"He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee."

Isaiah 44 is a classic passage that points out the foolishness of idolatry. It speaks of the man who grows a tree, cuts it down, uses some of the wood to make a fire, and the rest to make an idol, to which he then prays, seeking deliverance. Were they not true, the things about which God speaks would be laughable. The end of the thought in Isaiah 44 is what is quoted above. The one who is deceived in this way is unable to say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?" Idolatry is a lie. For it paints an untrue picture of God. There is no idol that can properly display who God is. There can be no idol or image that can in any way come even close to displaying God in His glory. Therefore God commands that we not even try. No matter how glorious the image, it falls far, far short of God. Having fallen into the lie, it is inescapable. The mind of the idolater is so affected that he cannot think straight about spiritual things. The reason God speaks of idolatry in Isaiah 44 is because His people, the Israelites, were guilty of this very crime. He wanted them to see the foolishness of it. Israel had fallen into this sad, pathetic sin. But that is not the end of the story.

Toward the end of Isaiah 44, in the passage quoted above, God implores His people to remember that He is their maker. For, He tells them, He has not forgotten them! He was the one that was offended. He was the one that was replaced by an idol. He was the one that they had forgotten. But He had not forgotten them. They were still His people. He tells them that He has blotted out their sin. Imagine! The one they had offended took it upon Himself to deal with the problem. Not only did He call them to remember Him, but He told them that He blotted out their sin!

Many think of God as an all powerful being sitting above, watching our activities, just waiting for a chance to lower the boom on us for disobeying Him. They can imagine Him rubbing His hands with glee at our failures, and then raining down lightning, or some other punishment. But here in Isaiah 44 we have a different picture. Here we have God, the offended one, taking action to fix the problem! He has blotted out their sin.

Justice demands that sin be properly punished. And if God is "fair," then He will indeed judge sin. And, so He will. Or maybe I should say, so He has. For His Son, Jesus the Christ, came to this earth to pay that great penalty for all sin for all time. God's justice was completely satisfied the day when He hung on the cross, between earth and heaven; forsaken of men, and forsaken of God. Can you hear His words, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Separation from God in hell is the punishment that God has set against sin. He poured out this judgment on His Son. His judgment on Christ applied back to the days of Isaiah (Rom 5:6). Christ was judged, punished, for the idolatry of Israel so many years before. So God rightly dealt with the problem of the sin of Israel while at the same time satisfying the righteous demands of His justice.

On what basis are our sins blotted out today? Even the same as Israel: the death of Christ. But many of them refused God's offer, as do many today. On those ones God's wrath will fall for their own sin. And the most awful of all sins is rejecting Christ's sacrifice (Heb 2:1-4). Turn not your back on Him! Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!