Isaiah 44:1

An analysis of this chapter is as follows:

I. (Isaiah 44:1-5) Despite the fact of Israel's sin and their condemnation to seventy years of captivity, God was by no means through with Israel. He would restore Israel to his favor and to their homeland. Their posterity would turn to God and actually receive the Spirit of the Lord.

II. (Isaiah 44:6-20) The most powerful and effective condemnation of idolatry to be found anywhere.

III. (Isaiah 44:24-26) God will confound the wisdom of the astrologers, the soothsayers and the diviners and at the same time confirm the word of his servants the holy prophets by bringing about the delivery of Israel from captivity and their return to Jerusalem, even naming the great King who would be a prominent figure in accomplishing this tremendous deliverance about 150 years after Isaiah prophesied this.

Isaiah 44:1-5

"Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen: Thus saith Jehovah that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, who will help thee: Fear not, O Jacob my servant; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses. One shall say, I am Jehovah's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto Jehovah, and surname himself by the name of Israel."

Practically all present-day commentators would connect this passage with the previous chapter, basing their reason upon the expression "Yet now hear." However, in our view, the chapter division is appropriate enough where it stands. It is true of course that there is a connection, because Isaiah always placed in close juxtaposition his prophecies of doom for wicked Israel and redemption for upright Israel; and so it is here. The closing verses of Isaiah 43 left Israel under the curse and under the ban; but here the help and redemption of Israel are the glorious theme.

This, of course, is fully in keeping with the "two Israels," visible on every page of this great prophecy. But the words, "Yet now hear" emphasize not a continuation of the same theme, but a dramatic change to a new one, just as the word "now" in Romans 8:1 signals a dramatic switch from the deadness of Romans 7 to the eternal life of chapter 8, the significant word in each place being "now." Just so it is here, the dramatic shift is from the fleshly, rebellious, condemned Israel who would rot in captivity to their seed, their offspring, who would receive God's great blessings and even experience the infusion of God's Spirit.

In Isaiah's day, the two Israels were a single people, intermingled, and indistinguishable; and therefore, it was absolutely necessary that a single noun or pronoun refer to Jacob, or Israel, no matter which Israel was addressed. Failure to distinguish which Israel was addressed has often led to extravagant statements about how God's totally unmerited and undeserved grace went ahead and saved Israel no matter what they did. A littie thought on what actually happened will do much to temper such extravagant statements.

Payne, for example, on this paragraph noted that, "The big point here is that Israel has a future; she is still God's servant with a mission to perform. Her future will be one of material and spiritual prosperity, so much so that non-Jews will voluntarily attach themselves to Israel and to her God.[1] Yes, yes, this is true; but it should be noted that the blessings promised in no sense whatever applied to that fleshly Israel under the ban and condemned to captivity, but to their children of far distant generations, and particularly among those, only to the obedient. Note what this little paragraph actually promises:

"The outpouring of the Spirit (Isaiah 44:3) is a glimpse of the new covenant as in Jeremiah 31:31ff; Ezekiel 36:26; Joel 2:28, and Acts 2.[2]; Isaiah 44:5 is a foretaste of Gentile conversion.[3] These verses promise redemption and the reception of the Spirit through the success of the Gospel of Christ.[4] Here God explicitly predicts that future Israel who was to receive the Living Water and the Holy Spirit poured out upon them pre-eminently on Pentecost (Acts 2).[5] Mention of Israel's `seed' in Isaiah 44:3 refers primarily to Israel after the Spirit, the true `Israel of God'" (Galatians 6:16).[6]

The single word in this very first verse which should have opened the eyes of the blind and deaf Israel is that word Jeshurun, a word derived from a Hebrew root meaning "upright," and also interpreted by some as a diminutive. "It occurs only here and in Deuteronomy 32:15; 33:5,26."[7] "Whether explained as a diminutive, as `dear little Israel,' or as a reference to their call to be an upright nation as Hebraists generally suppose,"[8] it spelled out the special love of God for Israel and at the same time stressed the great requirement of their holiness; but there is little evidence that the captive Israel paid very much attention. Kelley believed that this word Jeshurun, "Is a title of honor and is perhaps intended to describe the transformed character of Israel in the eschatalogical age (the current dispensation)."[9]