Day 208—We are in the SEVENTH month of Bible reading. We’re continuing in Isaiah.

    Day 208 – Isaiah 44 – 48. (More comfort for Israel after exile, Cyrus, the idols & fall of Babylon)

Chapter 44 tells about God’s heart for His chosen people. 

“Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun (an honored name) whom I have chosen.”  “I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring and my blessing on your descendants.”

“I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.”   “The LORD has redeemed Jacob and will be glorified in Israel.”

God says of Himself, “I am the first and the last; besides Me, there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.”

And because of this, the making and worshiping of stone, wood, or metal idols is super stupid! 

“All who fashion idols are nothing.”   

“A carpenter… “cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong in the forest. Then, it becomes fuel for a man. He takes part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread.  Also, he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 

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, saying, “Deliver me, for you are my god.”

Ah, the futility!

 

In the last part of 44 and chapter 45,  Isaiah tells about the still unborn and unknown Cyrus, the future king of Persia who will orchestrate the downfall of Babylon and, according to God’s word through Isaiah, will make it possible for the Jews to return to their land, and rebuild the city and the Temple.

God calls him “my shepherd,” who shall fulfill all my purpose concerning Jerusalem and the temple.

He calls Cyrus “my anointed,” who will subdue nations before him, to level exalted places, break in pieces the doors of bronze, and cut through the bars of iron.

“For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name (Cyrus), though you do not know me.  I am the LORD, and there is no other besides me there is not God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know….that there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.”

 

In the rest of chapter 45, Isaiah exalts and praises the one and only, true, mighty, Savior, LORD, and God. 

“Turn to me and be saved,

all the ends of the earth!

For I am God, and there is no other.

By myself I have sworn;

from my mouth has gone out in righteousness

a word that shall not return;

To me, every knee shall bow,

every tongue shall swear allegiance.

“Only in the LORD,” it shall be said of me,

“are righteousness and strength.”

 

Chapter 46 contrasts the idols of Babylon and the One True God, who loves them.

He has borne them from before their birth, “carried you from the womb; even to their old age, I am he, and to your gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.”

 

Chapter 47 tells in imagery of the upcoming humiliation and destruction of Babylon because of their treatment of His people. “I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand; you showed them no mercy; on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.

And finally, chapter 48 tells how God “refined” his beloved, chosen people. “….because I know you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,“

But He also foretells new things, hidden things, that they have never known that He will do for them. “For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. “

“Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains.

“Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”