Isaiah 44:1

Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. 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 Jeshern whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground. I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine offspring. They shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the watercourses. One shall say, "I am the Lord's," and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob. Another shall subscribe his hand, or inscribe his hand, unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.

Father, as we look into your word, we pray that you would speak to us. That you would continue to give us understanding as we study these things. God, may we be able to make application to our own lives. We clearly live many years after these things were written, and we are not a part of the children of Israel by blood. But Lord, you have called us, and you clearly desire that we would know you through your word. We pray that as we go through your word tonight, we would gain a better understanding of who you are and how you work among your people. For we ask this in Jesus' name. And all God's people agreed, saying, "Amen." You can be seated.

Every time I read those words, "Thus saith the Lord," my heart kind of jumps because God is speaking. It's important for us to recognize, as we study through the scriptures, that God clearly is speaking. Not only to the children of Israel—yes, the context of this passage is to God's people there in the land of Israel 2,800 years ago, specifically to those that lived in the nation of Judah in the city of Jerusalem. But God does speak to us through His word. He desires, as we just prayed, that we would know Him even more fully through His word. As we saw in chapter 43 last week, verse 14, "Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer."

Then again in verse 16, thus saith the Lord, which makes a way in the sea. Over and over again in these passages that we're in right now, in chapters 40 through 49 of Isaiah, we see God speaking directly to His people. We see it once again here in this passage. In Isaiah 44, verse 2, He calls to His people, those that He had chosen, those that were His servants, the ones that He had created. He says to them, "Yet now hear, O Jacob, my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen. 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 Jeshurun, whom I have chosen."

Now, Jeshurun is a name that is applied to the children of Israel a number of times in Scripture. We see it three times in the book of Deuteronomy and then once again here in this passage in Isaiah chapter 44. It means "my upright one." So God says to His people, "You are my servant. You are my chosen. You are the ones that I have created. I formed you for a purpose. You are my upright ones."

It is interesting that He calls them by the name Jacob, which, of course, you may remember means "heel catcher" or "deceiver." It was the name given to that son of Isaac when he was born, as he held on to his brother's heel. He had a twin brother, and so they named him Jacob. His name really turned out to be a perfect name for him because throughout his life, he was something of a deceiver until God transformed his heart, his life, and his name in Genesis chapter 32. God said, "You are no longer going to be called Jacob. You are going to be called Israel."

The children of Israel, the twelve tribes, came from the sons of Jacob, whom God changed to Israel. Here, God uses both names for him. He says, "I want you to listen up, Jacob, my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen. You are my upright one. You are Jeshurun. I don't want you to fear." Why? Well, He tells them, "I am with you to help you," in verse 2.

But He goes on in verse 3 and says, "I will pour out water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon dry ground. I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine offspring." God says to His people here, "I am going to pour my spirit upon you," calling them to attention and reminding them of who they were and who He was.

Sadly, it was a necessary thing for God to remind the people of Judah and Jerusalem just who He was because they had departed from it. As we have been going through the book of Isaiah, we see time and time again God calling to His people to return to Him.

Because they have turned their back on Him, they have backslid. They accuse God of forsaking them and of forgetting them. We are going to see in just a few weeks, when we get to Isaiah chapter 49, that Zion said, "Lord, you have forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me."

Have you ever felt that way before in your life? Have you ever come to a place where you are experiencing trial, going through difficulty, and things seem to be mounting up against you? You begin to question, "Lord, are you even with me in this? Have you forsaken me? Have you forgotten me?" You don't even need to raise your hand, because I see from the nodding heads tonight that many of you have experienced that time before.

Yet God would speak to you just as He speaks to the children of Israel here, reminding us that He has not forsaken us and has not forgotten us. In fact, that passage in Isaiah 49 is powerful because He goes on to say in the very next verse, "Can a woman forget her suckling child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget. Behold, I have graven you upon the palms of my hands, and your walls are continually before me."

He says to the children of Israel, to the city of Jerusalem, "You are always on my mind." A woman may even forget her suckling child, her newborn baby, but God says, "I will never forget you." I think it's so important that we, in the body of Christ, the children of God, recognize and understand that this word is for us as well. The reminder that God gives to His people here is significant.

Even though they had turned from God to foolish idolatry, in the midst of their sinful departure, they had the gall to say, "God, you've forsaken us." Yet God was still compassionate, gracious, and merciful. He still spoke to them, saying, "Listen, if you'll return to me, I will be one who blesses you." He gives this great promise: "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty."

However, a lot of times, God needs to bring us to the place where we properly recognize and understand that we are thirsty. Many times, we try to find satisfaction for our thirst in other things. The children of Israel were guilty of just that. In Jeremiah chapter 2, about 150 years after Isaiah spoke these words to the children of Israel, Jeremiah tells them, "Listen, you've committed two evils against the Lord. You've departed from the well of living water and have hewed out for yourselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water."

So they said, "Lord, we're not going to follow you. We're not going to serve you. We're going to do it on our own."

I think that some of us tonight have experienced that as well. At some point in our lives, we say, "Lord, you know what? I think I can handle this. I think I can do this." And you know what God will say? "Alright, I'm going to let you do it." He's gracious. He's merciful. He allows us to make such a decision because He has given us free will. Every single one of us here tonight has exercised our free will to our own destruction at times.

