Isaiah 44:6-8 "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. (7) And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them. (8) Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any."
"Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel and His redeemer the LORD of
hosts." I remember, as a young preacher, hearing the older preachers
stressing adamantly, "It is a matter of 'thus saith the Lord'."
They meant that there was no other way nor any other truth. I remember
the bumper sticker that was popular back in the 90's, "God said it. I
believe it. That settles it." I always amended that saying to,
"God said it. That settles it. Now I am to believe it." In
today's text, God says, "... beside me there is no God." He then
tells a portion of things that separates Him from any idol of the world.
There are certain things in life that God declares will happen. He knows what
is coming in the future and those things will in fact happen. My understanding
is that there are certain things that God has ordained to take place. He
ordained the time when His Son would come to this earth and lay down His life.
And that "came to pass" exactly as God stated. Only the Father knows
the time, but He has ordained a time when this world will come to an end. It
hasn't happened yet, but be assured that time is coming. How can I know that
for a fact? Because God declared it to be so.
He then goes on to tell us one more time, "Fear ye not, neither be
afraid." Our God is in control. He is on His throne and there is no one,
nor anything that will ever dethrone Him. So, what are we to do with this grand
truth? "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and His redeemer the LORD
of hosts.... ye are even my witnesses." He then asks us a question
that we must come to a conclusion: "Is there a God beside me?"
You might think that to be a strange question, and yet it seems that all
too often, people place many things above God as far as having their
consideration. Whatever is placed before God becomes our idol, or our
god. Let's conclude with God's determination for us: "... ye are
even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any."
Now I have to ask myself this question: What kind of witness am I?