Monotheism (Isa 44:6-20)

Monotheism is the doctrine that there is only one God. This study is not one on religious worldviews. Rather we’re going to hone in on something within our Christian faith that’s probably a bit more familiar to us —idolatry. If you’ve been a Christian for a while, you would be well acquainted with idolatry and maybe even your own struggles with it.

This passage looks at a key claim that God Himself makes — “I am God, and there is none beside me, there is none like me”. Alongside this Isaiah unpacks for us just how absurd it is for us to think otherwise and to do otherwise.

(A) None beside Him: The offensive truth of the nature of God (Isa 44:6-8)

God begins with a declaration “Thus says the LORD” in Isaiah 44:6a. To understand this set of verses, we’ll need to also remember what happened in the preceding verses. In the previous chapter, Isaiah 43 talks about the problem of their sins and iniquities, about their transgressions and judgement before God. This leads us to this chapter, Isaiah 44, which talks about how Israel is God’s chosen people, that He will pour His Spirit upon them and bless them. Over and again the prior chapters have pointed us to Israel’s failure, and yet through this God’s promise of deliverance, hope and salvation. In the adjacent passage in Isaiah 44:1-3, God’s promise to His people is one that guarantees their identity as His chosen people by the outpouring of His Spirit. With this, God declares who He is.

When we pick up in Isaiah 44:6-7, we see how God introduces Himself and speaks of Himself. He calls Himself the LORD, which means “YHWH”, the personal and covenantal name of God. He is helping the people to think about what He had previously promised their forefathers. He calls Himself the "King of Israel” (Isa 44:6a), reminding them that He is the King of His people, ruler over all. But there’s more!

God also calls Himself “his (Israel’s) Redeemer” (Isa 44:6b). He is the God who has promised to redeem his people. To redeem is to buy back — this is the economic language of slavery, and indeed we see God himself promising to redeem His people so that they may be His.

God is the “LORD of hosts” (Isa 44:6b). He is the Lord of all the armies of angels of heaven, all powerful and almighty! 

Finally, we see how He says He is “the first and the last” (Isa 44:7). He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega, He is not a created being, rather He is the creator that created all things, before Him there was nothing and after Him there is nothing. He stands outside of time and space, there is no other like Him. He challenges anyone to proclaim it if so, and challenges whoever it is to foretell what is to come.

God declares His identity as the one and only God, all powerful, fully unique, cosmic and outside of time itself. He declares Himself relationally as well - He is not only the King of Israel, but also its Redeemer.

What does this mean for us? Firstly, see that He is deeply relational, even despite the bigness of it all. Despite being lord of heavenly hosts, despite being this hugely cosmic all powerful God, despite being outside of time itself, our God does not forget his promises to his people, and he will redeem us — indeed he has. The glory of God’s grace to us is simply astounding, and echos what is in the song , “Ancient of Days” — “None above Him, none before Him, All of time in His hands, For His throne it shall remain and ever stand, All the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name, For my God is, the Ancient of Days.” This is the God we worship. Consider this as we look into the topic of idolatry. Why do we choose to stand far off when this God delights for us to draw near!

Secondly, this challenges how we view God, doesn’t it? God says there is none beside Him. Yet we sometimes feel so burdened to be Christians. A passing thought comes into mind, as we think that if only we could be free and sin freely like the world, maybe we’ll be happier? Or so much richer. We think that we may have more time to do better in school or at work. Maybe sometimes, the fear of missing out also creeps in, just be cause we choose to be Christians.  

But whatever we think we are missing out on will pale in comparison to knowing and having God. This is what Isaiah 44 is reminding and teaching. We are not to be those that hedge our faith. Don’t look to have God and everything else the world offers. Let us pursue Him wholeheartedly, and find in Him more than what the world can offer. 

The exclusive nature of God is not just for His sake but for ours. The argument placed before us is that God is all we need. In Him alone, we get all joy and fulfilment and peace. As Matthew 25:21 tells us to enter into the joy of your master. The exclusive nature of God runs opposite to what our culture holds out - yet in God we are promised deep and everlasting joy. Don’t hedge your faith, don’t look to the left or the right — look to God.

