falls back on His original purpose and His redeeming work. The people were looking for redemption by power, and that is the main theme here, as the verses that follow show. But soon the far deeper work of the suffering Servant will come before us — redemption by blood.

Turning from the nations to Israel, God encourages His people by saying, I am "your Redeemer", "your Holy One", "your King." For Israel's sake God had humbled the pride of Babylon, the centre of idolatry. He had done the same in the past, when He made a way for His people through the sea and overthrew the army of the Egyptians.

They were plundered because of the One they rebelled against. Because of Him they will also be delivered, pardoned, and blessed. Jehovah is the only God, and He is just as truly the only Saviour. It was for Israel's sake that He had sent them to Babylon and brought down their pride… Before that day dawns, we already know what is still a secret to them: the great salvation of His grace. By that grace alone He can deal righteously with the guilty. Christ, the cross, is the only key.

The things men are judged in are not always those they are judged for. Here men are judged in their wealth, because of the evil heart that sought that wealth apart from God. So was the merchant city of Chaldea, whose cry was in the ships. The thing judged is the idolatry, but the judgment reached their commerce.

Jehovah guarantees the redemption of Israel. He also gives again the proof of a true God: His predictions, entrusted to Israel as His witnesses. Here He plainly reveals the fall of Babylon and of the Chaldeans whose cry is in the ships (14). Once more He claims to be Israel's king, at a time when they had no king to show… To value prophecy only as evidence once it has come true is to take the place, without knowing it, of an unbeliever.

A contrast is made between Israel's God and the idols of the nations. The one great proof is that the God of Israel has the power to predict future events... God says all this to encourage the faithful remnant of Israel to trust in Jehovah. Isaiah had already announced the Babylonian captivity, and that gives these words special meaning.

Turning from the nations to Israel, God encourages His people by saying, I am "your Redeemer", "your Holy One", "your King." For Israel's sake God had humbled the pride of Babylon, the centre of idolatry. He had acted the same way in the past, when He made a way for His people through the sea and destroyed the Egyptian army.

The name "Holy One of Israel" implies that the God of Israel is completely separated from all evil, for His eyes are too pure to look at evil. This is also what the seraphim express who cry out in front of His throne: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts."

The prophet Isaiah develops this side of the truth strongly and in detail, and he ties it to this name of grace — "The Holy One of ISRAEL." God reveals Himself in this way despite all the rebellion of the people. Israel has been against Him; but He is for Israel. But to be this He must first be their Redeemer, and then the source of all the good that He will produce in them.

In Isaiah 43 we find the words, "This people I formed for myself"... "I created him for my glory"... "They will declare my praise." God had already made Himself known to them as "Redeemer" (see verse 14), having brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea. Their Redeemer was "the Holy One of Israel," their "Creator," and their "King."

The first government given to Israel was the highest conceivable — the direct government of God. They could say with truth, "The Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King." That they would prove unworthy of this supreme honour... could be expected. But that they rejected it was the lowest kind of ingratitude.

We cannot suppose that God would have spoken of Himself as King so much if it were not important for us to know Him in this character.

Isaiah calls Him "the Holy One of Israel" all through his book. The title appears twenty-five times, naming the Lord who deals with His people in both judgment and mercy. The Holy One of Israel is Jehovah; He is the Redeemer of His people... This Holy One is the Creator. "The Holy One has created it." ... He appeared as the Holy One among them and they did not know Him but despised Him... Isaiah predicts that at His second coming Israel will discover that the rejected and despised One is Jehovah. "Therefore my people shall know my name... that it is I who speak; here I am." [The older translation reads: "they shall know that I am He."] The words "I am He" (Ani Hu) are a divine Name. Our Lord used it when He said "I am" to the woman at the well and to the group in the garden of Gethsemane.

Turning from the nations to Israel, God encourages His people by saying, I am "your Redeemer", "your Holy One", "your King." For Israel's sake God had humbled the pride of Babylon, the centre of idolatry. He had done the same in the past, when He made a way for His people through the sea and destroyed the army of the Egyptians.

When they left Egypt, their first experience of God's power was the sea turned into dry ground before them. Pharaoh's army drowned in the very waters that had been a protecting wall to them on the right hand and on the left. There was only one way through the sea, lit by the glory in the cloud. They had only to walk in it and enjoy the deliverance God had worked, and in which they had had no hand whatever.

With God, past deliverances are always the guarantee of present hopes, because He is the same God and always acts with the same mind. Our faith is to recall them, and then we go out in this strength: that God is with us.

Let Israel remember and consider God's deliverances in the past. So let them trust God for the "new thing" about to take place in the future. In the past God made "a way in the sea" (16); in the future He will make "a way in the wilderness" for His people to return to their land. He will refresh and sustain them on their journey with rivers in the deserts, and protect them from "the beast of the field."

It is not only that the new should surpass the old, but Jehovah reveals it so that they may know it beforehand. If you value prophecy only as proof after it has come true, you take the place of an unbeliever without knowing it.

The sight of the Master of the elements making His way to them across the heaving waves must have been overwhelming to these men... Unannounced, He approached the little group, treading His way through the surge of the mighty waters. They were troubled at seeing Him like this, for as yet they had not understood who Jesus was. They did not realise that the sea was His; He had made it. Truly, His way was in the sanctuary, but equally His way was in the sea and His paths in the great waters (Ps. 77:13, 19).

Turning from the nations to Israel, God encourages His people by saying, I am "your Redeemer", "your Holy One", "your King." For Israel's sake God had humbled the pride of Babylon, the centre of idolatry. This matched what He had done long before, when He made a way for His people through the sea and overthrew the army of the Egyptians.

The waters that shielded God's people and delivered them were the instrument God used to destroy the enemy and his power completely. "Not one of them remained." … "And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen."

The magnificent chariots and cavalry were destroyed. The might and the glory of Egypt were gone, "and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore."

With God, past deliverances are always the guarantee of present hopes, because He is the same God and always acts with the same mind. Our faith is to remember them, and then we go forward in this strength — that God is with us.

Let Israel remember and consider God's deliverances in the past, and so trust God for the "new thing" about to take place in the future. In the past God made "a way in the sea" (verse 16). In the future He will make "a way in the wilderness" so His people can return to their land. He will refresh and sustain them on their journey with rivers in the deserts, and protect them from the wild beasts.

This still awaits fulfilment, because it goes far beyond any partial fulfilment in the past. … Jehovah will certainly stand by Israel. He will do it more openly in the future than in the brightest deliverance of the past.

He can look back, and see the power of the enemy broken, his sins gone, the judgment past. The judgment fell on Jesus, and He is risen, having exhausted the judgment, and destroyed the power of the enemy.

Isaiah 43 says of this people, "the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise," and, "whom I created for my glory." God had already made Himself known to them as their "Redeemer" (see verse 14). He had brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea. Their Redeemer was "the Holy One of Israel," their "Creator," and their "King."

It was for Israel's sake that He had sent them to Babylon and brought down their pride. The new things should make the old wonders fade from memory. God gives water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert for His chosen people, formed for Himself to declare His praise.

Let Israel remember what God did for them in the past. Then let them trust Him for the "new thing" still to come. In the past God made "a way in the sea." In the future He will make "a way in the wilderness" so His people can return to their land.

Later He gave them "water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert," to quench their thirst for the whole journey. That was no harder for the LORD than making a path through the mighty waters; but it was He Himself who did it.

As far as Isaiah is concerned, the new things predicted are connected with blessings on the earth. The new song they stir up comes from land and sea, from far-off islands, from the wilderness and the mountain tops. For heavenly blessing we have to go on to the New Testament.

The Lord Jesus Christ will bring in this golden age, and His work alone will do it. Let us fix that in our minds. Then we will not get drawn into present schemes to bring such an age about, whether political or otherwise.

As the chapter goes on, we come to the sad facts of their history. They show up man's failure despite all God's goodness. God looked for praise, but they brought Him only sins. "You have burdened Me with your sins," He says, "you have wearied Me with your iniquities" (verse 24). … Then He steps in again and does what no one else could do: "I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins" (verse 25).

Before that day dawns, we already know what is still a secret to them: the great salvation by His grace. That grace is the only way He can deal with the guilty like this and stay just. Christ, the cross, is the only key.

Let Israel remember and consider God's deliverances in the past, and so trust God for the "new thing" about to take place in the future. In the past God made "a way in the sea" (verse 16); in the future He will make "a way in the wilderness" for His people to return to their land. He will refresh and sustain them on their journey with rivers in the deserts, and protect them from "the beast of the field."

The new things should make the old wonders fade from memory. God gives water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert for His chosen people. He formed them for Himself, to declare His praise. God once disgraced the leaders and people of Israel because of their sins. Now, for His own sake, He will blot out their sins and justify them. That day has not come yet. But we already know the great salvation by His grace, which is still a secret to them. Only that salvation lets Him deal with the guilty and remain righteous. Christ, and the cross, is the only key.

Later we find that He gave them "water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert," to quench their thirst all along the journey. That was no harder for the LORD than making a path through the mighty waters. And it was He Himself who did it.

In an earlier chapter we have read what God's purpose for the people of Israel was: "The people whom I formed for Myself that they might declare My praise" (Isa. 43:21). They have never truly done so yet. But in that coming day they will, and they will become a centre of attraction on earth.

Isaiah ties the new things he predicts to blessings on the earth. The new song they stir up comes from land and sea, from far-off islands, from the wilderness and the mountain tops. For heavenly blessing we have to go on to the New Testament.

The Lord Jesus Christ will bring in this golden age, and His work alone will do it. Let us hold that clearly in mind. It will keep us from meddling with today's schemes to produce such an age, political or otherwise.

There is a path in this world that comes from God's will and is shaped by it. No sharp eye has ever spotted it. Christ walked it perfectly. God gives the believer a path through this world that has nothing to do with the world. Instead it shows the character of Christ. "I will make a way in the wilderness" (Isa. 43:19) — that is the Christian's path.

(Verses 18–21). Let Israel remember and consider God's deliverances in the past, and so trust God for the "new thing" about to take place in the future. In the past God made "a way in the sea" (16); in the future He will make "a way in the wilderness" for His people to return to their land. He will refresh and sustain them on their journey with rivers in the deserts. He will protect them from "the beast of the field." So, at last, they will "show forth" Jehovah's praise. That is the purpose they were formed for.

Later we find that He gave them "waters in the wilderness, rivers in the desert." That quenched their thirst along the way, the whole journey through. That was no harder for the LORD than making a path through the mighty waters. But it was He Himself who did it.

A related Hebrew word (preceded by bath, meaning the female), bath yaanah, "daughter of howling," is translated "owl" eight times, including Leviticus 11:16, Job 30:29 and Isaiah 43:20. It belongs to the unclean birds. It lives in waste places and has a wailing cry, and both fit the habits of the ostrich well. Some of these passages may seem to point to the owl, but the ostrich is doubtless meant in all of them.

On earth Israel are the people. They have their own special links with Christ as Son of Abraham and Son of David, and in Him the blessing of all the nations of the earth is secured. They were a family, a nation God chose out of the system of nations that make up the world. He chose them to be Jehovah's witnesses and the vessel of His blessing to all the families of the earth… Of Israel God has said, "The people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise" (Isaiah 43:21). No wonder such a people were the objects of Satan's deadly hostility.

New things should make the old wonders forgotten, when God gives water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert for His chosen people. They were formed for Himself to show forth His praise. It was God who once, for their sins, "profaned the princes" and people of Israel. It is He who for His own sake will blot out their transgressions and justify them. Before that day dawns, we already know what is still a secret to them: the great salvation by His grace. By that grace alone can He deal righteously with the guilty. Christ, the cross, is the only key.

Isaiah 43 is about Israel's relation to Jehovah. It looks not at their sins and their punishments, but at His unfailing faithfulness in sovereign grace. This still awaits fulfilment, since it goes far beyond any partial fulfilment in the past. Some make the fatal error of limiting prophecy to the near future. No wonder they cannot see or explain the truth, and must call the inspired vision sheer exaggeration, to say the least. But the fault lies in themselves alone.

In Isaiah 43 we find the words: "This people have I formed for myself." … "I have created him for my glory." … "They shall show forth my praise." God had already made Himself known to them as "Redeemer" (see verse 14). He had brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea. Their Redeemer was "the Holy One of Israel," their "Creator," and their "King."

We might have expected Isaiah 43 to contain further warnings and judgments. Instead it opens on a note of grace… In the presence of their evil God falls back upon His original purpose and His redeeming work. The people were looking for redemption by power, and that is the main theme here, as the verses that follow show. But soon we come to the far deeper work of the suffering Servant — redemption by blood.

God says: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; YOU are MINE." And again, "This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise." (Isa. 43:1, 21.) In the same way, after He had fully delivered the people of Israel from the land of Egypt, God sent them this message through Moses: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you TO MYSELF."

In the forty-third chapter we learn that sovereign grace establishes Israel in blessing (1–7). That grace will then make them a witness to the one true God before the nations, to show forth His praise (8–21). At the same time we learn that God is not indifferent to the sins of His people — sins that His grace will blot out (22–28).

An earlier chapter told us God's purpose for the people of Israel: "This people have I formed for Myself: they shall show forth My praise" (Isa. 43:21). They have never yet done this in any real sense. But in the coming day they will, and so they will become a centre of attraction on earth.

The LORD had formed this people for Himself, but the people had grown weary of their God. It was as if they had made Him serve with their sins. But now He pardons it all for His own glory. Glorious and striking testimony of Him who, in grace to the sinner when the sin becomes unbearable, puts away the sin instead of the sinner! This is what God has done through Christ.

God's purpose in redeeming them, and so caring for them, was that they should "show forth His praise" (verse 21). As a result, their God-inspired song expressed the need to prepare a "dwelling place" for the LORD. They sang it while the deliverance He had worked at the Red Sea was still fresh. He had become their "salvation," and He was their fathers' God. They felt that God must live among them.

You must read Isaiah 43:21 together with verse 22. God contrasts the purpose for which He formed Israel with the way they behaved. He speaks in sorrowful, touching words.

The LORD deals in sovereign grace with His people, and He will yet use them as a witness to the nations. But that does not mean He is indifferent to their failure... In their distress they had not called upon the LORD. Once settled in the land, they had grown weary of Him. They should have brought to Jehovah the sacrifices that speak of Christ to God. Instead they made God toil in His governing of them, and wearied Him with their sins. They were weary of God, and — to use human language — their evil ways wearied Him. Even so, for His own sake, God will blot out their transgressions and remember their sins no more.

God sought for praises, but they brought Him only sins. "You have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities" (verse 24). He had laid no hard burden on them in the sacrifices ordered for worship. But instead of giving with joy what He had commanded, they committed sins that cried out for judgment. So they defeated God's purpose in redeeming them for Himself.

God promises all this grace in striking terms. Even so, He does not gloss over the people's real state of rebellion and sin. He makes them face their fallen condition again. He promises to re-gather their offspring from the east and west, from north and south. Yet at that moment they had turned away from the Lord, as verse 22 says. They did not honour Him with offerings and sacrifices, but wearied Him with their iniquities. As their first father Adam had sinned, so they had followed in his footsteps. Because of this, God's own hand laid the curse and reproach upon them.

God brings in the principle of living righteousness, and so gives the awareness of sins. "For your name's sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great" (Psalm 25). By human reasoning this is strange — "for it is great." Men plead that their sin is small. But when God teaches us, we see how great sin is... My guilt is great: if You do not forgive me for Your own glory's sake, You cannot forgive me at all. In Isaiah 43:22 and the verses that follow, God makes Israel rest in absolute sovereign mercy.

Profession without practice, and service without devotion, will lead to weariness in the things of the Lord. And what people are weary of they will end up despising... Are there not many who were once active in the Lord's service, but who have now grown weary? ... They have grown weary. Weary of prayer, weary of reading the Bible, weary of remembering the Lord. Weary of preaching the gospel and weary of hearing it. Weary of the Lord's things and weary of the Lord's people... How deeply important it is to have Christ always before us, the true motive for all service...

