Isaiah 44:21
Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are My servant, O Israel. I have made you, and you are My servant; O Israel, I will never forget you.
Remember these things
The call to "remember" in this verse is a powerful exhortation. In Hebrew, the word used is "זָכַר" (zakar), which means to recall or bring to mind. This is not merely a mental exercise but a call to action, urging the Israelites to keep God's past deeds and promises at the forefront of their consciousness. Historically, this is significant as it reminds the Israelites of their covenant relationship with God, who has consistently delivered and sustained them. In a broader spiritual sense, it encourages believers today to remember God's faithfulness and to live in a way that reflects that memory.

O Jacob and Israel
The use of both "Jacob" and "Israel" is significant. Jacob was the patriarch whose name was changed to Israel after wrestling with God (Genesis 32:28). This dual reference serves as a reminder of the transformation and covenant relationship that God established with Jacob and his descendants. It underscores the personal and communal identity of the people as chosen by God. For contemporary believers, it symbolizes the transformation that occurs through a relationship with God and the new identity found in Christ.

for you are My servant
The term "servant" in Hebrew is "עֶבֶד" (eved), which implies a position of honor and responsibility. This designation is not one of subjugation but of a chosen role to fulfill God's purposes. Historically, Israel was chosen to be a light to the nations, a role that required obedience and faithfulness. For Christians, this concept is echoed in the New Testament, where believers are called to be servants of Christ, serving others in love and humility.

I have made you
This phrase emphasizes God's sovereignty and creative power. The Hebrew root "יָצַר" (yatsar) means to form or fashion, akin to a potter shaping clay. It highlights God's intimate involvement in the creation and formation of His people. This is a reminder of God's authority and intentionality in our lives, reassuring believers that they are purposefully and wonderfully made.

you are My servant
The repetition of "servant" reinforces the identity and calling of the people. It is a reminder of their purpose and the privilege of serving the Almighty. This dual mention serves to emphasize the importance of their role and the trust God places in them. For modern believers, it is a call to embrace their identity in Christ and to serve with dedication and joy.

O Israel, I will never forget you
This promise of remembrance is deeply comforting. The Hebrew word for "forget" is "שָׁכַח" (shakach), which means to neglect or overlook. God's assurance that He will never forget Israel is a testament to His unwavering faithfulness and love. Historically, despite Israel's frequent unfaithfulness, God remained committed to His covenant. For Christians, this is a profound reminder of God's eternal faithfulness and the assurance that He will never abandon His people, echoing the promise found in Hebrews 13:5, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jacob
Represents the patriarch Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. He is a symbol of the nation of Israel and God's chosen people.

2. Israel
Refers to the descendants of Jacob, the nation chosen by God to be His people. It is both a person and a collective identity for the Jewish people.

3. God's Covenant
The ongoing relationship and promises made by God to the people of Israel, emphasizing His faithfulness and their role as His servants.
Teaching Points
Identity in God
Recognize that, like Israel, believers are chosen and called to serve God. Our identity is rooted in being His servants.

God's Faithfulness
Trust in God's promise that He will not forget His people. His faithfulness is unwavering, even when we falter.

Call to Remember
Reflect on the importance of remembering God's past deeds and promises. This remembrance strengthens faith and commitment.

Servanthood
Embrace the role of a servant, understanding that serving God is a privilege and a calling for all believers.

Covenant Relationship
Appreciate the covenant relationship with God, which is based on His grace and our response in faith and obedience.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding Jacob's transformation into Israel help us comprehend our own identity in Christ?

2. In what ways can we actively remember God's promises and deeds in our daily lives?

3. How does the concept of servanthood in Isaiah 44:21 challenge our modern understanding of freedom and autonomy?

4. What are some practical ways we can demonstrate our role as God's servants in our communities?

5. How do the promises made to Israel in the Old Testament find fulfillment in the New Testament, particularly through the life and work of Jesus Christ?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 32:28
This verse recounts the moment when Jacob's name was changed to Israel, signifying his transformation and the birth of a nation.

Exodus 19:5-6
Highlights Israel's role as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, underscoring their identity as God's servants.

Isaiah 41:8-10
Reinforces the theme of Israel as God's chosen servant and His promise not to forget them.

Jeremiah 31:33
Speaks of the new covenant where God writes His law on the hearts of His people, showing His enduring commitment.

