July 14 - Isaiah 44:24-28

July 14 – Isaiah 44:24-28

 “This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’ of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be built,’ and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,’ who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,’  who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.” ’

All those questions that I asked of mom when I wanted to know why I should do something generally came to a head when she got tired of me pushing back and finally said, “Because I’m your mother – that’s why.”  Oh.  Ok.

God wants His people to know why they should listen to Him.  They’ll probably just ask the question anyway because of their disobedience, so He’s going to clear it up before He has to face the frustration.

I am your redeemer.  I formed you in the womb.  I created all things.  I shut down false prophets and make diviners look like fools.  I make the words of supposed wise people sound like nonsense and my prophets will have their words fulfilled.

I intend for Jerusalem to be lived in and for all of Judah to be restored.  I will send back flood waters and I will allow Cyrus to bring peace to the land and rebuild the foundations of the temple in Jerusalem.

This is one of those passages in Isaiah that causes hysteria among historians.  How could Isaiah have known the name of the man who was to bring the people of Israel back to Jerusalem one hundred years before it even happened?  Such a precise prophecy must surely be the work of someone else who wrote this after the fact rather than before the man was even born!

I’m not here to debate the timing of this passage.  I will say that I believe that the God who identifies Himself as the One who formed us in the womb could easily give that name to Isaiah.  He also identifies Himself as the one, in Isaiah 44:26) ‘Who will carry out the words of his servants and fulfill the predictions of his messengers.’ 

The God Who has done all of this is not bound by time or circumstances.  In those few verses, He tells us who He is and then He tells us who He is sending to do His work … by name! 

Will you believe it?  I do.