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¹² The blacksmith takes a tool
    and works with it in the coals;
he shapes an idol with hammers,
    he forges it with the might of his arm.
He gets hungry and loses his strength;
    he drinks no water and grows faint.
¹³ The carpenter measures with a line
    and makes an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels
    and marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in human form,
    human form in all its glory,
    that it may dwell in a shrine.
¹⁴ He cut down cedars,
    or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
    or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
¹⁵ It is used as fuel for burning;
    some of it he takes and warms himself,
    he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships it;
    he makes an idol and bows down to it.
¹⁶ Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
    over it he prepares his meal,
    he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
    “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”
¹⁷ From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
    he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says,
    “Save me! You are my god!”
¹⁸ They know nothing, they understand nothing;
    their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see,
    and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
¹⁹ No one stops to think,
    no one has the knowledge or understanding to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel;
    I even baked bread over its coals,
    I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left?
    Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
²⁰ Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him;
    he cannot save himself, or say,
    “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

‘Israel learned in Babylon the futility and folly of idolatry. How easy it is to trust something other than the Lord, including the things we manufacture.’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.479.

This long passage is one of the greatest take-downs of idolatry to be found anywhere in Scripture. In its detailed description of how a god is made it shows the whole thing is a farce; it is laughable, absurd, stupid. Whoever would worship an idol?

We also see the delusion behind idolatry. But as Paul writes in Romans 1, this is a lie people want to believe rather than accepting the obvious and inconvenient truth about God:

 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Romans 1:18-23.

In verse 25 he adds:  They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Furthermore, he says in verse 28:  …they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God…

People may feel it is more convenient to hold on to a lie than turn to the true and living God and be changed, but the consequences are ultimately disastrous.

All who make idols are nothing,
    and the things they treasure are worthless.
Those who would speak up for them are blind;
    they are ignorant, to their own shame.
¹⁰ Who shapes a god and casts an idol,
    which can profit nothing?
¹¹ People who do that will be put to shame;
    such craftsmen are only human beings.
Let them all come together and take their stand;
    they will be brought down to terror and shame.

As we have seen, the opening verses of this chapter proclaim a glorious future for Israel. But they will not arrive there in a straight line, as it were. There will be twists and turns along the way, and idolatry will offer considerable temptations on route

John Calvin said: “Man’s nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols.”

The people of Israel were expressly forbidden to have anything to do with idolatry (see Ex.20:1-6).

”Idolatry is the worst sin of all, because it moves God to the periphery of our lives and puts something else in his place. It gives to something else the glory that should be God’s alone. Chameleon-like, it constantly disguises itself so that we are scarcely aware of its presence, even when we are most in the grip of it…The modern world is no less given over to idolatry than the ancient one; it is just that its cruder forms were more prevalent then.’ Barry Webb: ‘Isaiah’ p.180.

Webb goes on to point out that idolatry always held a ‘fatal attraction’ for Israel because it seemed to work. When nations like Egypt, Assyria and Babylon stormed across the world, conquering and capturing peoples, they believed (and their prey tended to do so also) that it was because their gods were greater than the deities of those nations they trampled. The people of Israel had been captives in Babylon for a long time. They were vulnerable to the temptation that Babylonian idolatry had real power. However, today’s passage underlines the truth that idolatry is worthless (9a) and powerless (10).

As we will see in 44:17:

”…he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says,
    “Save me! You are my god!”

The clear implication is, ‘It can’t’! In spite of appearances to the contrary, idols are impotent.

PRAYER: Thank you Lord that you are the living God – that we can speak to you and you hear and answer; you rescue and save. How grateful we are.

THOUGHT: ”The human heart is an idol factory that takes good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things. Our hearts deify them as the centre of our lives, because, we think, they can give us significance and security, safety and fulfilment, if we attain them.” Tim Keller

“But now listen, Jacob, my servant,
    Israel, whom I have chosen.
² This is what the Lord says—
    he who made you, who formed you in the womb,
    and who will help you:
Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant,
    Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
³ For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
    and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,
    and my blessing on your descendants.
⁴ They will spring up like grass in a meadow,
    like poplar trees by flowing streams.
⁵ Some will say, ‘I belong to the Lord’;
    others will call themselves by the name of Jacob;
still others will write on their hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
    and will take the name Israel.

Just one further thought on this glorious passage. It comes from Barry Webb’s commentary on Isaiah in ‘The Bible Speaks Today’ series (p.180):

‘All this, of course, is exactly what was promised to Abraham: a great name, many descendants, blessing overflowing to all the families of the earth. How remote the fulfilment of that promise must have seemed to the small, humiliated remnant in Babylon. The purpose of this passage is to remind them, when they had reached the depths of that bitter experience, that God had not forgotten his promise to Abraham, or with drawn his call from their descendants. Beyond the dark days of exile they would flourish again and become the blessing to the nations that he had always intended them to be. The final word of encouragement to Israel rests upon the bedrock of God’s faithfulness, and strongly reaffirms his commitment to fulfilling his promises to them and through them. There would be many twists and turns in the road ahead, but it would not be a dead end. All God’s promises would eventually find their resounding ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen’ in Christ, to the glory of God.’

