The Redeemer Who Raises up Ruins...

 Isaiah 44:24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
    who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made all things,
    who alone stretched out the heavens,
    who spread out the earth by myself,
25 who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners,
who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish,
26 who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, 

‘They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins’;

After reminding His people that He is nothing like the other gods around them, God then reminded them that He is the Redeemer, Who made them in the first place, and now was going to buy them back from their sin and rebellion and restore them to their land. He is not just some upstart who comes along for a quick show; He has been there from the beginning and will be there at the end. Idols are invented; kings come and go; the True and Living God endures for ever and is able to pay the price to redeem us, and amazingly, He wants us back.

He Is the Only One...

Isaiah 43:

24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
    or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
    you have wearied me with your iniquities.
25 “I, I am he
    who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
    and I will not remember your sins.
26 Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;
    set forth your case, that you may be proved right.

Israel was in a mess, pure and simple.  They had a history of rebellion against God, turning to idols, and having their society and lives go down the tubes. Who could help them? Only He. No one else had the where-with-all to do so. It was simply a matter of them admitting so and calling out to Him. They resisted. So do we. He challenges us to state our case, proclaim our innocence, and come up with another Savior.  We've got nothing. He puts it clearly and concisely earlier in the chapter: 11 I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. Why do we, individually or corporately persist to claim our innocence and/or ability to save?

One Source of "Good News"

 Isaiah 41:25 I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,
    from the rising of the sun, and he shall call upon my name;
he shall trample on rulers as on mortar,
    as the potter treads clay.
26 Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know,
    and beforehand, that we might say, “He is right”?
There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed,
    none who heard your words.
27 I was the first to say to Zion, “Behold, here they are!”
    and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news.

As Isaiah transitions from warning after warning of judgment to a message of hope, God asks the question: "Where does this good news come from?" He answers in part by making it clear that it is NOT from any of the idols or false gods Israel had been trusting in. Truly good news comes from the only One who knows what true good is: God Himself. If you are wallowing in a sea of bad news today, turn to the Source of Good News and see what He has to say? He is right all the time.

The Incomparable God

 Isaiah 40:

25 To whom then will you compare me,
    that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
    who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
    calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
    and because he is strong in power,
    not one is missing.

Having heard so much about the great nations which would come up against Israel and Judah, things could seem pretty overwhelming.  What hope is there against such foes? This chapter is a great turnaround for the follower of God to cling to.  Though we may feel like grasshoppers, even the great kings and generals of the greatest armies and nations are as nothing before Him. They come and go, but God watches over them all, and us as well.  He is not idol who can do nothing. He is great enough to be over and see us all, yet at the same time none of us are insignificant in His sight. We never disappear from His sight. He sees us.

Do You Know Who You're Dealing with?

Isaiah 37:26 “‘Have you not heard that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities crash into heaps of ruins,
27 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops, blighted before it is grown.
28 “‘I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in,
    and your raging against me.

29 Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come to my ears,

I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth,

and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.’

Sennacherib and the Assyrians had laid siege to Jerusalem, prompting King Hezekiah to call out to God in repentance. God responded with a message to the proud Assyrians, correcting their false impression that they had accomplished all their victories by their own power. They were about to be sent packing and shown Who was really in charge. Here God gives one of those "I know what you've done, and I know where you live" kind of statements. Whenever anyone begins to think they are in charge and all-powerful, think again.

Binding Up Brokenness...

 Isaiah 30:23 And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

When we are in the midst of being chastised and corrected, it is easy for us to miss the big picture and run to our old stomping grounds.  Such was the case for Israel as they were going through their time of exile due to their rebellion.  One of their first thoughts was to return to Egypt, where they had felt "safe" in their bondage. They often did this when life got tough. At the beginning of this chapter, God warned them to not think that way, but to keep their eyes on the future. He would return them to the Promised Land and return the waters and plenteous pastures filled with food, flocks and herds. Life would be bright again. Why? Because God is gracious and He binds up the brokenness of His people. He still does.

After Things Are Leveled...

 

Isaiah 28:23 Give ear, and hear my voice;
    give attention, and hear my speech.
24 Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
    Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
25 When he has leveled its surface,
    does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place,
    and emmer as the border?
26 For he is rightly instructed;
    his God teaches him. 

After chapter after chapter of judgment against nation after nation, and the whole world, God turns now to the rebuilding process, beginning with the setting of the Cornerstone, and even going down to the planting of the smallest seeds. His leveling of the land and nations will not continue forever. He will rebuild and replant, planning every detail, for things not only to be functional and plentiful, but beautiful and glorious.  They will once again reflect God's glory. While man often dwells on the exciting(?) destruction to come, God's heart is on the final picture reflecting His character: He is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.