Isaiah 44 · The Lantern

The LORD Has Chosen Israel

And now hear, Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen.

Thus says the LORD your Maker, and the one who formed you from the womb, who will help you: Do not fear, my servant Jacob, and Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

For I will pour water on the thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my spirit on your seed, and my blessing on your offspring.

God himself testifies that the Holy Spirit presides over his blessings, saying, "I will put my Spirit on your seed and my blessings on your children." For no blessing can be full except through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

He does not cease to make mention of the creation and of his kindness after the creation.… You will not be alone in enjoying my benefits, he says, for the thirsty nations will also drink from the streams of salvation, thanks to your descendants.… He is addressing those who are in Babylon, yet it is not to them but to their descendants that he promises to give the grace of the S…

Third, he sets out a promise, where it says, I will pour out. And first, he promises divine benefit as to temporal things: I will pour out waters, that is, consolations: I will pour upon you clean water (Ezek 36:25); as to spiritual things, I will pour out my spirit; and my blessing upon your stock, as to the multiplication of gifts: I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh (Jo…

And they will spring up among the grass, like poplars beside channels of water.

For everywhere the divine writings take the willow as the type of chastity, because when its flower is steeped in water, if it is drunk, it extinguishes whatever kindles sensual desires and passions within us, until it renders completely barren and makes every inclination to the begetting of children without effect, as also Homer indicated, for this reason calling the willows d…

The willow is a type of saintly and faithful persons. As Isaiah puts it, "There shall spring up, as it were, grass in the midst of water, and the willow in ever-flowing water." So it is on people like these that we hang our instruments, when we bestow them by sharing the grace from reading from the divine Scriptures.

Second, he sets out the fruit of the benefit as to temporal goods: and they shall spring up, namely, they will be multiplied out of the abundance of your prosperity, as a tree by a multitude of water, above: it shall bud forth and blossom (Isa 35:2); and he shall be like a tree (Ps 1:3).

This one will say, I belong to the LORD; and that one will call himself by the name of Jacob; and another will write on his hand, Belonging to the LORD, and will take the name of Israel.

The reality comes to confirm the prophecy: it is with total freedom of language that each of the believers calls herself a Christian and derives glory from this name.

We have seen many of the saints themselves latch on to names of certain men. One calls himself Jacob, another Israel, others even call themselves Jeremiah and Isaiah and Daniel. Encouraged by these names, they give themselves over to martyrdom with enthusiasm.

He also sets out the effect of the spiritual gifts: one shall say: I am the Lord's, for whoever confesses himself to be subject to God, shall write, songs, to the Lord, that is, to the honor of the Lord; or another shall write, the Lord's, namely, I am the Lord's, on his hand, carrying the Scripture, which pertains to the worship of God; he shall be made like in the name of Isr…

Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last, and apart from me there is no God.

I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

I have not read of, or heard of or found any varying degree in God. Never have I read of a second, never of a third God. I have read of a first God; I have heard of a first and only God.

Thus says the Lord. Here he shows the worthlessness of the idols. And concerning this, he does three things: first, he shows the defect of the idols; second, from this, he recalls them to worship of himself: remember these things (Isa 44:21); third, he promises the benefit of liberation to those who worship him: thus says the Lord your redeemer (Isa 44:24).

And who is like me? Let him call and tell it and set it in order for me, since I appointed an everlasting people. And let them tell them the things to come, and what is going to come.

Do not be in dread and do not be afraid. Have I not made you hear from then and told you? And you are my witnesses. Is there a God apart from me? There is no Rock — I know of none.

Those who form a carved image are all of them emptiness, and their treasured things do not profit; and their witnesses do not see and do not know, so that they may be ashamed.

Who would form a god or cast an image that profits nothing?

See, all his companions will be ashamed, and the craftsmen — they are only human. Let them all gather, let them stand; they will be in dread, they will be ashamed together.

