Isaiah 41 – Rightly-Placed Faith

A Translation and Sermon By Nate Wilson, Spring 2006

 

Translation

1. Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;  let the peoples renew their strength;

 let them approach, then let them speak;

let us together draw near for judgment.

 

2. Who stirred up one from the east whom righteousness/victory meets at every step? He gives up nations before him, so that he tramples kings underfoot; he makes them like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow. 3. He pursues them and passes on safely, by paths his feet have not trod.

4. Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning?

I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.

 

5. The coastlands have seen and are afraid;

 the ends of the earth tremble;

they have drawn near and come.

 

6. Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother, "Be strong!"

7. The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, "It is good"; and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved.

 

8. But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my loved one; 9. you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off";

10. fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I chose/strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

 

11. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. 12. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all.

 

13. For I am Jehovah your God, strengthening your right hand; saying to you, "Fear not, I myself help you."

 

14. Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

 

15. Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff; 16. you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the LORD; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.

 

17. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with 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 fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

19. I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together,

20. that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.

 

21. Bring near your case, says the LORD; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob. 22. Let them bring them,

and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may take them to heard/consider them, that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come.

23. Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods;

do good, or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified.

 

24. Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you.

 

25. I stirred up one from the north, and he has come, from the rising of the sun, and he shall call upon my name; he shall trample on rulers as on mud/mortar, as the potter treads clay.

 

26. Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know, and beforehand, that we might say, "He is right"? There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed, none who heard your words.

27. I was the first (to say) to Zion, "Behold, here they are!" and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news.

 

28. But I look and there is no one; among these there is no counselor who, (when) I ask, returns a word.

29. Behold, they are all a delusion; their works are nothing; their metal images are empty wind.

 

Introduction: The Idol Trial

The scene here in Isaiah 41 is that of a court case. We’ve got the judge calling the court to silence and calling the witnesses to come forward to lay out their case: “Listen to me… let them approach.. let them speak… let us draw near for judgment” in verse 1.

An then we have two groups of people that come forward:

  1. One is the “coastlands” or the “islands” (depending on your translation) generally speaking of the nations – all the people that were worshipping all the different gods and don’t know the one true god. They’re coming before the judgment seat in vs. 5, 6, and 7.
  2. And then in v. 8 we have another group that comes before the judge, and that is God’s people – Israel – “my servant Jacob,” the seed of Abraham – and the N.T. speaks of us as being the seed of Abraham. This group of people – God’s people –should know better and should understand who the true God is.

So there’s two groups of people before the judgment seat of God, but neither of them are worshipping the one true God, they’re both worshipping idols.

 

So God says in v.21, “Bring your idols up here and we’ll give them a test and see how they compare to me…

 

This idol can’t move itself, it can’t speak or know anything or do anything, and God is trying to bring this out for His people to realize the absurdity of what they are doing when they worship idols. He says those idols are nothing, they can’t do anything, so their works are less than nothing. It can’t answer when spoken to, so it is a delusion to worship that idol.

So the ruling in v.24 is that the idols they are worshipping are no good - they are empty, and anyone who chooses to worship idols is an abomination. That is the judgment that comes down from the throne of God.

 

This is the big picture of what is going on in this chapter.

 

What’s instructive is to see how God describes Himself in contrast to those idols and then to realize how easily we forget that and turn away from God and look to other things. That’s why God has to remind us. What does God say about Himself in this passage?

 

 

God reminds us how great He is:

  1. Sovereign in history (v.2, 3, 25) – As an illustration of His sovereignty in history, God brings out EXHIBIT A – a future historical figure: Here is somebody from the East (of Jerusalem) who is a military conqueror, trampling on nations, being victorious at every step, and ranging widely across the earth to places he’s never stepped before. Verse 25 is speaking of the same person in v. 2. He comes from the rising of the Sun (the East, as in v. 2), “He will call on my name” and “trample on rulers like mud.” Again a military conqueror from the Northeast who will conquer nations. Who is this person whom God is raising up as an example of His sovereignty in history?
    1. Some people say this is Abraham. He is mentioned in v.8. Abraham did knock out a coalition of 5 kings in Palestine. He is spoken of as a righteous man, and Abraham came from Ur, east of Jerusalem and traveled into Palestine via Haran from the North. But that’s in the past.
    2. This is speaking of Cyrus:

                                                              i.      He came from the NE – Persia. His father, Cambyses, was king of Persia and married the daughter of King Ahasuarus, king of the Medes. You may remember that Ahasuarus was the man who married Esther, so it’s possible that Esther was Cyrus’ grandmother. Ahasuarus also had a son named Darius the Mede, whom you’ll remember from the book of Daniel. Darius the Mede had a daughter, and Cyrus married that daughter. So there are  multiple connections between Cyrus and the Bible already by genealogy. His father-in-law had regular interaction with Daniel, so he would have known something at least of the true faith.

