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| This is the New King James text of the passages. |
Isaiah 44-48
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The return to the land - continued (Isaiah 44:1-5)
1 “Yet hear me now, O Jacob My servant,
And Israel whom I have chosen.
2 Thus says the LORD who made you
And formed you from the womb, who will help you:
“Fear not, O Jacob My servant;
And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
And My blessing on your offspring;
4 They will spring up among the grass
Like willows by the watercourses.’
5 One will say, “I am the LORD’S’;
Another will call himself by the name of Jacob;
Another will write with his hand, ‘The LORD’S,’
And name himself by the name of Israel.
These first five verses continue the thought of Isaiah 43 (see notes), describing the restoration of Israel. As stated in the notes of chapter 43, there was a return to the land under the Persian King Cyrus who began his reign in 538 B.C. However, this passage, along with chapter 43, seems to point to a time when Israel will be revived abundantly, both physically and spiritually. That leads us to conclude that the Messianic Kingdom is being referenced here rather than the mere return of many of the exiles to a land still under the dominion of foreign governments, as was the case beginning in 535 B.C. when the first first exiles began returning back to Judah. The historical account of that return is found in Ezra 1 (see notes).
Incidentally, "Jeshurun" in verse 2 is a poetic name for Israel.
There is no other God but Jehovah (Isaiah 44:6-8)
6 “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.
7 And who can proclaim as I do?
Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me,
Since I appointed the ancient people.
And the things that are coming and shall come,
Let them show these to them.
8 Do not fear, nor be afraid;
Have I not told you from that time, and declared it?
You are My witnesses.
Is there a God besides Me?
Indeed there is no other Rock;
I know not one.’ ”
These verses assure Israel that there is only one God - their God. Had they embraced this reality, the fall to the Assyrians and Babylonians would not have taken place.
The pitfalls of idolatry...revisited! (Isaiah 44:9-20)
9 Those who make an image, all of them are useless,
And their precious things shall not profit;
They are their own witnesses;
They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.
10 Who would form a god or mold an image
That profits him nothing?
11 Surely all his companions would be ashamed;
And the workmen, they are mere men.
Let them all be gathered together,
Let them stand up;
Yet they shall fear,
They shall be ashamed together.
12 The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals,
Fashions it with hammers,
And works it with the strength of his arms.
Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails;
He drinks no water and is faint.
13 The craftsman stretches out his rule,
He marks one out with chalk;
He fashions it with a plane,
He marks it out with the compass,
And makes it like the figure of a man,
According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.
14 He cuts down cedars for himself,
And takes the cypress and the oak;
He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.
He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.
15 Then it shall be for a man to burn,
For he will take some of it and warm himself;
Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread;
Indeed he makes a god and worships it;
He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.
16 He burns half of it in the fire;
With this half he eats meat;
He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.
He even warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm,
I have seen the fire.”
17 And the rest of it he makes into a god,
His carved image.
He falls down before it and worships it,
Prays to it and says,
“Deliver me, for you are my god!”
18 They do not know nor understand;
For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see,
And their hearts, so that they cannot understand.
19 And no one considers in his heart,
Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say,
“I have burned half of it in the fire,
Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals;
I have roasted meat and eaten it;
And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?
Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”
20 He feeds on ashes;
A deceived heart has turned him aside;
And he cannot deliver his soul,
Nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
Of course Israel's problem throughout their history was their continuous return to the worship of idols and the strange gods they represented, despite the fact that this was a direct violation of the Law of Moses. Isaiah goes into detail regarding the process of building these idols in verses 10-14, apparently to point out the great care and workmanship required to produce them. Just as Moses didn't buy Aaron's story that he threw the gold into the fire and a calf came out, so does the process of verse 10-14 demonstrate that a cooperative effort on behalf of craftsmen brought the actual idols to the people.
Is it the epitome of stupidity or is it the epitome of rebellion against God himself that they could not lay off their idol worship for any extended period of time? Even in Babylonian captivity, God warns them of this pitfall. Let's face it, sin is sin. All God ever wanted from man is captured in what observant Jews know as the Shema found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (see notes), the essence of which is found in Deuteronomy 6:5, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." And that is all God really wants from us today. When asked by a lawyer to reveal what was the greatest commandment, Jesus replied in Matthew 22:37 (see notes), "You shall love the LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND" When one has that relationship with God, everything else properly falls into place.
These verses describe in great detail the idolatrous practices of the Jewish people. No one could have accused Isaiah of not clearly stating his case here.
Cyrus will bring you back (Isaiah 44:21-28)
21 “Remember these, O Jacob,
And Israel, for you are My servant;
I have formed you, you are My servant;
O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me!
22 I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions,
And like a cloud, your sins.
Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
23 Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it!
Shout, you lower parts of the earth;
Break forth into singing, you mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,
And glorified Himself in Israel.
24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,
And He who formed you from the womb:
“I am the LORD, who makes all things,
Who stretches out the heavens all alone,
Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;
25 Who frustrates the signs of the babblers,
And drives diviners mad;
Who turns wise men backward,
And makes their knowledge foolishness;
26 Who confirms the word of His servant,
And performs the counsel of His messengers;
Who says to Jerusalem, “You shall be inhabited,’
To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’
And I will raise up her waste places;
27 Who says to the deep, “Be dry!
And I will dry up your rivers’;
28 Who says of Cyrus, “He is My shepherd,
And he shall perform all My pleasure,
Saying to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be built,”
And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’
God will forgive Israel and restore them - the message of these verses before Isaiah drops a very heavy prophecy on them in verse 28 regarding Cyrus. This Persian king, Cyrus, is mentioned here over 150 years before he would even be known to the Israelites. He's the king who would one day facilitate their return from exile.
To properly appreciate this prophecy of Isaiah, consider the following dates of occurrences:
Incidentally, the mention of Cyrus in verse 28 here and again in chapter 45 is used by liberal scholars to insist that, beginning with chapter 40, this portion of Isaiah was written much later...and not by Isaiah. On the other hand, I persist in the integrity of scripture and believe that Isaiah was the author of the entire Book of Isaiah. God gave him this prophecy regarding Cyrus over 150 years before he came on the scene.
More about Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1-4)
1 “Thus says the LORD to His anointed,
To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—
To subdue nations before him
And loose the armor of kings,
To open before him the double doors,
So that the gates will not be shut:
2 “I will go before you
And make the crooked places straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the LORD,
Who call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.
4 For Jacob My servant’s sake,
And Israel My elect,
I have even called you by your name;
I have named you, though you have not known Me.
This prophetic subject continues from chapter 44. Remember, Isaiah is writing this prophecy before the Babylonians were to even overthrow the Assyrians. Jerusalem has just been delivered from the conquering Assyrians, as we saw in II Kings 18:13-19:37; II Chronicles 32:9-22; Isaiah 36-37 (see notes). Isaiah has already prophesied that the Assyrians would fall to the Babylonians, and Jerusalem would too. Now he's prophesying that the Babylonians will fall to the King of Persia, Cyrus, a king and an empire which does not even exist at the time of this prophetic writing (see the dates in the section above). That's what makes this passage so remarkable. For a clearer perspective, read Esther 1-5 (see notes) regarding Cyrus and Persia.
Verse 1 has a startling prophecy regarding King Cyrus, "Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him…" He was first mentioned, but not by name, in Isaiah 41:2 (see notes) as the "one from the east." Here's a king who is not a believer in the one true God, yet he is considered anointed by God. That scenario occurs only one other time in the Old Testament, and that's I Kings 19:15-16 (see notes) regarding the King in Damascus. The context in which the word "anointed" is used here is that he is appointed by God for the purpose of bringing the Jews back to their homeland from Babylonian exile. God even uses non believers to impact his people. A universal appeal to turn to God dominates the last half of this chapter.
In 1879 a clay tablet was discovered which now resides at the British Museum. In this tablet, Cyrus' allegiance to the god, Marduk, is clearly stated. So, here was an instrument of God who facilitated the Jews' return to their homeland in the name of human rights, but without an allegiance to the one true God.
The sovereignty of God seen in the choice of Cyrus (Isaiah 45:5-13)
5 I am the LORD, and there is no other;
There is no God besides Me.
I will gird you, though you have not known Me,
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting
That there is none besides Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other;
7 I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create calamity;
I, the LORD, do all these things.’
8 “Rain down, you heavens, from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness;
Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation,
And let righteousness spring up together.
I, the LORD, have created it.
9 “Woe to him who strives with his Maker!
Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!
Shall the clay say to him who forms it, “What are you making?’
Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?
10 Woe to him who says to his father, “What are you begetting?’
Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’ ”
11 Thus says the LORD,
The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
“Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons;
And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me.
12 I have made the earth,
And created man on it.
I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,
And all their host I have commanded.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will direct all his ways;
He shall build My city
And let My exiles go free,
Not for price nor reward,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
Isaiah's prophecy transitions from specifics about Cyrus to God's sovereignty and his ability to use whom he likes to impact his people, the Jews. The essence of these verses is captured regarding Cyrus in verse 13, "'I have raised him up in righteousness, And I will direct all his ways; He shall build My city And let My exiles go free, Not for price nor reward,' Says the LORD of hosts."