In Isaiah 44:8, God calls us to do two things. He calls us to fear not and to be witnesses to who God is. God gives himself as the basis for these calls to action — “Have I not told you? Have I not declared it? Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.”

The call to not fear has been a repeated idea in this section of Isaiah. We’ve also looked at these passages in earlier studies. In Isaiah 41:10-11, God says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  This “fear not” is based on His relationship with His people, and it is a promise that He will be there.

In Isaiah 43:1-2, God assures the people by saying, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” This is a “fear not” based on his redemption of his people.

Finally, in this passage, in Isaiah 44:2-5, it is written, “Thus says the LORD who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.”  This “fear not” is based on God’s creation of His people and the promise to pour out His spirit on them.

Do we see how wonderful this is? To a people in exile, God tells them to not be afraid, and his assurance to them is based on His relationship with them, what He has done and what He has promised. It is also based on who He is! There is nothing more certain that promises can be based on! 

Perhaps, some of us here tonight need to hear such a word — fear not, though you might feel like you’re in exile, though the walls may be closing in around you, though you see no end in sight, though you feel like what you are going through is worse than death. God is also speaking to us today. Even if you look to your left and right, and feel like the word is closing in, read and hear what God’s word has to say today. Friends whatever circumstance you are going through, God’s commands and promises are a comforting balm — fear not, do not be afraid. Who is like me? Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

Isaiah 44:8 also has another command on being a witness. Earlier in Isaiah 43:10-13, we also read of how God calls Israel His witnesses. What does it mean to be a witness? To be a witness is simply to tell of God — the wonder, the power, the promises, the redemption, the beauty of God. Witnesses are to tell these things to the nations.

God is not shy to declare that He is the only God. Friends in our day and age, such an exclusive message can seem offensive. How do we hold out such a God to a world that is deeply offended by such an exclusionary message? Are we bold in our witness of who God is? Or do we shy away and diminish the truth of who God is? How would your life be different if you lived as a fearless witness? The command to be a witness comes hand in hand with his command to fear not. Friends, let us not be afraid, and let us be witnesses to the grace and glory of our God.

(B) None like Him: The offensive absurdity of idols (Isa 44:9-20)

In Isaiah 44:9-11, Isaiah speaks about those who fashion idols and highlights the sheer futility of pursuing idols. Isaiah makes a sweeping assertion that all those who fashion idols delight in empty and unprofitable things. Not only that, they will all be judged and put to shame.

Contrast this with Isaiah 43:1, which speaks of the God who creates and forms His people. Idol-making is such a serious matter because in making our own idols, we are trying to be God and take the place of God. This is why the very notion of idol-making is an insult to who God is. Isaiah 44:11 offers rebuke for that — “all his companions shall be put to shame, the craftsmen are only human.” Indeed, all who fashion idols are nothing.

A similar idea is picked up in Habakkuk 2:18, which says, “What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols!”  There is no profit, no good that comes of a substanceless creation. An idol is merely a teacher of lies, a speechless idol. What good is that? Who does that? God tells us clearly — anything that we fashion or create to take the place of God is false and useless and substanceless and is a lie. An idol is a lie that we fashion and trust in, and it is futile and fruitless. Anything less than God is not God at all. This is also expressed in Jeremiah 10:3-5.

Isaiah begins this section titled the folly of idolatry very plainly and simply - idols are nothing, all who fashion idols are nothing, and there is judgement promised for idolatry. 

What are some idols that you have fashioned in your own life? What have you placed your hope, trust, love and even identity in that is not God? A good indicator for telling what an idol is in your life is a simple question — “would I be okay if I lost ___"?”

John Calvin describes it well, “The human heart is a perpetual idol factory". What have we put on the pedestal to worship in place of God? Is it our career? Success? Relationships? Finances? Comfort? Our church life? We can also make idols even out of the best gifts that God has given us. Let Isaiah be a warning to us all — “Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame. (Isa 44:10-11a)”

Isaiah speaks further about how the idols are made in Isaiah 44:12-17. The ESV Study Bible summarizes this section of Scripture as “the embarrassing absurdity of man-made gods”, and rightly so. In Isaiah 44:12, we read of the ironsmith’s work. The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. We are meant to see how the ironsmith is no creator, he is not God. He is but a human! His strength fails, he becomes hungry.