The children of Israel were no different. They came to a place where they turned their backs on God, thinking they could do it on their own. God allowed them to do that. They hewed out for themselves cisterns to hold their own water and sustain themselves. God said, "I'm going to let you do that." They turned from the well of living waters to try and make it on their own. However, it came to a point where they finally recognized, "You know what? This is not working." When they reached that place of thirst, where they were dying, they cried out to the Lord. God responded, "I will pour out water on him that is thirsty."

In reading that, I'm reminded of the passage in the New Testament, specifically in the Sermon on the Mount. If you turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5, you will find that chapters 5, 6, and 7 comprise one of the longest teachings of Jesus, called the Sermon on the Mount. It's interesting to look at the chronology of the book of Matthew. This is the first real discourse of Jesus in His ministry. Yes, there are things He said here and there in the Gospel of Matthew up to this point. In chapter 4, verse 17, He says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Then He tells a couple of people to follow Him in verse 19 of chapter 4.

When you come to chapter 5, He begins to speak to a group of people gathered there at the Sea of Galilee. He just keeps speaking and speaking. Notice how He starts this out in Matthew chapter 5, verse 3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." We have to come to that recognition, that place where we honestly declare, "This isn't working. Something's got to change. I've been trying to do this on my own, and it's not working. I am poor in spirit; I am destitute in spirit." Jesus says that the person who comes to that right recognition, "theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

He goes on to say, "Blessed are they that mourn." The person who comes to that place where they recognize that they are poor in spirit, that they have sinned against a holy God, and that they are dead in spirit, begins to mourn over their own sinfulness. God says that the person who mourns shall be comforted.

Verse 5 states, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Blessed is that person who comes to the place where they really see who they are. They recognize that they are nothing. I believe it was J. Vernon McGee, at least one of those who broke that word "meek" down for me. When we come to that place where we look at ourselves and acknowledge, "That's really who I am," you can probably even hear J. Vernon McGee saying that in his Southern accent, can't you?

We come to that place where we're poor in spirit. We mourn over our sinful condition and recognize that we are nothing. Look at verse 6: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." You see, I believe that God wants each of us to come to that place. We will never obtain the grace of God or receive the salvation of God until we come to the proper place where we hunger and thirst for Him to do a work in us.

In Isaiah chapter 44, God says, "I will pour water on him that is thirsty." But we've got to come to that place where we recognize our spiritual condition—that we are poor in spirit, that we mourn over our sinfulness, and that we recognize that, in and of ourselves, we are nothing. Then we begin to thirst. God says, "I will pour out water to him that is thirsty, floods upon the dry ground." Not just a little trickle, but God will pour out floods upon the dry ground. "I will pour out my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine offspring."

God does not only promise to satisfy a physical thirst; His promise extends much further. He says, "I'll pour out my spirit upon your seed." We see a very similar prophecy and promise given to the children of Israel in Joel. In Joel chapter 2, verse 28, God, speaking through the prophet Joel, says, "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams; your young men shall see visions." In verse 29, he adds, "And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days I will pour out my spirit."

We know that, as part of the new covenant—not being children of Israel by blood, but being children of Abraham by faith—this prophecy began to be fulfilled in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost. Remember, there the disciples, 120 of them, were gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem after Jesus' resurrection.

As an ascension into heaven, they heard a sound like a rushing mighty wind. The Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak with other tongues. There were cloven tongues of fire upon their heads. The people gathered near that place heard this sound and saw what was going on. They said, "These people are drunk with wine."

Peter stood up and said, "Listen, it's the third hour of the day. We're not drunk as you suppose. This is what Joel spoke of: that in the last days God would pour out His Spirit." We are the recipients, still to this day, of the pouring out of God's Spirit, that wonderful promise. Has He not satisfied our thirst in pouring out His Spirit?

However, there may be some here tonight who have not received that in full. Perhaps we are so filled up with ourselves that we have a hard time receiving the overflowing of the Holy Spirit. We have to wonder: Are we experiencing the outpouring of the Lord? Are we experiencing that filling to overflowing of God's presence and His power by His Holy Spirit?

This really is the mystery that was mysterious in the Old Testament but revealed in the New. In the book of Colossians, Paul says this mystery is Christ in you, the hope of glory. As we briefly touched on this last Sunday, we are going to go into a little bit more depth this upcoming Sunday. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. God dwells in us by His Holy Spirit. We have received the infilling of the Holy Spirit, but also that overflowing pour out of the Holy Spirit upon our lives.

So, what is the result of that? Look at verse 4 of Isaiah 44: "And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. One shall say, 'I am the Lord's,' and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob. Another shall subscribe his hand or inscribe his hand unto the Lord and surname himself by the name of Israel."

What is the result of God's outpouring? We see a few different things here. One of them is an abundant and fruitful life, a life filled with evident growth. You see it there in verse 4? They shall spring up as grass among the water courses, as willows among the rivers. In the life of the person who has received the infilling or the overflowing of the Holy Spirit, they should experience growth. They should see a growth that is supernatural.

What kind of growth? When we talk about growth in the Spirit, your mind likely goes to a similar place that mine does: Galatians chapter 5, verse 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is what?

Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. Paul, in Galatians, says there is fruit. There is evidence of the Holy Spirit infilling and overflowing in our lives. The fruit of the Spirit is love, along with all these other things that are associated with it: joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, self-control, and so forth. These are the things that should be evident in our lives.