Looking to the Millennium (Isaiah 45:14-25)
14 ¶ Thus says the LORD:
“The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush
And of the Sabeans, men of stature,
Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours;
They shall walk behind you,
They shall come over in chains;
And they shall bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying, ‘Surely God is in you,
And there is no other;
There is no other God.’ ”
15 Truly You are God, who hide Yourself,
O God of Israel, the Savior!
16 They shall be ashamed
And also disgraced, all of them;
They shall go in confusion together,
Who are makers of idols.
17 But Israel shall be saved by the LORD
With an everlasting salvation;
You shall not be ashamed or disgraced
Forever and ever.
18 For thus says the LORD,
Who created the heavens,
Who is God,
Who formed the earth and made it,
Who has established it,
Who did not create it in vain,
Who formed it to be inhabited:
“I am the LORD, and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in secret,
In a dark place of the earth;
I did not say to the seed of Jacob,
“Seek Me in vain’;
I, the LORD, speak righteousness,
I declare things that are right.
20 “Assemble yourselves and come;
Draw near together,
You who have escaped from the nations.
They have no knowledge,
Who carry the wood of their carved image,
And pray to a god that cannot save.
21 Tell and bring forth your case;
Yes, let them take counsel together.
Who has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the LORD?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A just God and a Savior;
There is none besides Me.
22 “Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath.
24 He shall say,
“Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And all shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him.
25 In the LORD all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and shall glory.’ ”
This chapter concludes with a word about the Gentile submission that one day will take effect. These verses must be looking toward the millennium itself in light of Isaiah 45:17, "But Israel shall be saved by the LORD With an everlasting salvation; You shall not be ashamed or disgraced Forever and ever." Not only so, but we see an invitation that extends to Gentiles as well in verse 22, "Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other."
Here's the message again: Stay away from those idols! (Isaiah 46)
1 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops;
Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle.
Your carriages were heavily loaded,
A burden to the weary beast.
2 They stoop, they bow down together;
They could not deliver the burden,
But have themselves gone into captivity.
3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
Who have been upheld by Me from birth,
Who have been carried from the womb:
4 Even to your old age, I am He,
And even to gray hairs I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.
5 “To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal
And compare Me, that we should be alike?
6 They lavish gold out of the bag,
And weigh silver on the scales;
They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god;
They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.
7 They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it
And set it in its place, and it stands;
From its place it shall not move.
Though one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer
Nor save him out of his trouble.
8 “Remember this, and show yourselves men;
Recall to mind, O you transgressors.
9 Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, “My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’
11 Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it.
12 “Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted,
Who are far from righteousness:
13 I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off;
My salvation shall not linger.
And I will place salvation in Zion,
For Israel My glory.
As we said, Israel always had a problem with idolatry. In verse 1, Bel is the Aramaic form of Baal, the national god of the Babylonians, and Nebo was a Chaldean god whose worship had been introduced into Assyria. Isaiah makes an appeal to them regarding the ungodly practice of idolatry in this chapter again. Notice the question posed to Israel by God in verse 5, "To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike?" He challenges them to look to God where true salvation is. Notice Isaiah's call back to their roots in verse 9, "Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me."
The destruction of the Babylonian Empire (Isaiah 47)
1 “Come down and sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called
Tender and delicate.
2 Take the millstones and grind meal.
Remove your veil,
Take off the skirt,
Uncover the thigh,
Pass through the rivers.
3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
Yes, your shame will be seen;
I will take vengeance,
And I will not arbitrate with a man.”
4 As for our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
5 “Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you shall no longer be called
The Lady of Kingdoms.
6 I was angry with My people;
I have profaned My inheritance,
And given them into your hand.
You showed them no mercy;
On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.
7 And you said, “I shall be a lady forever,’
So that you did not take these things to heart,
Nor remember the latter end of them.
8 “Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures,
Who dwell securely,
Who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow,
Nor shall I know the loss of children’;
9 But these two things shall come to you
In a moment, in one day:
The loss of children, and widowhood.
They shall come upon you in their fullness
Because of the multitude of your sorceries,
For the great abundance of your enchantments.
10 “For you have trusted in your wickedness;
You have said, “No one sees me’;
Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you;
And you have said in your heart,
‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’
11 Therefore evil shall come upon you;
You shall not know from where it arises.
And trouble shall fall upon you;
You will not be able to put it off.
And desolation shall come upon you suddenly,
Which you shall not know.
12 “Stand now with your enchantments
And the multitude of your sorceries,
In which you have labored from your youth—
Perhaps you will be able to profit,
Perhaps you will prevail.
13 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels;
Let now the astrologers, the stargazers,
And the monthly prognosticators
Stand up and save you
From what shall come upon you.
