Isaiah 44:1 - Meaning and Application

Two great truths are clearly set out in these verses. The first is that God’s people are a happy people, especially because of the covenant, the binding promise, that exists between them and God. Israel was happy in this way as a picture of gospel Israel, the church of Christ. Their happiness rests on three things.

First, there are the covenant ties by which they belong to God (Isaiah 44:1, Isaiah 44:2). Israel is here called Jeshurun, meaning “the upright one.” Only people like Nathanael, true Israelites without deceit, are true members of this promise, and only they will enjoy its lasting benefit. Jacob and Israel had just been described as provoking God and exposed to his anger, already given over to curse and reproach. Yet now mercy comes in with a “nevertheless.” God says, in effect, “Hear me, Jacob my servant. After all this, you and I will still be friends.”

God had already said, “I am the one who wipes out your sins” (Isaiah 43:25). That is the one thing that creates distance between God and his people. When that is removed, mercy flows again in its proper channel. Forgiveness of sin opens the door to every other covenant blessing. So God says in the new covenant, “I will be merciful to their wrongdoing” (Hebrews 8:12). That is why Jacob is told to hear these comforting words and not be afraid. Once sin is pardoned, even trouble changes its meaning.

Their relation to God is full of comfort. They are his servants, so he will own them, defend them, and make sure they are not mistreated. They are his chosen people, and he will remain true to his choice. He knows those who belong to him, and he keeps those he has chosen under special care. They are also his creatures. He made them, formed them, and shaped them. He began with them early, forming them from the womb, and so he will help them through their troubles and in their service.

Second, God has secured covenant blessings for them and their children (Isaiah 44:3, Isaiah 44:4). Those who feel their spiritual needs and know that created things cannot satisfy them will find full satisfaction in God. “I will pour water on the thirsty ground,” he says, meaning those who long for righteousness. People who truly desire spiritual blessings more than anything else will be filled. Even if a heart is as dry as parched soil, God has streams of grace to water it.

The water God promises is his Spirit (John 7:39). He pours that Spirit without limit on the seed, that is, Christ (Galatians 3:16), and in measure on all believers, on all who pray and keep asking like Jacob’s wrestling children (Luke 11:13). This is the great promise of the New Testament. God sent his servant Christ and upheld him, and he will also send his Spirit to uphold us. This outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the special blessing God had reserved for the last days. When God says, “I will pour my Spirit,” he is promising his blessing, because where he gives his Spirit, he gives every other blessing as well.

This promise belongs to the seed and children of the church, because that is how the covenant of grace speaks: “I will be a God to you and to your children.” All who receive the privileges of adoption will also receive the Spirit of adoption. Through this, the church will grow greatly. It will spread to distant places, continue into later generations, and rise like willows by the water, fast and strong in life and growth (Isaiah 44:4). In everything good and honorable, they will stand out and rise above others, just as willows rise above the grass around them. It is a great joy to the church, and to godly people, to see the next generation giving hope. That will happen when God pours out his Spirit, that greatest of blessings.

Third, the people gladly agree to their part of the covenant (Isaiah 44:5). When the Jews returned from captivity, they renewed their covenant with God (Jeremiah 50:5), especially by promising to turn away from idols (Hosea 14:2, Hosea 14:3, Hosea 14:8). Backsliders must repent this way and return to their first works. At that time, many outsiders joined them, drawn by the glorious way God showed himself on their behalf (Zechariah 8:23; Esther 8:17). They said, “We are the Lord’s,” and called themselves by the name of Jacob, because there was one law and one covenant for both the native-born and the stranger. This also points forward to the conversion of the Gentiles, the nations, many of whom were joined to the Lord and added to the church after Christ’s ascension when the Spirit was poured out. These converts come from many kinds of people and nations, and all are welcome to God (Colossians 3:11). One person’s zeal may draw many others.

They resign themselves to God. Not just one person speaking for the rest, but each one says for himself, “I am the Lord’s.” God has the right to rule me, and I submit to him, to all his commands, and to all he appoints for me. “I am his, and I will be his, wholly and forever. I will live for his honor and die in his service.” They also join themselves to God’s people, calling themselves by the name of Jacob. They put aside their former people and their father’s house, and they want to wear the name and mark of God’s family. They love all God’s people, keep company with them, support them, stand with them, seek the good of the whole church and of each member, and are willing to share their lot in every condition.

