After making it clear that Israel is God's special creation, God's calls to Israel to continue with Him.
Isaiah 44:1-2, Chosen Jeshurun
“But now listen, Jacob, my servant,
Israel, whom I have chosen.
This is what the LORD says—
he who made you, who formed you in the womb,
and who will help you:
Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant,
Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
The chapter begins with a commanding "But now listen...." God calls to Jacob, "Do not be afraid, return my chosen one." Jeshurun is "an occasional name of endearment for Israel" (Motyer.) Grogan says that the name means "upright one", in contrast to the meaning of Jacob, which is "deceiver." Throughout Isaiah we see God's desire to turn deceitful descendants of Jacob into an upright people,
Isaiah 44:3-4, Springing up like grass in a meadow.
For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
They will spring up like grass in a meadow,
like poplar trees by flowing streams.
When Israel returns, it will spring up abundantly, with prosperity. Throughout the Old Testament, water, rain, streams are all blessings in this desert land. The promises of water are metaphorical, promising refreshment and the Spirit of God. (See also Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:26-28 and Joel 2:28-29.)
Isaiah 44:5, Write on their hands
Some will say, ‘I belong to the LORD’;
others will call themselves by the name of Jacob;
still others will write on their hand, ‘The LORD’s,’
and will take the name Israel.
People will make a personal commitment, even some writing God's name on their hands. Grogan suggests that some of these people are Gentiles, claiming adoption into Jacob. In the New Testament, Paul will use the adoption concept for Gentiles in Romans 11.
Isaiah 44:6-7, First and last
“This is what the LORD says—
Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last;
apart from me there is no God.
Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and lay out before me
what has happened since I established my ancient people,
and what is yet to come—
yes, let them foretell what will come.
Here again is a challenge to find some other god equal to YHWH. YHWH, Creator, is First and Last. There is no other. (In the New Testament, in Revelation 1:8, 21:6 and 22:13, Jesus will be called the Alpha and the Omega, the first and last Greek letters.)
Isaiah 44:8, No other Rock
Do not tremble, do not be afraid.
Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?
No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”
This echoes chapter 40. Everything that is happening is part of a plan. It is not a surprise to God.
The passage has echoes of the hymn in Deuteronomy 32. (See especially verse 4 there.)
Isaiah 44:9-13, The futility of idols
All who make idols are nothing,
and the things they treasure are worthless.
Those who would speak up for them are blind;
they are ignorant, to their own shame.
Who shapes a god and casts an idol,
which can profit nothing?
People who do that will be put to shame;
such craftsmen are only human beings.
Let them all come together and take their stand;
they will be brought down to terror and shame.
The blacksmith takes a tool
and works with it in the coals;
he shapes an idol with hammers,
he forges it with the might of his arm.
He gets hungry and loses his strength;
he drinks no water and grows faint.
The carpenter measures with a line
and makes an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels
and marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in human form,
human form in all its glory,
that it may dwell in a shrine.
Isaiah elegantly addresses the absurdity of idol worship. The last sentence drips with irony: the carpenter shapes the idol into a human form, a human form in all its glory -- so that it may form a shrine. There is beauty to the human form; it is debased by pretending it is a god.
Isaiah 44:14-17, Idols made from leftovers
He cut down cedars,
or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
It is used as fuel for burning;
some of it he takes and warms himself,
he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.
Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
over it he prepares his meal,
he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”
From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says,
“Save me! You are my god!”
This Isaiah's longest sermon on the absurdity of idolatry. From the leftovers of his work, the blacksmith makes an idol. After making it -- from throwaway material -- he prays to it! Isaiah ridicules the idea of building carefully a piece of art so that one can then throw themselves down on the ground in front of it. In Isaiah 40:19-20, the craftsman uses all his skill to build an idol that "will not topple"!
Isaiah 44:18-20, Closed eyes, closed minds
They know nothing, they understand nothing;
their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see,
and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
No one stops to think,
no one has the knowledge or understanding to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel;
I even baked bread over its coals,
I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left?
Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him;
he cannot save himself, or say,
“Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
The one who builds an idol from leftovers is deluded and foolish, "feeding on ashes". He is unable to ask, "Am I wrong? Is this a lie?"
Isaiah 44:21-22, Offenses swept away
“Remember these things, Jacob,
for you, Israel, are my servant.
I have made you, you are my servant;
Israel, I will not forget you.
I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me,
for I have redeemed you.”
God tells Israel that He has swept away their offenses, their sins disappear like the morning mists. He invites them back to Him.
Isaiah 44:23, Sing for joy!
Sing for joy, you heavens,
for the LORD has done this;
shout aloud, you earth beneath.
Burst into song, you mountains,
you forests and all your trees,
for the LORD has redeemed Jacob,
he displays his glory in Israel.
As God redeems the descendants of Jacob, the heavens are instructed to sing for joy.
Isaiah 44:24-27, Maker of all things
“This is what the LORD says—
your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
I am the LORD,
the Maker of all things,
who stretches out the heavens,
who spreads out the earth by myself,
who foils the signs of false prophets
and makes fools of diviners,
who overthrows the learning of the wise
and turns it into nonsense,
who carries out the words of his servants
and fulfills the predictions of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’
of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,’
and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,’
who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry,
and I will dry up your streams,’
YHWH, who formed the Israelites in the womb, says of Jerusalem, "It shall be inhabited." The statement by YHWH, as Grogan notes, is one long sentence with a series of prepositional phrases, each introduced by the word "who". The original Hebrew does not use the word "who" but instead is a list of attributes: "formed you in the womb, makes all things, stretches out the heavens...." Grogran quotes another commentator, Allis, who says that this is an elegant "poem of the transcendence of the God of Israel." It builds to a climax, revealed in the next verse.
Isaiah 44:28, Cyrus
who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd
and will accomplish all that I please;
he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,”
and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’
At the end of the long chain of qualities of YHWH is the climactic statement that He has chosen a certain man to change the history of Israel. For the first time, the tool God will use to judge Jerusalem is named. It is Cyrus the Great, of Persia. He will be the subject of the next chapter.
Some Random Thoughts
How modern, how thoughtful, is Isaiah's attack on idols! He mocks every stage of their creation. The idols are bobbleheads, silly things made to look human and then -- can you believe it -- they are worshiped!
How colorful the descriptions of the sins of Israel, disappearing as the morning mist. And how reassuring.
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