Hebrew uses various words for the cow and the ox as "cattle." … Another word, tson, means small cattle, that is, sheep and goats. seh has the same meaning. Isaiah 7:25 translates it "lesser cattle," and Isaiah 43:23 "small cattle."

In chapter forty-three we learn that sovereign grace has established Israel in blessing (1–7). That same grace will make them a witness to the one true God before the nations, to show forth His praise (8–21). At the same time we learn that God is not indifferent to the sins of His people — sins that in grace He will blot out (22–28).

In their distress they had not called upon the LORD, and when settled in the land they had grown weary of the LORD. They did not bring to the LORD the sacrifices which speak of Christ to God. Instead they made God toil in His dealings with them as their Ruler, and wearied Him with their sins. They were weary of God, and God — to use human language — grew weary of their evil ways (22, 24).

God looked for praises, but they brought Him only sins. "You have made me serve with your sins," He says, "you have wearied Me with your iniquities" (verse 24). He had laid no hard burden on them in the sacrifices appointed for worship. But instead of gladly giving what He ordered, they committed sins that cried out for judgment. So they defeated God's purpose in redeeming them for Himself.

When I learn the extent of sin, then I learn the extent of love. … In Isaiah 43 God says, "You have wearied me with your iniquities." What then? "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for my own name's sake."

As He, the LORD, is the only God, so He is equally the only Saviour. … It was God Who once, for their sins, "profaned the princes" and people of Israel. It is He Who for His own sake will blot out their transgressions and justify them. Before that day dawns, we already know what is still a secret to them: the great salvation by His grace. By that grace alone He can deal righteously with the guilty. Christ, the cross, is the only key.

One of the ingredients of the holy anointing oil. The Hebrew word is qaneh, and three times it is translated 'calamus.' God lamented that Israel did not buy any sweet cane for Him (Isa. 43:24). And when they did bring it from afar, it was no longer sweet to Him because of their waywardness and sin (Jer. 6:20).

As the chapter goes on, we come to the sad facts of their history. They show man's failure despite all God's goodness. God looked for praises, but they brought Him only sins. He had laid no heavy burden on them in the sacrifices He appointed for worship. But instead of gladly giving what He asked, they committed sins that loudly called for judgment. So they defeated God's purpose in redeeming them for Himself.

The LORD deals in sovereign grace with His people, and He will yet use them as a witness to the nations. But that does not mean He is indifferent to their failure... In their distress they had not called on the LORD, and once settled in the land they had grown weary of Him. They did not bring the LORD the sacrifices that speak of Christ to God. Instead they made God toil in His governmental dealings with them, and wearied Him with their sins. They were weary of God, and God — to put it in human terms — was wearied with their evil ways.

Jehovah had formed this people for Himself, and the people had grown weary of their God; and, as it were, had made Him to serve with their sins. But now He pardons it all for His own glory. Glorious and striking testimony of Him who, in grace to the sinner when the sin becomes unbearable, puts away the sin instead of the sinner! This is what God has done through Christ.

But God does bear with these wicked men, as He said to Israel by the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, "you have made me serve with your sins, you have wearied me with your iniquities" (chap. 43:24).

Long ago Jehovah could say to Israel, "You have made Me to serve with your sins" (Isa. 43:24), and He may still say it to us. But His unchangeable love is equal to every demand made on it. Notice that all His disciples need this washing. So He invites us all today to keep putting our feet into His hands, so that He may cleanse them according to His thought of what cleanness is.

In Isaiah 43 God says, "You have wearied me with your iniquities." What then? "I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own name's sake."

God looked for praises, but only sins were brought before Him. "You have burdened me with your sins," He says, "you have wearied me with your iniquities" (verse 24). He had not laid a hard burden on them in the sacrifices appointed for worship. But instead of gladly bringing what was ordered, they committed sins that cried out for judgment, and so defeated God's purpose in redeeming them for Himself. Then He steps in again to do what only His direct action could do: "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember your sins" (verse 25).

"I am" is the Living, Unchanging, Self-existent One, necessarily independent of all others. So He acts from Himself, in that same necessary independence. Here is the ground of redemption: God acting from Himself, and therefore according to what He is Himself. He is showing forth Himself. He is showing the riches of His grace in His kindness toward us, glorifying Himself, letting the light of His glory shine. We reason from ourselves to God, and can make nothing of it. We are sinners, and can merit nothing. Why should He not punish sin? How could He do anything else? How blessed, then, to hear Him say, "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake." Who can deny His right to do this, if He chooses to do it and declares that He has done it?

"For your name's sake pardon my guilt, for it is great" (Psalm 25). By human thinking this is strange reasoning — "for it is great." People plead that it is a little sin. But when God teaches us, we see how great sin is. Another thing is that truth is in the man, because he feels the sin is great. He has given up any thought of justifying himself. My iniquity is great: if You do not forgive me for Your own glory's sake, You cannot do it at all. And He will not leave one spot of sin, for the comfort of my own heart or the glory of His name. In Isaiah 43:22 and following, Israel is made to rest in absolute sovereign mercy.

Exodus 32:31-33; Isaiah 43:25. — Grace makes righteousness rest on the obedience of Another. So now God does not blot out the sinner; He blots out his sins, however vile they may be. If I say I have sinned, and He may yet blot me out of His book, I am standing on law. But the moment I understand that Christ is my righteousness, the ground is changed altogether.

God takes away their sins. He says, "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember your sins" (Isaiah 43:25; 44:22). At the same time He reveals (chapter 53) the holy victim who would bear them, the Lord Jesus, on whom "the LORD has laid the iniquity of us all."

The healing of the paralysed man shows what He, the Son of Man, will do for His earthly people when He comes in glory. First, He will come and turn ungodliness away from Jacob. He will forgive their sins and remember them no more. And His people, the remnant of Israel, will break out singing. "Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love" (Micah 7:18). He will then say to His people, "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember your sins."

But before God can righteously remember their sins no more He must be put in remembrance. In other words, Israel must fully confess their sins before God can justify. So Jehovah has to say, "Put Me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified." … When Israel confesses their sin in this way and justifies God in His dealings with them, God will justify Israel, blot out their transgressions and remember their sin no more.

It is He who for His own sake will blot out their transgressions and justify them. Before that day dawns, we know the great salvation by His grace — still a secret to them. By that grace alone He can righteously deal with the guilty: Christ, the cross, is the only key.

It is of the greatest moral importance to see that, whenever we justify ourselves, we condemn God; and on the other hand, when we condemn ourselves, we justify God… The very moment the soul is broken down in true self-judgment, God rises before it in all the majesty of His grace as a Justifier… The greatest folly that anyone can be guilty of is to justify himself, since God must then impute sin. But the truest wisdom is to condemn oneself utterly, for in that case God becomes the Justifier.

Moses could deal with man as man, and bring water from the rock for them in answer to their murmurings; the prophets did the same — "Plead with me," "Put me in remembrance, let us plead together." But now all this was gone… We can never have peace until we get pardon through Christ on the cross. All the dealings of testimony in between fall entirely short of what we have in Christ on the cross, because they fall short of the ground of what man really is.

To confess our sins is simply to claim, as sinners, what belongs to sinners alone — and it is theirs beyond doubt, if they will claim it. God is "faithful" to hand over to them what He has provided for them, as soon as they make that claim.

God always justifies those who condemn themselves… God's forgiveness follows human confession with the greatest speed.

Some have objected to taking "your first father" (v. 27) in its plain sense: Adam was not the father of Israel in any special way, since he is the parent of all mankind. But the argument has no force. Israel alone had sure knowledge from God about the one who was the first man and head of the race. And he alone, who was created innocent, gives the full weight to the description — "sinned."

Kimchi notes that the Hebrew wording points to the future, or to what is always true, and not to past time. The LORD is always "profaning" the chiefs whose office made them holy and who betrayed His name. In the day that is coming, grace will work not only for them but in them. The LORD will work for His own sake, since man has failed in every way. The "interpreters," or mediators, of v. 27 who rebelled seem to be included in the "princes of the sanctuary."

The word of God shows us that responsibility is shared, or rather that it piles up. When God governs a whole era, we inherit the sin of those who went before us in a path of turning away from Him. "Your first father sinned," says Isaiah (Isa. 43:27)… The Jews suffer to this day for the sin they committed in the wilderness, for all the sins they have added since, and for the full measure of it, which they filled up by putting the Lord Jesus to death.

This does not stop each of their fathers from facing, at the judgment of the dead, the consequences of his own sin. But the nation — the whole system, the public object of God's government in the world — God has judged.

But God cannot righteously remember their sins no more until He is put in remembrance. In other words, Israel must confess their sins in full before God can justify them. So the LORD has to say, "Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right." Let Israel go back to their "first father" and confess the sin and rebellion against the LORD… When Israel confesses their sin in this way, and owns that God was right in His dealings with them, God will justify Israel, blot out their transgressions and remember their sin no more.

It was God who once, because of their sins, "profaned the princes" and people of Israel. It is He who for His own sake will blot out their transgressions and justify them. Before that day dawns, we already know what is still a secret to them: the great salvation by His grace. That grace is the only way He can deal with the guilty and stay righteous. Christ, the cross, is the only key.

It was God who once, for their sins, "profaned the princes" and people of Israel. It is He who for His own sake will blot out their transgressions and justify them. Before that day dawns, we already know what is still a secret to them: the great salvation by His grace. By that grace alone He can deal with the guilty and still be righteous. Christ, the cross, is the only key.

Kimchi notes that the wording points to the future, or to what is always true, and not to past time. The LORD is always "profaning" the chiefs who were responsible to be holy and who betrayed His name. In the day that is coming, grace will work not only for them but in them. The LORD will work for His own sake, since man has failed in every way. The "interpreters" or mediators of verse 27 who rebelled seem to be included in the "princes of the sanctuary."

But before God can remember their sins no more and still be righteous, Israel must put Him in remembrance. In other words, Israel must fully confess their sins before God can justify them. So the LORD has to say, "Put Me in remembrance; let us plead together; declare your case, that you may be justified." Let Israel go back to their "first father." Let them confess the sin and rebellion against the LORD. Let them confess that this is why God has profaned the princes of the sanctuary, handed Jacob over to utter destruction, and given Israel to reviling. When Israel confesses their sin in this way, they justify God in His dealings with them. Then God will justify Israel, blot out their transgressions, and remember their sin no more.

But Israel had not served Him. On the contrary, they had wearied Him with their sins. He forgave them for His own sake. He had profaned them, and given Jacob over to the curse. But now He would refresh and deliver, and He calls to Jacob His servant and His chosen to assure him of it. They would spring up like willows by the watercourses.

The purpose of the people's return concerned the building of the house of the Lord. Cyrus made this the subject of his proclamation, and God had raised him up for this very purpose (see Isaiah 43:28 and Isaiah 44). For this end God worked in the hearts of those who were made willing to return to the land of their fathers. They were all, as we read, those "whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem" (Ezra 1:5).

But once again, Isaiah 44 opens with a word of mercy. Despite his crookedness, Jacob was God's servant, chosen by Him. God is always true to His purpose and able to carry it out. This fact should bring comfort and strength to every believer today. The history of the church, like that of Israel, is one of failure and turning away from God's call and way. Yet God's purpose for us will stand as firmly as His purpose for Israel. God does not excuse the failure and sin, but in its presence His sovereign grace shines all the greater.

God's salvation is worthy of Himself. It springs from His own grace, and it can have no end short of His own glory. So God does more than blot out His people's transgressions for His Son's sake and refuse to remember their sins. He would also banish their fear and fill them to overflowing with His blessing.

Jehovah stated this high purpose for the offspring of Abraham to Moses at Mount Sinai. He said, "For it is to me that the people of Israel are servants. They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt" (Lev. 25:42, 55). Isaiah recalled this national bond in words Jehovah spoke through him: "But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend... saying to you, 'You are my servant'" (Isa. 41:8-9). So this favoured people acted as God's agents. They received and guarded His holy words. They showed the world the worship of the one and only God. They were the seat of Jehovah's government on earth among the nations.

The word "servant" does give the running key to all this part of Isaiah. Isaiah 42 describes a servant in whom God's soul delighted. God would put His Spirit on Him, and He would show forth judgment to the Gentiles. Everyone applies that well-known passage to Christ, and Israel is not mentioned in it... In general, in this part of the prophecy, Isaiah calls Israel God's "servant," though this description brings in Christ. From Isaiah 42:19 on, he calls Israel, "the people robbed and spoiled," Jehovah's servant again and again, in contrast with the worshippers of idols.

He chooses and calls. Israel are, again and again, "My elect"; "My chosen"; "Jacob, whom I have chosen"; "My servant, whom I have chosen." And He says, "I the Lord have called you"; "I have called you by your name"; "I have called him alone."

There is not the slightest need — indeed, not even room — to divert these very precious promises from Israel to the Gentile. Of course the wild olive graft enjoys all this now too. But the word of Jehovah is pledged and sure to Jacob His servant. Its stated aim is to banish the dread of the Jews, whose conscience accused them after their long departure from the true God.

Jehovah is not silent about His people's sins. That makes His declaration of full forgiveness and rich blessing, for His own sake, all the more wonderful... God's gifts and calling stand. God will judge Christendom, no less than Israel. But His mercy shall triumph yet.

The salvation of God is worthy of Himself, since it springs from His own grace, and can have no end short of His own glory. So God not only blots out His people's transgressions for His Son's sake and will not remember their sins. He would also banish their fear and fill them to overflowing with His blessing... The express object is to banish the dread of the conscience-stricken Jews after their long departure from the true God.

Israel He claims as His son, His firstborn. They owe their place among the nations to His adoption of them. They are born, so to speak, of His covenant with their fathers. They had not worked for this. What was said of their father Jacob is true of them too: "though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad — in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls" (Rom. 9:11).

On the other hand, Jehovah had carried Israel from their national birth to their old age: "Listen to me, house of Jacob... who have been borne by me from the belly, who have been carried from the womb: even to old age I am He, and to grey hairs I will carry you: I have made and I will bear; and I will carry and will deliver" (Isaiah 46:3-4).

At last the guilty people hear these words at the end of their time of trial: "Comfort, comfort my people." They are bowed beneath the judgment of God, chastened and repentant, yet near despair. And we hear this word "Fear not" repeated and multiplied in echo after echo. Fear not, my love will comfort you, I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will be with my servant. Have I not redeemed you? Am I not with you? Fear not, I will refresh you. Fear neither shame, nor insult, nor reproach. You are mine, and I have received you in grace. The whole later portion of Isaiah has this comforting word from God as a refrain.

A name given to Israel, probably meaning "upright ones"; others prefer "beloved of Jehovah." Jehovah was the "God of Jeshurun," and Moses was "king in Jeshurun."

Jeshurun means "the righteous one." Israel will bear the name "the righteous one" in that day, because her faith then will be counted as righteousness. What a contrast to the condition she was in at the time of her rejection of Christ!

Isaiah 44 opens with a word of mercy. Despite his crookedness Jacob was God's servant, chosen by Him, and God is always true to His purpose and able to carry it out. This fact should bring comfort and strength to every believer today. The history of the church, like that of Israel, is one of failure and departure from the divine call and way. Yet God's purpose for us will stand as securely as His purpose for Israel. God does not excuse the failure and sin, yet against it His sovereign grace stands out all the greater.

The salvation of God is worthy of Himself, since it springs from His own grace, and can have no end short of His own glory. So God does more than blot out His people's transgressions for His Son's sake and refuse to remember their sins. He also banishes their fear and fills them to overflowing with His blessing... The express purpose is to remove the dread from the consciences of the Jews after their long departure from the true God.

Despite his crookedness Jacob was God's servant, chosen by Him, and God is always true to His purpose and able to carry it out. This fact should bring comfort and strength to every believer today... The failure and sin is not excused, though in the presence of it the sovereign grace of God is magnified.

However great the failure of Israel and their princes... the sovereign choice of God remains, and it will bring the nation into blessing through a godly remnant... So the LORD will revive those in Israel who are conscious of their need and who grieve over their condition. From this remnant will come a seed and an offspring, through whom the LORD will establish the nation in blessing.

