1578. VI. I Am God, There Is None Like Me

VI. I Am God, There Is None Like Me

"I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done" (Isa_46:9-10).

In the forty-sixth chapter, Isaiah describes Israel's God in His dealings with His people in the former times, and in His dealings with her in the latter days.

Israel's God carried her from her birth. No words could be more tender than those found in Isa_43:3 and Isa_43:4 : "O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that were borne by Me from the birth, that were carried from the womb: and even to old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you" (1911 Bible).

God asks Israel if she will liken Him to the gods of Nebo? the gods who were made by the goldsmith? the gods that the people must carry upon their shoulders? the gods to whom the people cry, but from whom they get no response? How striking is this call for comparison! It is true that Israel's God could not be likened unto an idol. He was God and there was none like Him.

Is it possible to prove that the God of these verses is the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of the Christian Gentiles, the One Whom Israel refused and delivered to the Romans demanding His death? Is the Lord Jesus Christ the God Who has carried Israel in His arms during all the vicissitudes of her checkered career?

When Christ was dying upon the Cross, He said, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." Did Israel, in blindness, slay their Jehovah God?

The great startling admission of Isaiah was that the Christ was to be despised and rejected of men; Isaiah prophesied that His own people were to turn their faces from Him.

The Christ of the Gospels cried: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered thy people together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not."

The Shepherd of Israel Who seeks the sheep until He finds it, Who putteth it upon His shoulders, and carries it home, is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Unto apostate Israel, the Lord Jesus says:

"All day long I have stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people."

Who is the One Who cries out in Isaiah–"Even to old age I am He"? Is He the Christ of Whom Paul wrote: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever"?

Who is the One Who has "made" and "bears" and "carries" and "delivers"? Is it the Lord Jesus Christ? Is Christ the One Who says, "I am God, and there is none else"?

Saul of Tarsus stood against the Lord Jesus as a persecutor. With letters of authority from the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem he journeyed toward Damascus that he might lay hold upon the Christians and bring them bound to the high priest. As the young man Saul journeyed, he was stricken down by a light brighter than the noonday sun. When he cried out, "Who art Thou Lord?" the response was, "I am Jesus Whom thou persecutest." The result was that Saul straightway, in the synagogues, proclaimed "Jesus, that He is the Son of God." Paul was an orthodox Jew. He knew that the Prophets foretold Israel's Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. The Damascus road vision proved to Paul conclusively that the Jesus, Whom he had despised and persecuted was, indeed, the Christ.

Oh, that Israel might have her eyes opened that she might see that the One Who has loved her, and sought her peace; that the One Who has borne her and carried her, is none other than the Lord Jesus. He is her God.

Nathanael was an orthodox Jew, believing in Israel's hope, but he did not believe that any good thing could come out of Nazareth. However, when he saw the Lord Jesus and heard Him speak, he immediately cried: "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel."

Nathanael, like Israel of today, accepted the fact that God would send His Son to be Israel's king, but he did not believe that the Christ of Whom he had doubtless heard, was that Messiah.

When he saw, he believed!

Will Israel not believe until she sees the Son of God coming with the clouds?

Jesus said to Nathanael, "Hereafter ye shall see Heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

Will Israel await that day, before she accepts her Messiah? Remember the words, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR