ISAIAH 44: “The Lord He alone is God And There Is No Other”

Jim Bomkamp

1. INTRO

1.1. In our last study we looked at chapter 43 and the continued theme that Isaiah is building to encourage a not yet born generation of Judeans living 100+ years after his writing and whom the Lord will deliver from Babylonian captivity

1.1.1. The Lord encouraged captive Judea that He has created, formed, and called them by name, and that they belong to Him

1.1.2. The Lord encouraged captive Judea that He will be with them when they leave Babylon, for He will make a path for them through the wilderness for them to safely walk, rivers in the desert for them to drink, and bring them safely back to their homeland

1.1.3. The Lord declared to Israel that they are His witnesses and that He is revealing Himself and His mighty and glorious works to the nations through them

1.2. In our study today, we are going to look at how that the Lord continues to encourage the captive Judeans in Babylon 100+ years after the time of Isaiah’s writing, and in this chapter finally the Lord reveals that the man who will deliver His people from Babylon is named, ‘Cyrus’

1.2.1. We see in these verses that the Lord continues to encourage His people by telling them

1.2.1.1.He has chosen and formed them

1.2.1.2.They need not fear what will happen for the Lord will be with them and deliver them

1.2.1.3.The Lord asks His people to again consider who among men and nations is like Him, who can accurately foretell the future before it happens?

1.2.1.4.The Lord tells His people that He will reveal the foolishness of the wise men and diviners when He performs that which no one on the face of the earth could have or would have considered would happen with the captive remnant of Judea

1.2.1.4.1.As we study the scriptures, our faith is always bolstered when we see not only that the Lord has accurately prophesied the future but also the way in which He has brought the things that He has prophesied to pass always being by the most improbable of means

2. VS 44:1-5 - “1 “But now listen, O Jacob, My servant; And Israel, whom I have chosen: 2 Thus says the Lord who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you, ‘Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen. 3 ‘For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, And My blessing on your descendants; 4 And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water.’ 5 “This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s‘; And that one will call on the name of Jacob; And another will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to the Lord,‘ And will name Israel’s name with honor.” - The Lord again promises to Jacob that they need not fear for they have been chosen and made or formed by the Lord, and He promises to bless them

2.1. This chapter is really a continuation of the previous chapter, and therefore those who chose the chapter breaks probably should not have broken the chapters where they did. Isaiah had been telling the captive Judeans living 100+ years after his writing that the Lord would indeed be with them and bring them back from Babylon and captivity. So, here in these verses we see that the Lord now reminds them of what He had been saying already and tells them of the fact that He plans to bless them greatly.

2.2. In the previous chapter we saw the tension between the fact that Israel was still not in a repentant state before the Lord and thus still needing to have her sins forgiven before the Lord, and the fact that the Lord planned to forgive and restore her after she repented of her sins. Her repentance was a foregone conclusion however to Isaiah, for he knew that the Lord would work in the lives of His captive people causing them to realize the ways that they had turned from the Lord and they would repent of their sins and again follow the Lord as they should.

2.3. We see here again Israel is told not to ‘fear’, as this is something that the Lord just continues to encourage the Judeans in. God had good plans for His captive people, therefore they needed to not ‘fear’ the future as they sat in Babylon as captives who have been humbled and stripped of everything from their lives in Judea.

2.4. The blessings promised in these verses are really just the covenant blessings given to father Abraham and his descendants. He was told that the Lord would multiply his offspring as the grains of sand on the seashore and that all of the nations would be blessed because of his descendants.

2.5. Water here is symbolic of spiritual blessings that would come to Judea, God’s chosen people.

2.6. God in His grace would water them with blessings from on high, and even pour out His Spirit on their offspring and descendants.

2.6.1. The Messiah would indeed still come through Judea, for God’s promises to them would not be revoked.

2.6.2. Their descendants would come to know the Lord personally. They will belong to Him. This is possibly a Messianic implication also considering that a personal relationship through knowing the Messiah as one’s personal Lord and Savior may be in view.

