Sermon for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, 2026, from Isaiah 44:6-8
Pastor Peter Ziebell
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
The text for our sermon today is Isaiah 44:6-8, our First Reading read before.
6Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
7Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
8Fear not, nor be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
And you are my witnesses!
Is there a God besides me?
There is no Rock; I know not any.”
Lord God, heavenly Father, sanctify us through Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ,
When Isaiah recorded the words of our text today, the Southern Kingdom of Judah watched as the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians. Known for their brutality and ruthless warfare, the Assyrians created a climate of fear and uncertainty for both kingdoms, as their borders were threatened by this formidable enemy. In 722 BC, the Northern Kingdom was conquered. An early Assyrian emperor, Shalmaneser III (Shal-man-eser), claimed to be “the mighty king, king of the universe, the king without a rival, the autocrat, the powerful one of the four regions of the world, who shatters the might of princes and has smashed all foes like pots.”[1] Such arrogant claims—especially for a mere man—border on declaring himself a god. When people deny or forget God, they risk becoming ‘gods’ in their own minds—legendary in their own eyes.
In numerous respects, the circumstances of the people of Judah can be compared to the situation we face today. Certainly, we do not have another nation approaching our borders and threatening to conquer us—I suppose that is one benefit of residing on an island continent. Nevertheless, we are confronted with an ongoing, unseen internal threat from terrorists, who pose a danger from all directions and demonstrate a disregard for human life. These terrorists may attack at any moment.
However, Judah not only faced the threat of violence and the uncertainty of war but was also surrounded by pagan religions that worship multiple deities. Similarly, in many respects, the same situation can be observed in Australia, where, in our own backyard, we observe the worship of false gods. Despite our nation’s foundation in Christian values and belief in the one true God, this has been largely abandoned and replaced with multiple false gods.
But perhaps the most significant challenge is what is termed “religious pluralism,” which holds that all religions have an equal claim to truth and that no single faith can assert absolute truth. For Judah then and for us today, the dominant pressure is to accept that our God is not markedly different from, or perhaps not significantly superior to, any other deity or spiritual path available.
Today, Isaiah addresses the fundamental need to know who the true God is. The Israelites needed assurance that they had one true God who could deliver them from the Assyrians. Did they have a God strong enough to save them from the might of the Assyrians, who had boasted god-like powers in demolishing any nation that stood in the way of their imperial conquest? Ultimately, Judah would go into exile for their sins, but not under Assyria, whose boastful claims of power crumbled under the rise of a new Babylonian empire. Likewise, we need the same assurance of the one true God so that we aren’t lost in an assortment of religions, and so that we know there is a Redeemer who can and does deliver us from the captivity of our sins.
The first assurance we are given is that God declares who He is, namely, “the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts.”
The LORD explicitly asserted His sovereignty over Israel, His chosen nation, yet equally asserted His dominion over the entire earth, as stated in Psalm 47:7, “For God is the King of all the earth.” Accordingly, He requires exclusive worship. Luther’s Small Catechism instructs, “You shall have no other gods beside me. What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”
Part of the problem in Isaiah’s day was that people were worshipping the true God alongside false gods—mixing true and false worship. Or they would try to worship God in ways He had not commanded, especially by offering sacrifices at unauthorised “high places.” This idolatry and religious pluralism ultimately led Israel, and later Judah, into exile. And so, we ask ourselves today:
“Do we fear, love, and trust in God above all things? Or are we caving in to the claims of religious pluralism? Have we conceded that Jesus is one god among many in the religious landscape?”
It’s also interesting that God calls Himself Israel’s “Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts” and says, “I am the First and I am the Last.” How is this interesting?
In the New Testament, we find Jesus saying almost the same words in the book of Revelation: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Rev. 22:13). Jesus is our Redeemer, the eternal God from the beginning to the end, who has redeemed us from the curse of the law and our empty way of life. As seen here in Isaiah, even in the Old Testament, Jesus is referred to as the “Redeemer… the First and the Last.” He also says, “Besides Me there is no God.” This is especially important today, as pluralism claims that God reveals Himself in different ways to different people. Not so. God is revealed only through His Son Jesus, the First and the Last. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also” (John 14:6-7a). Anyone who rejects Jesus, God’s Son, cannot truly know God the Father.
When the LORD declares in Isaiah that “besides Me there is no God,” He follows this up with a challenge to any would-be ‘gods’ to prove themselves. How can they compare to the true God? He says, “Who is like Me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before Me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.”
