By Eugene Garner

ISAIAH - CHAPTER 41

ISRAEL'S DELIVERANCE AND RESTORATION

    Though this chapter is widely considered to point to deliverance from the Babylonian captivity, some aspects of it require a far more extensive view. In his monumental work entitled "The Theocratic Kingdom", George N. H. Peters views this chapter as describing "the advent of Christ, the confederacy sustained by image worship, their overthrow, the restoration of God's people and the millennial glory that shall follow", (Vol. 2, p. 769). Some are inclined to ignore the fact that the "times of the Gentiles" has now extended over a period of 2,500 years. Nor will Gentile ascendancy be easily surrendered. Only through a terrible conflict will the Davidic throne and kingdom be re-established and its rule yielded to the absolute authority of the long-expected Messiah. Though the nation once rejected Him, Israel will ultimately receive Him with joyful and grateful hearts.

   Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment. Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he. The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came. They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.

    1. Having shown what comfort, renewal and peace is given those who "wait on the Lord", the idolaters, of the nations, are now summoned to: strengthen themselves, draw near and vindicate their choice of dumb idols over the true and living God, (vs. 1-4; comp. 1:18; 34:1; 48:16; 50:8; 43:26).
      a. Do they know who has raised up the man from the East, whose actions are rooted in righteousness? (vs. 2,25; 45:1-2; 46:11; Judg. 4:10) the one before whom kings and nations bow; their armaments being like dust to His sword (29:5; II Sam. 22:43; Il Kings 13:7) and like stubble before the wind, (40:24)?
        1) In a typical sense this refers to Cyrus, who had not yet been born at the time Isaiah wrote, (II Chron. 36:23).
        2) But, the larger fulfillment will be realized only on the second coming of Jesus, the Messiah.
      b. Do the nations know who has done all this - "calling the generations from the beginning"? (vs. 4a; 44:7; 46:10).
      c. They must realize that all this is the work of Jehovah - Israel's covenant God - "the first, and with the last", (vs. 4b; 43:10; 44:6).
    2. Idolatrous nations, to the ends of the earth, recognize the Lord's challenge, and tremble, (vs. 5-7; Ezek. 26:15-16; Josh 5:1; Psa. 67:7).
      a. In fear they unite and try to encourage each other, (Joel 3:9-11).
      b. The manufacturers of portable gods place their workmen on overtime; they will greatly increase the number of gods to whom they may look for help, (40:19; 44:13).
      c. Declaring the work of their own hands to be "good" they then fasten their deities securely with nails - lest they fall over and be unable to arise, (40:20; 46:7), so different from our living God, Psa. 115:5-9; Acts 17:24-30.

   But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
   Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

    1. With what tender affection does the Lord address his own people, (vs. 8).
      a. Israelis His "servant" - a word that is used very flexibly (of the patriarchs, of Job, Moses, David, Cyrus, Israel and the remnant, but, pre-eminently of the Messiah) - something that must not be overlooked, (43:10; 44:1-2, 21; etc.).
      b. Jacob is His "elect", or chosen, people, (45:4; 65:9, 22).
      c. That relationship is strengthened, and sustained, by the fact that they are the "seed" of Abraham, God's friend, (29:22; 51:2; 63:16; Jas. 2:23; Heb. 2:16).
    2. On His own initiative, God has called them from the ends of the earth, saying: "You are my servant, I have chosen you, and not cast you away" - though He surely would have been justified in doing so, (vs. 9; 11:11; 43:5-7; Deut. 7:6; 14:2; Psalm 135:4).
    3. They are not to fear, or be dismayed; their God is with them - to strengthen, help and uphold them with the right hand of His righteousness, (vs. 10,13-14; 43:2,5; Deut.31:6; Josh. 1:9; Psa. 27:1; Rom. 8:31; Isa. 44:2; 49:8; Psalm 89:13-18).
    4. All who have been incensed and raged against God's elect people will be ashamed, confounded and brought to nothing; though a search be made for them, they will not be found! (vs. 11-12; 45:24; Ezek. 23:22; Psa. 37:35-36).
    5. Though her enemies regard her as a despised and helpless "worm", Israel will be comforted and sustained by "the Holy One of Israel" (vs. 13-14).
      a. Again and again He affixes His name to His declaration of intention concerning the welfare of His people - this name appearing 25 times in this prophecy, and only 6 times elsewhere in the entire Old Testament.
      b. He will hold her hand and calm her fears, (42:6; vs. 10).
      c. The Holy One of Israel is also her Kinsman-Redeemer, (see Lev. 25:48-49; Isa. 43:14; 44:6, 24; 48:17; 49:26; 54:5, 8; 60:16).
    6. In the Lord's hand Israel will become a disciplinary instrument toward her foes and those of her God, (vs. 15-16).