There is no need, nor even room, for turning these precious promises away from Israel and giving them to the nations. It is quite true, of course, that believers from the nations enjoy all this now too; but the word of the LORD is pledged and sure to Jacob His servant.

God will put His Spirit inside each of them (Ezek. 36:27), and pour it out on them as a whole nation (Isa. 44:3). This will happen when their time of trial ends, along with the desolation of the land caused by their sins (Isa. 32:15), never to return (Ezek. 39:29).

The Lord uses the word "water" when speaking to Nicodemus because the Jewish Scriptures, of which he was the teacher, spoke in this language of the coming blessing of the Jew... The promise will lead them later to say, "I am the Lord's." God will meet the need of the Israelite and supply the need of the land by the same hand, and by the fulfilment of the written prophecies about both.

Had he never read the promise made to Israel in one prophet? — "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring." (Isa. 44:3.)

Several places predict the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Israel (Isaiah 32:15; 44:3; Ezek. 39:29). Only Joel includes the Gentiles, and that in the term "all flesh." The Church would be made of souls from Jews and Gentiles, formed into one new man in Christ. So Joel's prophecy alone explained what men witnessed that morning.

One who is filled with the Spirit can be a vessel of blessing in a needy world, like floods upon the dry ground (Isaiah 44:3).

Israel and their princes failed badly, and that brought them under the curse and reproaches (Isa. 43:28). Yet God's sovereign choice still stands, and it will bring the nation into blessing through a godly remnant. The LORD says, "I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground." So He will revive those in Israel who know their need and grieve over their condition. From this remnant will come a seed, and an offspring, through whom the LORD will establish the nation in blessing. Instead of being like someone thirsty in a parched land, they will be like willows planted by the water courses.

The Israelites in captivity hung their harps on the willows. Even so, this tree does not always speak of sorrow. In Isaiah 44 we read, "I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants: and they shall spring up among the grass, like willows by flowing streams" (Isa. 44:3-4). Here the willow stands for prosperity that comes from God's blessing.

There is not the slightest need, and not even room, to move these very precious promises from Israel to the Gentiles. Of course the grafted-in wild olive branch enjoys all this now too. But the word of Jehovah stands pledged and sure to Jacob His servant. The clear aim here is to remove the fear of Jews whose consciences accuse them, after their long turning away from the true God.

Isaiah says the nation will lie desolate "until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field" (Isa. 32:15). This is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It is to end the desolation of Jerusalem, and millennial blessings will follow it. So too Jehovah says — "I will pour My Spirit upon your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants" (Isa. 44:3).

This outpouring of the Spirit does not happen only at the start of the Millennium. He works in the souls of the remnant even before Christ comes in judgment. And after that time His presence with the nation will never cease.

As God pleads with Israel, He adds the promise of the Spirit. That promise revives them and encourages them to confess His name and glory in Him. So it becomes, once again, the means of defying the idols, which are worthless, along with all their followers.

How much of this blessing we know in experience depends largely on how far we are subject to the Spirit. Still, anyone filled with the Spirit can be a vessel of blessing in a needy world, like floods on the dry ground (Isaiah 44:3).

Israel and their princes failed greatly, and that failure brought them under the curse and reproaches (Isaiah 43:28). Yet the sovereign choice of God remains, and it will bring the nation into blessing through a godly remnant. "For," says the LORD, "I will pour water on the thirsty, and floods on the dry ground." So the LORD will revive those in Israel who are conscious of their need and who grieve over their condition. From this remnant will come a seed, and an offspring, through whom the LORD will establish the nation in blessing. In that day each will gladly own the LORD, and, without shame or reproach, confess to being an Israelite.

The salvation of God is worthy of Himself, since it springs from His own grace, and it can have no end short of His own glory. So God does not only blot out His people's transgressions for His Son's sake and refuse to remember their sins. He would also banish their fear and fill them to overflowing with His blessing.

There is not the slightest need, nor even room, for turning these very precious promises away from Israel to the Gentiles. It is quite true, of course, that the wild olive branch grafted in enjoys all this now too; but the word of Jehovah is pledged and sure to Jacob His servant.

They had no news to bring Him that anyone had echoed the joy of the prophet, "To us a child is born, to us a son is given". They had never heard, through their towns and villages, one saying, "I am the LORD's," another calling on the name of Jacob, and another writing on his hand, "The LORD's," and naming himself by the name of Israel (Isaiah 44:5). His hand was as strong for them now as when He rode with His chariots of salvation through the sea and covered the skies over Egypt with sackcloth. But there was no one (Isaiah 50:1-2).

It was not a question of benefit, but of relationship. It was not "What do you have," but "Who are you." For the bride is called by the name of the bridegroom... These are fitting words to describe the changed relationship of one who until recently was called Ruth the Moabitess.

Do not debate within yourselves when you will declare yourselves; do it at once and with decision. Make the plunge, and trust God for the outcome. I know by experience that an open, bold confession of being Christ's is more than half the struggle over. I say this as one who knows. Suppose a man is brought, in the strength of the Lord, to say to his companions and friends, "I am Christ's, and I must act for Him." He will not suffer what others must feel, who creep along fearful and afraid to own the One they want to serve.

Restored Israel will serve as a witness to Jehovah, the King of Israel, who has redeemed the nation from the power of the enemy. They will testify that God is the first and the last — the One who is before all, and who will remain when men have passed away.

Jehovah redeemed the nation of Israel out of Egypt both by purchase and by power. As their Goel, He brought them out of slavery "with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment." Centuries later, enemies carried the nation into captivity — first Assyria, then Babylon. Again and again Jehovah sent them promises that He would deliver them by redemption, calling Himself "Jehovah, your Redeemer (Goel)"… In these and other prophecies, Jehovah reminds His people on earth that He alone holds the "right of (their) redemption."

"I am the first and the last." This is a divine title through and through. Jehovah claims it three times, and only for Himself, in the prophecy of Isaiah, and Christ claims it three times in the book of Revelation. The title tells us that He exists of Himself, for ever, and so must be supreme over all. As the "FIRST," He is before all and above all, and everything comes from Him. As the "LAST," He is after all, and everything finds its centre in Him. He is the source and sum of all creation.

We find in this opening section a great deal of the majesty and glory of the God of Israel. Here Israel's God stands in contrast to the idols of the nations. The one great proof put forward is that the God of Israel has the power to foretell future events… Isaiah had already announced the Babylonian captivity, so this proof carries special weight. Again and again Jehovah speaks in these chapters of Himself and His power to forgive, to save and to deliver.

If Israel were witnesses of the true God, Jehovah, the idols were witnesses too. Their powerlessness testified against the foolish people who worshipped them.

These last two titles come from Isaiah: "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god." No words could state the truth about the Person of our blessed Lord more plainly, or claim His true and proper Deity more clearly. Once their eyes have been opened, the tried and persecuted remnant of the last days will grasp what this means at once. They will learn from it that the Messiah they long to see is Jehovah Elohim, their Lord and their God.

John said, "When I saw HIM I fell at His feet as dead." Who was it he saw shining in such supreme judicial majesty? The One who loved us and died for us! Notice what He says to John as He lays His right hand on him: "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades." This is Jesus — our Lord, our Saviour. This is HE.

The first eight verses of this chapter breathe out grace in no uncertain terms. God declares His own sovereignty. He is the First and He is the Last. Beside Him there is no "God," or "Rock," as the margin reads. So He will discipline them under His holy government. Yet in the end He will bless them, according to His original purpose.

Who knows the future but God! With us there is a yesterday, a today, and a tomorrow. But with God the most distant future is as vivid and well known as the present. He is the great I AM (Ex. 3:14), "who calls into existence the things that do not exist" (Rom. 4:17). The LORD had a dispute with Israel about the idols they loved so foolishly. In it He challenges the gods of the nations to declare "things to come." That way they would prove themselves to be gods indeed.

Who among the idols can declare the end from the beginning? Idols can neither show, nor speak, nor hear.

The LORD will use restored Israel as a witness to Himself. He is the King of Israel, and He has redeemed the nation from the power of the enemy. They will witness that God is the first and the last — the One who is before all and will remain though men pass away. He alone can declare the things to come. If there are those who think otherwise, let them declare to Israel the things to come. But Israel need not fear, for they are God's witness that there is no other God but the LORD.

Isaiah names Cyrus in chapters 44 and 45. His own name stood there two or three hundred years before he was born. Isaiah also names him as the one who was to build the temple at Jerusalem. We cannot say it was so. But we may suggest that he heard of this amazing fact from some of the captives. If he did, was that not how the Lord stirred up his spirit?

"I am the first and the last." This is essentially a divine title. The LORD claims it three times exclusively for Himself in the prophecy of Isaiah (Isa. 41:4; Isa. 44:6; Isa. 48:12), and Christ claims it in the same way three times in Revelation (Rev. 1:17; Rev. 2:8; Rev. 22:13). Applying this divine title to the Son of Man is absolute proof of His Deity. As the "FIRST," He is before all, and above all, and from Him all proceed. As the "LAST," He is after all, and in Him all things centre.

As Isaiah tells us (Isaiah 41, 42, 44 – 48), it was the privilege of God's people to know both the former things and the new things to come. The nations around them were blind.

The first eight verses of this chapter breathe out that grace in no uncertain terms. They declare the sovereignty of God, for He is the First and He is the Last, and beside Him there is no "God," or "Rock," as the margin reads. So He will chastise in His holy government, yet in the end He will bless according to His original purpose.

Then she said, "neither is there any rock like our God." I recommend Deuteronomy 32 to you. See how often that chapter calls God a Rock. Then think of the other rocks — the rocks of the nations, their idols, their support. Think of the tremendous contrast between God and them... "Our God," she said. This showed some sense of relationship in her soul. She thought of the stability of God, the permanency of God. Nobody could overthrow God, nothing could overthrow God. He is able in His power to bring about what He desires.

Here we find a contrast between Israel's God and the idols of the nations. The one great proof put forward is that the God of Israel has the power to predict future events... All this is spoken to encourage the faithful remnant of Israel to trust in Jehovah.

They will witness that God is the first and the last — the One who is before all and will remain though men pass away. He alone can declare the things to come. If there are those who think otherwise, let them declare to Israel the things to come. But Israel need not fear, for they are God's witness that there is no other God but Jehovah.

God chose Israel as a nation to keep the truth that Jehovah is God and the truth of Jehovah's law. Israel was to testify to these great truths among other nations, who worshipped idols. "You are my witnesses, declares the LORD, that I am God" (Isa. 43:10, 12; Isa. 44:8). But they broke this trust, and everyone could see they were false witnesses. They openly worshipped idols, copying the nations around them, and they dishonoured the law. Israel failed as a witness for the truth because of their evil heart of unbelief. At every one of those points their Messiah was perfect... one of His titles which expresses His fitness is that of the Faithful and True Witness (Rev. 1:5; Rev. 3:14).

In the coming day we are speaking of, Israel will witness to the Lord... Over and over again the Holy Spirit repeats this all-important fact in chapters 43 to 46. No fewer than ten times He states it with intensity: There is none else! Israel's God is the only God!... She can therefore witness not only against idols, but to the only God.

"I am the first and the last." This is essentially a divine title. In the prophecy of Isaiah, Jehovah claims it three times for Himself alone (Isa. 41:4; Isa. 44:6; Isa. 48:12). Christ claims it in the same way three times in this book (Rev. 1:17; Rev. 2:8; Rev. 22:13). The application of this Jehovah title to the Son of Man is absolute proof of His Deity... What cause for fear is there then?... Here is a rock of strength for weary feet and for life's heaviest burdens.

Next comes a devastating exposure of idolatry. If Israel were witnesses to the true God, Jehovah, the idols themselves were witnesses too. Their powerlessness testified against the foolish people who worshipped them.

But if Israel witnesses to God, the idolaters become their own witness to how empty their idols are. Those who make the idols are all of them nothing, and their images are "profitable for nothing." They "neither see nor know," and their powerlessness brings shame on their makers.

Idols are set against Jehovah here, but they cannot be compared with the true God for a moment. Jehovah is the Maker; an idol has to be made. Once made, instead of carrying others it has to be carried. Once set in its place it cannot move. It cannot answer a cry for help, and it cannot save anyone from trouble.

The folly and absurdity of such doings should have been plain to all the people, but it was not. How was it that their eyes were closed and their understanding darkened? The trouble lay in their hearts, which were deceived. So they could not stop and see the lie in their own "right hand." The position today is just the same. Why do so many take up the false religious cults that are everywhere? The trouble lies not so much in their intellects as in their hearts.

What can these senseless gods do but drag the men who bow before them down until they are as senseless as the idols? And that is the just penalty on people who can abandon God to follow what are plainly their own inventions.

You do not need to bow down to a block of wood or a stone to be an idolater. Whatever commands the heart is an idol. Giving the heart to that thing is idolatry, and the person who gives it is an idolater. That is the plain, solemn truth, however unwelcome it is to the proud human heart. Take that one great, universal sin of "covetousness." What does the inspired apostle call it? He calls it "idolatry." How many hearts are commanded by money! How many worshipers bow down before the idol of gold!

Even when a stronger mind here and there sees such folly and despises it, that man only becomes an unbeliever and denies God altogether. He is still an idolater. He does not bow down to a carved image, but he does bow down to his own mind, and he is just as much a slave of sin.

An idol is "a block of wood!" "An abomination!" (Isa. 44:19). But Israel knows God, the God who has "blotted out as a thick cloud" her transgressions (Isa. 44:22); so "Sing, O heavens … the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel" (v. 23).

Next comes a devastating exposure of idolatry. If Israel were witnesses to the true God, Jehovah, then the idols were witnesses too. Their powerlessness testified against the foolish people who worshipped them.

But if Israel witnesses to God, then the idolaters become their own witness. They testify to the emptiness of their idols. Those who make idols are "nothing" themselves, and their images are "profitable for nothing." They "neither see nor know," and their helplessness brings shame on their makers. The smith uses his own strength to shape a metal god, and the carpenter shapes a wooden one.

"All the gods of the peoples are idols" — or, as the word means, "nothings" — "but Jehovah made the heavens."

The root of all idolatry is self-will. It is making a god of our own. It is starting with self and shaping a god — and it need not be out of silver, or made with our hands. In this enlightened age you would say there is little danger of people shaping gods with their hands. But there is a tool more cunning and skilful than the hands: the mind of man. Wherever self takes the place of the will of God, you will find the human mind at work shaping a god to please itself. And it does this in the name of the Lord, in the name of the true God.

Such is the condition of man. He feels he must have a god, but he is so ignorant of the true God that he makes one for himself. The carpenter, with rule and compass, shapes his god "into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man." So it is the image of himself that he worships.

The folly and absurdity of such doings should have been plain to all the people, but it was not. How was it that their eyes were closed and their understanding darkened? The trouble lay in their hearts, which were deceived. So they were unable to consider and see the lie in their "right hand." The position today is just the same. Why do so many take up the mistaken religious movements that abound? The trouble lies not so much in their minds as in their hearts.

Israel sees how helpless idols are, and abandons them for the true God. An idol is "a block of wood!" "An abomination!" (Isaiah 44:19). But Israel knows God, the God who has blotted out her transgressions "like a cloud" (Isaiah 44:22).

In the first division of this portion of Isaiah, we find references to idols in every chapter, and this in connection with Israel (see Isaiah 40:18–25; 41:21–29; 42:17; 43:12; 44:9–20; 45:16; 46:1–7; 47:12–15; 48:5). So it becomes clear that the leading subject is God's controversy with Israel about their idolatry.

Next follows a withering exposure of idolatry. If Israel were witnesses of the true God, Jehovah, then the idols were witnesses too. Their powerlessness testified against the foolish people who worshipped them.

But if Israel witnesses to God, the idolaters become their own witness to the emptiness of their idols. Those who make the idols are "all of them vanity," and their images "profitable for nothing." They "see not, nor know," and their powerlessness brings shame to their makers. The smith by his own strength fashions a metal god, and the carpenter a wooden idol "in the figure of a man." To do this he cuts down the trees of the forest. With part of the wood he makes a fire to warm himself, with part he bakes his bread, and with part he makes a carved image, and he bows down and worships it.

