By Rony Kozman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, Samford University
GOD IS OMNIPOTENT
Isaiah 44:6–9, 21–28
There is no god like our God. (6–9)
In Isaiah 43, God promises that He will restore Israel. Even though the people of Israel have burdened the Lord with their sins (v. 24), God nevertheless declares to them, “I am the One; I sweep away your transgressions for My own sake and remember your sins no more” (v. 25).
Israel’s ancestors and its leaders rebelled against God (v. 27), and so God handed them over to destruction at the hands of their enemies (v. 28).
For their sins, Israel received the curses of the covenant, including their defeat by foreign nations throughout their history. Even still, chapter 44 tells us God has not forgotten Israel whom He has “chosen” (v. 1) and whom He made and formed in the womb (v. 2). He is not finished with His people.
Because God has chosen to love Israel as His people, He will intervene and rescue His children.
God is Israel’s King and Redeemer (v. 6), and in this context of His promised restoration He declares, “I am the first and I am the last. There is no god but Me. Who, like Me, can announce the future? Let him say so and make a case before Me” (vv. 6–7).
The gods of the nations are nothing compared to the Lord. No god comes before the Lord; He is the first. And no god comes after the Lord; He is the last. Only the Lord can announce the things that are to come.
The point of this assertion is more than that God predicts the future. He can declare the things to come, that He will restore Israel and make Israel flourish because He is all-powerful and has the ability and strength to accomplish this.
He knows and declares the future restoration of His people because He has the power and ability to bring these things about.
God works on behalf of His children. (21–23)
In contrast to the God of Israel’s power to bring about the future restoration of His people, the gods of the nations and their idols are impotent.
These idols are made from the same wood that the idol maker uses as fuel for the fire he uses to cook his food and to keep himself warm (vv. 14–17, 19).
God’s people must not put their hope or confidence in such impotent gods, but they must remember the Lord who formed them because they are His servants and if they return to Him, He will forgive their sins.
God will intervene. He will save His people. And that this will surely happen in the future is again secured by God’s power and might to bring the salvation of His people to pass. God is so powerful that He can tell the heavens to sing as though He has already done it: “Rejoice, heavens, for the Lord has acted” (v. 23).
God is all-powerful. (24–28)
The Lord is the great God who created the heavens and the earth, and He did it all without anyone’s help (v. 24). This again highlights God’s power.
God’s power and ability to restore Jerusalem will prove Isaiah’s promises true that Israel will be restored, Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and the foundation of the temple will be laid (v. 26, 28).
EDITOR’S NOTE — The Sunday School lesson outlines are provided by Lifeway.
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