Context No. 3881 of 4322 · Isaiah

Isaiah 44:17-28: in context

17The rest of it he makes into a god, even his engraved image. He bows down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 18They don’t know, neither do they consider, for he has shut their eyes, that they can’t see, and their hearts, that they can’t understand. 19No one thinks, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, “I have burned part of it in the fire. Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals. I have roasted meat and eaten it. Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination? Shall I bow down to a tree trunk?” 20He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can’t deliver his soul, nor say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?” 21Remember these things, Jacob and Israel, for you are my servant. I have formed you. You are my servant. Israel, you will not be forgotten by me. 22I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. 23Sing, you heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Break out into singing, you mountains, O forest, all of your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and will glorify himself in Israel. 24The LORD, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb says: “I am the LORD, who makes all things; who alone stretches out the heavens; who spreads out the earth by myself; 25who frustrates the signs of the liars, and makes diviners mad; who turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish; 26who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers; who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited;’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be built,’ and ‘I will raise up its waste places;’ 27who says to the deep, ‘Be dry,’ and ‘I will dry up your rivers,’ 28who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure,’ even saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built;’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”

Isaiah exposes the absurdity of idolatry with almost comic clarity: a man takes a block of wood, burns half of it to cook his food and warm himself, and then bows down to the other half, praying, deliver me, for you are my god. He cannot see the folly of worshiping a piece of the very wood he just used for fuel; a deceived heart has led him astray.

Against this foolishness, God speaks a word of grace to his people: remember these things, for you are my servant; I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud; return to me, for I have redeemed you. The contrast is total. Idols are lifeless things that cannot save, the work of deceived and deceiving hearts. But the true God is the Redeemer, the maker of all things, who blots out sins and calls his wandering people home. And notice the ground of the call to return: not that we might earn redemption, but because he has already redeemed us. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. God's redeeming love is the reason and the invitation for our returning to him.

Do I turn away from the lifeless idols that cannot save, and return to the God who has already redeemed me and blotted out my sins, coming home because of the redeeming love that calls me?

Sources

Isaiah 44:22: "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."
Isaiah 44:17: "He bows down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, Deliver me, for you are my god!"
Isaiah 44:20: "A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can't deliver his soul."