Another effect of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit is seen in verse 5 of Isaiah 44. Those who receive the infilling or overflowing of the Holy Spirit identify themselves boldly as belonging to the Lord. One shall say, "I am the Lord's." Another shall call himself by the name of Jacob. Another shall subscribe his hand, or literally inscribe his hand. This was one of the ways that they identified themselves in ancient times as a servant. In ancient Israel, a person who was a bond servant or a slave would sometimes receive an earring in their right ear to show that they were a servant. They would also be inscribed with their master's name upon their hand.

Paul even speaks about bearing in himself the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ in the book of 1 Corinthians. So, do we bear in our lives the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ? I'm not saying that we should go out tonight and get tattoos of the Lord's name on our hands, but can people see in our lives the evidence of the Lord in the way that we live? It should be overflowing in the fruit of the Spirit from our lives, as well as in our speech and the way we identify ourselves. We are the Lord's.

Are we pouring over with what has been poured into us by God? Are we experiencing the satisfaction of His power and presence through His Holy Spirit? Are we exemplifying His nature in love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, and self-control? These are things that the world does not know apart from Christ and apart from God's Word. Is that seen in our lives? Are we boldly declaring that we are the Lord's to those we come in contact with? These are all evidences of the work of God in our lives.

Isaiah continues in verse 6, saying, "Thus saith the Lord." A second time, God causes us to perk up and listen. He has something to say to us: "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 shall I call and declare it? Set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people and the things that are coming and shall come. Let them show unto them. Fear not, neither be afraid. Have I not told thee from that time and declared it? Yes, you are even my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? Yes, there is no God. I know not any.

God calls His people to attention again and reminds them who He is. We saw in the first few verses that He is their Creator, the one who formed them. Here, He reminds them that He is their King, their Redeemer, and the Lord of armies. He is the first and the last, He says. We see that Jesus identifies Himself in much the same way in Revelation chapter 1 and Revelation chapter 22: "I am the first and the last, the one who was and is and is to come, the Alpha and the Omega."

Thus, we see here that God, the one true God enthroned in heaven, God the Father, is the same as God the Son, Jehovah. He declares, "I am the first and I am the last." God proclaims that He is the one who declares things that happened in ancient times and the things that are going to come to pass in the future.

This whole passage from Isaiah chapter 40 through chapter 49 reveals the foolishness of idolatry as God contrasts His ability and power with the inability and lack of power of the false gods that the world worships. The children of Israel were being seduced into following these false gods as well. Time and time again, we will see this contrast, especially when we get down to verse 9 in just a few minutes. God shows that these false gods can do nothing, but He is the one who shows you ancient things and tells you what is going to come to pass before it happens.

He says, "I am the first and the last." As the first, He does not derive His being from any other; He is self-existent and He lasts. He remains supreme until the end. In contrast, the false gods, the gods of this world, have to be made and fashioned by men. God does not derive His existence from any other being; He just is.

Remember there in Exodus chapter 3 when He introduces Himself to Moses? How does He introduce Himself? When Moses asks, "Who shall I tell them sent me?" God replies, "I, what? I am." Moses, I exist before you were even a thought. I created you. I am that I am. An idol can never be first because idols need someone else to fashion and make them.

An idol can never last because they wear out, they break, and they fall apart. But God is the ever-existent One. He asks, "Who shall declare as I have? Who will speak as I have?" Again, He contrasts Himself with all the false gods of this world. Those things are nothing; they can say nothing and do nothing. But I have declared the first and the last. I have told you what has happened in the past and what is coming in the future. Deaf, dumb, and blind are the gods of this world. They are nothing, and God shows them time and time again to be feeble and foolish.

Not only are the gods of this world nothing, feeble, and foolish, but as the psalmist declares, those who worship them and serve them are just like them. The one true God speaks, and those things come to pass. It is such an awesome thing to see God's fulfilled word. As a result of this, knowing who He is, He again tells His people in verse 8, "Fear not and do not be afraid. You have nothing to fear." The false gods of this world are nothing; their power is fake, and they are not to be feared. But the one true God, the One who spoke creation into existence, is to be reverenced and worshipped. He tells His people, "Listen, you are witnesses that I speak and things come to pass."

Continuing on to verse 9, He says, "They that make a graven image are all of them vanity, and their delectable things shall not profit. They are their own witnesses; they see not nor know that they may be ashamed." Those who make a graven image are foolish; they are nothing. God shows them to be vain. They neither see nor do they know. The psalmist, in Psalm 115, which I referenced last week, says, "The idols of this world are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not. They have eyes, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not. Noses they have, but they smell not. They have hands, but they handle not. They have feet, but they do not walk. Neither do they speak through their throat."

As I mentioned just a minute ago, "Those that make them are like unto them, and so is everyone that trusts in them." These false gods of this world, to whom people bow down, are foolish. They invest their time, their money, and everything of themselves into these things.

They are nothing. They do not speak, see, hear, smell, handle, or walk. They are just idle. It is interesting that these idols, which are called idols, are just that: they do not do anything. Yet, people will devote their entire lives to such things. How foolish are those who manufacture these idols, these false gods? They are highly valued, but they are really worthless. Isn't it interesting to consider that? Highly valued, but really worthless.

These tinkerers who made such things in ancient times may have derived their goods as a result of their services. They may have made their wealth and money from their work, but their services did not bring about any ultimate good. They created things that ultimately were an abomination.

