(The
objective of these ‘Frameworks' is to provide an easy-to-read
layout of the text in order then to use these individual verses
for verse-by-verse study or meditation. To focus each
verse we have also added in italic a description of what is happening)
FRAMEWORKS:
Isaiah 41 :
The Challenger of Idols
For
Introductory Notes to this Part, see chapter 40.
In
these ‘Frameworks' we add notes that are not paraphrases of the
original but are simply our expressions of what we, the everyday
readers, can sense the verses are saying.
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 realise 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
[Offer
to Meet] (Come
and stand in humility before me, you who wish to contend with
me.)
“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
[God
who brings the invader] (Realise
who I am – the One who uses invaders from the east to bring my
discipline, who come forth in power sweeping all before them –
I am the Lord!)
“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
[This
is a work of God] (Realise I
am the one who stirs these invaders to reach further than they've
been before. I am the one who has been involved with every generation
from the beginning. I was there at the beginning and I'll be there
at the end. This is who you are standing before.)
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
[It
is seen by all] (Peoples from
all over the place have witnessed these things, but like a group
of naughty little schoolboys you stand together for moral support
against authority.)
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] (Underlying
all their activities is their idolatry, making for themselves
things to worship.)
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
[Israel
has a history - with God] (But
you Israel, you should be different, because through Abraham I
called you into being, I chose you to be my servant.)
“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] (So my
different Israel, fear not, I am with you to uphold you.)
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
[Thus
enemies are inconsequential]
(Don't worry about your enemies who are against you, I will deal
with them, so that after a while you will look around and they
will be nowhere in sight.)
“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[God's
presence removes fear] (Why
can you be assured of
this? Because I who am Almighty God will help you, for I am your
redeemer.)
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
[He
will transform them into a fighting machine]
(Indeed I will so strengthen you that you will become like a weapon
of war that will sweep all before you, and you will know it is
me and rejoice.)
“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
[The
Lord will transform the deserts and provide water for His people]
(Look, there are times when you
search for water – literal and spiritual – in desert places, and
I will come and open up rivers and streams to provide for you,
and I will transform the dry places, the desert, so life will
break forth in abundance and all will see and know it is me.)
“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
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
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
[Idols cannot
speak] (So, to the worshippers
of idols, come on, stand up, show us why you worship idols.)
“Present
your case,” says the Lord
.
“Set forth
your arguments,” says Jacob's King.
v.22
(Come
on you idols, what have you got to say for yourselves? Can you
tell us what the future holds? Can you explain what went on previously,
come on say something, do something more than just sitting there
like a block of wood!)
“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] (Face it you are
nothing, nothing more than a metal or wooden ornament, and you
do nothing, so those who have you are really beyond description.)
But
you are less than nothing
and your works
are utterly worthless;
whoever chooses
you is detestable.
v.25
(By comparison, I have
come and stirred up one from the north to discipline my people,
a mighty ruler who no one can withstand.)
“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
you idols, did you warn the people about this invader? No, you
did not, no one heard a word from any of you!)
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
(No, I the Lord has been
the only one to tell you these things. I look around and there
is no one else to speak these things out, these images, these
idols are useless, just giving superstitious hope that is so easily
blown away.)
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!]