Such is the condition of man. He feels the need of having a god, but is so ignorant of the true God that he makes one for himself. The carpenter, with rule and compass, fashions his god "into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man." So it is the image of himself that he worships.

The idol gives no answer to its worshipper by word or look. No hand of its own reaches out to help, no foot moves to bring relief, and no sound comes from its idle throat. What can these senseless deities do but drag the men who bow before them down into beings as senseless? And this is the just penalty on those who can forsake God to follow, plainly, their own inventions.

The folly and absurdity of such doings should have been plain to all the people, but it was not. How was it that their eyes were closed and their understanding darkened? The trouble lay in their hearts, which were deceived. So they were unable to consider and discern the lie in their right hand. The position today is just the same. Why do so many take up the mistaken religious cults that abound? The trouble lies not so much in their intellects as in their hearts. It is true for them as for Israel of old that "a deluded heart has led him astray."

The terrible effect of such folly is to darken the understanding and harden the heart. Deceived by the imaginations of their own heart, they cannot discern the lie, nor deliver their souls from its effect.

From the book of Revelation we know that in the last days another Babylon will appear on the stage as a final unfolding of idolatry. All the prophets brand this idolatry as a shameful stain (see Isaiah 44:9–20; Jeremiah 2:27; 3:9, and others).

A lifeless block of wood that man forms cannot be, or properly represent, the God who made him and all things.

In the first part of this section of Isaiah, we find references to idols in every chapter, and always in connection with Israel (see Isa. 40:18–25; Isa. 41:21–29; Isa. 42:17; Isa. 43:12; Isa. 44:9–20; Isa. 45:16; Isa. 46:1–7; Isa. 47:12–15; Isa. 48:5). So it becomes clear that the leading subject is God's controversy with Israel about their idolatry.

A withering exposure of idolatry follows. If Israel were witnesses to the true God, Jehovah, then the idols were witnesses too. Their powerlessness testified against the foolish people who worshipped them.

Those who make the idols are "nothing," and their images "do not profit." They "neither see nor know," and their helplessness brings shame to their makers. The smith fashions a metal god by his own strength, and the carpenter shapes a wooden idol "into the figure of a man."

Such is the idol always, in all its forms, really beneath those who form it.

Such is the condition of man. He feels the need of having a god, but he is so ignorant of the true God that he makes one for himself. The carpenter, with rule and compass, fashions his god into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man. So it is the image of himself that he worships.

The folly and absurdity of such doings should have been plain to all the people, but it was not. How was it that their eyes were closed and their understanding darkened? The trouble lay in their hearts, which were deceived. So they were unable to consider and discern the lie in their "right hand." The position today is just the same. Why do so many take up the false religious cults that abound? The trouble lies not so much in their intellects as in their hearts. It is true for them, as for Israel long ago, that "a deluded heart has led him astray."

How subtle this power is! Idolatry is the universal sin of the world. No nation is free. There is no place where Satan, as the god of this world, has not in some form made himself the object of man's worship — more secretly than openly in most places. But whether the idol is religious forms, or the power, riches and pleasures of the world, or a material image, the effect is the same. Corruption keeps pace with the world's idolatry, in religious forms, in intellectual forms, and in lower ones. And its constant companions always come with it — degradation and violence.

You can contrast idols with Jehovah, but you cannot compare them with the true God for a moment. Jehovah is the Maker; an idol has to be made. Once it is made, it cannot carry others — others have to carry it. Set in its place, it cannot move. It cannot answer the cry of need, and it cannot save anyone from trouble.

Next follows a withering exposure of idolatry. If Israel were witnesses of the true God, Jehovah, then the idols testified against their own foolish worshippers. Their powerlessness was the evidence.

But if Israel witnesses to God, the idolaters become their own witness to the emptiness of their idols. Those who make the idols are "all of them vanity," and their images "profitable for nothing." They "neither see nor know." Their helplessness brings shame to their makers.

The passage describes the work of smith and carpenter. The result is an image built "with the beauty of a man," which a man can keep in the house. Then our thoughts turn to the work of planting trees, or cutting them down. Then comes the absurdity. A man uses some of the wood to warm himself, or to bake bread and roast meat. Out of what is left he fashions a "god," and falls down before it asking for deliverance!

Such is man's condition. He feels the need of having a god, but is so ignorant of the true God that he makes one for himself. The carpenter, with rule and compass, fashions his god "into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man." So it is the image of himself that he worships.

Man has projected an imaginary being — the creation of his own mind, the personification of the qualities he finds in himself. He has clothed it with power beyond his own, has made it divine, and has worshipped it. In result he has worshipped himself, or a demon behind himself. Even if there were no surer and better way, we could still learn something of what man is from the gods he has made and worshipped.

The root of all idolatry is self-will. It is making a god of our own. It is starting with self and fashioning a god, not necessarily out of silver, and not necessarily with our hands. In this enlightened age you would say there is very little danger of people fashioning gods with their hands. Ah, but there is a tool more cunning and skilful than the hands, and that is the intellect of man. Wherever self takes the place of the will of God, you will find the human mind at work, fashioning a god to please itself. And it does this in the name of the Lord, in the name of the true God.

The terrible effect of such folly is to darken the understanding and harden the heart. Their own imaginations deceive them, so they cannot see the lie or free their souls from its effect.

But at the time when Isaiah wrote there was among the people this persistent tendency to turn to their idols and false gods. So once more, in verses 9-20 of our chapter, God reasons with the people about their folly in this matter. The passage describes the work of the blacksmith and the carpenter, and the result is an image "according to the beauty of a man," which can be kept in the house. Then our thoughts turn to the work of planting trees, or cutting them down. Then comes the absurdity of using some of the wood for warming oneself, or baking bread and roasting meat. Then out of what is left the man fashions a "god," falls down before it, and asks for deliverance!

The beautiful tall tree that Solomon used widely in building the temple and his palaces. It is called 'cedar' from the firmness of its roots; its wood is very durable and fragrant. It served for beams, pillars and masts, and for carved images. 1 Kings 6:9-10; Isa. 44:14; Ezek. 27:5.

The particular tree pointed out by the Hebrew word oren is not known. Isa. 44:14. The Septuagint and the Vulgate call it 'pine.'

Scripture shows the folly of a man cutting down a tree. He burns part of it to cook his food and to warm himself, and yet makes a god of the rest and worships it (Isa. 44:14-17). And yet Israel, to whom God had revealed Himself, not only as Creator but in redemption, adopted these wicked follies.

Such is the condition of man. He feels the need of having a god, but is so ignorant of the true God that he makes one for himself. The carpenter, with rule and compass, fashions his god "after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man." So it is the image of himself that he worships.

The folly and absurdity of such doings should have been plain to all the people, but it was not. How was it that their eyes were closed and their understanding darkened? The trouble lay in their hearts, which were deceived... The position today is just the same. Why do so many take up the mistaken religious cults that abound? The trouble lies not so much in their intellects as in their hearts.

Man alone of the creatures on earth is God's offspring. If that is so, how can anyone hold that the divine is like a work of man's skill and imagination in gold, silver, or stone? "We ought not" so to think, he says graciously, not forgetting that Israel too had to bear the sterner irony of Isaiah (Isa. 44:9-20). A lifeless block of wood that man forms cannot be, or properly represent, the God who made him and all things.

If Israel witnesses to God, the idol worshippers become their own witness to how worthless their idols are. Those who make the idols are all of them worthless, and their images are good for nothing. They do not see or know, and their helplessness brings shame on their makers. The smith uses his own strength to shape a metal god, and the carpenter shapes a wooden idol in the figure of a man. To do this he cuts down the trees of the forest. With part of the wood he makes a fire to warm himself. With part he bakes his bread. And with part he makes a carved image, and he bows down and worships it.

Then our thoughts turn to the work of planting trees, or cutting them down. Then comes the absurdity of using some of the wood to warm yourself, or to bake bread and roast meat. And out of the rest a man makes a "god," falls down before it, and asks it to deliver him!

Such is the condition of man. He feels he must have a god, but he is so ignorant of the true God that he makes one for himself. The carpenter, with ruler and compass, shapes his god into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man. So it is the image of himself that he worships.

Human nature shows itself in the blindness and folly of its religious side. It will make a god rather than have none, and it cannot judge the worth of a god made this way… No folly seems more complete than bowing down to the work of your own hands. Yet here we see what its power really is. Not wanting to keep God in his knowledge, man makes Him what he wishes Him to be — the reflection of his own passions and desires. These already control him, and in his idol he hands himself over to them.

The folly and absurdity of such doings should have been plain to all the people, but it was not. Why were their eyes closed and their minds dark? The trouble lay in their hearts, which were deceived. So they could not consider and discern the lie in their "right hand." The position today is just the same. Why do so many take up the mistaken religious cults that abound? The trouble lies not so much in their intellects as in their hearts.

The root of all idolatry is self-will; it is making a god of our own. It starts with self and shapes a god — not always out of silver, and not always with our hands… there is a tool more clever and skilful than the hands, and that is the human mind. Wherever a man puts self in the place of God's will, you will find that mind busy shaping a god to please itself. And it does so in the name of the Lord, in the name of the true God.

Then think of the work of planting trees, or cutting them down. Then comes the absurdity. A man uses some of the wood to warm himself, or to bake bread and roast meat. Out of the rest he shapes a "god," falls down before it, and asks it to save him!

He feels he must have a god, but he knows so little of the true God that he makes one for himself. The carpenter, with ruler and compass, shapes his god to look like a man, with the beauty of a man. So he worships an image of himself.

Next comes a devastating exposure of idolatry. If Israel were witnesses of the true God, Jehovah, then the idols were witnesses too: their powerlessness testified against the foolish people who worshipped them.

The folly and absurdity of such doings should have been plain to all the people, but it was not. Why were their eyes closed and their understanding dark? The trouble lay in their deceived hearts... It is just the same today. Why do so many take up the false religious cults that are everywhere? The trouble lies not so much in their minds as in their hearts. It is true for them, as for Israel long ago, that "a deceived heart has turned him aside."

The terrible effect of such folly is to darken the understanding and harden the heart. Deceived by the imaginations of their own heart, they cannot see the lie, and they cannot free their souls from its effect.

Idolatry is the universal sin of the world. No nation is free... But whether the idol is religious forms, or the power, riches and pleasures of the world, or a physical image, the effect is the same.

There are idols we cannot see, and they rule the heart and the will as much as, or more than, idols of gold, silver or stone, carved by man's art and imagination. What are ease, pleasure, power and honour to men of every kind, high or low? What is Mammon — money — but the lowest of false gods?... Who can deliver you from this evil inside you except the same One Whom God raised from among the dead, Jesus the Deliverer from the wrath to come?

What follows is a crushing exposure of idolatry. If Israel were witnesses of the true God, Jehovah, then the idols were witnesses too. They gave their evidence by their powerlessness against the foolish people who worshipped them.

The folly and absurdity of such doings should have been plain to all the people, but it was not. How was it that their eyes were closed and their understanding darkened? The trouble lay in their hearts, which were deceived. So they could not think it through, or see the lie in their "right hand." The position today is just the same. Why do so many take up the erroneous religious cults that abound? The trouble lies not so much in their intellects as in their hearts.

The terrible effect of such folly is to darken the understanding and harden the heart. Deceived by the imaginations of their own heart, they cannot discern the lie, nor deliver their souls from its effect.

This has always been so, and it will be so still, under this blindness sent as a judgment. Worldly men ignore the clearest and most sensible ways of serving their own interests. Religious men wander from the plainest instructions of the truth. We are not to wonder at anything. The very idols which men have taken as spoils of war, they have afterwards bowed down to as their gods (2 Chron. 25:14). There is no folly, no unbelievable blindness of mind, that the deluded heart of man will not show. But this blindness is never sent to visit a man until he has justly laid himself open to judgment.

What were these idol-images? Simply matter — silver and gold — shaped by men's hands. They have a mouth and eyes, yet the idol gives no response to his worshiper by word or look. He realizes nothing: the voice that cries to him he does not hear, the smell of incense or of sacrifice he does not perceive. No hand can he stretch out to help, no foot of his will stir to bring relief. What can these senseless deities do but degrade the men who bow before them into beings as senseless? And this is the just penalty on those who can forsake God to follow their own inventions.

Israel is called to remember this: these idolaters form their own gods, but Jehovah has formed His people to serve Him. Having formed them, He will not forget them. He will blot out their sins, redeem them from the power of the enemy, and glorify Himself in Israel.

If Israel witnesses to God, the idolaters become their own witness to the emptiness of their idols. Those who make idols are "all of them vanity." Their images are "profitable for nothing." They "do not see, nor know," and their helplessness brings shame on their makers.

Then our thoughts turn to the work of planting trees, or cutting them down. Then comes the absurdity. A man uses some of the wood to warm himself, or to bake bread and roast meat. Out of the rest he makes a "god," falls down before it, and asks it to deliver him!

The word 'abomination' is used in the Old Testament for any wrongdoing as a holy God sees it. It also marks out what was unfit to bring into the service of God… But idolatry was the special thing declared to be an abomination to the Lord. The idols themselves carry this name: 2 Kings 23:13; Isaiah 44:19.

The folly and absurdity of such doings should have been plain to all the people, but it was not. How was it that their eyes were closed and their understanding darkened? The trouble lay in their hearts, which were deceived. So they could not consider or discern the lie in their "right hand." The position today is just the same. Why do so many take up the mistaken religious cults that abound? The trouble lies not so much in their intellects as in their hearts.

Human nature shows itself here in the blindness and folly of its religious side. It will make a god rather than not have one, and it cannot judge the value of a god made that way… Man does not like to keep God in his knowledge, so he makes Him what he wishes Him to be — the reflection of his own passions and desires. These desires already control him, and in his idol he simply gives way to their control.

This is man's condition. He feels the need of having a god, but is so ignorant of the true God that he makes one for himself. The carpenter, with ruler and compass, shapes his god "after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man." So it is the image of himself that he worships.

Are we better than Israel? Not at all. We have brighter light and higher privileges. But in ourselves we are the same material, with the same capabilities and the same tendencies as they had. Our idolatry may take a different shape from theirs. But idolatry is idolatry, whatever the shape. The higher our privileges, the greater our sin.

Israel sees how powerless idols are, and gives them up for the true God. An idol is "a block of wood!" "An abomination!" (Isaiah 44:19). But Israel knows God, the God who has "blotted out as a thick cloud" her transgressions (Isaiah 44:22).

After this richest encouragement to His undeserving people (Isaiah 44:1-5), He again takes up His case against idols. He sets out the folly as well as the wickedness of a man making his own object of worship (6-20). And He makes a most touching appeal to Israel, formed to be His servant.

To eat ashes expresses great sorrow (Ps. 102:9). To be reduced to ashes is a picture of complete destruction (Ezek. 28:18; Malachi 4:3). To feed on them tells of the empty things that can occupy the soul (Isa. 44:20).

The folly and absurdity of such doings should have been plain to all the people, but it was not. How was it that their eyes were closed and their understanding darkened? The trouble lay in their hearts, which were deceived. So they could not weigh it up and see the lie in their "right hand." The position today is just the same. Why do so many take up the false religious cults that are all around us? The trouble lies not so much in their minds as in their hearts.

The terrible effect of such folly is to darken the understanding and harden the heart. Deceived by the imaginings of their own heart, they cannot see the lie. And they cannot free their souls from its effect.

They will have what their soul was craving, but they will find it to be their plague. Their own king will be their sorrow and ruin, as all our own things are, if we insist on following them and having them. "He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray." What but ashes — sorrow and death — does the work of our own hands gather for us?

As long as a soul is seeking rest and satisfaction in a world without Christ, he is bound to be disappointed. There is nothing there to meet the hunger of the soul formed by God for higher things.

The word of God is still the means by which we walk in the holiest paths. The natural man, whether he claims to be religious or not, never applies the word to himself. He never suspects that there may be a lie in his right hand.

God calls Israel to remember this: unlike these idolaters who form their own gods, the Lord has formed His people to serve Him. Having formed them He will not forget them.