Romans 11:1-2
Paul affirms that God has not rejected His people, Israel, emphasizing the continuity of God's promises.
Jehovah and the ImagesE. Johnson Isaiah 44:6-28
Forget Thee, I Will NotIsaiah 44:21-22
God's Israel not ForgottenJ. H. Evans, M. A.Isaiah 44:21-22
God's Remembrance of IsraelW. D. Horwood.Isaiah 44:21-22
Gracious MercyHomilistIsaiah 44:21-22
People
Cyrus, Isaiah, Jacob
Places
Israel, Jerusalem
Topics
Forget, Forgotten, Formed, Jacob, Memory, Mind, O, Remember, Servant, Shouldest
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 44:21

     6109   alienation
     8763   forgetting

Isaiah 44:21-22

     2425   gospel, requirements

Isaiah 44:21-28

     6722   redemption, OT

Library
Feeding on Ashes
'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?'--ISAIAH xliv. 20. The prophet has been pouring fierce scorn on idolaters. They make, he says, the gods they worship. They take a tree and saw it up: one log serves for a fire to cook their food, and with compass and pencil and plane they carve the figure of a man, and then they bow down to it and say, 'Deliver me, for thou art my god!' He sums up the whole
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Writing Blotted Out and Mist Melted
'I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins.'--ISAIAH xliv. 22. Isaiah has often and well been called the Evangelical Prophet. Many parts of this second half of his prophecies referring to the Messiah read like history rather than prediction. But it is not only from the clearness with which the great figure of the future king of Israel stands out on his page that he deserves that title. Other thoughts belonging to the very substance of the gospel appear in
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Jacob --Israel --Jeshurun
'Yet now hear, O Jacob My servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen.... Fear not, O Jacob, My servant; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. --ISAIAH xliv. 1, 2. You observe that there are here three different names applied to the Jewish nation. Two of them, namely Jacob and Israel, were borne by their great ancestor, and by him transmitted to his descendants. The third was never borne by him, and is applied to the people only here and in the Book of Deuteronomy. The occurrence of all three here
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Source of My Spirit's Deep Desire
"I will pour water on him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground." -- Isaiah 44:8. Source of my spirit's deep desire For living joys that shall not perish, The patient hope Thy words inspire, Still let Thy tender mercy cherish. On Thee my humbled soul would wait, Her utmost weakness calmly learning, And see Thy grace its way create, Through thorns and briers which Thou art burning. Gladly my inmost heart would know The love that now it faintly traces, And see the streams from Zion flow
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations

To the Afflicted, Tossed with Tempests and not Comforted. Isa 44:5-11
To the afflicted, tossed with tempests and not comforted. Isa 44:5-11 Pensive, doubting, fearful heart, Hear what CHRIST the Savior says; Every word should joy impart, Change thy mourning into praise: Yes, he speaks, and speaks to thee, May he help thee to believe! Then thou presently wilt see, Thou hast little cause to grieve. "Fear thou not, nor be ashamed, All thy sorrows soon shall end I who heav'n and earth have framed, Am thy husband and thy friend I the High and Holy One, Israel's GOD by
John Newton—Olney Hymns

Fourteenth Day for the Church of the Future
WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Church of the Future "That the children might not be as their fathers, a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God."--PS. lxxviii. 8. "I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thy offspring."--ISA. xliv. 3. Pray for the rising generation, who are to come after us. Think of the young men and young women and children of this age, and pray for all the agencies at work among them; that in association and societies
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

The Nature of Justification
Justification in the active sense (iustificatio, {GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA}) is defined by the Tridentine Council as "a translation from that state wherein man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace and of the adoption of the sons of God through the second Adam,
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

Catalogue of his Works.
There is no absolutely complete edition of Eusebius' extant works. The only one which can lay claim even to relative completeness is that of Migne: Eusebii Pamphili, Cæsareæ Palestinæ Episcopi, Opera omnia quæ extant, curis variorum, nempe: Henrici Valesii, Francisci Vigeri, Bernardi Montfauconii, Card. Angelo Maii edita; collegit et denuo recognovit J. P. Migne. Par. 1857. 6 vols. (tom. XIX.-XXIV. of Migne's Patrologia Græca). This edition omits the works which are
Eusebius Pamphilius—Church History

Moses' Prayer to be Blotted Out of God's Book.
"And Moses returned unto the Lord and said. Oh! this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou--wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray they, out of thy book which than hast written." In the preceding discourse we endeavored to show that the idea of being willing to be damned for the glory of God is not found in the text--that the sentiment is erroneous and absurd--then adduced the constructions which have been put on the text by sundry expositors,
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

Centenary Commemoration
OF THE RETURN OF BISHOP SEABURY. 1885 THE RT. REV. SAMUEL SEABURY, D.D. FIRST BISHOP OF CONNECTICUT, HELD HIS FIRST ORDINATION AT MIDDLETOWN, AUGUST 3, 1785. On the ninth day of June, 1885, the Diocesan Convention met in Hartford. Morning Prayer was read in Christ Church at 9 o'clock by the Rev. W. E. Vibbert, D.D., Rector of St. James's Church, Fair Haven, and the Rev. J. E. Heald, Rector of Trinity Church, Tariffville. The Holy Communion was celebrated in St. John's Church, the service beginning
Various—The Sermons And Addresses At The Seabury Centenary