2.7. The New Bible Dictionary has the following definition for this word ‘Jeshurun’ used here: “A poetic variant of the name Israel (Dt. 32:15; 33:5, 26, av ‘Jesurun’). Used of the chosen Servant (Is. 44:2), the same Gk. word of lxx is used of Jesus (Eph. 1:6) and the church (Col. 3:12; 1 Thes. 1:4; 2 Thes. 2:3; Jude 1). Possibly to be interpreted ‘People of the Law’ (cf. D. J. Wiseman, Vox Evangelica 8, 1973, p. 14).”

3. VS 44:6 - “6 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.” - There is no God besides the Lord: He declares that He is the Lord, king of Israel, Israel’s Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts, and the first and the last

3.1. We see clearly in the book of Isaiah that the Lord does not hesitate to state and promote His own greatness and pre-eminence in everything. He speaks openly and often of His greatness, but if anyone else were to do this it would be wrong. However, the Lord does not hesitate to declare His greatness because He knows that He is great and that it is only appropriate for Him and Him alone to be worshipped, and for us to realize His greatness and worthiness to be worshipped.

3.2. Here in this verse, we see again that the Lord is using several titles for Himself, each of which reveal some characteristic of what He is to His people.

3.3. We saw in our last study that the doctrines upon which the Mormon cult are based, specifically that God has a mother and father, aunts and uncles, etc. and that God once was a man who evolved to be God as every man is able to do through following the Mormon teachings, were defeated by Isaiah 43:10 where the Lord said that there was no God before Him and there would be no God after Him. Here in this verse, the Lord again refutes those Mormon teachings again saying that He is the ‘first’ and the ‘last’ and that there is no God besides Him.

3.4. When the Lord brings about the release of His captive people from Babylon they will reflect upon these prophesies of Isaiah and realize that He is indeed God and that there is no other God besides Him.

3.5. One of the things that I see happening with the captive Judeans in Babylon is that having always had a tendency towards idolatrous practices, the Lord sent them to the original and real source of all idolatry in the world, Babylon, in order to cure them of their idolatry. Seeing idolatry up close for what it is, and living in that hideous place filled with idolaters, Israel would forever be cured of any desire to worship manmade idols of any type. In fact, to this day the nation of Israel has always abhorred and avoided contact with any types of idolatrous images and icons. This is also partially why few Jews have converted to Christianity, they have seen religious icons in many of the churches

3.5.1. Sometimes when a Christian just continues to flirt with the world and desire the things of the world, the Lord can allow them to fall and just go and wallow in the mud with the world. Wallowing in the sinful muck of this world has brought many a backslider to his senses and caused him to realize how the world really does not hold for people what the Devil tempts us to believe that it holds. Sometimes it is only the shell of a man or a woman that is rescued from backsliding in the things of the world, and the pain from that time in the world can be devastating.

4. VS 44:7-8 - “7 ‘And who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, From the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming And the events that are going to take place. 8 ‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.’”” - The Lord asks questions of His captive people to compare Him to the other gods of this world, questions such as: ‘Who is like Me?’

4.1. As we have seen in the book of Isaiah chapter 41, here the Lord again is asking any other nation or person to step forward and declare their case that they can do what the Lord can do in bringing into being that which did not exist and declaring the future before it happens.

4.2. For the second time in this chapter, the Lord tells the captive Judeans in verse 8 not to be afraid.

4.3. Isaiah is going to such lengths in chapters 41-48 to make it as clear as possible that the Lord is putting His entire reputation on the line by declaring that Judea will be taken captive to Babylon and that the one who will conquer Babylon and allow the captive Judeans to return to their homeland is a man who will be named, ‘Cyrus’.

4.4. The Lord asks the captive Judeans two further questions in verse 8: ‘Is there any God besides Me?’ and Is there any other Rock?’

4.4.1. The Lord is a rock of refuge and protection providing safety to His people. Isaiah tells us that the Lord reminds the captive Judeans of the theme that He has brought up from the start in His book, that there is no other ‘rock’ besides the Lord for which the people may take refuge and be protected. Every other source that they might place the trust and hope in will only let them down in time.