The folly and absurdity of such doings should have been plain to all the people, but it was not. How was it that their eyes were closed and their understanding darkened? The trouble lay in their hearts, which were deceived… The position today is just the same. Why do so many take up the mistaken religious cults that abound? The trouble lies not so much in their intellects as in their hearts.

This book first views Israel as the servant of the Lord (see Isaiah 41:8-9; 44:21, 26; 45:4). But He then introduces Messiah as His Servant, saying in Isaiah 42:1, "Behold my servant, whom I uphold". Matthew 12 shows that this speaks of Christ, for He is the One in whom God finds His delight. Israel failed as God's servant. There Messiah showed His perfections, in obedience and in carrying out all His will.

God will glorify His law and ways. Yet Israel is oppressed, for he has sinned. But God has formed him for Himself. He need not fear; He will deliver. Despite all his failure, he is not to think of the old things, but to count on this faithfulness of delivering grace.

In the previous passages, God speaks by the national name of the Lord. Three times over He says of Israel as a nation that He has redeemed it. Yet the accepted interpretation says that He deceived Israel with false hopes. It says that when He spoke of Israel, He really meant something entirely different! … Has the church ever been scattered to the ends of the earth? Or is the church ever spoken of as having been estranged from God and coming back forgiven?

Good things have been spoken concerning Israel, and the name of Israel's God stands firmly pledged to fulfil them. He will not completely abandon the people of His covenant until His thoughts of peace toward them have reached their end.

Having reasoned with the people in this way, the prophet once more announces the merciful intervention of God. It has a final display, which is still future. It also has a nearer display in the raising up of an eastern king who would be favourable to them. As to the future, they would yet be the servant of God, their transgressions and sins blotted out. This would come about on the basis of redemption. Then the heavens as well as the earth will break into song, and the Lord Himself will be glorified.

Idols prove powerless, and are abandoned for the true God. An idol is "a block of wood!" "An abomination!" (Isa. 44:19). But Israel knows God, the God who has "blotted out as a thick cloud" her transgressions (Isa. 44:22); therefore "Sing, O heavens; … the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and GLORIFIED HIMSELF IN ISRAEL" (v. 23).

Isaiah spoke for God, no doubt looking forward to Christ's sacrifice. He said, "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins." (Isa. 44:22.) Perhaps no words could show more forcefully how completely our sins are cancelled. Where, I ask, is the thick cloud we were looking at yesterday? You will reply, "It is gone, and gone for ever." True, and our sins are now blotted out by God just as completely; for He says He will remember them no more.

Did He not say to a paralysed man, "Take heart; your sins ARE forgiven"? And to a broken-hearted woman at His feet, did He not say, "Your sins ARE forgiven"? Not "shall be when you come to die," but "are forgiven." (Luke 7:48.)… In fact, the gospel is preached to make this known. It is God's present proclamation… so to deny the present knowledge and enjoyment of sins blotted out is to deny the true character of the gospel of the grace of God.

God calls Israel to remember this. These idolaters form their own gods, but the Lord has formed His people to serve Him. Having formed them, He will not forget them. He will blot out their sins, redeem them from the power of the enemy, and glorify Himself in Israel. As a result the heavens and the earth will join to sing His praises.

He has given up any thought of justifying himself: "My iniquity is great." If God does not forgive me for His own glory's sake, He cannot do it at all. And He will not leave one spot of sin, either for the comfort of my own heart or for the glory of His name. So we see for Israel by and by in Isaiah 44:22 and following. They are made to rest in absolute mercy, in sovereign grace. Grace is perfect in getting rid of the sins.

The same principle applies to the very frequent use of redemption in the Psalms and Prophets for the future deliverance of Israel for His kingdom on earth. See Ps. 103:4, Ps. 106:10, Ps. 107:2; Isa. 35:9, Isa. 41:14, Isa. 43:1, Isa. 44:22-23, Isa. 48:20, Isa. 52:9, Isa. 63:9… All however rests on His blood-shedding. The return from Babylon was an outward sample and pledge.

In one of these passages God speaks of making Israel a sharp threshing instrument. In another He gathers her sons and daughters from the ends of the earth. In the third she returns to Him with her transgressions forgiven. All this exactly fits Israel's state. But is the Church a sharp threshing instrument? Has the Church ever been scattered to the ends of the earth? Is the Church ever spoken of as having drifted away from God and coming back forgiven?

The powerlessness of idols is seen, and they are abandoned for the true God. An idol is "a block of wood!" "An abomination!" (Isa. 44:19). But Israel knows God, the God who has "blotted out as a thick cloud" her transgressions (Isa. 44:22); therefore "Sing, O heavens, … the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and GLORIFIED HIMSELF IN ISRAEL" (v. 23).

(Vv. 21–23). Israel is called to remember that, in contrast to these idolaters who form their own gods, Jehovah has formed His people to serve Him. Having formed them He will not forget them: He will blot out their sins, redeem them from the power of the enemy, and glorify Himself in Israel. As a result the heavens and the earth will join to sing His praises.

Yes, when you are brought to this: guilty, lost, without power or strength to be better. Unless God undertakes for me I am lost for ever… Oh what a fact! The eternal Son of God has undertaken the lost, guilty, helpless sinner's redemption; and He has done it! "Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it." (Isaiah 44:23.) It is not He will: He has done it! "It is finished." "Peace to you."

The same principle applies to the very frequent use of redemption in the Psalms and Prophets for the future deliverance of Israel for His kingdom on earth. See Ps. 103:4, Isa. 43:1, Isa. 44:22-23, Isa. 52:9… All of it, however, rests on His blood-shedding. The return from Babylon was an outward sample and pledge.

Boaz, dealing with the nearer relative, seems to bind himself not to redeem the inheritance of Elimelech except by taking this poor and afflicted stranger as his wife. In the same way the Son of Man has joined Himself to Israel. He will not stand up to claim the earth and its fullness, the world and its kingdoms, as His own, except as "King in Zion," as "Son of David," as one with that nation. Long ago He had set that nation apart for Himself as the portion of His inheritance (see Ps. 2:6-8). For it is in Israel that He will glorify Himself (Isa. 44:23); as He says through Isaiah, "This people I formed for Myself that they might declare My praise" (Isa. 43:21).

All this joy of creation the apostle hangs on "the revealing of the sons of God" (Rom. 8), and the prophets hang it on the redemption of Israel. (Isa. 44:23, Isa. 49:13, Isa. 55:12) These distinct testimonies match the different ministries of apostles and prophets. In one place the Psalmist connects the two in a few words. He touches the chord where their harmonies lie — "when the Lord builds up Zion, He will appear in His glory." (Ps. 102:16)

The nation of Israel was redeemed from Egypt both by purchase and by power. As their Goel, Jehovah brought them out of slavery with His "outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment." Centuries later, Assyria and then Chaldea carried the nation into captivity. Again and again Jehovah sent them promises that He would deliver them by redemption. He called Himself "Jehovah, your Redeemer (Goel)," and added other titles such as "the Holy One of Israel." In these and other prophecies, Jehovah reminds His people on earth that He alone holds the "right of redemption."

Israel is called to remember that, in contrast to these idolaters who form their own gods, Jehovah has formed His people to serve Him. Having formed them He will not forget them: He will blot out their sins, redeem them from the power of the enemy, and glorify Himself in Israel.

The universe, indeed, tells of a God of counsel and judgment, of a God of knowledge and understanding: but who was it who directed the Spirit of the LORD? Clearly the wisdom of God is behind the universe, but it is equally clear that there is no one behind God. In creation God is alone.

Ezekiel uses the word "create" three times; Jeremiah, Amos, Malachi, once each; and these are all the occurrences in the Prophets... In Isaiah, this one word appears in such connections fifteen times. Jeremiah ascribes "forming" to God six times; Amos, twice; Zechariah, once. Isaiah uses it eighteen times.

But if the Lord is the Redeemer of Israel, He is also the Creator of the heavens and the earth and can, and will, dispose of all men according to His pleasure. He brings to nothing the deceptions of idolaters, but confirms the word of His messengers. He will build Jerusalem and the cities of Judah again. He will dry up the rivers and remove every obstacle to the return of His people. He will use a Gentile king to carry out His pleasure.

Jehovah has just made a lofty and striking assertion of His glory, wisdom and power. So why do men wonder that He discloses to His people, through His interpreter, the conqueror of Babylon and the restorer of the remnant? What could be more fitting than to proclaim the name of Cyrus at this point? In the same way, the man of God from Judah announced the name of Josiah at Jeroboam's altar in Bethel more than three centuries before the event. When will they be ashamed of belittling God and His word, or His care for His people?

In Hebrews 1:10 we read, "And You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of Your hands"—the hands of the universal Creator. In Hebrews 2:10 we find Him qualified through sufferings to be the Leader of His people's salvation... And in John 1 He is the Lamb of God—the sin-bearer—and also God, the Word, who made all things.

Nothing proves divine intelligence more clearly than telling what is still to come. This is the main challenge the Old Testament brings against the false gods. No wonder it left them speechless, however loudly they had once claimed to give out oracles. As long as it was only a matter of confusing those who came to ask, they could deceive with answers that meant two things at once. But Isaiah shows, in the sharpest and severest words, that they cannot reveal the future at all.

Then the closing verses predict a rescue that reached them about two centuries later, and they name Cyrus long before he was born. Saying that Jerusalem and the temple would be rebuilt showed plainly that they would first be destroyed. This would confound the signs of the lying diviners, who always said smooth and prosperous things, as other scriptures show. Judgment would fall, but mercy would come in its season, and the man who would bring it to them is named.

The LORD has just made a lofty and striking claim about His glory, His wisdom and His power. Why then do people wonder that He should tell His people, through His prophet, who will conquer Babylon and bring the remnant home? What could be more fitting than to announce the name of Cyrus at this point? In the same way, the man of God from Judah named Josiah at the altar in Bethel, more than three hundred years before it happened. When will they be ashamed of belittling God and His word, or His care for His people?

Nebuchadnezzar had sacked the holy city of Jerusalem, plundered the glorious temple of the LORD, and carried off countless captives to his own land. Yet in his royal palace he must stand in the presence of the One "who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish." Whatever he thought about his wars and conquests, he now faces something that defeats every resource of his kingdom. He cannot get the dream out of his mind, and his wise men cannot unravel the mystery for him.

He meets Balaam and Balak alone, with all their efforts — their altars and their enchantments on the heights of Baal and of Peor. Israel lies stretched out in the valleys below. God does not let even a report of what was happening disturb their rest, though the moment was in one sense full of danger for them. As in the day of Pharaoh and the sea, Israel did not have to gather an army or strike a blow, and all the signs of the liars are frustrated. There is no enchantment against Israel.

In this case the wise men are turned backward. They are forced to admit that their "assured results" are made foolish, while the word and counsel of God's holy Word are triumphantly vindicated.

If the LORD is the Redeemer of Israel, He is also the Creator of the heavens and the earth. He can, and will, deal with all men as He pleases. He brings to nothing the deceptions of idolaters, but confirms the word of His messengers. He will build Jerusalem and the cities of Judah again. He will dry up the rivers and clear away every obstacle to His people's return. And He will use a Gentile king to do what He pleases.

Then the closing verses predict a deliverance that reached them about two centuries later. They name Cyrus long before he was born. The promise that Jerusalem and the temple would be rebuilt showed plainly that they would first be destroyed. That would overturn the signs of the lying diviners, who always predicted smooth and prosperous days, as other scriptures show. Judgment would fall, but in its season mercy would come, and the man who would bring it to them is named.

Here is a lofty and striking claim about Jehovah's glory, wisdom and power. So why do men wonder that He tells His people, through His interpreter, who will conquer Babylon and restore the remnant? What could be more fitting than to proclaim the name of Cyrus at this point? So the man of God out of Judah named Josiah at Jeroboam's altar in Bethel (1 Kings 13:2) more than three centuries before the event. When will they be ashamed of belittling God and His word, or His care for His people?

Long before Cyrus was born, Isaiah prophesied about this king and even named him. Isaiah wrote: "who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose'; saying of Jerusalem, 'She shall be built,' and of the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid'" (Isa. 44:28). We are not saying that Cyrus had living faith in God, but God in His sovereignty used him as an instrument. Cyrus had the chance to read Isaiah's prophecy, and it seems he was aware of his mission. So he says, "The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me… and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem."

Still, she must be inhabited; she must have her citizens within her. The land must have its people, because Messiah is soon to walk among them. The city must have its inhabitants, because her King is soon to be offered to her. Therefore is the return from Babylon, and therefore is the peopling of Jerusalem.

Jehovah, with supreme power, not only knows the end from the beginning. He also plainly shares that knowledge to sustain faith. He did so at the very time when His people, through faithlessness, were no longer a vessel of His power… Yet this unmatched return of the Jew from Babylon is clearly only the shadow of an everlasting salvation that is not yet Israel's. Then idols and their worshippers will be in the dust, and in Jehovah all Israel will be justified and will glory.

The Lord is the Redeemer of Israel. But He is also the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and He can and will dispose of all men as He pleases. He brings to nothing the deceptions of idolaters, but confirms the word of His messengers. He will build Jerusalem and the cities of Judah again. He will dry up the rivers and remove every hindrance to the return of His people. And He will use a Gentile king to carry out His pleasure.

Then the closing verses predict a deliverance that reached them about two centuries later, and they name Cyrus long before he was born. Saying that Jerusalem and the temple would be rebuilt showed that they would first be destroyed. This would confound the signs of the lying diviners, who always said smooth and prosperous things, as other Scriptures show. Judgment would fall, but in its season mercy would come, and the verses name the man who would bring it.

The critics make silly and arbitrary restrictions. They say Isaiah could not have written certain passages because the subject was beyond his horizon. They say he could not have named Cyrus, the Persian king, over 150 years before he was born. Such restrictions spring from the subtle unbelief at the bottom of destructive criticism, which denies the supernatural altogether.

The enemy outside had done a very simple thing. The river Euphrates ran right through the centre of the city, guarded by great bronze gates, so no one could get in by water. Cyrus, the Persian leader, used a very simple little trick. The Euphrates makes a bend near Babylon, so Cyrus cut a new bed for the waters a few miles upstream and turned their course into it. He dug a huge canal straight across the bend. When darkness came the sluices opened, and the river ran off in this new direction. As a result the bed of the river was practically dry where it passed Babylon. The Persian troops marched quietly along that bed, under the bronze gates, and took the city.

In the prophecy of Isaiah, Cyrus is clearly viewed as a forerunner, on a small scale, of a great deliverer who will come… Still, I have no doubt that God had all this in view. In His own wonderful way He was pleased to send out such a call by Cyrus king of Persia, who declares that the Lord God of heaven had given him all the kingdoms of the earth… But now Cyrus proclaims that the road to Jerusalem was open. Far from hindering the return of the people of God, he encourages them in every possible way.

If the Lord is the Redeemer of Israel, He is also the Creator of the heavens and the earth. He can and will dispose of all men according to His pleasure. He brings the deceptions of idolaters to nothing, but confirms the word of His messengers. He will build Jerusalem and the cities of Judah again. He will dry up the rivers and remove every obstacle to the return of His people. And He will use a Gentile king to carry out His pleasure.

The promise that Jerusalem and the temple would be rebuilt made it plain that they must first be destroyed. This would confound the signs of the lying diviners, who were always saying smooth and prosperous things, as other scriptures show. Judgment would fall, but mercy would come in its season, and the prophecy names the man who would bring it to them.

In verse 28 Cyrus is mentioned by name. This great Persian king was still in the distant future, not yet born. Jehovah knew him and named him through Isaiah. He calls him "my shepherd" and predicts his work. Josephus says that Cyrus found his own name in the book of Isaiah, written 220 years earlier. A strong desire then took hold of him to fulfil what it said.

Jehovah has just asserted His glory, wisdom and power in a lofty and striking way. Why then do men wonder that He discloses to His people, through His prophet, the conqueror of Babylon and the restorer of the remnant? What could be more fitting than to proclaim the name of Cyrus at this point? So the man of God out of Judah named Josiah at Jeroboam's altar in Bethel (1 Kings 13:2), more than three centuries before the event.