They do this with solemn seriousness. Some even sign their hand to the Lord, as a man signs a contract to confirm an agreement. The clearer we are in covenanting with God, the better it is (Exodus 24:7; Joshua 24:26, Joshua 24:27; Nehemiah 9:38). What is firmly bound is firmly found.

The second great truth is that, as the Israel of God is a happy people, so the God of Israel is a great God, and he alone is God. This also brings great comfort to all who trust in him (Isaiah 44:6-8). To God’s glory and our comfort, notice two things. First, the God we trust is a God of unquestioned authority and unstoppable power. He is the Lord, Jehovah, the self-existing and all-sufficient One. He is the Lord of hosts, ruler over all the armies of heaven and earth, angels and people. Second, he stands in special relation to his church and has a particular care for it.

He is the King of Israel and their Redeemer. He is their Redeemer because he is their King. Those who take God as their King will find him to be their Redeemer, too. When God wants to show that he alone is God, he names himself Israel’s God, so his people will be encouraged to stay close to him and to rejoice in him.

He is also eternal, the first and the last. He is God from everlasting, before the world began, and he will be God forever, when the world is no more. If there were no God to create, nothing would have existed. If there were no God to uphold all things, everything would quickly fall back into nothing. He is all in all, the first cause, from whom all things come, and the last end, for whom all things exist (Romans 11:36). He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last (Revelation 1:11).

He is God alone (Isaiah 44:6). He says, “Besides me there is no God” (Isaiah 44:8). We may appeal to the greatest scholars and to those who have seen the widest range of life. Did they ever find another true God? There are many so-called gods, and false gods (1 Corinthians 8:5, 1 Corinthians 8:6), but is there any besides our God who is infinite and eternal? Is there any besides him who made the world and protects and provides for all creation? Is there any besides him who can do for his worshipers what he can and will do for his own?

“You are my witnesses. I have been unique among you. You have tried other gods. Have you found any of them fully enough for you? Have you found any like me?” Yes, there is no God, no rock, as the word means, no one besides Jehovah who can be a firm foundation to build on, or a safe rock to run to for shelter. “God is the Rock, and their rock is not like our Rock” (Deuteronomy 32:4, Deuteronomy 32:31). “I know not any,” as if he said, “I have never met any who could compete with me, or who dared to bring their claims into honest testing. If I knew of any who could serve you better than I can, I would point you to them. But I know no such one.” There is no God besides Jehovah. He is infinite, so there cannot be another. He is fully sufficient, so no other is needed.

This is meant to strengthen the faith of God’s people in the promise of their rescue from Babylon, and also to cure them of idolatry. When suffering had done its work, it would be taken away. They are reminded of the first great truth of their faith, that the Lord their God is one Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4). So they did not need to hope in any other god. Those who stand in sunshine do not need moonlight, starlight, or their own fire. They also did not need to fear any other god. Their own God was far more able to do them good than all the false gods of their enemies were able to do them harm.

No one besides God could tell in advance what would happen. Yet God, through his prophet, was giving notice to the world more than 200 years before these things came to pass (Isaiah 44:7). “Who, like me, can call Cyrus to Babylon?” Is there anyone besides God who can call effectively and have every creature and every heart at his command? “Who can declare it, how it will happen, and by whom, as I do?” More than that, God not only sees events ahead because he knows them, but he also orders them, because he has complete rule over them. Can anyone else claim that?

He has always arranged things according to the purpose of his own will, ever since he chose the ancient people of Israel. They could give a truer and fuller account of their nation’s history than any other kingdom could give of its own. Since he made that people his special people, his care was especially directed toward them, and he told them in advance what would happen to them, their slavery in Egypt, their rescue from it, and their settling in Canaan. Everything was arranged in God’s predictions as well as in his plans. Could anyone else have done this? Would anyone else have cared so deeply for them?

He challenges the pretenders to show what will happen later. Let them, if they can, tell us the name of the man who will destroy Babylon and deliver Israel. If they cannot tell the things still to come, let them at least tell us the things that are near at hand. Let them tell us what will happen tomorrow, but they cannot. So do not fear them. What harm can they do to you? What can they block when I have said it will be done at the proper time and have made that promise clear? Those who depend on God’s word do not need to be afraid of any opposing power or scheme.