Isaiah 44:24Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Since He created freely at the beginning, without obligation or assistance, how much more will He uphold His creation? At the moment of creation, there was no cause for dissent, and it seemed inconceivable to impose great suffering on His creatures. Therefore, the greatest of prophets proclaimed, "Lest the Egyptians should say, 'He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to annihilate them from the face of the earth'" (Ex. 32:12). I am the Lord who has fashioned all things—both for you and for your adversaries. Do not presume that another deity exists; He alone has stretched out the heavens and, by His power, has established the earth. He again highlights the most splendid of His creations, which hold a significant place among the rest. Understand that He intends to affirm our faith through the visible rather than the unseen. He proclaims, "I have spread out the earth," and questions, "Who can bring it to destruction?" This signifies immense power: He can create what no one can obliterate, not only to annihilate it but even to conceive of its destruction; indeed, no one is capable of destroying it, nor can they even fathom it.

Yet, since He has made numerous grand promises that may lead some to doubt, it is fitting, as I mentioned, to disclose His omnipotence and majesty in advance. This allows them to understand that His determinations will surely come to fruition without fail. For how could He, who was the architect of existence and the One who brings everything to perfection—the Preserver of all—be anything less than flawless in what aligns with His glory? Or how could He, who has spread the vast heavens and established the earth, as the Psalmist notes, “He founded the earth upon its firmament” (Psalm 103:5), not be all-powerful and beyond all comprehension and speech? Such a Being, who embodies all power, will indubitably achieve whatever He desires, unimpeded by any external force.

When it is said that the heavens have been spread out, it does not exclude the only-begotten Son, the Word, who is of His essence, through whom all things exist and in whom all things hold together. Instead, it plainly indicates that no false god has contributed anything to the Almighty; for those beings that do not exist cannot be involved as agents or collaborators with the God who sees. In this depiction, there is no distinction between God the Father and the Son, who is begotten by Him through His very nature; rather, it affirms that the stretching of the heavens and the establishing of the earth is solely the work of God.

Having manifested His glory and unparalleled grandeur, God next reveals the works He will carry out in due time. He asks, who will disperse the signs of the sorcerers and the deceitful magic? Before the Savior of us all, Christ, shone down from heaven, the forces of evil had a pervasive reach, and darkness permeated the lives of those on earth. Idolatry prevailed in lands and cities, where altars and shrines to countless false gods thrived alongside an abundance of sorcery, false prophecies, and demonic deceptions, which falsely claimed the power to foretell the future, yet lacked any true understanding. When the true Light, the only begotten Word of God, illuminated the heavens with the Gospel, dispelling the shadows of sin, this profound darkness retreated, guiding the lost to the light of truth. Then, the signs of the sorcerers were scattered. The prophet Ezekiel remarks on such false prophets: “Love to those who prophesy from their hearts, but not to those who see” (Ezekiel 13:3). Consequently, the predictions and signs of such prophets were dismantled, for the Greek oracles have been eradicated, and the voices of their fraudulent gods have fallen silent. The wise have been turned back, and their counsel has been rendered ineffective.

In this context, the wise may refer to those renowned thinkers among the Greeks, celebrated for their intellect and eloquence, who often masked deceit with the flair of their language. These have been shown to be futile, as their wisdom ultimately proved to be worthless—earthly, and demonic. That the wisdom of this world has been turned to folly is echoed by the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 1:20). When the wise were misled and their counsel declared nonsensical, God the Father mandated the message of His servant—the gospel and redemptive revelation that Christ has conveyed to us. God has also unveiled the true counsel of His messengers. These messengers represent those who fulfill the role of proclaiming Christ’s message to the world. Their guidance urges a departure from old sins, a strengthening in righteousness, a firm grasp of the true God, and a submission to His laws, leading to salvation and eternal life. Thus, their proclamations are filled with truth, while the words of the Greeks descend into madness, devoid of the beauty found in the truth, filled only with fabrications: prophecies, reasoning, and a plethora of imaginary deities, even unknown to their followers.

This cannot refer to anyone other than the one Word, since all other entities have been created ex nihilo by the Son and are fundamentally distinct in essence. The Son is inherently from the Father and represents the true emanation. Therefore, the declaration, ‘I am the first,’ which misguided individuals attempted to use to justify their heresy, serves to expose their folly. God proclaims, ‘I am the first, and I am the last’ (Isaiah 44:6). Thus, if He is identified with created beings, being called their first, then they would be second to Him, and by your reasoning, He would only be superior to the creation temporarily. This assertion stands against all forms of ungodliness. If, to emphasize that He is not derived from anything else and that nothing precedes Him, but that He Himself is the origin and source of all things, and to counter the myths of Hellenism, He states, ‘I am the first’ (Isaiah 44:6), it is evident that referring to the Son as the firstborn does not align Him with creation but rather demonstrates that all things are made and embraced through the Son. Just as the Father is the first, so too is the Son, as He embodies the image of the First and remains the first in Him. He is begotten of the Father, and through Him, every creation is formed and welcomed.

