Isaiah 44:5

The Bible says in Isaiah 44:5, “One shall say, I am the LORD's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel.” Isaiah 44:5 is telling us about the future. It gives us one important detail about the future that will be much different than the way things currently are. In the future Kingdom of Christ, everyone will know the Lord. That is one of the details that will make it a wonderful place to be. If only more people knew the Lord, this life would be better. One of the major problems of this world is the lost people who do now know God, do not serve Him, and do not love Him. When a person comes to know Christ as Savior, that person’s life is changed for the better. It says in Second Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Think about the horrible things that take place in this life because of the people who do not know Christ, and who have not had their lives changed for the better by Jesus. It says in Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” It also says in Second Timothy 3:1-7, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Speaking of the sinfulness of man, the Bible says in Romans 1:18-32, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”

In the current order of things we see the sinfulness of mankind on every hand. The name of Jesus is not a popular name among the masses or among the famous and powerful people of the world. If you want to become unpopular in this world, just use the name of Jesus with respect and with honor in public or in your daily conversation. That is a very strange fact when we consider that Jesus Christ lived the most honorable life that anyone has ever lived on this earth. But remember this: the day will come when everyone will be proud to be connected to the name of Christ. From the least to the greatest, and from the youngest to the oldest, everyone will know the Lord. As it says in Habakkuk 2:14 “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 44:6-7, “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.” God is the King of Israel. Remember what was written on Jesus’ cross: “The King of the Jews.” God is the “redeemer.” Concerning what Jesus has done for the believers, it says in Galatians 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” God is “the Lord of hosts.” According to Isaiah 44:6 God spoke and said, “I am the first and I am the last.” It is interesting Jesus spoke of Himself in Revelation 1:8 and said, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” And then Jesus also said in Revelation 22:13, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 44:8-20, “Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint. The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god. They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

The primary purpose of the verses in Isaiah 44:8-20 is to emphasize to the children of Israel that they have nothing to fear from the unbelievers because the gods of the unbelievers are no gods at all. The unbelievers worship idols that have no power. Therefore, the unbelievers have no power in reality. That is why it says in Isaiah 44:8, “Fear ye not, neither be afraid.” The people of the world put on false fronts. They unwisely think that they are so smart and so capable, and they falsely think that they have a resource to trust in. But their problem is that there is only one God whose name is Jesus Christ, and therefore the unbelieving people of the world have no god and therefore, they have no real strength or power.

In the days of Isaiah the unbelievers had idols made of wood and stone. Today the idols are a bit different. The idols that people trust in today are money, human wisdom, and false religion among other things. But even though the idols are different, the circumstances of the unbelievers are the same in every generation. It says in Isaiah 44:20, “a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?” People have been deceived. Some of them really believe what they say they believe, but they are wrong. They heard lies, and they believed the lies, but they did not know that they were listening to lies. They could not even say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” Such is the sad spiritual circumstance of the people of the world. Second Timothy 3:3 describes all of us before we become saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It says, “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.” Second Timothy 3:13 speaks of the last days and says, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”

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