Isaiah Chapter 41
1 "Keep silent before me, islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let's meet together for judgement.
2 Who has raised up one from the east? Who called him to his foot in righteousness? He hands over nations to him and makes him rule over kings. He gives them like the dust to his sword, like the driven stubble to his bow.
3 He pursues them and passes by safely, even by a way that he had not gone with his feet.
4 Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last, I am he."
5 The islands have seen, and fear. The ends of the earth tremble. They approach, and come.
6 Everyone helps his neighbour. They say to their brothers, "Be strong!"
7 So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith. He who smoothes with the hammer encourages him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, "It is good;" and he fastens it with nails, that it might not totter.
8 "But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham my friend,
9 You whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from its corners, and said to you, 'You are my servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away.'
10 Don't you be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
11 Behold, all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded. Those who strive with you will be like nothing, and shall perish.
12 You will seek them, and won't find them, even those who contend with you. Those who war against you will be as nothing, as a non-existent thing.
13 For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Don't be afraid. I will help you.'
14 Don't be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you," says the LORD. "Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 Behold, I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth. You will thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and will make the hills like chaff.
16 You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. You will rejoice in the LORD. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs in the middle of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
19 I will put cedar, acacia, myrtle, and oil trees in the wilderness. I will set cypress trees, pine, and box trees together in the desert;
20 that they may see, know, consider, and understand together, that the LORD's hand has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21 Produce your cause," says the LORD. "Bring out your strong reasons!" says the King of Jacob.
22 "Let them announce and declare to us what will happen! Declare the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come.
23 Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and see it together.
24 Behold, you are nothing, and your work is nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination.
25 "I have raised up one from the north, and he has come, from the rising of the sun, one who calls on my name, and he shall come on rulers as on mortar, and as the potter treads clay.
26 Who has declared it from the beginning, that we may know? and before, that we may say, 'He is right?' Surely, there is no one who declares. Surely, there is no one who shows. Surely, there is no one who hears your words.
27 I am the first to say to Zion, 'Behold, look at them;' and I will give one who brings good news to Jerusalem.
28 When I look, there is no man, even amongst them there is no counsellor who, when I ask of them, can answer a word.
29 Behold, all of their deeds are vanity and nothing. Their molten images are wind and confusion.
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Isaiah Chapter 41 Guide
Having thus announced the majesty of Jehovah, the prophet proceeds to utter his general manifesto. This occupies chapters forty-one and forty-two. In chapter forty-one Jehovah challenges the island and the people to come near to judgment, that is, to consider what He has to say. He declares that He, and He alone has raised up the one from the East whose progress is victorious. The confederacy of the people against Cyrus is described, and then the prophet declares Jehovah's purpose of peace for Israel. Israel is the chosen and kept servant of God, upheld against foes, and the prophet predicts the ultimate restoration of the chosen people. Again he challenges the enemies to prove their power by prophetic utterance.
Finally Jehovah declares that it is He who alone can raise up the deliverer, or declare beforehand the fact of His coming. The whole movement of this chapter is a challenge preparatory to the presentation of the Servant of God. It is intended to show that apart from Jehovah the people cannot know the course of events, neither can they produce one strong enough to work deliverance. It opens with the command to keep silence in the presence of God, and closes with a declaration of the weakness and vanity of all that are opposed.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
Isaiah Chapter 41 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- God's care of his people. -- (1-9)
- they are encouraged not to fear. -- (10-20)
- The vanity and folly of idolatry. -- (21-29)
Verses 1-9
Can any heathen god raise up one in righteousness, make what use of him he pleases, and make him victorious over the nations? The Lord did so with Abraham, or rather, he would do so with Cyrus. Sinners encourage one another in the ways of sin; shall not the servants of the living God stir up one another in his service? God's people are the seed of Abraham his friend. This is certainly the highest title ever given to a mortal. It means that Abraham, by Divine grace, was made like to God, and that he was admitted to communion with Him. Happy are the servants of the Lord, whom he has called to be his friends, and to walk with him in faith and holy obedience. Let not such as have thus been favoured yield to fear; for the contest may be sharp, but the victory shall be sure.
Verses 10-20
God speaks with tenderness; Fear thou not, for I am with thee: not only within call, but present with thee. Art thou weak? I will strengthen thee. Art thou in want of friends? I will help thee in the time of need. Art thou ready to fall? I will uphold thee with that right hand which is full of righteousness, dealing forth rewards and punishments. There are those that strive with God's people, that seek their ruin. Let not God's people render evil for evil, but wait God's time. It is the worm Jacob; so little, so weak, so despised and trampled on by every body. God's people are as worms, in humble thoughts of themselves, and in their enemies' haughty thoughts of them; worms, but not vipers, not of the serpent's seed. Every part of God's word is calculated to humble man's pride, and to make him appear little in his own eyes. The Lord will help them, for he is their Redeemer. The Lord will make Jacob to become a threshing instrument. God will make him fit for use, new, and having sharp spikes. This has fulfilment in the triumphs of the gospel of Christ, and of all faithful followers of Christ, over the power of darkness. God has provided comforts to supply all their wants, and to answer all their prayers. Our way to heaven lies through the wilderness of this world. The soul of man is in want, and seeks for satisfaction; but becomes weary of seeking that in the world, which is not to be had in it. Yet they shall have a constant supply, where one would least expect it. I will open rivers of grace, rivers of living water, which Christ spake of the Spirit, John 7:38,39. When God sets up his church in the Gentile wilderness, there shall be a great change, as if thorns and briers were turned into cedars, and fir-trees, and myrtles. These blessings are kept for the poor in spirit, who long for Divine enlightening, pardon, and holiness. And God will render their barren souls fruitful in the grace of his Spirit, that all who behold may consider it.
Verses 21-29
There needs no more to show the folly of sin, than to bring to notice the reasons given in defence of it. There is nothing in idols worthy of regard. They are less than nothing, and worse than nothing. Let the advocates of other doctrines than that of salvation through Christ, bring their arguments. Can they tell of a cure for human depravity? Jehovah has power which cannot be withstood; this he will make appear. But the certain knowledge of the future must be only with Jehovah, who fulfils his own plans. All prophecies, except those of the Bible, have been uncertain. In the work of redemption the Lord showed himself much more than in the release of the Jews from Babylon. The good tidings the Lord will send in the gospel, is a mystery hid from ages and generations. A Deliverer is raised up for us, of nobler name and greater power than the deliverer of the captive Jews. May we be numbered among his obedient servants and faithful friends.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.