“Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath.
He shall say,
‘Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And all shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him.
In the LORD all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and shall glory.’ ” (Isaiah 45:22-25)

“I swear to God,” some people will say when they want to convince you that they are telling the truth. God simply swears by himself: his own word is trustworthy. He doesn’t need to try to convince anyone that he’ll do what he says.

A time is coming when everyone will agree that God can be counted on. Although Israel was going into captivity in Babylon, they would not have to stay there forever. They would be sent back to their homeland to rebuild it, and at that time, the Israelites who might have wondered if God had forgotten them, would finally praise him and thank him. God said that “every knee shall bow” and “take an oath.” In context, God is speaking to the people of Israel, letting them know that despite their suffering, they would once again acknowledge God and respond to him, reaffirming the contract that he had with them. They may not have been loyal to God, but God’s loyalty to them never wavered.

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