Well, he continues on in verse 10. Listen: Who has formed a god or a molten image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed, and the workmen, they are of men. Let them all be gathered together. Let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. What futility it is to fashion and form something that is ultimately worthless, is what Isaiah is saying. The New Living Translation states, "Who but a fool would make his own god and an idol that cannot help him one bit?" How foolish would it be to construct something that ultimately can do nothing for you? To invest your time, energy, and wealth into creating something that is absolutely worthless.

Let these false gods stand up. Let these makers of such things stand up. Let them declare, "Why are you doing such things?" No matter how gifted an individual is in his work or workmanship, it ought not to be worshipped by people. Yet, these individuals may have been talented enough to carve something or to make it out of gold or silver, but ultimately, was their work worthy of worship? Isaiah says no; it is futility.

In verse 12, he continues: The smith with the tongs both works it in the coals and fashions it with the hammers, and works it with the strength of his arm. Yes, he is hungry, and his strength fails. He drinks no water, and he is faint. You see the man who is creating this false god. There is the smith, preparing the gold, preparing the silver, beating it out with the hammer, and trying to get it all ready, working it with the strength of his arms. He becomes so tired building this thing that he becomes famished and hungry. And yet, he feels he must press on.

I've got to finish it; I've got to meet the deadline. The carpenter stretches out the rule and marks it with the line. He fits it with the planes and marks it out with the compass. He makes it in the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, so that it may remain in the house.

Not only the goldsmith or the silversmith, but now the carpenter is stretching out the line. He is measuring everything and getting it all ready to carve it out. He hues down cedars, takes that cypress, and the oak, which he strengthens for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants an ash, and the rain nourishes it.

The carpenter realizes that he wants to make sure he builds a sturdy god. He wants to ensure that it doesn't fall over or that termites don't infest it, so he has to find a good cypress tree. He decides to go out and find a strong piece of wood. Then he thinks, "You know what? I'm going to plant some trees and make sure the rain nourishes them, so I've got a good strong ash tree."

Then shall it be for a man to burn. He will take thereof and warm himself. He kindles it and bakes bread. He makes a god and worships it, creating a graven image, and falls down to it. He burns part of it with fire; with part thereof, he eats flesh, roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He warms himself and says, "Ah, I am warm; I have seen the fire."

The residue thereof he makes into a god, even his graven image. He falls down unto it, worships it, and prays unto it, saying, "Deliver me, for you are my god." They have not known nor understood, for He has shut their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot understand. None considers in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, "I have burned part of it with fire, and I baked upon that fire bread with coals thereof. I have roasted flesh upon it and eaten it. Shall I take the residue of that tree, the remainder of that tree, and make it into an abomination? Shall I fall down to a stalk of a tree?"

He feeds on ashes and deceives his heart. A deceived heart has turned him aside, so that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?"

To be quite honest with you, every time I read this passage, I think this is maybe one of the most comedic passages in the entire book of Isaiah. It's actually kind of funny. Isaiah is really mocking and pointing a finger at these idol worshippers and the god makers, saying, "How stupid is this?" Let's just use a little bit of logic.

You go out into the woods, find yourself a nice sturdy tree, look around, and say, "Oh, that cypress tree will do." You use your energy to cut it down. After you've felled that tree, you get it all ready, and you realize, "You know, I'm a little cold out here." So you take a piece of that tree.

And you kindle it into a fire so that you might get warm by it. You think to yourself, "That's a pretty good fire. I should bake some bread and cook a meal on it." So you make some bread, you cook a meal, and you eat it. You reflect, "That was a pretty good meal." Then, you take the rest of the tree, make it into a god, and bow down to it, saying, "Thank you for feeding me and making me warm." It's foolishness.

Isn't that exactly what man does in our own nation? He expends his energy to make all kinds of money. He puts it into a 401(k), invests it in the stock market, and when the stock market does really well for a period of time, he can live large off the money he has made. He is so very thankful to his 401(k) that he bows down and devotes his life to NASDAQ and Dow Jones. Oh, how wonderful!

Every single morning, he wakes up, and his devotion is completely given to his 401(k) as he reads through his stock portfolio. He makes sure to read the Wall Street Journal to see what the numbers have to say, checking if everything is lining up.

Then there is the person who devotes all their time and energy to their education, building up their mind and intellect so they can harness more power for themselves. They are so thankful for their PhD or whatever it may be. Education is wonderful, but if your entire life is put into that—if your devotion, energy, time, and treasure are all invested in gaining more power—then isn't that a god?

You must ask yourself, is this worth your worship? Is this worth your devotion? At the end of the day, what good is it? When you stand before God, will you say, "Dear Lord, I had three PhDs"? And God might respond, "Really? That's wonderful. I created the universe. What are you going to do with that?"

A deceived heart turns him aside; he feeds on ashes. Ultimately, he is left with a dry, dirty taste in his mouth and a knot in his stomach. You have deceived yourself; you have turned aside. You have imagined that there is more value in this thing than there really is. It is just a wooden image overlaid with gold that cannot save your soul.

What about your soul? What does it do for you before your God? Isaiah, directed by the Lord, puts his finger right upon the foolishness of their idolatry. He says, "Look how foolish these things are. Have you not even considered?"

In your heart, do you have no knowledge or understanding? No, they didn't. Verse 18 says their eyes were shut; they cannot see. Their hearts were darkened; they could not understand.

