seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Isaiah 41:1 “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.
Let the nations renew their strength!
Let them come forward and speak;
let us meet together at the place of judgment.
2 “Who has stirred up one from the east,
calling him in righteousness to his service[a]?
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.
3 He pursues them and moves on unscathed,
by a path his feet have not traveled before.
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.”
calling him in righteousness to his service[a]?
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.
3 He pursues them and moves on unscathed,
by a path his feet have not traveled before.
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.”
5 The islands have seen it and fear;
the ends of the earth tremble.
They approach and come forward;
6 they help each other
and say to their companions, “Be strong!”
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.
the ends of the earth tremble.
They approach and come forward;
6 they help each other
and say to their companions, “Be strong!”
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.
8 “But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
you descendants of Abraham my friend,
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.
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.
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
you descendants of Abraham my friend,
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.
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.
11 “All who rage against you
will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
those who oppose you
will be as nothing and perish.
12 Though you search for your enemies,
you will not find them.
Those who wage war against you
will be as nothing at all.
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.
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.
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.
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.
will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
those who oppose you
will be as nothing and perish.
12 Though you search for your enemies,
you will not find them.
Those who wage war against you
will be as nothing at all.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
21 “Present your case,” says the Lord.
“Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.
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,
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.
24 But you are less than nothing
and your works are utterly worthless;
whoever chooses you is detestable.
“Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.
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,
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.
24 But you are less than nothing
and your works are utterly worthless;
whoever chooses you is detestable.
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.
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.
27 I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look, here they are!’
I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good news.
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.
29 See, they are all false!
Their deeds amount to nothing;
their images are but wind and confusion.
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.
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.
27 I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look, here they are!’
I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good news.
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.
29 See, they are all false!
Their deeds amount to nothing;
their images are but wind and confusion.
a, Isaiah 41:2 Or east, / whom victory meets at every step
Well.... like it says in verse 6 "Be Strong" and then again in verse 13 God's got your "right hand" and He's going to protect you. The commentary this morning is from bible-studys.org again.....
“The righteous man from the east” is certainly a reference to Cyrus the Great of Persia, though he is not named until. He is introduced as the one who is raised up from the East to fulfill the will of God. Both the Hebrew and the Septuagint have “righteousness,” a noun rather than an adjective, as the King James Version. Thus, it is God who raised up righteousness toward His people in the deliverance He provided through Cyrus the Great.
Instead of turning to the Lord when they saw His anointed one, Cyrus, approaching the nations, turned to one another for help and made more idols , regarding Isaiah’s description of idols and their makers.
In view of the judgment that is coming upon Israel, God reminds her, “I am with thee … I am thy God.” The designation “thou worm Jacob” is a reminder to Israel of her frailty and need for God who is pictured as her “redeemer” and the “Holy One of Israel.” The latter designation is Isaiah’s favorite expression for God and appears equally throughout both halves of the book. The prophet then gives a beautiful picture of God’s provision of water to abundantly supply the needs of His people. God promises them “rivers, fountains,” and “springs of water”.
Because of this supply of water, He will also plant various trees in the wilderness; the “cedar shittah” (acacia), “myrtle, oil tree” (ets shemen, wild olive), “fir, pine,” and “box” (boxwood). These seven trees, all common to Syria and Israel, would have been especially well known only to an author who lived in that region. They symbolize the perfection of God’s work on behalf of His people.
“Mountains … hills”: Figurative representations of foreign nations, whom Israel is to grind into nothingness in the time of her kingdom, when the Lord Jesus sets Himself up as King in Jerusalem.
“Poor and needy”: Israel in her deprived state as a captive of foreign nations is spoken of as thirsty for blessing and joy. In the Messiah’s future kingdom, the land of Israel will be well watered; a real physical blessing, but symbolizing here the spiritual quenching that will be Israel’s in the Millennium.
The Lord challenges the gods of the heathen nations to “produce your cause” (set forth your case), and to “bring forth your strong reasons” (arguments). The heathen gods are challenged to predict the future and to explain the past. But they can do neither, for they are not gods at all. Thus, the fulfillment of predictive prophecy is shown as proof of divine inspiration.
The Law of Moses (Deut. 18:21-22), gives the stipulation of exact fulfillment of predictive prophecy as an evidence of the divine authority and genuineness of the prophet’s message. Non-fulfillment is an indication of false prophecy. Obviously, Isaiah believed his own prophecies were predictive is an indication of future events, and would be literally fulfilled.
“What shall happen … things for to come”: God challenged the idols to prove their competence by predicting future events, as the Lord has done regarding “the former events,” i.e. the raising of Cyrus , the repulsion of the Assyrians from Jerusalem, and the healing of Hezekiah.
Idols were helpless in giving “good news” of future events, and counsel to people, and thus were useless.
This was a long read and a long commentary..... I'm surprised there's any room for my summary. It seems that God is the only one that has any control over time. He knows what's going to happen before it does. He knows the year 2020AD as well as He knew the year 2020BC. "Well 2020 hasn't arrived yet" so "How does anybody know what's coming?" one might say. He knows because He's God. The author uses trees growing in the desert as a clue. I am living in the Sonora Desert right now. Let me proclaim..... you can't grow pansies in the desert. I tried..... I got them great soil.... I watered them regularly.... I'm in Arizona so they got plenty of sun.... but I didn't count on their rarity.... the rabbits devoured them as soon as they all went to bloom.... all of them in one night. My neighbors giggled when I found my nubs the next morning. I said "I would have put hot sauce on them if I had known"..... like with deer..... but who would have thunk? There is a tree out here called the Palo Verde tree. It grows to the size of a Dogwood or a Japanese Maple in no time.... it provides shade. A good wind tho.... and it blows over...... the ground squirrels love it.... it brings shade and camo to their holes.... but it's not a dependable shade tree.... it has no roots. The trees these verses talk about.... they have roots.... they hold themselves firm.... it would take more than the wind in an everyday thunderstorm to knock them over.
The Acacia tree is really special. There is one growing across the street from me. You wouldn't know it.... but the Acacia tree is generally overflowing with birds. During the day.... there's a constant stream of birds flying out of and into that tree. All kinds of birds live in the tree..... doves... wrens and even peach face parakeets..... it's amazing..... and at times.... they all get to chattering [probably fighting a rogue snake looking for a meal] it's like a bird concert.... downright loud. God shelters those birds in those trees out in the desert all the time....
The Babylonians had conquered God's People..... because they wouldn't listen to God. God put Cyrus the Great in Persia to help God's People get back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, the walls, and the homes. God gave the people Cyrus the Great.... just like God put an acacia tree out in the desert to give the desert birds shelter. Oh.... and the Acacia tree..... has really good roots.