"But if Ye have Bitter Envying and Strife in Your Hearts, Glory Not," &C.
James iii. 14.--"But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not," &c. It is a common evil of those who hear the gospel, that they are not delivered up to the mould and frame of religion that is holden out in it, but rather bring religion into a mould of their own invention. It was the special commendation of the Romans, that they obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine into which they were delivered, (Rom. vi. 17) that they who were once servants, or slaves of sin, had now
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Impiety of Attributing a visible Form to God. --The Setting up of Idols a Defection from the True God.
1. God is opposed to idols, that all may know he is the only fit witness to himself. He expressly forbids any attempt to represent him by a bodily shape. 2. Reasons for this prohibition from Moses, Isaiah, and Paul. The complaint of a heathen. It should put the worshipers of idols to shame. 3. Consideration of an objection taken from various passages in Moses. The Cherubim and Seraphim show that images are not fit to represent divine mysteries. The Cherubim belonged to the tutelage of the Law. 4.
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

The Unity of God
Q-5: ARE THERE MORE GODS THAN ONE? A: There is but one only, the living and true God. That there is a God has been proved; and those that will not believe the verity of his essence, shall feel the severity of his wrath. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.' Deut 6:6. He is the only God.' Deut 4:49. Know therefore this day, and consider it in thy heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath, there is none else.' A just God and a Saviour; there is none beside
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Hiram, the Inspired Artificer
BY REV. W. J. TOWNSEND, D.D. The Temple of Solomon was the crown of art in the old world. There were temples on a larger scale, and of more massive construction, but the enormous masses of masonry of the oldest nations were not comparable with the artistic grace, the luxurious adornments, and the harmonious proportions of this glorious House of God. David had laid up money and material for the great work, but he was not permitted to carry it out. He was a man of war, and blood-stained hands were
George Milligan—Men of the Bible; Some Lesser-Known

A Few Sighs from Hell;
or, The Groans of the Damned Soul: or, An Exposition of those Words in the Sixteenth of Luke, Concerning the Rich Man and the Beggar WHEREIN IS DISCOVERED THE LAMENTABLE STATE OF THE DAMNED; THEIR CRIES, THEIR DESIRES IN THEIR DISTRESSES, WITH THE DETERMINATION OF GOD UPON THEM. A GOOD WARNING WORD TO SINNERS, BOTH OLD AND YOUNG, TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION BETIMES, AND TO SEEK, BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, TO AVOID, LEST THEY COME INTO THE SAME PLACE OF TORMENT. Also, a Brief Discourse touching the
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

In the Last, the Great Day of the Feast'
IT was the last, the great day of the Feast,' and Jesus was once more in the Temple. We can scarcely doubt that it was the concluding day of the Feast, and not, as most modern writers suppose, its Octave, which, in Rabbinic language, was regarded as a festival by itself.' [3987] [3988] But such solemn interest attaches to the Feast, and this occurrence on its last day, that we must try to realise the scene. We have here the only Old Testament type yet unfilfilled; the only Jewish festival which has
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Song of the Redeemed
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou ... hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ... T he extent, variety, and order of the creation, proclaim the glory of God. He is likewise, ^* Maximus in Minimis . The smallest of the works, that we are capable of examining, such for instance as the eye or the wing of a little insect, the creature of a day, are stamped with an inimitable impression of His wisdom and power. Thus in His written Word, there
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Of the Decrees of God.
Eph. i. 11.--"Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."--Job xxiii. 13. "He is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth." Having spoken something before of God, in his nature and being and properties, we come, in the next place, to consider his glorious majesty, as he stands in some nearer relation to his creatures, the work of his hands. For we must conceive the first rise of all things in the world to be in this self-being, the first conception
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Third Stage of the Roman Trial. Pilate Reluctantly Sentences Him to Crucifixion.
(Friday. Toward Sunrise.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 15-30; ^B Mark XV. 6-19; ^C Luke XXIII. 13-25; ^D John XVIII. 39-XIX 16. ^a 15 Now at the feast [the passover and unleavened bread] the governor was wont { ^b used to} release unto them ^a the multitude one prisoner, whom they would. { ^b whom they asked of him.} [No one knows when or by whom this custom was introduced, but similar customs were not unknown elsewhere, both the Greeks and Romans being wont to bestow special honor upon certain occasions by releasing
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Water of Life;
OR, A DISCOURSE SHOWING THE RICHNESS AND GLORY OF THE GRACE AND SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL, AS SET FORTH IN SCRIPTURE BY THIS TERM, THE WATER OF LIFE. BY JOHN BUNYAN. 'And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.'--Revelation 22:17 London: Printed for Nathanael Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1688. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Often, and in every age, the children of God have dared to doubt the sufficiency of divine grace; whether it was vast enough to reach their condition--to cleanse
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Being of God
Q-III: WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES PRINCIPALLY TEACH? A: The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. Q-IV: WHAT IS GOD? A: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Here is, 1: Something implied. That there is a God. 2: Expressed. That he is a Spirit. 3: What kind of Spirit? I. Implied. That there is a God. The question, What is God? takes for granted that there
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Links
Isaiah 44:21 NIV
Isaiah 44:21 NLT
Isaiah 44:21 ESV
Isaiah 44:21 NASB
Isaiah 44:21 KJV

Isaiah 44:21 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Isaiah 44:20
Top of Page
Top of Page