Israel’s Only Savior
But now thus says the Lord,
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and through the rivers,
they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
-Isaiah 43:1-3
Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you.
-Isaiah 43:4
Everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.
Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears!
All the nations gather together,
and the peoples assemble.
Who among them can declare this,
and show us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,
and let them hear and say, It is true.
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.
I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“and I am God.
Also henceforth I am he;
there is none who can deliver from my hand;
I work, and who can turn it back?”
-Isaiah 43:7-13
I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.
-Isaiah 43:15
But you have burdened me with your sins;
you have wearied me with your iniquities.
-Isaiah 43:24
“I, I am he
who blots out your transgressions
for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
-Isaiah 43:25
Israel the Lord’s Chosen
This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s,’
another will call on the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand,
‘The Lords,’
and name himself by the name of Israel.
-Isaiah 44:5
The Folly of Idolatry
This whole section discussed again, the importance of not having idols, but in a really neat way. It said, “All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit.” Shame would come to anyone and their companions who fashioned idols. They would be terrified and put to shame together.
It said that the craftsman are only human, which is an excellent way to view this. Here, people were creating idols out of iron or wood and worshiping them, when ultimately they were a man-made object.
The ironsmith used tools and worked over the coals until he became hungry and thirsty and his strength failed. Human.
The carpenter marked out lines with a pencil and shaped it with a compass. He shaped it into the figure of a man to dwell in his house. He cut down trees from the forest that had grown strong. He used part of it for fuel to warm himself, and used the fire to bake bread. Then, he made a god from it to worship while half of it burned in the fire, for warmth and food.
“They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge of discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, ‘Is there not a lie in my right hand?'”
The Lord Redeems Israel
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud
and your sins like a mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.
-Isaiah 44:22
Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;
shout, O depths of the earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
and will be glorified in Israel.
-Isaiah 44:23
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself.
-Isaiah 44:24
Cyrus, God’s Instrument
For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by name,
I name you, though you do not know me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God.
I equip you, though you do not know me,
that people may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness,
I make well-being and create calamity,
I am the Lord, who does all these things.
-Isaiah 45:4-7
“Shower, O heavens, from above,
and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness
may bear fruit;
let the earth cause them both to sprout;
I the Lord have created it.
-Isaiah 45:8
Thus says the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel,
and the one who formed him:
“Ask me of things to come;
will you command me concerning
my children and the work of my hands?
I made the earth and created man on it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their host.
-Isaiah 45:11-12
The Lord, the Only Savior
“Surely God is in you,
and there is no other,
no god besides him.”
-Isaiah 45:14
For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
(he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
(he established it; he did not create it empty,
he formed it to be inhabited!):
“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I did not speak in secret,
in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
‘Seek me in vain.’
I the Lord speak the truth;
I declare what is right.”
-Isaiah 45:18-19
And there is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none besides me.
“Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.”
-Isaiah 45:21-22
To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear allegiance.
-Isaiah 45:23
The Idols of Babylon and the One True God
“Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from before your birth,
carried from the womb;
even to your old age I am he,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.”
-Isaiah 46:3-5
They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
or save him from his trouble.
-Isaiah 46:7
“Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done.
-Isaiah 46:8-10
The Humiliation of Babylon
Our Redeemer–the Lord of hosts is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel
-Isaiah 47:4