4.4.2. The rest of the gods worshipped by the nations were the inventions of their minds and made by the work of their hands. None of the gods of the other nations make verifiable prophesies and declare what the future holds before it happens.

4.4.3. Certainly, if Isaiah has proven one thing it is that the Lord He is God and that there is no other God, and no man or nation who can do what the Lord can do. The question for men and women is whether or not they will now honor Him as God and become humble servants and slaves of the Almighty God?

5. VS 44:9-20 - “9 Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame. 10 Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to no profit? 11 Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them together be put to shame. 12 The man shapes iron into a cutting tool, and does his work over the coals, fashioning it with hammers, and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary.13 Another shapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red chalk. He works it with planes, and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, so that it may sit in a house.14 Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak, and raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow.15 Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image, and falls down before it.16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.”17 But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for thou art my god. 18 They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend.19 And no one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire, and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!”20 He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?””” - Isaiah prophesies concerning the absurd and futile nature of idolatry

5.1. As we have remarked several times in our study, Israel would be cured of her idolatry during her captivity in Babylon. As mentioned just earlier by sending her to the real source of the world’s idolatrous practices Judea would see idolatry for what it is as well as the result of what it does to a nation who embraces it.

5.2. Mankind is prone to serve idols of one sort or another.

5.2.1. Israel was constantly falling into the practice of idolatry. Even after conquering peoples they would do something so stupid sometimes as take home the gods of the conquered peoples and begin to worship them. If the people’s god could not protect them, how could Israel expect that god to protect them? Regardless, she would do this sometimes…

5.2.2. Today, idolatry is usually much more sophisticated. Anything that takes the place of God in our lives, or anything that we put up in front of God and refuse to submit to Him is an idol. Few peoples today actually worship idolatrous images which they have carved or cast with their own hands. However, none the less they worship the works of their own hands. They worship their careers, achievements, material attainments, societal status and prestige, etc. The idols of today are just as prevalent as the idols of Isaiah’s day, however they have just taken on a more sophisticated external look. The worship of the idols of today though is just as absurd and futile as the worship of idols in any day.

5.2.3. The idolater makes and fashions a god of his own liking or preference, and this alone shows the absurd nature of idolatry. Men create a god so that they can then worship him.

5.3. The Israelites often fell into idolatry however. It was such a temptation for them, for after all virtually every nation worshipped various gods. The most powerful nations who were successful in battle worshipped various gods, and then those nations also attributed their victories to their gods. To the Israelites idolatry seemed to work. However, they had forgotten that it was the Lord who had conquered their enemies and performed such great works on their behalf in years gone by.

5.3.1. This world’s system has allurement for the people of God, for when it seems as though that since everyone is bowing the knee to the works of their own hands and worshipping their idols, it must not be that bad of a thing to do after all?! People wonder how could God judge them if just about everyone else is doing the same things? However, God’s people have always been those who did not go along with this world system and they have not bowed their knees to this world’s gods.

5.4. In these verses, Isaiah ridicules the idol worshippers, poking fun at how absurd and futile their practices are. Much like Jeremiah (see Jer. Chapter 3 for instance), Isaiah writes about how silly it is for a person to take a tree and to carve out an idol from it so that he can turn around and worship it. Isaiah shows the absurd nature of the idol worshipper for he takes a tree and out of part of it he carves a god but then he gets hungry and cold so he uses other parts of the same tree to make a fire to warm up and cook his food. He should just as well worship the ashes from the fire as the god he has hand-crafted from the rest of the tree, for they all came from the same source. Finally, after the man has made his idol he prays to it to deliver him from his enemies.

5.5. In verse 18 we read that the reason why the idolater doesn’t think rationally about what he is doing in creating an idol, which would cause him to realize how absurd what he is doing really is, is that he is blinded and cannot see where the truth lies. The blinding here seems to be blinding from the Lord. Like Paul wrote in Romans chapter one, eventually the Lord will give someone over to a reprobate mind if they refuse to acknowledge Him as God after He has done so much to reveal Himself to man.