                                                            ii.      Cyrus was also a great conqueror. He went across Syria and much of Palestine into Phoenicia, he also marched into modern-day Turkey, then he went back and conquered Babylon. He was not king when Babylon was conquered, so there was another king that reigned initially, but Cyrus came in later. Cyrus was the one who issued the decree that the Jews could leave Babylon and rebuild Jerusalem after 70 years of exile.

                                                          iii.      If you look at Cyrus’ decree in Ezra 1:2, He calls on the name of the Lord. He mentions God’s name in a favorable light. “Jehovah has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has appointed me to build him a house in Jerusalem…”

                                                          iv.      All the historians speak of him as being a very fair and kind ruler. Part of this is demonstrated in his policy of letting people go back to their homelands.

                                                            v.      Even more convincing is the fact that a couple of chapters later, in Isaiah 44:28 and Isaiah 45:1, Cyrus is mentioned by name. This is remarkable because it is about 150 years before Cyrus’ time, yet his name is spelled out accurately! Amazing

This is what God calls in as proof of His godhood. He says, “Look, I’m in control of history. I can tell you the names and events of people 150 years into the future! I am the God who is sovereign in history, not like those idols, and I should be worshipped. I’m the first and the last” (4b)

  1. Not only is God in control of the events in history, He is also acting sovereignly in your personal life  (v. 8-15)
    1. Chosen you (v.9 cf Eph 1:4; Rom 8:30) – God decided to choose a people for Himself. He’s not just acting generally in history, He’s also acting specifically with His people, choosing to love them. “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world… calling… beloved… will” – a lot of the same themes are repeated in the New Testament.
    2. Strengthen, help, uphold you (v.10, 13, 14a) – God not only chooses, He also strengthens and holds us up in His hands. “I myself help you.” Why? To redeem us and make us into powerful instruments in His hands.
    3. Redeemer, Holy One of Israel (14b) – There in a kernel is the Gospel message. The Holy One bought us out of our bondage to sin. Not anybody could do this; it took a Holy One, Jesus, to do it. Our God is a wonderful God, working personally in our lives to redeem us. Peter used some of the same words in his first letter: “precious blood of Christ redeemed us from the empty way of life handed down to us by our forefathers.” He is the one who chose us in love to redeem us and…
    4. Make us into powerful instruments: Verse 15 describes a powerful, sharp instrument that will flatten hills and thresh fields in order to level things out with great power and prepare the way of the Lord. This refers back to the previous chapter (40) where “every mountain and hill be made low… prepare the way of the Lord.” That is the kind of work God has cut out for us – preparing His way in this world.
      In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, “Let your kingdom come.” He intends for us to be working with Him in the coming of His kingdom in this world. Not physically (unless you’re job is to work on a road crew!), but spiritually to knock down all of the things that stand in the way of the truth and that stand in the way of people understanding the true God and what He is like. God wants to make you into a sharp, powerful, dangerous weapon in His hands to smash down all the barriers in His way. As if that’s not enough, He…
    5. Answers us (17) – when we’re hungry and thirsty, He puts water and food in the wilderness
    6. Provides – rivers and 7 trees in barren places (18-19) – Seven is just a symbolic number of the fullness of having plenty – all that we need.
    7. Creator (20b)
    8. King of Jacob (21b) – He is our king too. He provides leadership and direction in our lives.
    9. Omniscient (22-23)
    10. Gave evangelists – communicated with us (27) – He says, “I give to Jerusalem – and you’ll have different words depending on the translation you’re reading – a herald of good news/evangelist/messenger.” Who is this? Isaiah. God is a communicator. He gives us His word in the Bible, He gives us messages through people in the church. God is a God who speaks!

What a wonderful God we serve! He is in control of history. He knows the future. He is a  God who has chosen you, redeemed you from sin, strengthened and equipped you to be a powerful instrument in His hand, provided for all your needs, and is speaking to you. Wonderful! Yet…

We are prone to wander

  1. Nations find strength and encouragement from each other (6 cf 13) – Where are they looking for help when they are afraid? From friends. They say to each other “Be strong” The craftsman speaking to the goldsmith “good job on the soldering!”
  2. As they carry this idol up in front of God’s presence, they are nailing another nail into the idol so it doesn’t totter! Idolaters shore up idols instead of getting right with God (5-7)How totally deceived!
    1. ILLUSTRATION: Elijah and prophets of Baal (I Ki 18)
  3. We would never do that would we? We would never nail a nail into our idol to strengthen it when we’re standing in front of a holy God, would we? We would never look to other men for encouragement and affirmation, would we? I’m afraid we do. And we get afraid because our trust is misplaced. When our faith is not placed rightly in the one true God - placed anywhere else - it will result in us being afraid. That’s why God says over and over again, “fear not.”
  4. “fear not”  (10, 13, 14 cf I Jn 2:28) – Why does God say this over and over again? It’s because we so often stray and look for help from idols and from other men instead of from the One true God who is the only one who can provide the help, knowledge, communication, truth, redemption, and provision of all the things that we need.
  5. We get twisted in our thinking, so God holds judgment and speaks truth “they are a delusion!”

