Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

43:22-28 Far from declaring his praise, God's people have failed him. Therefore, he will save them for his own sake (v. 25).

43:22 you did not call upon me. Israel practiced their worship with the unspoken intention of evading God, not meeting God. you have been weary of me. Their attitude in worship implied that God is a demanding bore.

43:23-24 While in Babylonian exile, the Jewish people were unable to continue the Mosaic sacrificial system. God did not demand of them impossible observances, but they burdened him with their spiritual apathy.

43:25 I, I am he. God stands forth, boldly declaring the mystery of his grace. Why he forgives his people cannot be understood by human moral reasoning. For my own sake locates the reason for his grace deep within his own being and requires its glorious display before his creatures.

43:26-28 The people are invited to prove that they deserve God's favor, in order that they may repent of all self-righteousness. Their record is a failure; their just reward is total judgment. Your first father. Abraham or Jacob. your mediators. Their religious leaders.

44:1-5 God reassures his people that his final purpose for them is blessing.

44:1-2 God reminds his people how fully he has committed himself to them. Jeshurun (probably meaning "upright one") is a name for Israel (cf. Deut. 32:15; 33:5, 26).

44:3-4 The "utter destruction" of 43:28 reduces God's people to thirsty land and dry ground, but under the outpouring of my Spirit, they thrive and multiply (cf. 32:15; 65:17-25; Joel 2:28-32; Luke 24:49). your offspring . . . your descendants. The blessing rolls on through the generations.

44:5 The imagery in v. 4 is explained as one enthusiastic conversion to the Lord after another. The Lord's decisive grace (43:25) bears fruit in many new believers' decisive faith (cf. Psalm 87). The Lord's . . . Israel. Identification with the Lord entails identification with his people.

44:6-8 The Lord alone is God and therefore fully able to keep his promises.

44:8 you are my witnesses. God's people exist to be living proof of his all-sufficiency (cf. note on 43:10-13). Rock. See Deut. 32:4, 15, 18, 30, 31; Isa. 8:14; 17:10.

44:9-20 The idols made by humans delude people into compulsive folly (cf. Acts 14:15; 17:24-25; Rom. 1:21-25; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; 1 Thess. 1:9; Rev. 21:8; 22:14-15).

44:9-11 All . . . all . . . all . . . together. A sweeping assertion, without a single exception. do not profit . . . profitable for nothing. Pagan culture, based on idolatry, brings no benefit to anyone; nor can it prevent God from keeping his promises. Their witnesses are the worshipers of idols, in contrast with "my witnesses" in v. 8. put to shame . . . put to shame . . . put to shame. The nothingness of idols dooms their worshipers to disgrace.

44:12-17 The embarrassing absurdity of man-made gods is obvious.

44:12 He fashions it. Contrast "he who formed you" in 43:1 and "I formed you" in 44:21. his strong arm. This is meant ironically, in view of 40:10-11, 26, 29-31. his strength fails. The human god-maker is himself limited.

44:13 the beauty of a man. The projection of human self-idealization (cf. Gen. 1:26-27). a house. I.e., a temple.

44:14 The false gods depend on human purpose for their existence. the rain nourishes it. The very materials of god-manufacture come from natural processes, sustained by a higher power.

44:15-17 the rest of it. The leftovers of ordinary human activity provide gods to whom people turn for deliverance. Isaiah is astonished.

44:18-20 As in v. 9, God judges idolatrous worship with subrational blindness. This explains why the stupidity described in vv. 12-17 is not obvious to those involved (cf. 6:9-10; 2 Cor. 4:4). abomination. Not a mere mistake (cf. Deut. 27:15).

44:21-23 God calls his people to clear awareness of his glorious grace.

44:21 Remember. God calls his people to focused thought, in contrast to the muddled delusions described in vv. 9-20 about these things, both the all-sufficiency of the God who makes true promises to his people and the emptiness of the false gods with their lies. I formed you. Contrast "all who fashion idols" in v. 9 and "he fashions it" in v. 12 (cf. 45:9, 11).

44:22 like a cloud . . . like mist. Before God's grace, sins fade away to nothing. return to me, for I have redeemed you. Repentance is motivated by grace (cf. Rom. 2:4).

44:23 The redemption of God's people will be the joy of the whole creation, because God's people will rule it wisely and well (cf. 35:1-2; 49:13; 55:12-13; Rom. 8:19-21). forest . . . every tree. See Isa. 44:14. The very creation, now misused for idolatrous purposes, will then sing to God.