Isaiah 44:13 goes on to speak of the carpenter. The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. The carpenter tries to be like God — images it after a man, gives it human characteristics.

We also read of how he cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest (Isa 44:14). He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. The materials used to create these false idols are dependent on man, the inverse of what God’s relationship with creation is. Not only is it dependent on man planting it, but the rain nourishes it. This idol manufacturing is dependent on nature and rain!

Then it becomes fuel for a man (Isa 44:15). He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire (Isa 44:16). Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” You can almost hear Isaiah as he narrates this and how absurd all of this is — the leftovers of the things that he has used and carved, he makes into an idol. It’s not even the first thing he does — the wood is first used for fuel for food and warmth. And yet after all of this, he prays to it and asks for deliverance. What a joke!

Some application for us to think about here. This comical depiction of idol makes it easy for us to laugh at. But friends, do we realise that this is exactly what we do as we make our own idols? The oak and wood and cedar that is planted and nourished by the rain — how different is that from the materials we shape and fashion our own idols from? Work, money, success, comfort, relationships — how much of what we base our identity on and worship is really in our control? Aren’t these things also just created things that hold no value and have no promise? We laugh when we read “aha i am warm i have seen the fire” but how different are we from that? DO we look to praise from our bosses, love from our significant other, or our financial security to feel like we have security in life?

Perhaps the most tragic thing of all of this is that we keep going back to the same idols, even though we know these things fail us. When was the last time work fulfilled you? When was the last time you really felt secure in your bank account or your job or your relationships? Wasn’t the next day or week or month just crappier? Didn’t the goalpost move? Over and again we make things into gods and worship it and pray to it for deliverance. We, like the original recipients of Isaiah, are not beyond this absurd picture of idolatry.

In Isaiah 44:18-20, Isaiah recaps the absurdity of it all, and his conclusion is simple — they know not nor do they discern, for God has shut their eyes. The psalmist speaks exactly of this in Psalm 115:5-8. The Psalmist speaks of the impotence of these idols.

The conclusion here is simple — we become what we worship. Those who make idols become like them. As we stray away from God and worship these empty idols, we become more and more blind. Indeed this is the abomination of idolatry.

Paul also writes about it in stark terms in Romans 1:18-32. We see the futility and also the dire consequences of idolatry. 

We become what we worship, and how incredibly terrifying is this? God’s word is clear in these verses that as we stray and as we continue our folly in idolatry, our eyes become increasingly blind, our hearts become increasingly hard and our minds become increasingly debased.

What must we do then? We flee from idolatry. We turn from it at every corner. But what do we turn to? 

2 Corinthians 4:4 writes, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The solution to idolatry is not to be better or to just be more disciplined in life. The Bible tells us that the solution is to turn to something better than what our idols look like and what our idols can offer. Our response is to turn from idolatry and look to Christ, who is the founder and perfecter of our faith. We are to look to Christ and to have faith that whatever He has done is enough to save. Christ and Christ alone brings us salvation. 

We started our study by looking at God who is not only the first and the last, but God who is also Israel’s Redeemer. The absurdity of idolatry is placed side by side with the “light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God”. The good news here is that just as God promised in His word, He sent His son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins to redeem us. Where we are tempted to play God and fashion idols out of created things, God sent His own Son, who is the image of God, so that we may be saved. The solution to the problem of idolatry is Jesus Christ — there is none like him.

In closing, Isaiah 44:19-20 reads, “Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?””. Thank God that we have Jesus Christ to deliver us from ourselves. Let us put down the idols that we have fashioned, and run to Jesus Christ our Saviour and Redeemer.

What is God saying to you through His word? Is He calling you to repent of a particular sin? Hear His call to turn away from sin and to turn to Him. Turn to Him, because He alone saves.