14 Behold, they shall be as stubble,
The fire shall burn them;
They shall not deliver themselves
From the power of the flame;
It shall not be a coal to be warmed by,
Nor a fire to sit before!
15 Thus shall they be to you
With whom you have labored,
Your merchants from your youth;
They shall wander each one to his quarter.
No one shall save you.
Even though Babylon is only a vassal state under the Assyrians at the time of Isaiah's writing, he prophesies the destruction of the Babylonian Empire - their fall to the Persians under King Cyrus in 538 B.C. Isaiah addresses the Babylonian Empire in verse 1 when he cries, "O virgin daughter of Babylon." This whole chapter is all about their future fall; notice the phrases in the following verses:
Isaiah 47:3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, Yes, your shame will be seen; I will take vengeance, And I will not arbitrate with a man.
Isaiah 47:9 But these two things shall come to you In a moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood.
Isaiah 47:11 Therefore evil shall come upon you; You shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you; You will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, Which you shall not know.
And then...there's your bright spot in verse 4, "As for our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel." Although Babylon will conquer the Assyrians and rise to the top, they aren't to stay on top. Total destruction of the Babylonian Empire is in their future.
More on Judah and Israel's Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 48)
1 “Hear this, O house of Jacob,
Who are called by the name of Israel,
And have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah;
Who swear by the name of the LORD,
And make mention of the God of Israel,
But not in truth or in righteousness;
2 For they call themselves after the holy city,
And lean on the God of Israel;
The LORD of hosts is His name:
3 “I have declared the former things from the beginning;
They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it.
Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
4 Because I knew that you were obstinate,
And your neck was an iron sinew,
And your brow bronze,
5 Even from the beginning I have declared it to you;
Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you,
Lest you should say, “My idol has done them,
And my carved image and my molded image
Have commanded them.’
6 “You have heard;
See all this.
And will you not declare it?
I have made you hear new things from this time,
Even hidden things, and you did not know them.
7 They are created now and not from the beginning;
And before this day you have not heard them,
Lest you should say, “Of course I knew them.’
8 Surely you did not hear,
Surely you did not know;
Surely from long ago your ear was not opened.
For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,
And were called a transgressor from the womb.
9 “For My name’s sake I will defer My anger,
And for My praise I will restrain it from you,
So that I do not cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it;
For how should My name be profaned?
And I will not give My glory to another.
12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob,
And Israel, My called:
I am He, I am the First,
I am also the Last.
13 Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth,
And My right hand has stretched out the heavens;
When I call to them,
They stand up together.
14 “All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear!
Who among them has declared these things?
The LORD loves him;
He shall do His pleasure on Babylon,
And His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken;
Yes, I have called him,
I have brought him, and his way will prosper.
16 “Come near to Me, hear this:
I have not spoken in secret from the beginning;
From the time that it was, I was there.
And now the Lord GOD and His Spirit
Have sent Me.”
17 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,
The Holy One of Israel:
“I am the LORD your God,
Who teaches you to profit,
Who leads you by the way you should go.
18 Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants also would have been like the sand,
And the offspring of your body like the grains of sand;
His name would not have been cut off
Nor destroyed from before Me.”
20 Go forth from Babylon!
Flee from the Chaldeans!
With a voice of singing,
Declare, proclaim this,
Utter it to the end of the earth;
Say, “The LORD has redeemed
His servant Jacob!”
21 And they did not thirst
When He led them through the deserts;
He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them;
He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.
22 “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
Through Isaiah, God exhorts Israel/Judah to turn to God. The time will come under Cyrus when they will return to their homeland (after 538 B.C.), and they need to be spiritually prepared for that occasion. They need to have learned their lesson about serving and loving the only true God. Israel knew from Deuteronomy 30:1-5 (see notes) that it was prophesied before they even occupied Canaan in the first place that their rejection of God would result in their captivity. Isaiah writes regarding the history of obstinate practice by Israel toward God in verses 4-8. So where do we go from here? There's your answer in verse 9, "For My name’s sake I will defer My anger, And for My praise I will restrain it from you, So that I do not cut you off." God will deliver Israel because God keeps his promises - even when they don't. So...when Israel failed to keep their end of the bargain with God, what did God do about it? Notice verse 10, "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." God will keep his promises to Israel, but not without affliction for their wrongdoing. God will destroy Babylon, the future (at that time) conquerors of Jerusalem.
Israel knew from God's covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15 (see notes) that they would be restored to that land. The lesson for them to learn from this particular prophecy of Isaiah is to use this ordeal as a learning experience to make them stronger as a people under God. In verses 20-22 they are encouraged to flee Babylon. That, of course, was only made possible after Cyrus issued the edict for their return in Ezra 1 (see notes).