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Isaiah 44:9-20

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The Folly of Idolatry

9 Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be 1put to shame.
10 Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to 2no profit?
11 Behold, all his companions will be 3put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them together be put to shame.
12 The 4man shapes iron into a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary.
13 5Another shapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red chalk. He works it with planes and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of 6man, so that it may sit in a 7house.
14 Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak and raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow.
15 Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also 8makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and 9falls down before it.
16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, "Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire."
17 But the rest of it he 10makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also 11prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god."
18 They do not 12know, nor do they understand, for He has 13smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend.
19 No one recalls * *, nor is there 14knowledge or understanding to say, "I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an 15abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!"
20 He 16feeds on ashes; a 17deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, "18Is there not a lie in my right hand?"
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Isaiah 44:9-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 44

In this chapter the Lord comforts his people with the promise of the effusion of his Spirit, and the blessings of his grace upon them; the consequence of which would be fruitfulness in them, and the conversion of others, who should profess themselves the Lord's people, Isa 44:1-5, he proves his deity in opposition to all false gods from his eternity, omniscience, and foretelling future events, Isa 44:6-8, exposes the stupidity of idol makers and the worshippers of them, Isa 44:9-20, makes gracious promises of the remembrance of his people, the remission of their sins, and their redemption by Christ, Isa 44:21-23, of which redemption from Babylon was a type; and of that assurance is given, from the Lord's creating all things by his power; from his frustrating and infatuating diviners and wise men; from his fulfilling his predictions delivered by his prophets; and from his mentioning by name the instrument of their redemption, Cyrus, Isa 44:24-28, which makes way for a particular prophecy concerning him in the next chapter.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 18

  • 1. Psalms 97:7; Isaiah 42:17; Isaiah 44:11; Isaiah 45:16
  • 2. Isaiah 41:29; Jeremiah 10:5; Habakkuk 2:18; Acts 19:26
  • 3. Psalms 97:7; Isaiah 42:17; Isaiah 44:9; Isaiah 45:16
  • 4. Isaiah 40:19, 20; Isaiah 41:6, 7; Isaiah 46:6, 7; Jeremiah 10:3-5; Habakkuk 2:18
  • 5. Isaiah 41:7
  • 6. Psalms 115:5-7
  • 7. Judges 17:4, 5; Ezekiel 8:10, 11
  • 8. Isaiah 44:17
  • 9. 2 Chronicles 25:14
  • 10. Isaiah 44:15
  • 11. 1 Kings 18:26, 28; Isaiah 45:20
  • 12. Isaiah 1:3; Jeremiah 10:8, 14
  • 13. Psalms 81:12; Isaiah 6:9, 10; Isaiah 29:10
  • 14. Isaiah 5:13; Isaiah 44:18, 19; Isaiah 45:20
  • 15. Deuteronomy 27:15; 1 Kings 11:5, 7; 2 Kings 23:13, 14
  • 16. Psalms 102:9
  • 17. Job 15:31; Hosea 4:12; Romans 1:21, 22; 2 Thessalonians 2:11; 2 Timothy 3:13
  • 18. Isaiah 57:11; Isaiah 59:3, 4, 13; Romans 1:25

Footnotes 11

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