   When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

    1. When the poor and needy thirst - seeking water - the Lord will not fail them, (vs. 17).
    2. He will provide rivers on the bare heights and pools in the valleys, (vs. 18).
      a. This language, suggesting refreshment and prosperity after affliction, is designed to encourage the exiles in Babylon - for Isaiah well knew that his brethren were going there.
      b. But the language may be applied only in a limited sense to the return from Babylon; no miracles are recorded in connection with that Exodus.
      c. The fuller realization is to come through the Messiah (comp. 30:25; Jn. 7:37-39; 4:14) - especially when the spirit is poured upon them at His second coming, (32:15; Ezek. 39:28-29).
    3. When the nations see what blessings the Lord bestows upon Israel, at the time of her restoration, they will also see Him, (vs. 19-20; 2:3, Zech. 8:21-23).

   Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.

    1. In the presence of the nations Jehovah (the King of Jacob) openly challenges the idols to justify their existence, vs. 21).
    2. He challenges them to foretell future events, or even to explain from the past, things over which they exercise control - if they have any power at all! (vs. 22; comp. 43:9; 44:7; 45:21; 46:10-11).
    3. If they are truly gods, surely they have both intelligence and authority!
      a. Let them declare some future event if they want men to know that they are gods, (42:9; 44:8; 45:3; Jn. 13:19).
      b. Or, let them perform some act - either good or evil (Jer. 10:5-6); either action would cause all observers to look at each other in surprise! (cs. 29; 37:18-19; 44:9).
    4. Then the Lord flatly declares them to be worse than nothing (I Cor. 8:4), their effect worse than a viper; whoever chooses them is an abomination to the Lord! (Prov. 3:32; 28:9; comp. Deut. 18:12).

   I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay. Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that showeth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words. The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word. Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.

    1. One hundred fifty years before the event, the Lord alluded to the coming of Cyrus, the Mede, (vs. 25; 45:1-3; 46:11).
      a. He will raise him up in the north (from Babylon) - Media, (Jer. 50:3, 9; 51:11; Isa. 13:17-20).
      b. Yet, his coming will be from the East (the rising of the sun); from Persia.
      c. With the suddenness of a comet, he will come against Babylon to destroy it - something the idol makers have not anticipated.
      d. Yet, this only pre-figures the coming of a Conqueror far greater than Cyrus.
    2. The Lord has declared this beforehand that men may know His deity, righteousness and power, (44:7; 45:21).
      a. Idols show nothing, declare nothing and hear nothing! (Hab. 2:18-19, Psa. 115:5-9).
      b. And Israel has become like her idols, (48:3-8).
    3. With regard to the future, the Lord sends His messenger, with good tidings, to Jerusalem, (40:9; 44:28; Nahum 1:15; Ezra 1:2-3; comp. Num. 24:14).
    4. But, there is no word of comfort for those who bow before idols that their own hands have made (46:7; 44:9); they are all vanity, nothingness, wind and confusion - an utter waste! (vs. 28-29).