Interestingly, it was God's very word, through the prophet Isaiah, that had brought this darkness of heart and foolishness to them. In Isaiah chapter 6, remember what the Lord said to Isaiah when He called him. In verse 10, He says, "Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and be converted and healed."

It was God's word, through Isaiah, repetitively spoken to them. As we saw in Isaiah chapter 28, it was line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. To the point where they said, "Oh man, that guy Isaiah, he's so repetitive. He's like a broken record. All he should be for is to teach the children's ministry. We have such more advanced intellects and understandings than him." They dismissed him as just repetitive. As a result, their eyes were shut, their ears were closed, and their hearts were darkened, lest they would hear and understand.

Then God calls out to these people in verse 21 of Isaiah 44. He says, "Remember these, O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant, and 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."

Consider Israel and the foolishness of your idolatry. Remember the reality of your loving God and King. He says, "Listen up, Israel. Though you've forgotten me, though you've turned aside, though you worship these foolish things, you shall not be forgotten by me," says the Lord. "I am the one that has blotted out your transgressions like a thick cloud."

How thankful we are that our God is able to blot out our thick cloud of transgressions and your sins. What other God can do such things? These false gods that they bow down to could not deal with their sin, their transgression, their wickedness. Yet, they had devoted their whole existence, their energy, their assets, and their time to these false gods. God says to them, "You're guilty of rebellion; you're guilty of idolatry."

But He calls them back. He says, "Return unto Me." At the end of verse 22, He continues, "Return unto Me, for I have redeemed you." If you'll return to Me, I will redeem you; I will remit your sins. And this is wonderful news, isn't it? This truly is the gospel.

Although your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, as stated in Isaiah chapter 1, verse 18. Although your sins are as thick as a cloud, it causes you to cough; it's so thick. Although your sin is great, God says, "You return to Me, I'll redeem you; I'll take away your sin."

Now, what's the proper response to that? Look at verse 23: "Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the earth. Break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree therein, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob and glorified Himself in Israel."

The proper response to the redemption that God brings, the way that He removes our thick cloud of transgressions, is to break forth in rejoicing. We should rejoice for the great grace of this awesome God. Israel was guilty of every sin and wickedness imaginable, just as we are and were. They could rightly be judged for all their sin and punished for it, but God calls them to repentance and extends to them His loving grace and mercy.

He calls to them, and the only right response is to return to Him rejoicing. As we see in Isaiah 51, verse 11, "Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion. With everlasting joy shall be upon their head, and they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away."

The redeemed of the Lord are returning to Zion with rejoicing, and all the mountains and the forests break forth into singing. Why? Because God has redeemed His people, and God has glorified Himself in Israel. That is God's desire for lost man: to redeem lost man and then to glorify Himself in and through lost man.

The Apostle Paul amplifies or builds upon this idea in Romans 8:18. There, in verses 18 through 22, he says, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us."

For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. The creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected it, the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. Everything of creation, this fallen creation, because of sin, is groaning and looking forward to that day when God manifests Himself in and through us, when we are glorified in Christ.

Now we have been justified because of the work that Jesus did on the cross. The punishment for our sin has been dealt with; it was dealt with when God punished Jesus in our place. Currently, we are being sanctified because of the work of Jesus Christ. God is transforming us daily, more and more, into the image of His Son.

But we are all, with all creation, groaning and looking forward to the day when we'll be glorified. How many of you even feel within your own bodies the groaning, looking forward to that day of the Lord glorifying Himself in us? Man, I'm looking forward to it.

Verse 24: Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer. Again, a third time, thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer. He that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that makes all things, that stretches forth the heavens alone, that spreads abroad the earth by Myself.

That frustrates the tokens of the liars and makes diviners mad. That turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish. That confirms the word of His servant and performs the counsel of His messengers. That says to Jerusalem, "Thou shalt be inhabited," and to the cities of Judah, "Thou shalt be built," and "I will raise up the decayed places thereof."

That says to the deep, "Be dry," and "I will dry up the rivers." That says to Cyrus, "He is My shepherd and shall perform all My pleasure," even saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built," and "Thy foundation shall be laid."

So the third time, God says to His people, "Thus saith the Lord." Listen up; your Redeemer is speaking. He reminds them that He is the one who has made all things. You see, in ancient times, there were gods over mountains, gods over seas, gods who ruled over crops, and gods who controlled the seasons.

The rains and all such gods are false and foolish, God declares. But the one true God is the one who stretched forth the heavens and spread abroad the earth beneath. He Himself, by Himself, created all things. We are told in this passage that the diviners and prognosticators of the world are frustrated by Him; He drives them mad. God turns the wise men backward and shows their knowledge to be foolish.

I get the sense, and I may be wrong, but I get the sense that when I read through this passage, it almost causes God a little bit of humor when He does these things. When He turns the wisdom of man backward and drives the diviners mad, what exactly does that look like?

Just over a month ago, I was reading on National Geographic's website an article titled "Scientists Have Found That the Proton Is Smaller Than They Thought, and It May Mean That They Need to Rewrite the Laws of Physics." How bummed Newton would be! What are you going to do? You have to rewrite the laws of physics because science has discovered that the proton is smaller than they first expected. These kinds of things happen all the time—a new discovery, something that they are able to peer into, and the next thing, they are scratching their heads, saying, "Man, we thought we understood what this was, but now we don't understand what this is."