Be dry,” and I will dry up your rivers; speaking to Cyrus, “You are my shepherd, and you will accomplish all my desire”; telling Jerusalem, “You will be rebuilt,” and to the temple, “You will be established.” After the idols and sins of Israel have been destroyed and sins forgiven, when all of creation rejoices together, and as stated in the Gospel, the angels in heaven celebrate at the repentance of sinners: the mightiness of God is revealed—that it is no tremendous task for Him to redeem Jacob and restore a right spirit to Israel, whom He formed from the womb. If some regard this as a minor matter, it is not hard for Him who alone stretches out the heavens, as it is written, “He spread out the heavens like a curtain.” This is not because the Son is excluded from the act of creation, for through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made, but rather to highlight the exclusion of idols. Even in the Proverbs of Solomon, it is stated on behalf of Christ, representing God’s power and wisdom: “When He set the heavens in place, I was there.” As He spoke, they came into being; He commanded, and they stood firm, and: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were founded, and by the breath of His mouth all their host.” These truths we often quote to prevent heretics from blaspheming Christ. Likewise, at the foundation of the earth, when He established its bases, there was none with God except for the One who was in Him. Therefore, He possesses such attributes that when the time of the ordained mystery arrives, all idols will be shattered, and knowledge of the one God will be proclaimed throughout the world. He will dismantle and eradicate all divinations of soothsayers, ventriloquists, and the signs and wonders of fortune-tellers, and the so-called wisdom of philosophers, which constitutes a significant portion of the delusion, will be exposed as folly, for they are praised for achieving understanding not through human means but by divine insight. He will indeed put into practice the word of His servant, as mentioned earlier, and the will of His messengers, meaning the apostles and all teachers who proclaimed to the nations the commands of their Master. Therefore, He Himself, who has the power I have briefly described, now tells Jerusalem, which is to be conquered by the Babylonians, before its devastation, that it will once again be occupied by nations, and to the cities of Judah that they will be restored by the one who will revive its wastelands, so that all may be filled with worshippers. Thus, the one who proclaims to Jerusalem and Judah and its wastelands that they will be inhabited and restored instructs the deep and the abyss, meaning Babylon, “You shall be dry, and I will dry up your rivers,” signifying the totality of kings’ power. Since He referred to the depths and the abyss, it is appropriate to metaphorically mention the rivers, of which the Psalmist also speaks: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept.” He who rebuilds Jerusalem also destroys Babylon. He addresses Cyrus, the king of Persia, who first laid waste to Babylon and the Chaldeans: “You are my shepherd,” or as the LXX translates: “so that he may understand.” The reason for this difference is clear. The Hebrew word *goi*, if pronounced with the letter resh, means “my shepherd,” and if read with the letter dalet, means “my shepherd who understands”—the difference being minor, hence often confused. In the opening of the book of Ezra, it is mentioned that by the command of Cyrus, king of Persia and India, the people of Judah were released from captivity and allowed to return to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. For the Lord stirred him to accomplish His will and fulfill His commands. Clearly stated, He says to Jerusalem, “You shall be rebuilt,” and to the temple, “You shall be established.” During Cyrus’ reign, it was decreed that both Jerusalem and the temple would be constructed, for only the foundation had been laid during his time. However, under Darius, in his second year, according to the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah, the construction of the temple commenced.

Indeed, the Lord affirmed, "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). The imagery of mountains, hills, and trees can be understood similarly; following Israel’s restoration, they thrived as they were nurtured, thereby bringing joy to the mountains.

Thus, the text conveys a threefold lesson: that God is the Creator, the Sovereign, and the Guardian. The title ‘Lord’ signifies authority, His acts of deliverance illustrate His care, and the act of creation signifies His power. "I am the Lord who made all things" (Isaiah 44:24). I bring suffering upon you and then grant you joy. The passage further illustrates the outcomes corresponding to prior actions: He alone has stretched out the heavens, and by His might has spread the earth (Isaiah 44:24). This serves as a clear refutation of the errors posited by Arius and Eunomius: If the Father is the Creator of all, then the Son cannot be the Creator. Conversely, if the Son is the Creator, then the Father cannot be. Thus, if both the Father and the Son are creators, how do we comprehend the singularity of the divine essence? Clearly, we are referring to the one Godhead existing within the Trinity.