“Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:22
Recently, I was reading the book of Isaiah, and I noticed a repeated phrase in chapters 45-46: “there is no other.” This phrase is repeated seven times to highlight God’s complete uniqueness as the only true God, the Sovereign King over all peoples, and the Savior of his people. Israel and the nations should know that there is no other God, except Yahweh, the LORD.
The LORD is able to equip a mighty, pagan king (Cyrus) so that his will for his people is accomplished (45:5-6). He creates light and darkness and ordains wellbeing and calamity (45:7). He is like the potter with the clay (45:9), and he declares the end from the beginning (46:8-11). No one is sovereign like our God.
God declares that people from all nations should see this uniqueness and take this confession on their lips (45:14). He is the righteous God and the only Savior (45:21). People from the ends of the earth (and everywhere in between!) should turn to Yahweh and be saved–for he alone is God, there is no other (45:22).
He alone is the Creator who fashioned the heavens and the earth (45:18). He spoke reality into existence. He cannot be compared to idols that are man-made (46:5-7). He made man! None can compare to him, and no mighty kings or false gods even come close.
Yet, in Isaiah 47, Babylon had tried to claim the uniqueness that belongs to God alone. Babylon thought it was secure and declared “I am, and there is no one besides me” (47:8, 10). In their arrogant pride, the people of Babylon thought themselves incomparably secure.
This is what pride does: it tries to claim what belongs to God alone. Pride leads us to want glory for ourselves and makes us think that we can never fall. But it is a lie. Only God can say “there is no other besides me.” Only the LORD is the incomparable Sovereign King and Righteous Savior.
Our response remains the same as it was in Isaiah’s day: turn to the only God and be saved! There is salvation for the ends of the earth through God the Son, who is our righteous Savior. So, we should repent of all pride and trust in the only God, for he alone made us, he alone reigns over us, and he alone can save us.
Below is a PDF with each use of these phrases in Isaiah 45-47 highlighted.
Theology and Technology 