I think that God is actually in heaven kind of going, "Yep." Perhaps you remember back on July 4th, 2005, when NASA smashed a huge probe into an asteroid named Temple 1. Their whole desire was to smash this probe, a big heavy piece of copper, into this asteroid to cause it to send up a cloud of dust so they could see what the asteroid was made of. Do any of you remember that?

When they smashed this thing into it, called Deep Impact, I read an article just a couple of days after that. The article said that Russian astrologist Marina Bay had filed a lawsuit in Moscow, asking for 8.7 billion rubles, or 311 million dollars, because she claimed that NASA's Deep Impact mission damaged her business, altering her ability to provide accurate horoscopes and harming her system of spiritual values.

There are those things that drive the diviners mad. What sort of things drive the diviners mad? Well, how about in Isaiah chapter 38?

When God caused the sundial to go back 10 degrees or 15 degrees for Hezekiah, imagine all the stargazers in Babylon in the 8th century BC who were left scratching their heads, wondering what in the world they were going to do now. God was in heaven, simply observing, as He drives the diviners mad and shows the wisdom of man to be foolishness.

In the last few verses of chapter 44, God makes three significant declarations to Jerusalem through His servants. First, He states that Jerusalem shall be inhabited and Judah rebuilt. When God says it, it will come to pass. Secondly, He commands the deep to be dry, and it was dry. When did God say to the deep that it should be dry? We see this twice in the book of Exodus. He said to the deep of the Red Sea, "Be dry," and it was dry, allowing the Israelites to cross over on dry ground. He also commanded the deep of the Jordan River, and it was dry, enabling them to cross over there as well.

So, God says to Jerusalem, "You shall be inhabited," in the same way He said to the Red Sea, "Be dry," and it was dry. Remarkably, He prophesied this 150 to 200 years before it would even come to pass. In verse 28, He declares, "Cyrus, he is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure," even stating to Jerusalem, "You shall be rebuilt," and to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid." God identifies Cyrus as His chosen vessel to accomplish His work.

In Isaiah chapter 39, God prophesied to Hezekiah, the king, who had backslidden in many ways. He foretold to foolish Hezekiah that the Babylonians would come and carry away captive the people of Judah and Jerusalem. This prophecy, given around 700 BC, would not be fulfilled until 586 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came and destroyed the city of Jerusalem, leading away captive the people of Judah. We are talking about a span of over 114 years.

Before Nebuchadnezzar would even come, God said, "This is going to come to pass." Then, after that, seventy years later, when Cyrus, King of Persia, would come and deliver the children of Israel, He would remove them from Babylon's control and allow them to go back to their homeland. More than one hundred years before Cyrus was even born, God said, "I have called Cyrus to be my shepherd, to set my people free, to deliver them, to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild."

When this prophecy was given, the children of Israel were living in Jerusalem. Jerusalem hadn't even been destroyed, and Babylon wasn't even the world power; Assyria was still the leading empire of the world. Yet God said, "You're going to go into captivity in Babylon, and you're going to be in Babylon." Jeremiah the prophet said they would be there for seventy years, and after seventy years, God would deliver them. God even told them by name who the deliverer would be: Cyrus, King of Persia.

Did these things come to pass? Surely they did. In 539 BC, Cyrus the Great, the king of Persia and the Medo-Persian empire, marched his armies into Babylon to fight against the Babylonian king, who was named Belshazzar. Remember that name? It appears in Daniel chapter 5.

Now, what happened at the very moment that Cyrus encamped his armies against the city of Babylon? Belshazzar, in Daniel chapter 5, figured his kingdom was so secure that no one would be able to come in. It was expected that the walls of the city were impenetrable. Herodotus, the ancient historian, claimed that the walls of Babylon were three hundred feet tall and wide enough to ride four chariots side by side upon the tops of the walls. There is a lot of question as to whether or not his account is true, but that is what he said.

Of course, Belshazzar thought there was no possible way anyone could break in. So, when Cyrus, the great king of Persia, mounted his armies outside the walls of Babylon, Belshazzar figured, "We're going to have a party and show you that you can't come in here."

It was while he was having that party that he decided, as Daniel chapter 5 tells us, to use the gold and silver instruments that his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. He was going to use those for his party. You remember what happened there. As he was using those things, he saw the handwriting on the wall: "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." He had no idea what it meant. His knees smote one against another, as the King James Version says, and his bowels were loose; he wet himself.

So, he gathered all his wise men together, but nobody could figure out what it meant. They called Daniel, the prophet, to come in, and he explained to them, "Well, you've been weighed in the balances and found wanting, and now tonight, your kingdom is taken from you." What he did not know, while Belshazzar was in that drunken stupor, was that Cyrus the king, with his armies, had diverted the Tigris River, which went right underneath the walls of the city of Babylon and supplied them with water. They had diverted the water so much that they were able to walk in knee-high water underneath the walls.

However, there were bronze gates that the Babylonians had constructed underneath those walls, so someone had to open those gates. Look at Isaiah chapter 45, verse 1: "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed." Who is his anointed? It is Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before him. "I will loose the loins of kings." Remember Belshazzar? His bowels were loose. "To open before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before you and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut asunder the bars of iron. I will give thee the treasure of darkness and the hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I am the Lord, which calls thee by name. I am the God of Israel. For Jacob, my servant's sake, and for Israel, mine elect, have I even called thee by thy name, and I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. I am the Lord, and there is none else; there is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else."

