Isaiah 44

12–20 Here Isaiah describes the folly of idolatry in graphic terms. Both idol and idol maker are equally blind and ignorant (verse 18).

21–23 Having described the senselessness of idolatry, Isaiah, speaking God’s words, tells the Israelites: “Remember these things” (verse 21). “Remember how you used to worship idols and remember how you were warned of the terrible punishment to come—seventy years of exile in Babylon!”

But then, once again, the Lord affirms His love for His people; they are His servants, His own creation. In spite of their past sins, He is ready to redeem them and “sweep away” their offenses. He calls to them: “Return to me” (verse 22). Those who return are forgiven and redeemed; their suffering in exile has brought them to repentance and has opened the way for their return to the land and their restoration as a nation. These words surely encouraged the Israelites of Isaiah’s day to repent and to hope in the Lord—and they certainly did the same for the Jewish exiles in Babylon a century later, when these words from the book of Isaiah were read to them.

Jerusalem to Be Inhabited (44:24–28)

24–28 These verses provide an introduction to the next chapter; they introduce the Speaker—the Lord Himself.

The Lord foils the false prophets¹⁷⁵ (verse 25), but He carries out the words of His true prophets (verse 26); He will restore the ruins of Jerusalem and Judah, as He promised through His prophet Isaiah. Just as He “dried up” the Red Sea, so He will dry up the figurative “waters” blocking His people and He will lead them in a new Exodus to the promised land. And He will do all this by means of His shepherd,¹⁷⁶ Cyrus king of Persia (verse 28). Cyrus himself will say of Jerusalem: “Let it be rebuilt”¹⁷⁷ (see Ezra 1:1–4).