This evening, we will read two Chapter s from Isaiah's prophecy, the forty-fourth and the fifty-fifth, and a few verses from the twenty-third chapter of the second Book of Samuel. May the Lord bless all these passages to us as we meditate upon them!
Isaiah 44:1. Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen:
See, the chapter begins with a «yet.» There is a great deal in God's «yets.» Notwithstanding all the sin and provocation mentioned in the previous chapter, the Lord still reveals his mercy and goodness to his ancient people.
Isaiah 44:2-3. Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground:
Be not cast down, ye thirsty souls, think not that you must perish of drought, you who are like the parched earth; God is ready to bless, and to bless largely, too: «I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.»
Isaiah 44:3-4. I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
God's grace to our children is also grace to us, for there is nothing that we desire more than to see them saved. It will be well for all of us who are parents to grasp this promise, and to plead it before God, «Lord, send such floods of thy grace that our children may grow like the willow trees that flourish wherever the brooks and rivers wander!»
Isaiah 44:5. One shall say, I am the LORD'S; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel.
They shall come in different ways, but they shall come unto the Lord. Some can perhaps only write out their resolve to be the Lord's, while others can boldly speak it, whoever may hear; but they shall come when grace is given to them.
Isaiah 44:6-7. Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts, I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall 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 shew unto them.
God claims to be the one great source of all true prophecy. He challenges the gods of the heathen to arrange future providences, or even to foretell what those providences will be.
Isaiah 44:8. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
God himself, who knoweth all things, knows of no other God beside himself indeed there is no other, and there can be no other. The unity of the Godhead must be accepted by us; we cannot think of there being two Gods, since the one living and true God filleth all space. Now the Lord, through the prophet, holds up to ridicule the unreasonableness and folly of those who worship graven images.
Isaiah 44:9-10. They that made a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit, and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god,
The very question is absurd.
Isaiah 44:10-11. Or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men:
Doth man make God? What kind of a god must that be that man can make?
Isaiah 44:11-12. Let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
This maker of a god is faint! How utterly ridiculous is the idea that one who can make a god should himself be faint.
Isaiah 44:13-16. The carpenter stretched out his rule; he marketh it out with a line he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it he for a man to burn; for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image and falleth down thereto.
It has often happened that, when this passage has been read in the hearing of idolaters, they have been convinced by it of their folly. It is a very simple description of what takes place in an idol-maker's workshop; yet, simple as it is, it shows the absurdity of the idea of worshipping that which can be made by man's hands.
Isaiah 44:16-18. He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god, They have not known nor understood:
There must be a failure of knowledge or understanding where such folly as this is possible.
Isaiah 44:18. For he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
They have been so full of sin that God has given them up to judicial blindness, and hardness of heart has come upon them as a punishment for their rebellion against the Most High.
Isaiah 44:19-20. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feedeth on ashes:
He is like a madman who takes to eating ashes:
Isaiah 44:20-21. A deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant:
You who fear God, remember these things, and keep clear of idolatry, the setting up of crucifixes, the hanging up of crosses or any kind of symbol whatever. Even though it be merely the simple triangle, or the sacred Alpha and Omega, away with it, for the people of God must be clear from even the slightest traces of idolatry. See how many so-called Christian churches are nothing better than congregations of idolaters, such as the Church of Rome, and even the Greek Church the one with her images and her relics, and the other with her pictures and her icons. We must have none of these things, for the command still stands, «Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image, nor any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.» In days like these in which we live, the people of God should be more particular than ever not to countenance any form of idolatry lest, by slow degrees, we come back to the old abominations which God abhors.
Isaiah 44:21-23. I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.
Glory be to his holy name, it shall be our delightful occupation, as long as we live, to glorify him who «hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.» Now turn to the fifty-fifth chapter of this prophecy; might we not almost say, the fifty-fifth chapter of this gospel?
This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 44:1. and 45; and 2 Samuel 23:1-5.