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Isaiah
41. An expository study of Isaiah, chapter 44
Chosen
Have you considered the many things in your life over
which you have had no control? The family into which you were born, the time
and place of your birth, your name, and your physical features are all things,
which were decided for you. You had no choice in the matter. In the earliest
stage of your life, you were totally dependent on others for care and
sustenance. You were left in their hands to be moved, fed and put to sleep.
They did your thinking for you.
As children, we yearned for freedom and independence,
for the day that we could leave our parents’ house and be on our own. So we got
a job and lived in our own place. Soon we found that we were not as free, as we
thought we should be. There were bills to pay and our employer thought that we
ought to obey his wishes. Then we married and found that our area of freedom
was smaller, because now we had to share our existence with another. Then
children came and chipped away even more at our little independent world.
Let’s look at the other side… the times when we used
our independence, and let’s consider the choices that we have made. Do these
recollections give us any more pleasure or satisfaction? In many areas of our
lives, we are living with the consequences of wrong decisions and, if we view
our situation correctly, we will find that we have been and are slaves to our
own will. We should come to the realization that our independence has not
brought us any more happiness, and perhaps it would have been better, if
someone else had made our choices for us.
Because of our fiercely independent nature, perhaps we
do not find it very pleasant to think of another making decisions for us. We
like to make our own choices and rule over every area of our lives. We want to
control our future. It seems to me, this independence stems from fallen nature,
for we were created to be dependent beings, made for God’s pleasure and to
totally lean upon Him for subsistence.
So this chapter begins, reminding Jacob, that is, the
nation of Israel, that he is a chosen servant of God. It is a continuation from
the last chapter, where Jacob was suffering the consequences of rebellion
against his God. Jesus told His disciples, “You
did not choose me, but I chose you…” (Jn.15:16) They were chosen by God and so are all those who become His
disciples. When praying to the Father, Jesus spoke of them as “those whom you have given me, for they are
yours” (Jn.17:9). In the matter of discipleship, we do not choose, but are
chosen.
Recipients
of water and the Spirit
As in the last chapter, the Lord reassures his people
that they should not fear, for He made them, formed them and will help them.
The name “Jacob” is dishonorable, but here he is given another name, Jeshurun, actually an antonym with a
root meaning right or straight (v.2).
This is a prophetic and poetic utterance, a term of endearment.
Water is a precious commodity in Israel and the Lord
frequently refers to water as blessing upon His people; not only physical
blessing, but spiritual. “I will pour water on the thirsty land... I will pour my
Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants” (v.3). Jesus
also spoke of water as spiritual life and refreshment: “Born of water and the Spirit” (Jn.3:5) and “The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water
welling up to eternal life” (Jn.4:14).
The entire expression in these first verses is of
refreshment and vitality, a transformed people rejoicing in their God, and
thrilled to belong to Him. They are satisfied and fulfilled in being a chosen
people (v.4-5). Let’s review quickly the message: It speaks of a chosen people,
fashioned by the Lord from the beginning of their existence, secure in Him, blessed
in an atmosphere of abundant life, partakers of the Holy Spirit, and exultant
in being Israel, His possession.
Have we not continually reiterated that the main
purpose for studying the Bible is because it is a revelation of the nature and
person of God? We want to know that the God, who has touched our lives and met
with us, is the One revealed in His word. In verse six, He is the Lord, the
King of Israel, his Redeemer, and the Lord of hosts. He adds, “I am the first and I am the last.” Jesus
Christ was claiming deity, when He spoke of Himself as “the first and the last” in the book of Revelation (1:17; 2:8;
22:13).
Again He expresses His uniqueness as the one true God
and tolerates no challenger: “Besides me
there is no god… Who is like me?... Is there a God besides me? There is no
Rock; I know not any.” He manifests Himself in and through His people,
calling them from ages past and declaring to them the future (v.7,8). The
church joins with Israel in this position and calling. Paul teaches: “You were at that time… alienated from the
commonwealth of Israel… but now in Christ Jesus you… have been brought near…
that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to
the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph.2:12, 13; 3:10).
Do you see that we have been chosen by God, along with
the Jews, not only to witness to the world, but to “rulers and authorities in the heavenly places”? I seem to glimpse
these heavenly authorities, beyond any authority that we know, sitting upon
thrones, gathered to observe and marvel at the works of God among His chosen
people on earth. Would you have even dreamed to choose such a calling?
A
lesson about idols
The reader of the writings of the prophet is ushered
into a heavenly classroom, where he is privileged to learn from God’s
viewpoint. In this place alone, he partakes of absolute truth, superseding
anything that is taught by the most advanced thinking on this planet. God has
revealed Himself in the previous verses and now He will school us in the
subject of idolatry.
He tells us that an idolater is someone who delights
in meaningless vanity. Time, energy and expense is lavished on something without
value. “Their witnesses neither see nor
know, that they may be put to shame” (v.9). Their practice is senseless and
therefore they will inevitably bring shame to themselves. We will ponder the
reason for making this statement.