(See Gen.12:1-3; 2 Cor.1:20).

Writing a diary piece in last week’s ‘Spectator’, Richard Dawkins wrote:

‘If anyone merits a good biography, it’s Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Her autobiography, Infidel, chronicles her extraordinary life, from childhood in the Islamic hell (for women) of Somalia, her escape to the Netherlands where she swiftly learned Dutch and became an MP; then the all-too-credible threat from the jihadist murderer of her colleague Theo van Gogh, in a note pinned with a dagger to his corpse. After moving to America, this valiant, charming intellectual warrior became a stalwart of the atheist movement, on a par with Christopher Hitchens, Dan Dennett and Sam Harris. But now, in an astonishing volte-face, she has announced her conversion to Christianity. Imagine the Pope suddenly becoming an atheist – or, worse, an Orangeman – and you’ll get an idea of the fluttering in atheistic dovecotes caused by Ayaan’s tergiversation.”

Although, in the next paragraph, he seems to question how fundamental Ayaan’s Christian beliefs her, his love and admiration for her shine through.

It reminds me, that by the power of the poured out Holy Spirit, many can be/will be converted. God is still fulfilling this great Scripture. It can even happen to Richard Dawkins. We should pray it does.

I seem to remember there was this guy named Saul, from Tarsus…

Hmm…it makes you think, doesn’t it?

(FOR FURTHER ENCOURAGEMENT: I can highly recommend this podcast series, hosted by Justin Brierley, and based on his recently published book: ‘The surprising rebirth of belief in God.’)

⁶ This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies:

“I am the First and the Last;
    there is no other God.
⁷ Who is like me?
    Let him step forward and prove to you his power.
Let him do as I have done since ancient times
    when I established a people and explained its future.
⁸ Do not tremble; do not be afraid.
    Did I not proclaim my purposes for you long ago?
You are my witnesses—is there any other God?
    No! There is no other Rock—not one!” (New Living Translation).

”These verses give the very essence of these chapters, with their emphasis on God as Israel’s champion (Redeemer,6;cf. 41:14), their explicit monotheism (6b,8b), their stress on prediction (7b) and their reassuring tone toward a diffident Israel” (Derek Kidner: ‘New Bible Commentary’, p,658.

Once again, fulfilled prophecy is produced as evidence for the reality of Israel’s God and the falsity of all other idols. Who of them are able to accurately foretell the future? This is a repeated theme in Isaiah.

”The fulfilled prophecies of the Bible. We could just believe that the Bible is the Word of God on this one point alone. This is staggering. Say, do you realize that at the time the Bible was written 27% of the Bible was prophetic?

There are some 1,817 prophecies of some nature in the Bible at the time the author wrote the Scripture. A prophecy is pre-written history. Only God knows the future and the reason that God knows the future is because God has foreordained the future. God’s not looking down the tunnel of time to see anything because God already knows everything. And God has already foreordained everything. And He records some of it for us in the Scripture.” Steven Lawson.

“Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant,
And Israel whom I have chosen.
² Thus says the Lord who made you
And formed you from the womb, who will help you:
‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant;
And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
³ For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
And My blessing on your offspring;
⁴ They will spring up among the grass
Like willows by the watercourses.’
⁵ One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;
Another will call himself by the name of Jacob;
Another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
And name himself by the name of Israel.

This wonderful promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit has repeatedly encouraged Christians in their prayers for revival. I believe it fuelled prayer in the days prior to the outbreak of the Hebridean revival, which took place on the Scottish Islands of Harris and Lewis (1949-53). It remains an encouragement to us today.

We have here a glimpse of the New Covenant (see Je.31:31-34; Ezek.36:26,27; Joel 2:28,29).

We also have a foretaste of Gentile conversions (v.5; see Ps.87:4-6). ‘These new offspring (3) of Israel will mark the flow of God’s living water, just as a line of trees marks the course of a river (3-4). The book of Acts traces part of this current of life through the thirsty land.’ Derek Kidner: ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.658.

So, whenever this promise is fulfilled there are many new converts.

Do it again, Lord!

PRAYER: Lord God, I am thirsty for your blessing. I live in a spiritually dry land. I pray for water; I ask for floods. I long to see many people declaring their allegiance to you. Please cause this to be a day of supernatural harvest.

‘But now listen, Jacob, my servant,
    Israel, whom I have chosen.
² This is what the Lord says –
    he who made you, who formed you in the womb,
    and who will help you:
do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant,
    Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

This chapter opens surprisingly, with a stark contrast to what has preceded it at the end of chapter 43. We must ever remember that although God warns of judgment, He longs to be merciful.

The ”But now” reminds me of the way Ephesians 2:4 is rendered in the ‘New King James Version’: But God, who is rich in mercy…’ This has been described as ‘a mighty adversative’.