When, however, the Scripture terms them [gods] which are no gods, it does not, as I have already remarked, declare them as gods in every sense, but with a certain addition and signification, by which they are shown to be no gods at all.

How could he fail to pity them in this also, seeing that they worship them that cannot see. In hearing, they pray to them that cannot hear. Born with life and reason, people, as they are, call gods things that do not move at all but do not even have life. Strangest of all, do they serve as their masters beings whom they themselves keep under their own power?

Second, he foretells the confusion of the workers: behold, all the partakers, of the worship of idols, when they come to judgment, shall stand, as if to be judged; the makers are from men, that is, from the number of men: let them be all confounded that adore graven things (Ps 96[97]:7).

A craftsman in iron takes a tool and works it over the coals, and with hammers he forms it, and works it with the arm of his strength. He is also hungry, and there is no strength; he has not drunk water, and he grows faint.

[Isaiah] has demonstrated that the production of these so-called gods relies on contributions. Their creator needs the blacksmith to prepare the tools and the whetstone for sharpening them; for his part, the bronzesmith needs coal and fire, while the constructor of the objects needs food and drink! It takes all this to prepare a god who is worshiped by these ignorant people.

"He becomes hungry, and his strength fails." The first reason for the making of idols is the need of their makers. They are hungry and thirsty and have no food, and, therefore, they make idols, so that their need may be satisfied, thanks to what they themselves do.

The smith. Here he shows their worthlessness, that not only are they not gods, but even worthless things. And first, he sets out the manner of their formation as to idols made from metal: with the strength of his arm, that is, striking strong blows; he shall hunger and faint, as if to say: the god which he is making cannot help him, although it is especially bound to its maker,…

A craftsman in wood stretches a line; he marks it out with a stylus; he makes it with planes and marks it out with a compass. And he makes it like the pattern of a man, like the beauty of a human, to dwell in a house.

He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes an ilex and an oak, and lets it grow strong for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.

And it becomes something for a human to burn — and he takes some of them and warms himself; he also kindles a fire and bakes bread. He also makes a god and bows down; he makes it a carved image and worships it.

And neither do we honour with many sacrifices and garlands of flowers such deities as men have formed and set in shrines and called gods; since we see that these are soulless and dead, and have not the form of God (for we do not consider that God has such a form as some say that they imitate to His honour), but have the names and forms of those wicked demons which have appeared…

What do you think of them, and what is the nature of those who make gods from inanimate statues? For it is easy to see in the latter that they are works of artisans, prepared by axes and drills and such tools, the invention of skillful and industrious people, who through a need of food have found an instrument of leisurely falsehood.

The prophet proceeds to teach that the Creator gave the forests and woods on the mountains to supply food and fuel and for the sake of human bodies. They, however, take a holm oak, an oak or a cedar that God has planted and watered by providing rain for the benefit of human bodies and use these trees to create gods.

Half of it he burns in fire; over half of it he eats meat, he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!

And the rest of it he makes into a god, into his carved image; he worships it and bows down and prays to it and says, Deliver me, for you are my god.

They do not know and they do not understand, for their eyes are smeared over from seeing, their hearts from understanding.

Whatever is said about idols can also be applied to the leaders of heresies, who create images of their doctrines and lies with cunning hearts and worship things that they know are made by themselves. And their own error is not enough for them, unless they deceive even the simplest of their followers with their worship.

The wise and eloquent people among the pagans are full of admiration for a well-turned phrase. One of their main preoccupations is with elegance of expression. They are filled with the greatest enthusiasm for good style and take great pride in verbal dexterity.

Second, he shows the blindness of the craftsman: they have not known. Part thereof, of the wood from which the idol was made, now is ashes, for it was burned. Perhaps there is a lie in my right hand, that is, in my working: he is not ashamed to speak to that which has no life (Wis 13:17).

