October 18, Isaiah 41
Who has performed and done this, calling the
generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the
first, and with the last; I am he. - Isaiah 41:4
Chapter 41 begins with God’s call to the nations to be silent and listen to him. With an overview of history, a rich assortment of promises, prophecies, and a primer in theology, God called his people and the enemies of his people to see what the Lord is like. He delivered a dramatic exposé of the vast difference between the pagans’ idol gods and himself, the true and living God.
God rewound the story of Israel all the way back to the call of Abraham. He reviewed how he called Abraham from the east and cleared his way into the land of Canaan. Then the Lord fought and provided for the descendants of Abraham who became Israel. The Canaanites were terrified before the unstoppable advance of the Israelites across the land. They spruced up their idol gods and begged them to deliver them from the Israelites. But their gods neither answered nor helped them.
God interjected a message of comfort and assurance to his people. He called them, chose them, blessed them and did not cast them away. There was no need for fear. Their enemies could not stand before them when God was with them. They could rejoice in the Lord, and give him the glory for their victories. God worked through nature and beyond nature to provide for their needs and to defeat their enemies. He reminded both the nations around them as well as Israel that God did this for his people by his own power and righteous right hand. Israel’s success came by his faithfulness, his strength and his help. The enemies were scattered before the advancing Israelites, just as God had promised they would be.
Remember that the people of Judah were going away into captivity. They would see themselves as lowly worms, but God addressed his “worms” and assured them that they were still objects of his care and provision. Even during the years of their humiliating defeat and captivity, God was still with his people and would keep his promises to them.
For the first time in the book of Isaiah, the LORD used the word “Redeemer” to describe himself. They would be enslaved and far from home, but the Lord had a plan. He would redeem them out of captivity and then guide and provide for the remnant on their return to Canaan. The word “Redeemer” had not yet appeared in Isaiah, because the people had not yet needed redeeming from their Babylonian captors. But now Isaiah would write it another dozen times in the remaining chapters of the book.
The first use of the special term “my servant refers to Israel, chosen by God to worship and serve him. Later it will apply to Cyrus, the Persian ruler God would use to get the Israelites out of captivity. But the greatest way Isaiah will use “my Servant” will start in the next chapter and refer to Messiah, who would come on his saving mission to perfectly do the will of God and sacrifice himself for our sins.
Sustenance in the wilderness was a practical way to tell the captives about God’s care for them. The way back to Canaan was a vast desert. They would not survive the journey if not for God’s protective care and provision. The words are reminiscent of God’s care for their ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt centuries before.
God then turned back to taunt and challenge the pagan idols to do something (anything!) to prove that they were gods. God rested his case against them, dismissing them as nothing, helpless, incapable of hearing, rescuing or protecting anyone. The idols offered no counsel, no help, did no work and showed no signs of life. They were nothing and did nothing. In contrast, the true and living God of Israel was able to do all that the pagan idols could not do. God still wins any comparison between himself and the false gods of money, pleasure and power that people serve today. He still blesses and provides for his people. He promises to provide for our physical needs, and bless us with all spiritual blessings in Christ.
The idols that people worship today are in the end powerless to take care of anyone’s greatest need — saving them from the sin that separates us from God. That is uniquely the work of God by his grace, when we answer the gospel call by trusting, loving and surrendering to Christ. We do not have to live in anxious fear. By our confident faith, we can show others around us that it is better to love and trust the true God. Any substitute or alternate is inept and worthless by comparison.
Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—October 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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