Proper 11: Old Testament, Isaiah 44:6-8

Most of us would, I think, say that the most important thing about ourselves is ourselves. In other words, our true identity from the inside out, is what we want others to know of us and is that to which we desire to be true. Jesus is having a discussion with others about His identity. And it is a subject that his opponents failed to understand in the most stunning way. To them Jesus was a sinner, a blasphemer, and all His life long, a child of that woman. Stigma  and Shame. 

As Jesus instructs His listeners He makes this claim, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). The folks in the Old Testament were having the same difficulty with the nature of God as Jesus' opponents in the New. Jesus is of course, the God of both Testaments. In the Old Testament making mistakes about the nature of God usually meant the heart had been captured by idols. Real ones. You know, statues and carvings or the moving bodies in the heavens. And after decades, centuries of “mistaken identity,” Yahweh had had enough of being passed up for some cheap imitations.

Isaiah, the great prophet who authored what is often referred to as “The Fifth Gospel,” gives us a theology lesson, and it is what is known in the schools as “Theology Proper.” That means this is actually teaching on the nature of God, not just general topics included in Scripture. Isaiah 43-48 will close any question on who the God of Israel is. His Oneness and His uniqueness, His power and His eternity. I have to admit I just love reading what our truly awesome God has to say about Himself.

Three verses to consider from that larger section: Isaiah 44:6-8. Into a world and nation of brazen idolatry comes this lightning bolt: “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god’”(44:6). Any questions? This passage finishes with a mocking question, “Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any” (44:8b). When God says there is something He does not know of it means that thing does not exist. Because He knows all things. When God speaks and clarifies the fact that He is the only self-sufficient One who is being itself, then there is no other like Him. Multiply this by statement after statement as God makes His case to His people and all the world. The God of Israel is the true and only God. He doesn’t want us to wonder about that. He doesn’t want us to doubt it. He wants us to embrace that truth and love Him with all we have. Jesus came, lived, died, rose and ascended so we could. 

“I believe in one God.”