The memory of redemption 44:21-22This brief section is a call to God’s people to embrace God’s promises. It concludes this section of the prophecy (Isaiah 42:10 to Isaiah 44:22) by affirming that God would not abandon the Israelites because of their sins, but would deliver them, and even use them to demonstrate His unique deity. read more
What Israel needed above all was forgiveness and cleansing from her sins (cf. Isaiah 43:25). The Lord had taken the initiative to provide this for His people. He would blow their sin away as quickly and as easily as a wind blows a cloud or mist away."The clouds intervene between heaven and earth as sin and transgressions intervene between God and His people." [Note: Young, 3:183.] "Jehovah has blotted out Israel’s sin, inasmuch as He does not impute it any more, and thus has redeemed Israel."... read more
This verse concludes the thought expressed in the preceding one, thus many translations and commentators regard it as the end of the preceding section. However, it is a hymnic call to praise similar to the one in Isaiah 42:10-13, and it seems to introduce what follows, as that earlier call to praise did. The content of the praise also points ahead to what follows, rather then backward to what has preceded. It provides a very smooth transition.Isaiah again called on all the elements of the... read more
The announcement of redemption 44:23-28The section begins with an announcement of the salvation that God would provide for His chosen people. read more
The Lord prefaced His stunning prediction with a reminder of who was making it. He was Yahweh, Israel’s covenant God who had redeemed her and would yet redeem her. He had brought her into existence by Himself, as He had created all things including the heavens and the earth (cf. Isaiah 40:12-14; Isaiah 40:21-22). The often repeated phrase "Thus says the LORD" in this part of Isaiah engenders confidence in the promises of redemption that follow (cf. Isaiah 45:1; Isaiah 45:11; Isaiah 45:14;... read more
God embarrasses astrologers, diviners, and fortunetellers by controlling history in ways that deviate from past patterns. Ancient and modern prognosticators usually base their predictions on the belief that things will work out in the future as they have in the past. But Yahweh can move future events in entirely new directions. Archaeologists have discovered many predictions of the future of the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires among Babylonian writings, but they are consistently optimistic;... read more
Conversely, Yahweh could bring the predictions that He had revealed to His servant Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 20:3), and His messengers the prophets, to pass. Here he predicted that Jerusalem and the cities of Judah would be rebuilt, after their destruction by the Babylonians. read more
God is the one who dried up the Red Sea during the Exodus. He could likewise dry up rivers in the future to bring His will to pass (cf. Isaiah 48:21). Herodotus wrote that Cyrus overthrew Babylon by diverting the Euphrates River that ran under its walls. He then used the riverbed to storm the city. Young claimed that cuneiform records from the region have shown that Herodotus’ account was in error. [Note: Young, 3:191.] God’s promises covered both the rebuilding of Judah’s cities (Isaiah 44:26;... read more
God announced that Cyrus would be the person who would allow Jerusalem to be rebuilt and the temple foundations relaid. The mention of his name climaxes this prophecy (Isaiah 44:24-28). Cyrus would be the Lord’s shepherd, the one who would lead the Israelites back into their land by permitting its restoration. He would carry out all God’s desire (cf. Isaiah 41:2-3; Isaiah 41:25).The title "My Shepherd" was one that God used of the Davidic kings (cf. 2 Samuel 5:2; 1 Kings 22:17; Ezekiel 34:23).... read more
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Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Isaiah 44:21
This chiastic verse reiterates a theme from Deuteronomy, namely, remembering what God has revealed (cf. Deuteronomy 8:2; Deuteronomy 8:11; Deuteronomy 8:18; Deuteronomy 9:7). God called His people to remember the truths about Himself that this section of the book emphasizes: He is the only God who foretells and then creates history, and the idols of the nations are nothing. Bearing these truths in mind would enable Israel to fulfill her purpose in the world, namely, to be the Lord’s servant.... read more