We are not suggesting that Cyrus had living faith in God, but God in His sovereignty used him as an instrument. Cyrus had the opportunity to read Isaiah's prophecy, and it appears that he was conscious of his mission. So he says, "The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me… and He has charged me to build Him a house at Jerusalem."

God can influence whomever He wills. To show this, He could say of a pagan king, Cyrus, king of Persia, that he is His shepherd and would carry out all His pleasure. We know how it bore fruit in the days of Zerubbabel and Ezra. Nearly 50,000 Jews returned to Jerusalem from the land of their captivity. That laid the foundation of a nation in which our Lord was born at Bethlehem.

Josiah, in his work of destruction, is a picture of Christ (all Scripture points to Him). At His appearing Christ will judge and clear away all evil from Israel, and from the earth as a whole. Cyrus also pictures Christ, but in a different character. Josiah pulled down, but Cyrus built up. He published the famous decree. It encouraged the Jewish people to return to the land of their fathers and to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1).

It is clear that the measure in which Cyrus prefigures this mighty deliverer is only small.

The term "Messiah" means the anointed one. Scripture uses it for those marked out in that way for the kingly or other office. Isaiah calls Cyrus, king of Persia, the anointed of the Lord (Isa. 45:1). But this case is exceptional. Cyrus was anointed for the special purpose of subduing Babylon, and he is named. Ordinarily the anointed ones were those called to rule in Israel. Above all, promise and prophecy apply the term to Him who would be anointed by the Spirit of God to be the Prince of Peace.

Verses 1-3 came true in striking detail, as the book of Daniel records, though Darius the Mede is the conqueror named there. He commanded the Medo-Persian army, but the rising power of Cyrus the Persian lay behind him. As we read these verses, we see Belshazzar, and "his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together" (Dan. 5:6). We see the great gates of Babylon open and broken. Then, because the great city has fallen, "the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places" are in the hands of Cyrus.

If the Babylonian captivity of Judah was God's chastening of their idolatry by means of the chief patron of idols on earth, the fall of Babylon was a tremendous blow to its own idolatry, predicted as it was by the Jewish prophet long before either event.

Cyrus' name is mentioned long before his time. This is one of hundreds of examples in the Word of God which prove that God declares the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10)… The man of God out of Judah named King Josiah in front of King Jeroboam, around 300 years before Josiah ever lived (1 Kings 13:2)… The Jewish author Flavius Josephus writes that the Persian king Cyrus read Isaiah's words about him with astonishment. He then gave the command for the return of the Jews (Ezra 1:1-4).

Proof there is none. The reasoning simply assumes that Isaiah could not be the prophet. It rests on the references to Cyrus' Medo-Persian career, the overthrow of Chaldean idolatry, the fall of Babylon, and the return. These, it argues, show a writer who knew of these momentous events as though they were about to happen, the earlier of them already a fact. That is, to any upright mind the critical hypothesis insinuates fraud.

Long before Cyrus was born, God gave him his title, though Cyrus did not know the Lord. In His providence God used him as His shepherd and His anointed. He was called to overthrow idolatry, which was such a snare to Israel. He was chosen "for Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel My elect" (Isa. 45:1-4). Through him God taught Israel how powerless idols are.

In Cyrus we do not see the power of faith. Nebuchadnezzar was the executor of God's work, and in the same way Cyrus is the minister of His mercy to bring the Jew back to the land… God is able to make the world confess His power and authority. Be that as it may, God calls Cyrus by name. He calls him His shepherd, His anointed, though Cyrus had not known God (Isa. 44:28; 45:4), and this only in view of the work God had called him to. The point is not what Cyrus was personally, but his work.

It is evident that the measure in which Cyrus prefigures this mighty deliverer is small. Still, I have no doubt that God had all this in view. In His own wonderful way He was pleased to send out such a call by Cyrus king of Persia… We know how truly this will be the case with Christ. He is really the righteous man whom Cyrus set forth in a very small measure.

The LORD foretells the victorious career of Cyrus, the Persian king. God was going to use him to subdue the nations that had persecuted His people. This judgment would especially fall upon Babylon, the first great world empire during the times of the Gentiles, that had held the people of God in captivity. Under the siege of Babylon the bronze gates of the city would be broken in pieces, and the bars of iron cut apart. Kings would go weak with terror, and their hidden riches would be uncovered.

Cyrus is named long before his time. This is one of hundreds of examples in the Word of God which prove that God declares the end from the beginning (Is. 46:10)… A man of God from Judah named king Josiah in front of king Jeroboam, about 300 years before Josiah lived (1 Kings 13:2)… The Jewish writer Flavius Josephus says that Cyrus read what Isaiah had said about him with astonishment. He then gave the command for the Jews to return (Ezra 1:1-4).

The critics make silly and arbitrary restrictions. They say Isaiah could not have written certain passages, because the subject was beyond his horizon. They say he could not have named Cyrus, the Persian king, over 150 years before he was born. Such claims spring from the subtle unbelief at the bottom of destructive criticism, which denies the supernatural altogether.

In the case of Babylon, a gate of the city was opened. We know the splendid description of it in Isaiah, with its doors of bronze and bars of iron, which must yield to righteousness from the east. God called Cyrus to His foot, and gave kings as the dust of his sword, as driven stubble to his bow. When the moment came, the difficulty vanished. The Persians entered the imperial city through the dried bed of the Euphrates, which had been turned into another channel. So the doors were opened for the rest, when the drunken guards were killed.

In Cyrus we do not see the power of faith. Just as Nebuchadnezzar carried out God's work, so Cyrus is the servant of His mercy to bring the Jew back to the land… God is able to make the world confess His power and authority. Even so, God calls Cyrus by name. He calls him God's shepherd, His anointed, though Cyrus had not known God (Isa. 44:28; Isa. 45:4), and this only because of the work God had called him to. The point is not what Cyrus was personally, but his work.

Long before he was born, God surnamed Cyrus, though he did not know Jehovah… God called him to overthrow idolatry, which was such a snare to Israel. He was chosen "for Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel Mine elect" (Isa. 45:1-4). By him God taught Israel that idols are powerless.

It is a mistake to cite the poetic parts of Scripture which treat of the deliverance of God's people on earth. The "doors of bronze" and "the bars of iron" (Isaiah 45:2) certainly refer to Babylon. They do not refer to the presence of the Lord, where the spirits of departed saints are.

This unmatched return of the Jew from Babylon is clearly only the shadow of an everlasting salvation. That salvation is not yet Israel's. Then idols and their worshippers will be in the dust, and in Jehovah all Israel will be justified and will glory.

Here then is a remarkable prophecy. It came true, word for word, within two hundred years of when it was spoken. God called him by his name, and gave him a title, though Cyrus had not known Him. Yet Cyrus made a decree, recorded in 2 Chronicles 36:23 and again in Ezra 1:2. Its words make it likely that Isaiah's prophecy somehow reached him.

What could be more fitting than to proclaim the name of Cyrus at this point? In the same way, the man of God out of Judah named Josiah at Jeroboam's altar in Bethel (1 Kings 13:2), more than three centuries before the event.

As we read these verses, we see Belshazzar, and "his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together" (Dan. 5:6). We see the great gates of Babylon open and broken. Then Babylon falls, and "the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places" are in the hands of Cyrus. We see here a reference to the vessels of the house of the LORD. Nebuchadnezzar had carried them to Babylon, and Ezra 1:7-11 records their return.

The LORD foretells the victorious career of Cyrus, the Persian king. God was going to use him to subdue the nations that had persecuted His people. This judgment would fall above all on Babylon, which had held the people of God in captivity. Babylon was the first great world empire of the times of the Gentiles.

In Cyrus we do not see the power of faith. Nebuchadnezzar carried out God's work, and in the same way Cyrus is the servant of His mercy to bring the Jews back to the land. In himself he is ahead of Nebuchadnezzar. In Ezra 1:2 and the verses after it, he says that the LORD God had given him the kingdoms of the earth, and a charge to build the house at Jerusalem. Was this confession of God's sovereignty the fruit of faith leading to salvation? That is another matter. God is able to make the world confess His power and authority. Either way, God calls Cyrus by name. He calls him God's shepherd and His anointed, though Cyrus had not known God (Isa. 44:28; Isa. 45:4). This was only in view of what God had called him to. The point is not what Cyrus was in himself, but his work.

In Isaiah 45 God says to Cyrus, "I name you, though you do not know Me." Daniel's vision shows him at one point in his career; later than that, he may have come into the light of the knowledge of the Lord. This thought gets some support from what God says to him about his attack on Babylon and its capture.

Cyrus, like the kings of Persia who followed him, hated idols. He acknowledged the God of Israel as "the God of the heavens". In his decree he insists above all that "He is God" (Ezra 1:3).

Yet this unmatched return of the Jews from Babylon is just as clearly only the shadow of an everlasting salvation, one that is not yet Israel's. It will come when idols and their worshippers are in the dust, and when in the LORD all Israel will be justified and will glory. Then every knee will bow to Him and every tongue will swear (Isa. 45:23).

It is, however, for the sake of Israel, God's elect, that God calls Cyrus and allows him to subdue the nations. Two hundred years before he comes upon the scene God can say, "I have called you by your name, I have surnamed you," and "I have girded you though you have not known Me."

Isaiah 44:28 mentions Cyrus by name. At that time this great Persian king was still far in the future, not yet born. Jehovah knew him and named him through Isaiah. He calls him "my shepherd" and predicts his work. Josephus says that Cyrus found his name in the book of Isaiah, written 220 years before. A strong desire then took hold of him to carry out what was written.

Long before he was born, God gave Cyrus his added name, though he did not know Jehovah, and in His providence He used him as His shepherd and His anointed. He was called to overthrow idolatry, which was such a snare to Israel. He was chosen "for the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen" (Isa. 45:1-4). Through him God taught Israel that idols have no power.

Cyrus is called by name, he is called God's shepherd, His anointed, though Cyrus had not known God (Isa. 44:28; Isa. 45:4), and this solely with a view to what God had called him to. The point is not what Cyrus was personally, but his work.

God may see fit to call a man His servant who may have no spiritual qualification for the place. Take Cyrus, or Balaam, or, in later days, someone like Judas Iscariot. A servant's place is not the best. "Make me as one of your hired servants" was the carefully worded request of a man who did not know the Father's grace. God may show His sovereignty by acting this way.

So to fulfil this promise God used Jeremiah in prophecy, Daniel in prayer, and Cyrus — a man who did not know the Lord — in providence.

Dealing with Israel on national grounds, individuals among them might be lost, but the nation never can. The nation was, and is, an elect nation (Isaiah 45:4). But that did not secure the everlasting safety of every person born into it.

Cyrus is called in this chapter God's anointed. Jehovah called him by name, but it was for the sake of Israel. But it is well to keep in mind that Cyrus, God's instrument, called and prepared to make the restoration of a remnant possible, is also a picture of Christ. Only through Him can God keep His promises to the nation.

Over and over again the Holy Spirit repeats this all-important fact in chapters 43 to 46. No less than ten times He states it with intensity — there is none else! Israel's God is the only God! He "created" Jacob! He "formed" the nation!... Yes, He "called" her by her name; "you are Mine!" So she can witness not only against idols, but to the only God. Now the call is rightly heard, and it will bring a swift response all over the world. "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other" (Isaiah 45:22).

One excludes everything else. It speaks of what is alone, with nothing else to compare it with... Without doing violence to the thought, we have here the exclusion of all others from the place that God alone can occupy. "I am the Lord, and there is none else." "My glory I will not give to another."

It is, however, for the sake of Israel, God's elect, that God calls Cyrus and allows him to subdue the nations. Two hundred years before he comes on the scene, God can say, "I have called you by your name, I have given you a title of honour." He also says, "I have girded you, though you have not known me."

The challenge of Jehovah that begins with verse 5 does not appear to be a mere repetition of what begins in Isaiah 44:6. It meets, in a very interesting way, the particular evil that those men fell into — the men who under Cyrus overthrew Babylon and its worthless idols. The Persians were famous for their scheme of two rival powers: good and evil, light and darkness, Ormusd and Ahriman. What could be more pointed, given the utter confusion of this scheme, than the words that follow?

So God used three men to fulfil this promise: Jeremiah in prophecy, Daniel in prayer, and Cyrus — a man who did not know the Lord — in providence. God had said of Cyrus long before, through Isaiah, "I have given you a title of honour, though you have not known Me... I have raised you up in righteousness."... This word, and the way it actually came true, are so exact and so encouraging. They fill the soul that trusts the blessed God with comfort and cheer. That soul knows that even now He makes all things work together for the good of His own, whom He has called by His grace according to His purpose.

One is a little astonished at reading this. Cyrus has such honourable mention in Isaiah 45 — though even there He says, "I have given you a title of honour, though you have not known Me." Daniel sees him at one stage of his career. Later than that, God may have brought him into the light of the knowledge of the Lord.

For Israel's sake He named Cyrus, though he did not know Jehovah, so that men might know from east and from west that there is none besides Him... Yet this unmatched return of the Jew from Babylon is clearly only the shadow of an everlasting salvation that is not yet Israel's. That salvation comes when idols and their worshippers will be in the dust, and when in Jehovah all Israel will be justified and will glory. Yes, and every knee will bow to Him and every tongue swear (Isaiah 45:23).

God is able to make the world confess His power and authority. Whatever the case here, God calls Cyrus by name. He calls him His shepherd, His anointed, though Cyrus had not known God (Isa. 44:28; Isa. 45:4), and only in view of what God had called him to do. The point is not what Cyrus was personally, but his work.

It was Jehovah that held Cyrus' right hand to subdue nations before him, to break the bronze doors in pieces, and to cut through the iron bars. For Israel's sake He named Cyrus, though he did not know Jehovah, so that men might know from east and from west that there is none beside Him... Yet this unmatched return of the Jew from Babylon is clearly only the shadow of an everlasting salvation that Israel does not have yet. Then idols and their worshippers will lie in the dust, and in Jehovah all Israel will be justified and will glory.

In raising up Cyrus God would have all nations know that He is God and there is none else beside. The truth about the LORD stands in contrast to the Zoroastrian belief of the Persians. They held that a certain eternal person brought two powerful beings into existence: one the creator of all good, the other the author of all the evils that afflict men. It is God who forms the light and creates the darkness. It is God who makes peace among the nations. And in the way He governs, He creates evil in the sense of punishment.

One excludes everything else. It speaks of that which is alone, with nothing else to compare it with... There can be no question that this first number conveys the thought of "aloneness", of absolute unity, as nothing else could. Without straining the thought, we have here the exclusion of all others from the place which God alone can occupy. "I am the LORD, and there is no other." "My glory I give to no other."

Over and over again the Holy Spirit repeats this all-important fact in chapters 43 to 46. No less than ten times He states it with force: There is none else! Israel's God is the only God!... She can therefore witness not only against idols, but to the only God. Now people hear the call as they should, and it will bring a swift response in all the world. "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other" (Isa. 45:22).

The challenge of Jehovah that begins with verse 5 does not seem to be a mere repetition of what begins in Isaiah 44:6. The men who overthrew Babylon and its worthless idols under Cyrus fell into a special evil, and in a very interesting way this challenge meets it. For the Persians were famous for their scheme of two rival powers: good and evil, light and darkness, Ormusd and Ahriman. What can be more pointed, in view of the complete collapse of this scheme, than the words that follow?

It is the LORD who does these things. The final result is that blessing will come down from heaven, and earth will be open to receive it. It will not be righteousness without grace. It will not be salvation at the cost of righteousness. Salvation and righteousness will "spring up together."

Here, and in several other passages, we find a use of "righteousness" that throws light on its use in the New Testament and clears it up... Here God's power steps in, in keeping with His own character and in grace towards His people, and so it must deliver them... Taking Cyrus as a first fulfilment, God has to vindicate His title against the pride of the nations, their idols and their false gods. It is His righteousness, but through it His people are delivered in grace... In chapter 45:8 God is vindicating Himself in public, as He is, so to speak, bound to do in the end, and so righteousness comes out. So God fully establishes and vindicates all that He is in the cross of Jesus, where the blessed Jesus offered Himself up so that this might be done. We come in who, through grace, are made alive together with Him, to be the righteousness of God in Him.

