Isaiah 41: The All-powerful Challenger of Idols

• v.1-4 The Lord who brings Discipline
• v.5-7 The World stands trusting in idols
• v.8-16 Israel, Chosen & Transformed by the Lord
• v.17-20 The Lord who Provides
• v.21-23 The idols challenged
• v.24-29 Idols condemned by comparison to the Lord

[Preliminary notes: After the encouragements of chapter 40, the Almighty comes with a strong touch of realism – that makes us realize He is the Sovereign Lord who brings discipline in the form of a coming invader but also blessing to His people. But then he turns on the foolishness of keeping idols at home which, quite clearly, some of His people were still doing.]

v.1-4 The Lord who brings Discipline

v.1 Am offer to meet with the Lord

v.1 “Be silent before me, you islands!
    Let the nations renew their strength!
Let them come forward and speak;
    let us meet together at the place of judgment.

v.2 Realize it is God who brings the invader to bring discipline

v.2 “Who has stirred up one from the east,
    calling him in righteousness to his service?
He hands nations over to him
    and subdues kings before him.
He turns them to dust with his sword,
    to windblown chaff with his bow.

v.3,4 This is a work of God who has been involved with every generation. He was there at the beginning and will be there at the end.  

v.3 He pursues them and moves on unscathed,
    by a path his feet have not traveled before.

v.4 Who has done this and carried it through,
    calling forth the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord—with the first of them
    and with the last—I am he.”

v.5-7 The World stands trusting in idols

v.5,6 Peoples from all over the world have witnessed these things   

v.5 The islands have seen it and fear;
    the ends of the earth tremble.
They approach and come forward;

v.6     they help each other
    and say to their companions, “Be strong!”

v.7 How idols are made for worship.

v.7 The metalworker encourages the goldsmith,
    and the one who smooths with the hammer
    spurs on the one who strikes the anvil.
One says of the welding, “It is good.”
    The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.

v.8-16 Israel, Chosen & Transformed by the Lord

v.8,9 Israel has a history with God called to be God’s servant.

v.8 “But you, Israel, my servant,
    Jacob, whom I have chosen,
    you descendants of Abraham my friend,

v.9 I took you from the ends of the earth,
    from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;
    I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

v.10 He will provide for them  

v.10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

v.11,12 Thus enemies are inconsequential   

v.11 “All who rage against you
    will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
those who oppose you
    will be as nothing and perish.

v.12 Though you search for your enemies,
    you will not find them.
Those who wage war against you
    will be as nothing at all.

v.13,14 God’s presence removes fear

v.13  For I am the Lord your God
    who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
    I will help you.

v.14 Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob,
    little Israel, do not fear,
for I myself will help you,” declares the Lord,
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

v.15,16 He will transform them into a fighting machine

v.15  “See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,
    new and sharp, with many teeth.
You will thresh the mountains and crush them,
    and reduce the hills to chaff.

v.16 You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up,
    and a gale will blow them away.
But you will rejoice in the Lord
    and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

v.17-20 The Lord who Provides

v.17 When the poor cry out, God will answer them

v.17  “The poor and needy search for water,
    but there is none;
    their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the Lord will answer them;
    I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

v.18-19 The Lord will transform the Land

v.18 I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
    and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
    and the parched ground into springs.

v.19 I will put in the desert
    the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers in the wasteland,
    the fir and the cypress together,

v.20 Then the watching world will know

v.20 so that people may see and know,
    may consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
    that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

v.21-23 The idols challenged

v.21 Defend yourselves

v.21 “Present your case,” says the Lord.
    “Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.

v.22,23 Let the idols speak and tell the future   

v.22 “Tell us, you idols,
    what is going to happen.
Tell us what the former things were,
    so that we may consider them
    and know their final outcome.
Or declare to us the things to come,

v.23     tell us what the future holds,
    so we may know that you are gods.
Do something, whether good or bad,
    so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear.

v.24-29 Idols condemned by comparison to the Lord

v.24 Idols cannot help, nothing more than a metal or wooden ornament

v.24 But you are less than nothing
    and your works are utterly worthless;
    whoever chooses you is detestable.

v.25 By comparison, God acts bringing down rulers

v.25 “I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes—
    one from the rising sun who calls on my name.
He treads on rulers as if they were mortar,
    as if he were a potter treading the clay.

v.26 So your idols couldn’t warn the people about this invader 

v.26 Who told of this from the beginning, so we could know,
    or beforehand, so we could say, ‘He was right’?
No one told of this,
    no one foretold it,
    no one heard any words from you.

v.27-29 No, the Lord has been the only one to tell these things.  

v.27 I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look, here they are!’
    I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good news.

v.28 I look but there is no one—
    no one among the gods to give counsel,
    no one to give answer when I ask them.

v.29 See, they are all false!
    Their deeds amount to nothing;
    their images are but wind and confusion.

[Concluding comments: The prophet, speaking out God’s heart, does not spare the folly of superstitiously keeping and relying upon idols. He contrasts idols with Himself, idols who say nothing and do nothing. He, by comparison, comes to encourage His people as well as discipline them, to bless them, provide for them and build them up to be victorious over their enemies. So these idols stand there in stillness and silence, not in any way helping His people, except in some superstitious way that cannot be relied upon. Shear folly!]

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