Who opened the gates into the Babylonian kingdom that night? God did. God says there in verse 2...

I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight. In the very same way that it was prophesied that John the Baptist would go before Jesus, in Isaiah chapter 40, God says to Cyrus, over 160 years before Cyrus would even go to deliver the Jews in Babylon, "I will go before you and make the crooked places straight. I will open the gates, and I am going to give you treasure. I am going to give you riches, even though you are not going down there to obtain treasure and riches. I am going to do all of these things. I will loose the loins of kings."

Why would God do these things? What was the purpose of God doing these things? Well, three reasons are given here in Isaiah chapter 45. Number one is found in verse 3: "That you may know, Cyrus, that you may know that I, the Lord, which call thee by name, that I am God, the God of Israel." Cyrus, I do these things so that you would know.

Did it work? Did God's plan come to pass? You don't have to turn there; let me just read to you from Ezra chapter 1. Ezra chapter 1 was written right at the time that Cyrus came into the land of Babylon. Now in the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, verse 1 states that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, because Jeremiah also spoke about this, might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing, saying, "Thus saith Cyrus, King of Persia, the Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among all of his people? His God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem."

Did it work? Clearly, it did. Why would God do these awesome things? Why would He speak about it 150 or 160 years before it would come to pass? Because He was proving to His own people that all these false gods you worship are nothing. They're not worth your devotion. But I alone am God. And so He says to Cyrus, "That you may know that I am the Lord. I'm going to do these things." And Cyrus says, "There's only one God. He's the God who gave me all these nations."

Notice what God said there in Isaiah chapter 45, verse 1: "Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before him." If there is a king that has been a great conqueror...

It's because God has allowed him to do so. God has strengthened his hand to be able to accomplish such things. Cyrus was wise enough to recognize that this was true.

How did Cyrus come to this knowledge? I have a hunch that when he came into Babylon, he probably met this very old prophet by the name of Daniel, who was there in the court of the king. Daniel likely said, "Hey, I want to show you something, Cyrus. I've been waiting for you. Come here. Let me show you what this prophet Isaiah said over 150 years ago about you, before you were even born."

Why did God do this? We read in verse 4, "For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect." Why did God proclaim it 160 years before it came to pass? Why did God fulfill His word? It was for Jacob, His servant's sake, and for Israel, His elect. God made a covenant, and He does not break His covenants. Although Israel broke the covenant, and although we often break our covenants, God does not break His covenants. He will move mountains to accomplish His word.

Thirdly, we read in verse 6 that they may know, "From the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else." God fulfills His word so that the world will see and know. From the rising of the sun, which rises in the east, and from the west, the whole world would recognize and know that God is God. God will fulfill His word that He might be glorified.

Continuing on, in verse 7 of Isaiah chapter 45, it says, "I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil, saith the Lord. I, the Lord, do all these things." This verse causes a lot of people trouble. When they read the Lord saying, "I make peace and create evil," they say, "Well, time out. What do you mean the Lord creates evil? I thought He had nothing to do with evil."

I think we're reading this in the wrong context. If we read it from the original language, we could interpret it as, "I, the Lord, create calamity." What exactly does that mean? The idea is that God would make peace for Israel by the calamity of Babylon. He would bring them peace through the calamity of another.

You might say, "Well, that doesn't make any sense." However, it makes perfect sense. Remember, God made peace for us by the calamity brought upon His Son.

Ye heavens, from above, verse 8, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation. Let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it.

Who is the one who came down from the heavens to bring righteousness? Jesus. Let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation. Remember, Jesus was laid in a tomb. He was laid in the earth, and yet the earth opened and brought forth righteousness. It sprang forth together. I, the Lord, have created it.

Woe unto him that strives with his Maker. Let the pot shards strive with the pot shards of the earth, says the Lord. Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it, "Why hast thou made me thus?" Or, "Thy work, he hath no hands?" Woe unto him that says unto his father, "What begettest thou?" Or to the woman, "What hast thou brought forth?" God says destruction or judgment is certain for the person who strives with the Lord.

A man fighting with another man is one thing, but a man seeking to fight with God is another. Listen, you can make yourself an enemy of God, but we know what happens to the enemies of God. There is not a good position to be in. And so God says, "Listen, let the pot shards of the earth fight with or strive with the pot shards of the earth. Let the clay strive with another clay, but not with the one who fashioned it." You fight with the Lord, and you'll be destroyed.

At the end of the age, there is going to come a big fight. We call it the battle of Armageddon, or the battle in the valley of Megiddo. And there in that battle, what is man mounting up to fight against? He wants to fight against God. Psalm 2 tells us God's thought process in that whole thing. Is God up in heaven going, "Man, they got tanks now. Ooh, nuclear weapons. Oh, goodness. This is going to be hard?" No, the Scriptures say that He laughs from heaven in Psalm 2 because man is going to gather together to fight against the Lord.

Well, God says, "Woe unto them." Twice here in this passage, destruction is certain. How terrible it is for a newborn baby to say to his father. The New Living Translation translates verse 10: "How terrible it would be for a newborn baby to say to his father or to his mother, 'Why was I born?' or 'Why did you make me this way?'" And that's what man does when he shakes his hand at God and says, "How? Why did you make us like this? Why did you do this? How dare God make us and create this world the way that He has, with all this calamity going on?" Thus saith the Lord, verse 11.