The forming of an idol can be a very elaborate
undertaking involving a number of people, including a designer and a craftsman.
The time will come, when they will be gathered and singled out for fear and
shame. “Who fashions a god or casts an
idol?” The entire project begins and ends in human thought and endeavor,
which in itself is enough proof to show us its fallibility (v.10-11).
The ironsmith is brought in question to demonstrate
his ability and part in making an idol. He has tools designed for his trade and
he has developed skill and strength in his craft. However, he has his natural
limitations and weaknesses. The unspoken question is: Does he have the
wherewithal to create a supernatural object? (v.12).
Then the carpenter is brought to the front in carving
the work. We are familiar, aren’t we, with the pencil and lines that he draws
on the wood, with the plane and the compass to draw an arc? He skillfully
shapes an image of a handsome being, fit to decorate any house. He uses cedar,
or cypress, or hard, heavy oak wood. This
carpenter starts from scratch: he plants his own grove and waits decades for it
to grow and mature. Part of his wood is used as fuel for heating. Another part
is used for a wood oven to bake bread. From the same tree, he chooses a limb to
form an idol to religiously worship. He “falls
down before it” (v.13-15). The
unspoken question: Is this piece of wood a worthy object for a human being to
worship?
Follow the reasoning of the Holy Spirit: “Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the
half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and
says, ‘Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!’ And the rest of it he makes into
a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says,
‘Deliver me, for you are my god!’” (v.16-17) Can something that comes from
such a common source for common usage, be singled out and carved into something,
which is divine? Can something made with human hands be helpful to provide that one
with supernatural help?
An idolater, the Lord instructs us, cannot discern;
that is, he cannot distinguish between the common and the holy. He is blind and
his heart is dead to spiritual reality, so that he cannot understand. There is
no wisdom from above to be able to say, “Half
of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals… Shall I fall down
before a block of wood?” (v.18-19) Do you see the shame of it all? “A deluded heart has led him astray” (v.20).
He cannot tell a lie from the truth, because he lives in a world of deceit. If
he can build a god with his own materials and his own strength and skill, then…
is he not the god of his god? Is he not the god over his own world? That is
what it seems to boil down to.
God
stands with His people
These are the things that God teaches His people, in
order that they might be better informed and distinguished from the rest of the
world. Even in Babylonian captivity, they are a light in a dark place, as the
church should be in the New Testament dispensation, “blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst
of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the
world” (Phil.2:15).
In the midst of idolatry, God’s people are to remember
the true God, to whom they belong. They did not form Him, He formed them; He
does not serve them, they are His servants. Was there a danger that their sin
would come between them and their Lord, so that He would turn His back on them?
(v.21) Then, “I have blotted out your
transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have
redeemed you” (v.22). Transgressions, thicker ones like a cloud, and
thinner ones like the mist, which block the heavenly view, are blotted out of
their account book. The problem of reconciliation belongs to them. They have
strayed and must repent (v.22).
When mankind is freed through redemption, all of
creation sings. The heavens, the depths, the mountains, and the forest, every
area of creation and every single item in that area must join in the song.
Nothing in the world is as great as redemption and nothing brings more glory to
God (v.23).
In contrast to the world of idolatry, from the very
onset of his existence, God forms His people. He, by Himself, is the Creator of
man and He is the Creator of man’s ambiance, the heavens and the earth. He is
the Redeemer, solving all the problems that might separate the people from Him
(v.24).
He interferes with a corrupted world, which stands in
opposition to Him, perverting His creation by false religion. He will deal with
it. He is the Lord, “who frustrates the
signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes
their knowledge foolish” (v.25). He stands on the side of truth: “Who confirms the word of his servant and
fulfills the counsel of his messenger.”
Here is the word of the Lord to the Babylonian
captivity: “Who says of Jerusalem, She
shall be inhabited, and of the cities of Judah, They shall be built, and I will
raise up their ruins” (v.26). He works through the power of His word. His
spoken word is as sure as its fulfillment. All that comes between Him and His
purpose, will disintegrate (v.27).
In this final scripture, the vessel that God has
already said would be raised up to return the Jews to their land, is named,
about 200 years before his birth. Cyrus will be His shepherd, guiding Israel
back to their native country. The Lord raises up, whom He will, even a king of
a pagan world empire, to carry out His purposes. Through Cyrus, Jerusalem will
be rebuilt and so will its most important landmark, the temple.
Be sure of this, what God has done to fulfill His will
in the past, is what He will do in the future. The idolatry of modern times is
much more complicated and sophisticated, but He will shame it and put His fear
upon the idolatrous generation. His truth will triumph and His word will defeat
all enemies, including the final rebellion, led by Antichrist and the false
prophet. He, who is called the Word of God with a sword proceeding from His
mouth, will descend from heaven to capture the beast and false prophet and slay
with the sword (Rev.19:13,15,20-21). He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev.19:16).
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