WHO THEN IS LIKE ME?
ISAIAH 44:1-46:2
No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
“No one stops to think.” This has to be one of the most frustrating aspects of sinful man.
God deals with Israel as he would: he allowed the nation he formed in his name to be conquered because they no longer upheld his law. But he would not abandon them, as he promised. Just as he has dealt with Israel, and will deal with Israel, as Judge and Redeemer, so too he will deal with “all you ends of the earth”.
The One True God is “the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers.” God stands by his word; he stands for truth.
The One True God is the one “who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’ of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,’ and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,’ who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your streams.’” God stands by his word; he stands for redemption and restoration.
The One True God is the one “who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’” God will make use of Cyrus, nearly two centuries into the future, to accomplish his will, because he can. This is his word; this is his will.
And what he says, he does, and therefore, is done.
“Who then is like me?” God asks.
Can anyone imagine such a God, who is all-powerful, who keeps his word, who stands by the word of his servants, and who acts to redeem Israel? This prophecy is a wonderful revelation of God, his character, his purpose and his resolve. God invites us to wonder at such a God.
“For this is what the Lord says—he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited.” God intends the heavens to be inhabited. This is why he would redeem man. It was never his intention to have a perfect Creation without man.
If only man would stop to think, he would realise that God would find a way to deliver sinful man from his wrath.
“Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”