Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

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Isaiah 44

What should I learn from this chapter?

• Jesus is the Lord, the King of Israel, Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: the First and the Last; and God. He is the Rock, the Cedar, and the Creator.
• The Prophecy of Cyrus
• The Eternal Present of God
• Man worships himself

God’s Blessing on Israel

Isaiah 44:¹ “Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant,
And Israel whom I have chosen.

Isaiah 44:² 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 (Jerusalem), whom I have chosen.

Isaiah 44:³ 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;

Isaiah 44:⁴ They will spring up among the grass
Like willows by the watercourses.’

Isaiah 44:⁵ 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.

There Is No Other God

Isaiah 44:⁶ “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
And Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
‘I am the First and I am the Last;
Besides Me there is no God.

• ^{From the beginning to the end, there is no room for any other “god”.}
• ^{Jesus is the First and the Last: Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants…4 Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
  To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
  7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
  8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Isaiah 9:6 Almighty)}

Isaiah 44:⁷ 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.

Isaiah 44:⁸ 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.’ ”

• ^{Genesis 31:45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46 Then Jacob said to his brethren, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap. 47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha (heap of witnesses in Arabic), but Jacob called it Galeed (heap of witnesses in Hebrew). 48 And Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore its name was called Galeed, 49 also Mizpah (Literally: Watch), because he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from another. 50 If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us—see, God is witness between you and me!”}
• Jesus is the Rock and Stone: See Topic: Jesus as The Rock and Stone
• A pillar is called “a witness”.

Idolatry Is Foolishness

Isaiah 44:⁹ 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.

• ^{If they could have being, they would be ashamed with what their makers did to them.}
• ^{They are witnesses against their creators of men.}

Isaiah 44:¹⁰ Who would form a god or mold an image
That profits him nothing?

• ^{The question is why? Why does man want to worship a worthless image instead of the true, living God?}
• ^{The answer is because they want a god they can control.}
• ^{Trying to control “God” is the antithesis of “Faith” and trusting God.}

Isaiah 44:¹¹ 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.

Isaiah 44:¹² 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.

• ^{The maker is only a man and not the one and only God who does not become hungry, His strength never fails, and He does not faint for want of water.}

Isaiah 44:¹³ 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.

Isaiah 44:¹⁴ He cuts down cedars for himself,

• ^{The Cedar: compared to the Messiah, it has a sweet perfume, it is without knots (twisted lies), is straight (righteous) and tall (influential). It is known for its stability and its extended roots. To “make an idol by cutting down a cedar is like taking down the Son of God in order to profane Him.}

And takes the cypress and the oak;
He secures (Lit. appropriates) it for himself among the trees of the forest.
He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.

Isaiah 44:¹⁵ 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.

Isaiah 44:¹⁶ 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.”

Isaiah 44:¹⁷ 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!”

• ^{Man tries to be a god, creating a worthless entity so that as a god he can worship his own creation hence, himself.}
• ^{However; God IS God, He created a worthless entity from clay, breathing His own life into it making man in His priceless image so that man can worship Him.}

• ^{A good example of man worshiping himself is for him to take a selfie that turns himself into a giant:}
• ^{https://youtu.be/wF2JaU7KMwk}
• 
• ^{Click on link at top of photo to see the giant: 10 stories tall.}
• ^{In Daniel chapter 3 Nebuchadnezzar built a giant statue of himself and ordered everyone to worship it. It also was 10 stories high.}

Isaiah 44:¹⁸ They do not know nor understand;
For He has shut (Lit. smeared over) their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand.

• ^{When man misuses what He has given him, God takes away that which man sees and understands so that man cannot profane it.}

Isaiah 44:¹⁹ 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?”

• ^{Man’s “gods” are a mockery, using them for their own needs, warming themselves, baking, etc. then worshiping them and asking for their own desires. Their gods are nothing more than puppets operated by man and doing man’s will in the place of God’s will.}

Isaiah 44:²⁰ 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?”

• ^{Their is no nourishment in ashes. What man gives himself is destruction, like the log in the fire.}

Israel Is Not Forgotten

Isaiah 44:²¹ “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!

• ^{God is saying “You have NOT formed ME. I have formed YOU! YOU are MY servant. For your own good you will not be forgotten by Me because you need ME to deliver YOU. That which your worthless idol cannot do.”}

Isaiah 44:²² I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions,
And like a cloud, your sins.
Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

• ^{God is speaking from the Past, the Present, and the Future simultaneously, speaking from the Eternal Present as though everything has been accomplished. From God’s point of view, it is already done.}

Isaiah 44:²³ 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.

• ^{Jacob and Israel are the same person. God declared He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob’s name was changed when God renamed him “Israel” meaning “Fighter of God” after he wrestled with God for a blessing.}
• ^{Scripture uses Jacob’s name when he is acting in the flesh but Israel when he is acting in the Spirit.}

Judah Will Be Restored

Isaiah 44:²⁴ Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
And He who formed you from the womb:

• ^{From the womb means “from before the nationality of the Jews was known among men”.}

“I am the Lord, who makes all things,
Who stretches out the heavens all alone (By Himself),
Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;

• ^{Who is the creator? None other than Jesus.}
• ^{See Topic: Jesus as Creator}

Isaiah 44:²⁵ Who frustrates the signs of the babblers,
And drives diviners mad;
Who turns wise men backward,
And makes their knowledge foolishness;

• ^{Psalm 2:4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh (mock them); The Lord shall hold them in derision (chaos). 5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: 6 “Yet I have set (installed) My King On My holy hill of Zion (Lit. Upon Zion, the hill of My holiness.”)}

Below: God declares His plan concerning the Jews, Jerusalem, and He calls out by name His servant, Cyrus, who God will use to complete His plan. This prophecy was written before the Jews were taken into captivity by Babylon. But God, from His place of the eternal present, is revealing how they will be delivered from their captivity even before they are taken into captivity and who He will choose to do it. A fascinating subject in verifying scripture.

Isaiah 44:²⁶ 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;

• ^{The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and the people taken captive by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. Jerusalem was emptied.}

Isaiah 44:²⁷ Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry!
And I will dry up your rivers’;

• T^{he deliverance of Jews in captivity in Babylon was executed by Cyrus, king of the Medes and Persians, when God gave him the thought to siphon off the Euphrates river into a marsh basin and send his army under the water gates at the bottom of the walls in order to conquer Babylon.}

• ^{The Euphrates was down to muddiness.}

• ^{See Daniel Chapter 5 for the story of Belshazzar, king of Babylon during Cyrus’ secretive victory. When pop-up appears, click on link at top of pop-up.}

Isaiah 44:²⁸ 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.” ’

• ^{When the Jews showed Cyrus Isaiah chapter 44 and read the prophecy about himself, then he set out to do everything God said he would do. The fulfillment of God’s prophecies are amazing in detail.}