One day Israel will have the place of power and glory before all the nations. Then the blind people will see and the deaf people will hear, and in the rejected Messiah they will see the Lord Jehovah, the only Saviour... But even now the rejected Christ sits on the Father's throne, and the Spirit is sent out to glorify Him in a spiritual way in a world of darkness and rebellion against God. Even now, then, those who confess Christ are to tell out His excellencies... That light has not yet risen to shine on Zion, though it will surely come. It has already shone in our hearts who believe — the light of the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

In view of the judgments coming on idolatry, God warns the idolaters. In turning from God to idols, man is striving with his Maker. Let created men — mere potsherds — strive among themselves, but woe to them if they call God's works and God's ways into question.

A fragment of pottery, to which man is compared when he strives with his Maker. Isaiah 45:9. David uses the word in the Psalm that foretells the Lord's sacrificial sufferings. There he says, "my strength is dried up like a potsherd." Psalm 22:15.

It is important to get right ideas of God. I do not mean only in His grace, which must be learned in the gospel, but as Creator... I am only seeking to show one thing. If you allow the idea of a Creator at all — and a man must be mad who does not — you must allow He has a right to do just as He pleases. He may make what He pleases, and do what He pleases with what He has made. No one ever gave God this rightful place but Christ. He took the place of man and held it fast, to the glory of God, from the manger to the cross... That it was the will of God was explanation enough for every circumstance in which He found Himself.

The potter has power over the lump of clay he holds in his hand. No one would think of disputing that. How much more, then, has the Creator of all things power over the creatures His hand has formed! Men may reason and argue without end about why God permitted sin to enter. They ask why He did not destroy Satan and his angels at once. They ask why He allowed the serpent to tempt Eve... In short, the hows and whys are endless; but the answer is one: "Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?"

Anyone who does not want to sit at the Master's feet and say, "I will ask You, and You answer me," takes the place of judge against his God. The vessel says to the potter, "What are you making?" Foolish as the question is, we still find it often among the children of Adam... In our day the spirit of independence forces its way in everywhere. Everyone wants to be free to think and do as they please. So this basic error is almost universal.

The Lord rebukes with woe upon woe all striving with Himself and fault-finding with His ways. Yet how graciously He calls on His people in the very next verse! He tells them to ask Him about things to come concerning His sons, and to command Him concerning His sons and the work of His hands!

In view of the judgments coming on idolatry, God warns the idolaters. In turning from God to idols, man is striving with his Maker. Let created men — mere potsherds — strive with each other, but woe to them if they call God's works and God's ways into question.

It is important to get right ideas of God. I do not mean only in His grace, which must be learned in the gospel, but as a Creator. I have not yet come to consider what God makes, or what He does with what He makes. I am only seeking to show one thing. If you allow the idea of a Creator at all — and a man must be mad who does not — you must allow that He has a right to do just as He pleases. He may make what He pleases, and do what He pleases with the thing He has made. No one ever yet gave God this His rightful place except Christ. He took the place of man, and He kept that place without fail, to the glory of God, from the manger to the cross.

The Revisers of 1881 changed the words "have you brought forth" here to "travail." Probably this was because the verb means the pains of bearing that come before the birth more than the bringing forth itself. Translators render this word in many ways across its fifty uses: fear (of God), grief, anguish, pain, sorrow, wounding, travail, tremble (at God's presence), dance, shake, and so on. The thought is not so much bearing a child, as the different forms of suffering that go with a certain action or event.

Why do I live at all? Would it not be better if I had never been born? See Job 3:10-20. In Isaiah 45:9-12 we see a serious woe pronounced on those who ask such questions.

Job's first great question implies a doubt about the purpose of human existence. So it doubts the wisdom of the Creator too. This is an insult against God Himself. At the end of the book God answers it with a series of counter-questions. Then Job submits, and his tormenting questions find a satisfactory answer in the power and goodness of God.

The LORD rebukes with woe upon woe all striving with Himself and all fault-finding with His ways. Yet how graciously He calls on His people in the very next verse! He tells them to ask Him about things to come concerning His sons, and to command Him concerning His sons and the work of His hands. He who made heaven and its host, earth and man on it raised up Cyrus to build His city and set His captives free, "not for price or reward, says the LORD of hosts."

Throughout Isaiah He is called "the Holy One of Israel." This title of the Lord, who deals with His people in judgment and in mercy, appears twenty-five times in the book… The Holy One of Israel is Jehovah; He is the Redeemer of His people. "Our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel" (47:4)… This Holy One is the Creator.

Jehovah rebukes with woe after woe everyone who fights against Him and finds fault with His ways. Yet how gracious He is in the very next verse! There He calls His people to ask Him about the things to come concerning His sons, and to command Him concerning His sons and the work of His hands.

God warns those who turn to idols. But He encourages Israel to ask Him about those who are in relationship with Himself, and about His work on their behalf. God created the earth and everyone in it, and the heavens with all their host. He alone can foretell their destiny. God can also "direct" man's ways, and use men to carry out His purposes. So God raises up Cyrus and "will direct all his ways," to carry out His purpose of rebuilding Jerusalem and setting His captive people free.

…the generation of promise, the children who are the work of Jehovah's hands (Isa. 29:23; 45:11). In that day they seek and find the light of life in Jesus. They stand in contrast with those who had not sought the Lord, but had tried to establish their own righteousness.

The judgment of Babylon, and the partial deliverance of God's people under Cyrus, is only a foreshadowing. It points to the worldwide judgment of the nations and the regathering of Israel under the reign of Christ… In the way He governs the nation, God may hide Himself for a season. Still, He is the "God of Israel, the Saviour," who arranges all men and events to display His own glory.

So Daniel made the condition of his people his own, and shared the mind of God. He had the unspeakable privilege of praying for Israel, and for the fulfilment of God's promises. God heard his prayer. From it we learn that God in His grace lets His people enter into His own thoughts, and lets them share with Him in carrying out His purposes for His own glory.

Man is but a potsherd of the earth — the broken piece of a pot! Let man recognise his own littleness. Let him strive with another potsherd like himself if he will, but let him not strive with the Creator. It is not fitting that a man should strive with his father or mother, much less with his Maker.

In turning from God to idols man is striving with his Maker. Let created men – mere potsherds – strive with each other, but woe to them if they question God's works and God's ways.

If Jehovah rebukes with woe upon woe all striving with Himself and all fault-finding with His ways, how gracious He is in the very next verse! There He calls on His people to ask Him about the things to come concerning His sons, and to command Him concerning His sons and the work of His hands. … He who made heaven and its host, earth and man upon it, was the raiser up of Cyrus to build His city and let His exiles go, "not for price nor reward, says Jehovah of hosts."

The God who created the earth and those who live on it also created the heavens with all their host. He alone can foretell their destiny. God, too, can "direct" man's ways, and use men to carry out His purposes. So God raises up Cyrus and "will direct all his ways" to carry out His purpose to rebuild Jerusalem and set free His captive people.

The challenge of Jehovah that begins with verse 5 does not appear to be a mere repetition… Under Cyrus, men overthrew Babylon and its worthless idols, but they themselves fell into a special evil. In a very interesting way this challenge meets it. For the Persians were famous for their dualistic scheme of good and evil, light and darkness.

As Creator He had formed the earth for mankind to inhabit it. He did not create it "in vain," or "as waste"… He who had done this now guaranteed salvation for Israel. He promised openly and in righteousness. This made it certain that the salvation, when it came, would be worked out in a righteous way. It is the same with the righteousness in which every believer now stands before God: He brings it about on a righteous basis.

Nor is the God that made all only a Creator. He is Lord of heaven and earth. His authority is constant everywhere. Fallen man squirms under this truth, because it speaks straight to his conscience. As a man, I am His creature, and that bond makes me His servant. Am I doing His will? Am I pleasing Him as the motive of my life?

Verses 5, 13 and 14 again refer to Cyrus and the way in which God would raise him up. It would be "in righteousness," for he would carry into effect the will of God; and to do the will of God is righteousness.

The One who made heaven and all its host, the earth and man upon it, was the One who raised up Cyrus. Cyrus would build His city and set His captives free, "not for price or reward," says the LORD of hosts. The proudest of the Gentiles would yet acknowledge that God was in Israel, just as enemies of Christ once acknowledged the power of the Spirit in the church.

Cyrus was the chosen instrument of the LORD to bring about the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of the temple. Almost two hundred years before his birth the LORD had revealed his name and his work to the prophet Isaiah.

It was He who raised up Cyrus in righteousness, to build His city and set His exiles free, not for price or reward, says the LORD of hosts. Yet this unmatched return of the Jew from Babylon is only the shadow of an everlasting salvation. That salvation is not Israel's yet. It will come when idols and their worshippers lie in the dust, and when in the LORD all Israel shall be justified and shall glory.

In Cyrus we do not see the power of faith. But just as Nebuchadnezzar carried out God's work, so Cyrus is the instrument of His mercy to bring the Jew back to the land... Did that confession come from faith that leads to salvation? That is another matter. God is able to make the world confess His power and authority. Whatever the answer, Cyrus is called by name. He is called God's shepherd and His anointed, though Cyrus had not known God (Isa. 44:28; Isa. 45:4). These names were given only because of what God had called him to do. The point is not what Cyrus was personally, but his work.

Cyrus is never called "the servant" of the Lord. He was His providential shepherd, for the sake of Israel His servant... even now God raises up providential authority in the world for the sake of the elect. Such authorities are called ministers of God, but never servants of Christ. They are God's ministers to us for good (Rom. 13:4). If we understood this important truth, we would obey the call to pray for all in authority (1 Tim. 2:1-2) with grace and understanding.

Now it is clear that the measure in which Cyrus prefigures this mighty deliverer is very small. Still, I have no doubt that God had all this in view. In His own wonderful way, He chose to send out such a call through him... We know how true this will be of Christ. He is the righteous man whom Cyrus pictured in a very small measure.

The judgment of Babylon and the partial deliverance of God's people under Cyrus is only a foreshadowing of the worldwide judgment of the nations and the regathering of Israel under the reign of Christ. So, moving on to the last days, the Spirit of God through the prophet foretells how those who had held Israel in bondage will themselves become subject to Israel. In the past Israel had begged their Egyptian oppressors for mercy. But the time is still to come when Egypt will beg Israel for mercy. Instead of saying, as they did long ago, "Who is the LORD?" (Ex. 5:2), they will confess, "Surely God is in you, and there is no other, no god besides Him."

This was partly fulfilled when the decree of Cyrus let a remnant return to their own land. After that deliverance the demon of idolatry was driven out of them, and outwardly they served the God of their fathers. But the everlasting salvation mentioned in verse 17 is not yet theirs. Every "salvation" granted to them so far has lasted only for a time. When it does come, at the coming of Christ, it will last "world without end," or "to the ages of ages."

We can also mark out the descendants of Seba, Cush's eldest son. They are the Sebaim of eastern Arabia, and they seem to have migrated there from Chuzestan, on the eastern side of the Persian gulf. They were dark-skinned and very tall (Isa. 45:14) — the Dowaser or Danasir Arabs of modern times.

Some were raiders who swept away the oxen and donkeys of Job. Job 1:15. In Isa. 45:14 they were travelling merchants. These passages may not all refer to the same people.

Nothing can be more clear than this. In the millennial reign the distinction between Israel and the other nations will stand in full force, and the first place on earth will belong to Israel. "Ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'" Why would they do this, unless God is with them in a way He will not be with the other nations of the earth?

Surely these statements apply to a time when God will bring Egypt into blessing. We might not have expected this. Egypt is a picture of the world — the place where human nature feeds its desires, and the place out of which the Christian is brought. But in the millennium God will bring the earth into blessing. Then no nation will be blessed except as they own Jehovah and His King, who will reign over all the earth.

In His government of the nation, God may hide Himself for a season. But He is still the "God of Israel, the Savior." He is arranging all men and events to display His own glory: bringing the idolatrous nations to shame and confusion, and blessing His people Israel with "an everlasting salvation" from their enemies and from the shame that has covered them for long centuries.

God would raise up Cyrus to carry out His purpose and release those He calls "My captives." Only faith could see that power at work. So the prophet exclaims, "Truly, you are a God who hides himself." A servant of God has put it very truly and well: "God's ways are behind the scenes, but He moves all the scenes which He is behind."

Men may act to achieve their own purposes without any thought of God, and yet God may be behind their doings, overruling them to serve His own ends.

Many Scriptures show us the deep mystery that, in the mind of man, surrounded the being of God. Those who came nearest to His working felt it most... Isaiah addresses Him with the words, "Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior." Men felt this all through the ages as they sought, more and more, to know God. Even Moses, at the giving of the law, had to say, "I tremble with fear." And when he asked, "Please show me your glory," he received the answer, "Man shall not see me and live."

It is God who speaks in the Old Testament as really as in the New. But in the one He is at a distance, speaking out of the thick darkness where He dwells. In the other, "Immanuel" — "God with us" — is the wonder that bursts on us in the first chapter of the book. "Truly, you are a God who hides himself" is the word of the prophet so often called evangelical. "No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known," is what the evangelist affirms.

"Truly, you are a God who hides himself," says the prophet. The Jesus of our evangelist is that same God of Israel, hiding Himself in this way — turning His back on Jerusalem for a time and saying, "You will not see me."

There is another darkness in which God still dwells. I mean the one that settles over the whole scene of circumstances and providence around us. In that place God works unseen, at least usually. There He says, if I may put it this way, "What I am doing you do not understand now." We must still walk by faith, where God still dwells in darkness. We shall know later... Faith in His provisions of grace in Christ now draws Him out of the distant darkness where He had righteously hidden Himself from sinners. In the same way, by and by the glory will bring Him out of the darkness in which He now orders providence for His saints.

In the first part of this section of Isaiah, references to idols appear in every chapter, and each one connects with Israel (see Isa. 40:18–25; Isa. 41:21–29; Isa. 42:17; Isa. 43:12; Isa. 44:9–20; Isa. 45:16; Isa. 46:1–7; Isa. 47:12–15; Isa. 48:5). So it becomes clear that the leading subject is God's controversy with Israel about their idolatry.

When the last idol-makers perish to confusion, Israel shall be saved in Jehovah with an everlasting salvation.

In the way He governs the nation, God may hide Himself for a season. But He is still the "God of Israel, the Saviour." He is arranging all men and events to display His own glory. He brings the idolatrous nations to shame and confusion. And He blesses His people Israel with "an everlasting salvation" — salvation from their enemies, and from the shame that has hung over them for long centuries.

Israel's everlasting salvation stands in contrast with the idols. The nations who escape are called to recognise the hand of God, who had foretold all this. They are called to look to Him as Saviour, for to Jehovah "every knee should bow." And we know that this One is Christ, exalted over every power, and everlasting.

Israel is to know God as Saviour and be delivered from their idols. This happened in part when the decree of Cyrus brought a remnant back to their own land. After that deliverance the demon of idolatry was cast out of them, and they gave outward service to the God of their fathers. But the everlasting salvation mentioned in verse 17 is not yet theirs. Each "salvation" granted to them so far has only lasted for a time. When it does come by the coming of Christ, it will last "world without end," or, "to the ages of ages."

They are assured of an everlasting salvation when they recognise Jehovah in the Christ. To Him every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear in that day. From then on no one shall boast in the creature. The idols are no gods. They are wood or stone, or some other material of man's making, with demons behind them all, as the apostle teaches. God is a just God and a Saviour: how true this is now in the gospel! how plain it will be when the glory of the Lord shines out and demolishes the empty things of man!

The contrast exists around us today. It is still a fair question — do you go your way, carrying the things you idolize, or does your God carry you? The idols of the modern English-speaking world are not images. They are more subtle things, such as money, pleasures, lusts. Yet as life draws to its end they let you down. The God whom we know, revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ, carries us through to the finish. We are in the embrace of the love that will never let us go.

In the way He governs the nation, God may hide Himself for a time. But He is still the "God of Israel, the Saviour." He arranges all men and events to display His own glory. He brings the idolatrous nations to shame and confusion. And He blesses His people Israel with "an everlasting salvation" — salvation from their enemies, and from the shame that has hung over them for long centuries.