5.5.1. In 2 Cor. 4:3-4, Paul wrote about the fact that there is a demonic blinding that is occurring in the lives of every non-believer that keeps them from seeing the truth, “3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

6. VS 44:21-23 - “21 “Remember these things, O Jacob, And Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant, O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me. 22 “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud,And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. 23 Shout for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done it! Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth; Break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it; For the Lord has redeemed Jacob And in Israel He shows forth His glory.”” - The Lord tells the captive Judeans to remember what He has said about the absurd idol worshippers

6.1. As we have discussed, the captive Judeans will have to be rid of idolatry when they leave Babylon, and thus the Lord has included this section just completed concerning the absurdity and futility of worshipping idols created by men’s hands. Now, the Lord calls upon captive Judea to remember this lesson and never forget what the Lord has shown them about idolatry.

6.2. In verses 22-23, the Lord calls the captive Judeans to return to Him because He has provided for their redemption, He will save them when they turn to Him.

6.2.1. These verses show that the call to come to salvation is given to all, not just the elect. All have the ability to be saved if they will choose to come to the Lord for salvation.

6.2.2. These verses also show that there is not a limited atonement, but that atonement is provided for all.

7. VS 44:24-25 - “24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone, 25 Causing the omens of boasters to fail, Making fools out of diviners, Causing wise men to draw back, And turning their knowledge into foolishness,” - The Lord declares to the captive Judeans that He, the One who is their redeemer and who formed them from the womb, is also the One who is maker of all things and that He causes the omens of boasters to fail, makes fools out of diviners, and causes wise men to draw back as He turns their supposed knowledge into foolishness

7.1. Prophetically, captive Judea was foreseen in the future by the Lord. He knew that 100+ years after Isaiah wrote that it would not really even be a nation at that point in time, they wouldn’t even be a restored remnant. They would be a bunch of humbled and defeated people, a whole generation who were paying the price for the sins of their fathers and mothers in turning away from the Lord. By the end of the 70 years of captivity they would consist of a generation who had never known the land of Israel, never sacrificed in the temple, never practiced their religion fully as God proscribed. To the rest of the world, they would be considered a non-factor in the world’s events, not even on the radar screen of relevancy. Yet, the Lord through Isaiah was putting His reputation completely on the line by declaring that He would indeed bring captive Judea out of Babylon, and one day cause them to even reign over the whole earth in His kingdom. When the Lord would bring captive Judea out of Babylon and restore their temple, their city, their city wall, and their homes, then all of the wise men and diviners would be shown to be fools and unwise men.

7.2. The Lord delights in overturning the wisdom of men who vault themselves and their knowledge above Him. The supposed experts in this world are constantly being found out to be what they are, mere men who know very little about anything and who have no real ability to be very accurate in foretelling what the future holds. I found a few web-sites recently which I thought were profound as they chronicle some of the many faulty predictions that the wisest and most powerful men in the world have made:

FROM: http://rinkworks.com/said/predictions.shtml

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." -- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
"Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1.5 tons." -- Popular Mechanics, 1949
"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year." -- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957.
"But what...is it good for?" -- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.
"640K ought to be enough for anybody." -- Attributed to Bill Gates, 1981, but believed to be an urban legend.
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." -- Western Union internal memo, 1876.
"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" -- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.
"While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility." -- Lee DeForest, inventor.
"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible." -- A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)
"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" -- H. M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.
"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper." -- Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With the Wind."
"A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make." -- Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies.
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." -- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
"Radio has no future. Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. X-rays will prove to be a hoax." -- William Thomson, Lord Kelvin English scientist, 1899.
"So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.'" -- Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and HP interested in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computer.
"If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this." -- Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M "Post-It" Notepads.
"It will be years -- not in my time -- before a woman will become Prime Minister." -- Margaret Thatcher, 1974.
"I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious sensibilities of anyone." -- Charles Darwin, The Origin Of Species, 1869.
"With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market." -- Business Week, August 2, 1968.
"Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools." -- 1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work.
"You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of your muscles? It can't be done. It's just a fact of life. You just have to accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable condition of weight training." -- Response to Arthur Jones, who solved the "unsolvable" problem by inventing Nautilus.
"Ours has been the first, and doubtless to be the last, to visit this profitless locality." -- Lt. Joseph Ives, after visiting the Grand Canyon in 1861.
"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy." -- Workers whom Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.
"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." -- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.
"There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will." -- Albert Einstein, 1932.
"The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives." -- Admiral William Leahy, U.S. Atomic Bomb Project.
"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." -- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.
"There will never be a bigger plane built." -- A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people.
"Everything that can be invented has been invented." -- Attributed to Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899, but known to be an urban legend.
"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction." -- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872.