And no one takes it back to his heart, and there is no knowledge and no insight to say: Half of it I burned in fire, and I also baked bread on its coals, I roast meat and eat — and the rest of it shall I make into an abomination? Shall I worship a block of wood?

He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside, and he cannot deliver his soul or say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

Jerusalem to Be Restored

Remember these, Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant. I formed you; you are a servant to me. Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.

I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud, and your sins like a cloud. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.

And thus, through each and every kind of malice, as though by diverse colors gathered together, you paint upon yourself this "image of the earthly," which God did not make in you.

God pardoned Israel's sins when he brought them out of the Babylonian captivity. But, really and truly, it was only after the incarnation that God forgave the sins of those who believed in him. He removed the cloud of their sins and supplied them with eternal life.

And as to the benefit presented, or promised: I have blotted out, or I will blot out, your iniquities as a cloud, that is, easily: our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist (Wis 2:3). Second, he sets out the calling: return: return to me (Jer 3:1).

Sing, heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout, depths of the earth! Break out in singing, mountains, forest and every tree in it! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and in Israel he shows his beauty.

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb: I am the LORD, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens alone, who spreads out the earth by myself;

And when the prophet says concerning the creation, "That stretches forth the heavens alone," and when God says, "I only stretch out the heavens," it is made plain to everyone that in the "Only" is signified also the Word of the Only, in whom "all things were made" and without whom "was made not one thing." Therefore, if they were made through the Word, and yet he says, "Only,"…

The text has presented, at the same time, a triple teaching: God is the creator, the master and the protector. For the term "Lord" demonstrates his sovereignty; the idea of "redemption," God's protection; and that of "formation," the creation. "I am the Lord who performs all these things." It is I who have sent you the sorrows and who will obtain the joys for you.

Thus says the Lord. Here he promises the benefit of liberation to those who return to him. And concerning this he does two things.

who annuls the signs of babblers and makes diviners mad, who turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish;

Remember that the "heart of humanity is ashes," according to the estimate of God, and that "the very wisdom of the world is foolishness." … Then, if the heretic seeks refuge in the depraved thoughts of the vulgar or the imaginations of the world, I must say to him, "Part company with the heathen, O heretic!" For although you are all agreed in imagining a God, yet while you do s…

(Verse 25) Making the signs of the diviners void, and driving the soothsayers mad; turning the wise men backward, and making their knowledge foolish. LXX: Who else has dispersed the signs of the pythons, and the divinations from the heart? Who turns wise men backward, and makes their counsel foolish.

As to the wise, whom has made fools, some of whom professed to know divine things: that make void the tokens of diviners: a sword upon her diviners, and they shall be foolish (Jer 50:36); some of whom professed to know things of the world: that turn the wise backward: has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? (1 Cor 1:20).

who confirms the word of his servant and completes the counsel of his messengers; who says of Jerusalem, She will be inhabited, and of the cities of Judah, They will be built, and her ruins I will raise up;

(Verse 26) Fulfilling the word of my servant, and performing the counsel of my messengers. I say to Jerusalem: you shall be inhabited, and to the cities of Judah: you shall be rebuilt, and its desolate places I will restore. LXX: And I establish the word of my son, and I approve the true counsel of the Angels.

Here he calls "servant" the very prophet who is exercising the ministry of these words. "And verifying the counsel of his messengers." Not only of this messenger, he says, but also that of all the others who transmit the divine word.

And as to the fulfillment of promises: that raise up the word, fulfilling it, of my servant, the prophet, or Moses, or Christ: raise up the prophets (Sir 36:17[20]). Second, he promises liberation, first, as to the rebuilding of the cities: who say to Jerusalem: the cities of Judah shall be built up (Ps 68:36[69:35]).

who says to the deep, Be dry, and your rivers I will dry up;

who says of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and all my delight he will complete — and saying of Jerusalem, She will be built, and of the temple, You will be founded.

Isaiah44

The LORD Has Chosen Israel

Jerusalem to Be Restored