Again, thus saith 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. Command you me." I have made the earth and created man upon it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts have I commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness and will direct all his ways. He shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price, nor for reward, said the Lord of hosts.

Now, I believe that verses 11 through 13 speak both of Cyrus, who delivered the captives from Babylon, not for a price. He wasn't looking for a reward, but just because he had received a word from the Lord. So, it can speak of Cyrus, but I think it also speaks of Jesus. Think of Jesus in this context: I have made the earth and created man upon it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts I have commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness, Jesus, and I will direct all his ways, and he shall build my city.

What city? Well, in Hebrews chapter 11, we read about the city of God that God Himself is creating. He shall let my captives go, and not for a price. You see, we have been set free, but it costs us nothing. Thus saith the Lord.

Verse 14 again states: "Thus saith the Lord, the labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabians, the men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine. They shall come after thee. In chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, and they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, 'Surely God is in you, and there is none else, there is no God.' Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior."

They shall be ashamed and also confounded, all of them. They shall go into confusion together, that are makers of idols. And so, God says, when the world sees God's power upon His people, then they will come and bow down before you and say, "Listen, truly your God is the only God, and He's the only Savior." All these false gods are worthless; they're nothing. Those who trust in idols will be ashamed and confounded.

But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end. Never will the people of God be ashamed and confounded, those who put their trust, their confidence in God. You put your trust and confidence in man, it will come to nothing. You put your trust and your confidence in idols, it will fall apart. You put your trust in the one true God.

You will never be ashamed. For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God Himself that formed the earth and made it. He hath established it and created it, not in vain; He formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret in a dark place of the earth. I said not unto the seed of Jacob, "Seek me in vain." I, the Lord, speak righteousness; I declare things that are right.

And so God says, "Listen, I created everything you see for a purpose. I did not create it in vain." Now, this is an interesting concept. Because in Genesis chapter 1, we read, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." And the earth was without form and void. The very same Hebrew word that's used for "without form" and "void" is used here where it says, "God did not create the earth in vain."

There are some who hold to what is called the gap theory. Those that hold this gap theory believe that between Genesis chapter 1, verse 1, and Genesis chapter 1, verse 2, there was a gap of time. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Then there's a gap of time, and the earth was without form and void. They say something caused the earth to become without form and void. Those that hold to the gap theory believe that the fall of Satan took place during that time.

Now, whether or not that's the case, we'll find out when we get to heaven. It really has nothing to do with your salvation at the end of the day. It's an interesting concept, and they use this verse as one of the reasons why they hold that belief, because it says, "God did not create it in vain." But perhaps a better way to interpret this is that God created it for a purpose.

There are people today who say, "Even if there is a God, obviously, you look around the world; there's no purpose to this creation." No, He did. He created it for a purpose. He created it to be formed and inhabited. He doesn't speak things in secret. He's not some deistic God out on the edge of the universe that wants nothing to do with man. If you want to try and find out His will or His character, then you're not going to find it because He's done it in secret. No, He's spoken clearly and in the open.

He said, "Seek me." He did not command His people to seek Him in vain. God didn't say to you and me, "Seek me," and then try to run away from us. It's not a constant, vain, futile sort of chasing after the wind. He says, "Seek me," that we would find. And remember what Jesus says: "Those that seek shall find, and those that knock, it will be opened unto them." Assemble yourselves. Verse 20: "Come down and come."

Draw near together, you that are escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge, those who set up wood or graven images and pray unto a God that cannot save. Those people who bow down to false gods are ignorant; they have no knowledge. Tell ye, and bring them near. Yea, 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 God beside me, a just God and a Savior. There is none beside me.

Look unto me and be saved. He calls out to the idol worshipers of the world and says, "Listen, none of your gods can tell you what happened in the past. They can't tell you who created everything. I tell you those things. None of them can tell you what's going to come to pass in the future. But I do. Your false gods are foolish, and you'll be ashamed if you trust in them. Look unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth." It's not just for one group of people called Israel. He says to all the ends of the earth, "Look to me and be saved, for I am God and there is none else."

I have sworn by myself. Why has God sworn by himself? Because he can swear by none else. I have sworn by myself. The word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness. I speak it rightly; I speak it in truth, and it shall not return. That unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear. Paul quotes this in Philippians chapter 2. Surely shall one say, "In the Lord I have righteousness and strength." Even to him shall men come, and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory.

All those who stand in opposition against the Lord shall be ashamed, but every tongue shall confess, and every knee will bow before him. Those that do so now, those that come to him willingly, will find salvation. They will find in him righteousness and strength. I hope that tonight you are one that is found in him, righteousness and strength. Because on that day, you'll find that all those that are in the Lord are justified and shall be glorified. Amen. Looking forward to that day. Let's stand and pray.

Father, I thank You for Your Word. Cause it, Lord, to be planted deep in our hearts, that we would follow hard after You and not sin against You. Lord, we need Your grace day in and day out, every second of the day, to love, honor, and serve You in a way that You are worthy of.

So, God, would You pour out Your grace once again, afresh and anew? We thank You that we cannot frustrate Your grace, that it's new every morning. It's always morning somewhere. Lord, thank You tonight for Your grace. Would You fill us with Your Spirit as we prepare to go from here and give us boldness?

Lord, would the fruit of the Spirit be evident in our lives as we share with those we come in contact with? We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.