"The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon." -- Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873.

FROM: http://ronpartin.com/free_stuff/predictions.html

"Well-informed people know it is impossible to transmit the voice over wires and that were it possible to do so, the thing would be of no practical values."
- Editorial in the Boston Post, 1865

"The phonograph is not of any commercial value."
- Thomas Edison, 1880

"No possible combination of known substances, known forms of machinery and known forms of force can be united in a practical machine by which men shall fly long distances through the air."
- Simon Newcomb, early 1900's

"The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty or fad."
- President of the Michigan Savings bank, early 1900's

"It is an idle dream to imagine that automobiles will take the place of railways in the long distance movement of passengers."
- American Road Congress, 1913

"Ruth made a great mistake when he gave up pitching. Working once a week he might have lasted a long time and become a great star."
- Tris Speaker

"No Civil War picture ever made a nickel." [on film rights to Gone With the Wind ]
- Irving Thalberg, MGM executive

"This is the biggest fool thing we have ever done the [atomic] bomb will never go off, and I speak as an expert in explosives." [Commenting to Truman about the Manhattan Project]
-Adm. Bill Leahy, 1945

"People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." [commenting on television]
- Daryl F. Zanuck, Head of 20th Century Fox, 1946

"Can't act. Slightly bald. Can dance a little." [Reacting to Fred Astaire's screen test]
- RKO executive

"Space travel is utter bilge."
- Dr. Richard van der Riet Wolley, 1956

"They just don't have the right stuff. " [Upon turning down the Beatles for a recording contract.]
- Decca Records executive

"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..." [Last words]
- Civil War General Sedgwick

"There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will."
· Albert Einstein, 1932

"Let me tell you something about this AIDS epidemic. There is not one single case of AIDS reported in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy."
· Senator. Jesse Helms, October, 1988

"Forget it, Louis, no Civil War picture ever made a nickel."
· Irving Thalberg's warning to Louis B. Mayer regarding Gone With the Wind

"What can be more palpably absurd than the prospect held out of locomotives traveling twice as fast as stagecoaches?
· The Quarterly Review, England, 1825

"He'll never be any good."
· Robert Irsay, owner of the Baltimore Colts,
trading newly drafted quarterback John Elway to the Denver Broncos, 1983

"The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty, a fad, a passing fancy."
· President of the Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford's lawyer

"While television may be theoretically feasible, commercially and financially I consider it an impossibility, a development of which we need waste little time dreaming."
· Le DeForest, American radio pioneer, 1926

"We did not conceive it possible that even Mr. Lincoln would produce a paper so slipshod, so loose-joined, so puerile, not alone in literary construction, but in its ideas, its sentiments, its grasp. He has outdone himself. He has literally come out of the little end of his own horn. By the side of it, mediocrity is superb."
· The Chicago Times, 1863, commenting on the Gettysburg Address

"Television won't last. It's a flash in the pan."
· Mary Sommerville, Radio Technologist and Pioneer, 1948

"I have traveled the length and breadth of this county and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year."
· Business book editor, Prentice Hall, late 1970's

FROM: http://www.heartquotes.net/Expert.html

No matter what happens, the U.S. Navy is not going to be caught napping.
—U.S. Secretary of Navy, December 4, 1941