Ancient people worshiped idols in part because they sought for the god that the idol represented to give them whatever they wanted. That seems crazy to us today, but what is even more crazy is the way they were able to rationalize their worthless institutions of worship, as described in Isaiah 44: the craftsman has to work hard to fashion the idol, and in doing so he uses energy and needs to refuel. How inferior such a god is to the one Who created the craftsman and sustains him. Isn’t man blessed, that the Reality is so much superior to his fantasies? Or consider that a tree chopped down for its wood can be useful in any number of ways: it can provide heat for warmth or fuel for cooking. Or it could be used to fashion an idol. One chunk of wood used to make an idol could as easily have been used for something else – there’s nothing especially powerful about it. And the man would have gotten more value out of the warmth or fuel than the idol. This is all nonsense; what foolish person would revere that idol for a god and expect it to do anything for him?! Was ancient man stupid? Aren’t you glad that modern man is more intelligent and sophisticated than that? Our generation would never be so foolish as to worship a lie in pursuit of what we want, would we?
In chapters 44 and 45 God identifies by name His instrument in fulfilling His purpose. Before Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed in judgment, God identified who would say of Jerusalem, “She shall be rebuilt.” This Cyrus was a Persian leader who rose to take over the Babylonian Empire. He goes down in history as Cyrus the Great for his accomplishments. When He established the Persian Empire in place of the Babylonian Empire upon overthrowing the Babylonian king and his government in a single amazingly effective night raid, he adopted the policy of sending home the displaced people whom the Babylonians had sent into exile. He did in fact send Judah back to their homeland with the expectation that they would rebuild, as we will read in the latter history books of the Old Testament and as you can read in any ancient history.
Look at all God said He would do to help Cyrus because He would use Cyrus to fulfill His purpose. Do you suppose the leaders of our modern world are beyond the control of the God who can raise up a world leader such as Cyrus and help him as history shows that He did? Can God still make well-being and calamity both? These prophecies and the facts of history that tell of their fulfillment should reassure us that God is in control of world events today, calamitous as they may seem.
As hard as God’s Old Testament people tried to put God behind them, He was determined that they would not be forgotten by Him. I treasure the masterful way He phrases His remembrance. And He takes it farther than remembrance: He brings His righteousness close to bring them redemption. He refines them as silver is refined. They have only to return to Him. Later in our reading He invites all the ends of the earth to turn to Him and be saved. The redemption he offers is so wonderful that the heavens are called upon to sing because of what God has done. Do we see redemption as that wonderful? God can help our blinded eyes see the truth more clearly, if we ask Him for His help.