Israel's everlasting salvation stands in contrast to the idols. The nations who escape are called to recognise the hand of God, who had foretold all this. They are to look to Him as Saviour, for to the LORD "every knee shall bow." We know that this is Christ, exalted over every power, and everlasting.

"Everlasting" (aiōnios). For the use of this word in the Old Testament, Isaiah 45:17 is a typical passage.

Israel is to know God as Saviour and be delivered from their idols. This happened in part when, by the decree of Cyrus, a remnant returned to their own land. After that deliverance, the demon of idolatry was cast out of them, and outwardly they served the God of their fathers. But the everlasting salvation mentioned in verse 17 is not yet theirs. Each "salvation" granted to them so far has only lasted for a time. When it does come, by the coming of Christ, it will last "world without end," or "to the ages of ages."

"Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation" (v. 17). This would be for their nation, and it would be found "in the LORD." The reason follows: "there is no other god besides Me, a righteous God and a Saviour; there is none besides Me" (v. 21). Israel was therefore shut up to Him for salvation.

It is indeed a triumphant result for Israel. God assures them of an everlasting salvation when they recognise that the Christ is the LORD. To Him every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear in that day. From then on no one will glory in the creature.

Note what God says: "Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation" (verse 17); "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth" (verse 22)... But notice the order. First Israel must know salvation, and as a result the ends of the earth will look and be saved.

When Israel herself is saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation, then "in the LORD all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory" (v. 25). Truly happy are those favoured believers who today, while Israel rejects Christ, know the "salvation that is in Christ Jesus." It is true indeed that in Him all who believe are justified from everything.

In verses 18 and 19 Jehovah Himself, the Creator, gives the most solemn guarantee of this promised salvation. As Creator He had formed the earth for mankind to inhabit it. He did not create it "empty," or "as waste"... When the earth, after its original creation, had become waste, He reduced it to form and order for the use of man. He who had done this now guaranteed salvation for Israel.

In verse 2 we move from that remote time to a time much nearer our own. As far as this earth goes, we go down to a state of very great imperfection. It is found "without form" — that is, a ruin, a waste. It is also "void" — that is, empty. Isaiah 45:18 says plainly that God "did not create it empty," but "formed it to be inhabited." This is very striking. Here again the text uses the proper word for creation, as in our first verse, and "empty" translates the same word as "without form" in our verse.

There is a passage in Isaiah which seems to me to formally contradict the notion that God created the earth in a state of chaos. As to heaven it is not even claimed; it is only a question of the earth... the Spirit of God is explicit that God did not make the earth in the chaotic condition which is familiar to all readers of ancient mythology.

"The earth was without form and void." The heavens were in no such state of chaos: the earth was. As to how, when, and why it was, there is silence. Others have spoken — spoken rashly and wrongly. A spiritual mind will see the wisdom of the inspired writer's silence, and will see it more clearly the longer it thinks about it.

He did not create it in the chaotic state, but for good and wise reasons threw it into that state. We can easily see why. Only in this way could man, once the earth was inhabited, get at the coal, the marbles, the metals, and so on, so useful to him later.

An oak tree might take a hundred years to grow. But a carpenter would not need a day to cut it down and make it into something useful. That is what is meant, I take it, when it is said of the earth that God "formed it to be inhabited." He put His hand to it and formed the earth for man, and then "God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good."

Over and over again the Holy Spirit repeats this all-important fact in chapters 43 to 46. No less than ten times it says with force: There is no other! Israel's God is the only God! He "created" Jacob! He "formed" the nation! ... yet He "redeemed" her!

But what of the world and its inhabitants? The same prophet who announces Israel's salvation in the Lord immediately adds, "Thus says the Lord that created the heavens... he formed it to be inhabited, I am Jehovah and none else," and then He says, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth."

In verses 18 and 19, Jehovah Himself, who is the Creator, gives this promised salvation His most solemn guarantee. As Creator He had formed the earth for mankind to inhabit it. He did not create it "in vain," or "as waste." This points, no doubt, to Genesis 1:2. There the earth was found in a condition described as "without form," or "as waste" — the same expression is used there as here. When the earth, after its original creation, had become waste, He reduced it to form and order for the use of man. He who had done this now guaranteed salvation for Israel. He promised openly and in righteousness. This made it certain that the salvation, when it arrived, would come in a righteous way. It is the same with the righteousness in which every believer now stands before God: it too rests on a righteous basis.

There was nothing which more distinguished God, as Isaiah (chapters 12, 44, 48) tells us, from the vain idols of the nations. Which of them could disclose the future? Their seers might guess; they might confuse people with ambiguous oracles. God alone could speak plainly and with complete certainty about what had not yet happened. And He has been pleased to tell His children the future as He knows it. This covers the earth and all who live on it, not only what concerns His children themselves. It is a most striking proof of His confidence in His people that He lets us see what affects others.

So the call of God to the seed of Jacob had not been in vain. But not only Israel is in view — Gentiles also, as verse 20 shows. The call is to the "survivors of the nations." This shows that judgment will fall on the nations. Only those who escape it will enter the promised blessing, just as only the remnant of Israel will be saved. The nations had been full of idolatry, praying to "a god that cannot save," so they are called, that they may know a God who can save.

Jehovah's word is what Jehovah is: if He is righteous, so are His judgments. And so too are His testimonies, of whatever nature: He cannot be anything but a faithful witness, in whatever it has pleased Him to give any testimony.

Concealed light, closely shaded windows, tightly guarded doors, terrible oaths of secrecy with threats of the throat being cut from ear to ear — all this stands in contrast to the Saviour's words: "I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret." (John 18:20)

The judgment of Babylon, and the partial deliverance of God's people under Cyrus, is only a foreshadowing. It points on to the universal judgment of the nations and the regathering of Israel under the reign of Christ. God may hide Himself for a season in His dealings with the nation. Even so, He is the "God of Israel, the Saviour," who is arranging all men and events for the display of His own glory — bringing the idolatrous nations to shame, and blessing His people Israel with "an everlasting salvation."

The call is to those who have "escaped of the nations." That shows judgment will fall on the nations. Only those who escape it will enter the blessing God has promised, just as only the remnant of Israel will be saved. The nations had been full of idolatry, praying to "a god that cannot save." So God calls them, that they may know a God who can save.

First, He exposes the ignorance and folly of those who set up a graven image and pray to a god that cannot save.

Such is the condition of man. He feels the need of having a god, but is so ignorant of the true God that he makes one for himself. The carpenter, with rule and compass, shapes his god "after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man." So it is the image of himself that he worships.

Do you turn back? "I do." You choose the world? "Yes." You turn your back on the truth, then, and go back into the world in your affections? Against Christ? "Yes." Back to her people and her gods goes Orpah, and you follow in her steps. Hear what Isaiah says of these gods: "gods that cannot save" (Isa. 45:20). What an awful picture of a soul that deliberately, in cold blood, turns its back on God and His Son!

God calls the escaped of the nations to recognise His hand in all this, for He had foretold it, and to look to Him as Saviour. To Jehovah "every knee should bow." We know that this One is Christ, exalted over every power, and everlasting.

Against the dark background of idolatry the Lord presents Himself as "a just God and a Saviour." The law had shown Israel a just God who judges all their ways. Only the Gospel declares Him to be God who saves in righteousness.

God demands no works of law, only the look of faith. For beyond all contradiction, in an emergency we look to someone we believe in, and so trust. And again, the call goes out far beyond the bounds of Israel, for any to "the ends of the earth" may look and be saved.

Not only Israel is in view but Gentiles also, as verse 20 shows. The call is to those who have "escaped of the nations." This shows that judgment will fall on the nations. Only those who escape it will enter the blessing God promises, just as only the remnant of Israel will be saved. The nations had been full of idolatry, praying to "a god that cannot save," so they are called, that they may know a God who can save.

The passage contrasts Israel's God with the idols of the nations. The one great proof it brings forward is that the God of Israel has the power to predict future events. God says all this to encourage the faithful remnant of Israel to trust in Him.

God is presented as the only God – "A just God and a Saviour" – One who deals in righteousness with sins, and yet can save the sinner.

How is God to be a just God and a Saviour? The cross of Christ is the sole answer to that. There God executed righteousness. There sin came under His unsparing judgment. There He showed how He hates sin… God has carried out judgment, righteousness is complete, and God has been glorified. He has also glorified the One who submitted to that judgment. Now God can take the place of a just God and a Saviour.

Verses 21-25 furnish a remarkable forecast of the Gospel, as it is unfolded in Romans 3. Against the dark background of idolatry the Lord presents Himself as "a just God and a Saviour." The law had revealed Him to Israel as a just God who judges all their ways. Only in the Gospel is He declared to be God, who saves in righteousness. Christ has been "put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith … to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."

Justice and salvation come together here, and faith is indicated too, though the word is never used. God states how this salvation becomes effective: "Look to Me." No works of law are demanded, only the look of faith. In an emergency we always look to someone we believe in, and so to someone we trust.

Over and over again the Holy Spirit repeats this all-important fact in chapters 43 to 46. No less than ten times it comes with force: There is none else! Israel's God is the only God! He "created" Jacob! He "formed" the nation! She would "deal treacherously" like her father, and "from before birth" she "was called a rebel" — yet He "redeemed" her! Yes, He "called" her by her name; "you are Mine!" She can therefore witness not only against idols, but to the only God.

Just grant me this: God has revealed Himself as a Saviour. From that I argue, with clear confidence and holy boldness, that I am, and must be, perfectly saved. It does not rest on anything in me, but simply and entirely on God's revelation of Himself. I know He is perfect in everything; and therefore perfect as my Saviour.

Not only Israel is in view but Gentiles also, as verse 20 shows. The call goes to those who have escaped from the nations. This shows that judgment will fall on the nations. Only those who escape it will enter the promised blessing, just as only the remnant of Israel will be saved. The nations had been full of idolatry, praying to "a god that cannot save." God calls them so that they may know a God who can save.

The passage presents God as the only God — "A just God and a Saviour" — One who deals in righteousness with sins, and yet can save the sinner.

Verses 21-25 give a remarkable forecast of the Gospel, as Romans 3 unfolds it. The law had revealed Him to Israel as a just God who judges all their ways. Only the Gospel declares Him to be God, who saves in righteousness.

Suppose Paul had said, Believe in Adam, or Abraham, or Moses, or John the Baptist. What a mocker of the man's misery he would have been. Or suppose he had said, since he was a greater man than them all, Believe on me and you shall be saved. Would not the soul and conscience of the jailer have revolted against the outrage? … The whole gospel of God was involved in that answer. It put that seeking sinner into contact with Him who long ago had said, "Look to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth."

The Israelite was not told to look at his wound, though it was the sense of his wound that made him look. The dead sinner is not told to look at his sins, though it is the sense of his sins that will make him look. It was not the way he looked, but the object he looked at, that healed the Israelite. It is not the way he looks, but the object he looks at, that saves the sinner.

We may be so helpless that we can come only in a look. But not a mere look at Christ: men may look at Christ, and look long, and look with belief of a sort, and look with admiration, and find no salvation in all this. It is different when Christ is the need — the absolute need. Then the dying soul pours itself out at the eyes to find the Saviour, and that look pierces the clouds and darkness that seem to surround Him. This is "coming." It is the might of weakness laying hold of almighty strength.

"Look to Me and be saved" are the Lord's own words. From the first moment that the eye looks to Christ as the Saviour, the soul is beyond all question saved. It may not believe it; it may be judging its state by its feelings; it may be miserable, even on the brink of despair. But the word of God must always be true, despite all that… Our unbelief cannot make the word of God untrue, but it hinders our enjoyment of Christ and salvation.

"Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation" (v. 17). This would be for their nation, and it would be found "in the Lord"… So Israel was left with Him alone for salvation. But there followed a world-wide invitation… The world too is left with Him alone.

If man will not look to God and be saved, the warning stands: the time is coming when judgment will compel him to own the rights of God. The word has gone out from God's mouth in righteousness, and God will not recall it: "To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance."

Unlike idols, the LORD alone is God: "There is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me." After that statement, verse 22 gives the universal invitation of grace: "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth." Then comes the solemn declaration, backed by a divine oath: "To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance." That is, the LORD, the Creator-God, has decreed it.

Turning now to Philippians 2, we find these words applied to the One who humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. Two notable explanations are added there, and no one could have discovered them unless God had given them. The first is that "every knee" applies to all in heaven, to all on earth, and to all under the earth. That means every intelligent being, whether in heaven, on earth, or in hell — all demons, as well as all angels, saints, and men. Secondly, "every tongue shall swear allegiance" means the confession, to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus is Lord. All alike own the exaltation of Jesus as Lord, and the name given to Him which is above every name, because of His death on the cross.

When the prophet Isaiah refers to this time, he says, "I am God, and there is no other... To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance." But when an apostle brings it before us, he applies it to Christ. That is another example of Scripture's teaching on the deity of the Son. He says, "We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." To prove it, he quotes this passage from Isaiah: "For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."

Our prophet widens the salvation in these closing verses: "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth." The next verse adds, "To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance." This extends beyond "all the offspring of Israel who shall be justified and shall glory in the LORD."

I am writing in a Muslim land. All around me are people who put the name "Mohammed" above the Name JESUS. They will not bow to that worthy Name, because they will not acknowledge Him as GOD. But the day is coming when every one of them will bow the knee, because of the Name JESUS... Notice, it does not lump them together and say "all the knees shall bow." It looks at them each individually, "every knee shall bow."

Yes, dear reader, willingly or unwillingly, your knee must bow with the rest, and your tongue must confess. But how dreadful the thought! The iron rod of judgment would force you, however unwilling, to confess the glories of the Saviour in whom you have no part. It would make you bow to Him whom you once rejected!

To do this now brings blessing for evermore. But this bowing to Christ must not be merely an outward profession; there must be a bowing of the heart.

The prophet widens the salvation in these closing verses: "Look to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth." So in the next verse, "to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." This reaches beyond "all the offspring of Israel who shall be justified and glory in the LORD." Paul applies it to the Lord Jesus in its widest reach and its deepest meaning (Rom. 14:1; Phil. 2:9-11).

Scripture uses the one word "justification," when it speaks of God's redeemed, to hold three ideas that differ yet cannot be separated. It means first the sinner's pardon, the forgiveness of his sins. It means next, as part of that pardon, release both from the fear of punishment and from the shameful sense of guilt before God. It means third that God credits righteousness to him. What the sinner is in himself, and by the corruption he inherited, God remembers no more. He justifies the believer who repents according to the worth of Him whose name that believer pleads, and now sees and accepts him in His own beloved Son.

The Person of the Godhead to whom everyone will bow and confess is none other than the Lord Jesus, who accomplished the righteousness by His obedience to death. Righteousness and strength are found only in Him, and as the last verse says, it is "the offspring of Israel" who will glory in Him as a justified people. Many who are offspring of Jacob by natural descent are not "offspring of Israel" in God's sight.

Before Israel can be lifted high they must stop seeking righteousness by their own works. They will stop, and they will find righteousness in Christ, the only place where it can be found, as Romans 9, 10 and 11 explains. Righteous in Him, they become the servants of the Lord.

On one side there will be those who come to God confessing that "only in the LORD" they have "righteousness and strength." On the other side there will be, sadly, those who rage against God and will come to shame. Israel will at last stand among those who confess that "in the LORD" they are justified, and so glory in Him.

Through Israel this will be known in all the earth, when Israel herself is saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation (Isa. 45:17). Then "In the LORD all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory" (v. 25). How favoured are the believers who today, while Israel rejects Christ, know the "salvation that is in Christ Jesus." It is true indeed that "in Him all who believe are justified from all things."

It is indeed a triumphant result for Israel. God assures them of an everlasting salvation when they recognise that the Christ is Jehovah, to Whom every knee will bow and every tongue will swear in that day. From that day on, no glorying will be in the creature… God is a just God and a Saviour: how true this is now in the gospel! How plain it will be when the empty things of man are swept away by the shining out of the glory of the Lord!