Isaiah 44:22

What Israel needed above all was forgiveness and cleansing from her sins (cf. Isaiah 43:25). The Lord had taken the initiative to provide this for His people. He would blow their sin away as quickly and as easily as a wind blows a cloud or mist away.

"The clouds intervene between heaven and earth as sin and transgressions intervene between God and His people." [Note: Young, 3:183.]

"Jehovah has blotted out Israel’s sin, inasmuch as He does not impute it any more, and thus has redeemed Israel." [Note: Delitzsch, 2:214.]

Yet God’s people must respond to His initiative by returning to Him. He had provided redemption in the Exodus, but it was only the first of several redemptions that He would provide. He would redeem them from captivity by using His servant Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28), and He would redeem them from sin by using His Servant Messiah at His first advent. He would also redeem them from captivity in the Tribulation by using His Servant Messiah at His second advent.

The summary reference to redemption in Isaiah 44:22 (cf. Isaiah 42:10 to Isaiah 44:22) prepares the reader for the next section of Isaiah’s prophecy.