Isaiah 45:18

18 For thus has the LORD said that creates the heavens; God himself that forms the earth, he who made it and established it. He did not create it in vain; he created it to be inhabited; I am the LORD; and there is no one else.

Isaiah 45:18 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 45:18

For thus saith the Lord, that created the heavens
These words, and what follow, are the words of the Son of God, of the Lord the Saviour, in whom Israel is saved with an everlasting salvation; and this is said to assure them of it, as well as to distinguish himself from the gods of the Gentiles, who made not the heavens and the earth, as he had done; for by the Word of the Lord, the essential Word of God, were the heavens made in the beginning; see ( Psalms 33:6 ) ( Hebrews 1:10 ) : God himself, that formed the earth, and made it, he hath established
it;
the Saviour is God himself, truly and properly God, who has all the perfections of deity in him; and this appears as from his creation of the heavens, so from his forming, making and establishing the earth; he made the chaos of the earth out of nothing; he formed that chaos he made into a beautiful order, and prepared, as the last word F3 signifies, fitted, and furnished it with everything convenient for man and beast: he created it not in vain,
he formed it to be inhabited; the earth indeed was "tohu" when it was first created, ( Genesis 1:2 ) , which word is used of the chaos of the earth first made, here rendered "in vain"; but then it was not created to continue so, nor did it continue so; for though it was first without form, it was soon formed in a beautiful manner, and fitted for the habitation of men and beasts, and especially the former; and more especially for the habitation of the saints, those sons of men, with whom the delights of Christ were from eternity, and whom he foresaw would dwell in the habitable parts of the earth, which was a pleasure to him; and for the sake of them was it made to be inhabited, and not by them with the wicked promiscuously only as now, but when purified, and refined by fire, to be the habitation of the righteous, with Christ at the head of them; as will be the case in the thousand years' reign: I am the Lord, there is none else;
the one Jehovah with the Father and the Spirit, and there is no other that is the Creator of the heavens and the earth.


FOOTNOTES:

F3 (hnnwk) "parsvit eam", Musculus; "aptavit, instruit", Gataker; "exaptavit", Cocceius, Vitringa,

Isaiah 45:18 In-Context

16 They shall be ashamed and also confounded, all of them; all the makers of idols shall go forth ashamed.
17 Israel is saved in the LORD, eternal salvation; ye shall never be ashamed nor confounded through all ages.
18 For thus has the LORD said that creates the heavens; God himself that forms the earth, he who made it and established it. He did not create it in vain; he created it to be inhabited; I am the LORD; and there is no one else.
19 I have not spoken in secret in a dark place of the earth. Not without substance did I say unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me; I am the LORD who speaks righteousness, who declares things that are right.
20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, all ye that are escaped of the Gentiles. They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image and pray unto the god that does not save.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010