God defies anyone to prove themselves God’s equal. The first part of the challenge is this: let any so-called god recount salvation history. Let’s see whether any false god or prophet of a false god can show that they are eternal, just as the LORD is First and Last. Can they recount what has happened since God established His ancient people? This may seem an odd challenge until we remember that the record of salvation history, from Adam and Eve to now, is really God’s “track record”—the proof throughout history that He is the true and only God who redeems His people.
This has been one of the primary ways the church throughout the ages has praised God—by recounting the great deeds of salvation He has accomplished for us. Can any false god display such knowledge or boast such a track record?
But that is still too easy. The second part of God’s challenge is greater: let any pretenders also “declare what is to come, and what will happen.” Let these so-called gods predict the future—tell what is going to be! God alone knows the future with certainty, as He demonstrated time and again through His prophecies and their fulfillments, culminating in the fulfilment of all the prophetic word—Jesus Christ.
Again, we come back to Judah, encircled by pagan enemies who would lead them into exile, mocking the true God; and to us, believers in Christ, encircled by competing religions and claims for truth, who mock any claim to one God as “intolerance.” Yet from long ago, the LORD had called His people to believe that He is the one true God, and that all other gods are no gods at all, and that He is a god who is unapproachable in His majesty, enthroned in glory, armed with the might of the heavenly hosts, the armies of angels.
Yet this almighty, powerful God, King of Israel and King of Kings and Lord of Lords, speaks gently with tender words to His people, His frightened creatures. Though surrounded by enemies both physical and spiritual, God whispers, “Fear not, nor be afraid.” All these things—the persecution of the faith, the groaning of all creation under sin, the sin dwelling in our flesh—all of it has been proclaimed and foretold to us from long ago. Our life, with its fears and dangers, and most of all, with the challenges to our faith, unfolds just as He told us, from times long forgotten. Yet He has set forth an eternal people of His choosing—throughout time He has set apart the godly for Himself.[2] He protects and redeems those who believe and sets their feet on steady ground—the Rock of His Son Jesus Christ. Though a horde of demons and enemies of God should oppress us, the LORD of hosts is on our side, commanding the host of heavenly armies.
And the LORD calls us His witnesses! We are God’s witnesses of this salvation—seeing in Christ’s death on the cross His deliverance for us and bearing witness of that salvation to others. Seeing Jesus as the very Rock of Refuge in which we hide securely from all evil. John writes, “We have seen His glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… No one has ever seen God; the only God who is at the Father’s side has made Him known” (John 1:14, 18). Do you know what this means?
What we have seen and are witnesses of? Only the most amazing thing ever! The God who is unapproachable in majesty has revealed Himself in humility to us as our Redeemer! The God who dwelt in heavenly splendour has come down and met us here on earth, for the purpose of redeeming us to Him by dying on the cross for our sins. A thing utterly unheard of from any other religion! Therefore, we may confidently ask, “Is there a God besides the one true God?” and immediately answer, “There is no Rock; I know not any.” The Lord is the Rock of our salvation.[3]
Our God is an eternal God, the First and the Last—not a god that comes and goes with the latest trends or only appeals to one age, culture, race or social status at the expense of others. No, He is the eternal and unchanging God, who is relevant to all people at all times, because Jesus is more than just a quick fix for our “felt needs.” He is instead the eternal answer to our greatest need, that unites all of humanity, regardless of age, colour, or social standing. That need is release from sin, the universal problem of mankind, which means death and separation from God. And there is no other god that is equal to the task of fixing this great separation. For no other god exists than the One true God, the Three Persons of the Trinity: the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son, Jesus Christ, who has bridged the gap and approached us because we could not come to Him.
Truly an incomparable God! What can any other god offer? Only the one true God, Israel’s Redeemer, offers forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation by grace—as His free gift to us, paid (redeemed) for by His own blood. What other God suffers for His children, His own creation? What other God does not demand that we earn our way into heaven, but rather descended to earth Himself to give it as a gift? What other God would suffer a disgraceful death to pay for the crimes and sins His creation committed? Truly, there is no other Rock but Jesus Christ. Every religion claims a god or gods of power, but none has a God of mercy like the true God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And no other religion has ever claimed that God entered human flesh, died and rose again from the dead. Truly, a God like no other—a God who comes to us, and a God who would have us believe in Him and not fear false gods and the enemies of Christ Jesus. For we need have no fear when we are secure in the Rock who is like no other, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] Unger’s Bible Dictionary, p.120.
[2] Psalm 4:3
[3] Psalm 89:26