Our Great God cont. - Isaiah 45

Even more declarations from God as He declares Himself to His people.

Is. 45:9-10 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?

Striving against God, the Creator, is sure to result in woe/misery/sorrow. Isaiah is comparing men to pieces of pottery. The word picture—Can clay question the potter as to what he is making? In looking at the word for hands, the reference was to an open hand, a symbol of power. It’s like the pottery is questioning the potter regarding its worth or purpose. In reference to Cyrus, the point is being made that God can choose whomever He desires for positions of power. This, in turn, implies that He also determines who will be weaker vessels.

In his poetic style, Isaiah gives another word picture. The child has no right to question the father or the mother as to why he was born and why he is like he is. As I continue to look at this verse, maybe it is a child questioning his parents regarding the birth of another child.

In both illustrations the potter has no right to question the potter regarding his choices, nor does the child have the right to question the authority or purposes of his parents. God is obviously being referenced by both potter and parent.

Is. 45:11 Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.

God is basically saying, “Do you have the right to question Me regarding my parenting of Israel or regarding how I choose to use any person of My creation?

This is a question that comes up often in one form or another as men try to reconcile tragic or devastating events on planet earth with the concept of a loving God. In asking the question they are questioning His righteousness and His authority over His creation. In asking they are revealing their lack of understanding of the Creator just as surely as did Job. The problem is that most (in contrast to Job) refuse to humble themselves and acknowledge that God is righteous in ALL He does or allows and that He has complete authority over His creation. They cling to their own so-called wisdom and understanding in daring to question the righteousness of God.

Is. 45:12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.

The obvious answer is—No. I AM the Creator. I AM in control. I AM the authority in heaven and on earth.

Is. 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

Again, emphasis is given to the fact that YHWH God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. In looking at the Hebrew for established, the phrases “provide, make provision and make ready” stood out to me. He made every provision necessary for the benefit of man because He made it to be inhabited by man.

The Hebrew for the word vain jumped out at me because of some fairly recent studies in Genesis. It is the same word used in Genesis 1:2 for the phrase “without form.”

Gen. 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void…

It means “to lie waste; a desolation (of surface), i.e. desert; figuratively, a worthless thing; adverbially, in vain:—confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness.” In other words, for the earth to be “without form and void” something had to have happened to bring that about; God didn’t create it that way. I believe it was the fall of Satan. (See journal on Genesis.)

Again that statement—I AM YHWH and there is no other.