What can we do about this problem?

APPLICATION: 3 commands in this chapter

  1. Listen  to God, - first command in v. 1

·         If this is a command from God, we must obey it! We should listen to Him rather than to Men.

·         Epistemological Consistency: If we believe that God is the source of truth, we should be looking to God for the information we need about this world and our life, rather than to worldly channels of information. Our eyes and ears are not capable of establishing what is true and false. We can say it is likely to happen again if we experience the same thing a few times, but we can’t establish absolute truth for everyone by that. News reports and scientific findings are not telling us absolute truth – they are just telling us peoples’ opinions about things. As Christians, we need to be going to the Bible for truth. We need to read the Bible every day to straighten our thinking out. We need to be consistent with what we believe.

  1. Fear not,  (v. 10, 13, 14) (repent – not being afraid of anyone but God)

·         If you are finding yourself afraid, it indicates that there is an idol in your life. When you feel that rising sense of fear, ask yourself, “Why am I feeling fear? Where is that coming from? Is it because my faith is misplaced in something that I’m afraid is going to disappoint me?”

·         There is fear that is right because it is placed in God, and there is also a natural fear that your body experiences if you run into a mountain lion on the hiking trail. This is not the kind of wrong fear I’m talking about.

·         We need to be setting our fear towards God rather than anything or anyone else.

·         ILLUSTRATIONS: How we are idolaters

a.       We are afraid of death, so we go to great safety measures and take out life insurance policies,

b.      We fear not having enough or not being big enough, so we borrow money to grow assets faster,

c.       We fear sickness and spent vast amounts of money on health care and health insurance,

d.      Afraid of being poor, so we work longer hours, sell more product, search for better jobs,

e.      Afraid of not being employable, so we get more education, status, and experience,

f.        Afraid of being bored – so we watch more dazzling movies and play cooler games,

g.      Afraid of being thought of as ignorant so we memorize more sports statistics or read more magazines and newspapers,

h.     Afraid of denying ourselves, so we eat more chocolate, drink more coffee, smoke more, or look at pornography, because we don’t want to deny what our flesh wants.

i.        Afraid of being hungry, so we buy more food than we need,

j.        Afraid of being lonely, so we make more friends, talk more on the phone,

k.      Afraid we won’t be loved, so we loose more weight and buy more beauty aids,

l.        Afraid of being unfashionable, so we buy new clothes,

m.   Afraid of the way things are heading politically, so we get more political activism,

n.     Afraid we won’t be noticed, so we wear lower necklines and shorter skirts (men wear more status symbols),

o.      Afraid of loosing our reputation, so we constantly worry what other people think and try to pre-empt their criticism,

·         These things are not necessarily bad things to do, but if you do it because you are afraid, that is a wrong motive, it is exposing an idol in your life. There is a right place for most of these things, and that is to make the way of the Lord. There is a right place for using political activism, food, clothes, medicine, etc when they are brought to bear on doing God’s will.

·         By listing all these things, I’m just hoping to connect this concept with something in your life so you can say, “Yes, there are things I’m afraid of that cause me to do things based on my fear; I start acting desperately in order to protect that thing. It’s an idol and I need to repent of that.” Pray to God, “I trust you – You are my creator, you are the one who chose me, You are the one I’m looking to for provision, you are the one who loves me and saved me, You are the one I’m looking to for information about this world and trust You.”

3. Rejoice in the Lord and glory in Him (v. 15-16b)

·         Not an imperative like the first two, but has some imperative force.

·         God wants you to rejoice in Him; He wants you to glory and enjoy Him!

·         When we’re distracted with idols, we are not able to enjoy him.

·         ILLUSTRATION of husband and wife in bed: If she’s thinking about when the dish needs to go into the oven, and when the kids need to be picked up, and the phone call she’s got to make and the bill that needs to be paid, and preparing for the visitors coming over tomorrow, she will not be able to give herself to her husband. There’s not going to be much intimacy in that relationship.
Likewise, God wants all of us. He doesn’t want us to be thinking about all these different things. He wants our undivided attention, and when we are able to rejoice in Him, there is wonderful intimacy with Him.

·         v.17-20: God answers with blessing THAT we may see and know that He is who He says He is!