We find in the opening of chapter 44 the reaffirmation of ungrateful Israel’s calling as both ”servant” and ”chosen”. The latter word appears in both verses. Also note the use of the affectionate ”Jeshurun” (meaning upright). See Deuteronomy 33:5; but also take a look at Deuteronomy 32:15. It is significant in the context of Israel’s failure and rebellion.

Even so, God goes on to promise greater things to come – as we will see next time.

We must never presume upon the amazing grace of God, but may we never lose sight of the truth that He loves us, and longs to be merciful to us when we stray. The prodigal, however, must come home.

²² “But, dear family of Jacob, you refuse to ask for my help.
    You have grown tired of me, O Israel!
²³ You have not brought me sheep or goats for burnt offerings.
    You have not honored me with sacrifices,
though I have not burdened and wearied you
    with requests for grain offerings and frankincense.
²⁴ You have not brought me fragrant calamus
    or pleased me with the fat from sacrifices.
Instead, you have burdened me with your sins
    and wearied me with your faults.

²⁵ “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake
    and will never think of them again.
²⁶ Let us review the situation together,
    and you can present your case to prove your innocence.
²⁷ From the very beginning, your first ancestor sinned against me;
    all your leaders broke my laws.
²⁸ That is why I have disgraced your priests;
    I have decreed complete destruction for Jacob
    and shame for Israel. (New Living Translation).

At the heart of this passage, God’s desire and willingness to forgive the sins of His people sparkles. It shimmers as a gold nugget of truth.

But we also see the stubborn unwillingness of Israel to turn to Him in repentance in faith, and the tragic role of many of their spiritual leaders in the destruction of God’s flock (and their own downfall). Verse 27b reads in the New International Version’:

    ”…those I sent to teach you rebelled against me.”

PRAYER: Lord God, we pray for all who carry the awesome responsibility of shepherding your people. Keep them true to your truth. May love and faithfulness always guard them. We pray especially for those who are re-writing your Word to fit with the times, and are leading people into sin. In your grace and mercy please save them. Pull them back from the brink. But if they will not repent, please remove them and replace them with those who will speak only your truth.

Note: Tom Hale points out that in spite of the final words of chapter 43, ‘…we know that God will preserve a remnant of Israel, through which His eternal purposes will be fulfilled (Isaiah 6:11-13; 10:20-23).’ ‘Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1043.

“Yet you have not called on me, Jacob,
    you have not wearied yourselves for me, Israel.
²³ You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings,
    nor honoured me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with grain offerings
    nor wearied you with demands for incense.
²⁴ You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me,
    or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins
    and wearied me with your offenses.

“When the devil sees a man or woman who really believes in prayer, who knows how to pray, and who really does pray, and, above all, when he sees a whole church on its face before God in prayer, he trembles as much as he ever did, for he knows that his day in that church or community is at an end.” R. A. Torrey.

But who can be bothered?!

I remember reading a book in which the author referred to one particular hymn that says, ‘It is not by trying but by trusting.’ His point was, as I recall, that it’s not a matter of either/or but both/and. There are a number of words used in the New Testament which describe the intense effort disciples need to invest in the Christian life. It has been said that grace is opposed to works, not to effort. There is nothing we can achieve by our own unaided strength, but in the power of God all things are possible.

In today’s reading God says that His people have ”wearied” Him with their sins, but they have not ”wearied” themselves in seeking Him.

I am thinking about Epaphras, as he is described by Paul in Colossians 4:12,13:

 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. ¹³ I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.

It seems that one of the ways he was ”working hard” was in prayer.

In Luke 4:9,10 Jesus teaches on prayer:

 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Such prayer is certainly not lazy! We have to put our backs into it – with God’s strength of course.

“Oh, men and women, pray through; pray through! Do not just begin to pray and pray a little while and throw up your hands and quit; but pray and pray and pray until God bends the heavens and comes down.” R. A. Torrey

This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“For your sake I will send to Babylon
    and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians,
    in the ships in which they took pride.
¹⁵ I am the Lord, your Holy One,
    Israel’s Creator, your King.”

¹⁶ This is what the Lord says—
    he who made a way through the sea,
    a path through the mighty waters,
¹⁷ who drew out the chariots and horses,
    the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
    extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.
²⁰ The wild animals honour me,
    the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
²¹     the people I formed for myself
    that they may proclaim my praise.

God is going to do a ”new thing”. It will be a second, and greater ‘exodus’ than the first from Egypt. Once again He will lead His people through the wilderness, and abundantly provide for them on their journey home from Babylon to Israel.

However, as Derek Kidner points out in the ‘New Bible Commentary’ (p.658), for the real fulfilment of this passage ‘we must look beyond the modest homecomings from Babylon of the sixth and fifth centuries BC, although these are certainly in view, to the exodus which the Son of God accomplished at Jerusalem (Lk.9:31; cf. 1 Cor.10:4,11), which alone justifies the language of this and kindred passages.’

God’s saving work in our lives, through the Cross of Jesus, is ”to the praise of his glorious grace…for the praise of his glory…to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14. Compare this with Is.43:21).

 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9,10)