Fear Not, for I Am with You(Continuation). Isa 41:17-29
V. DIVINE DELIVERANCE FROM SIN AND CAPTIVITY, Isaiah 40-48
1. Assurance of Salvation, Isa_40:1-31; Isa_41:1-29
40. What provision does the Lord make for the needy in spirit or in body?
FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU
“The poor and needy are seeking water, but there is none; Their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them Myself; I, the God of Israel, will not neglect them.
“I will open rivers on the barren heights And springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a reed-pool of water And the dry land springs of water.
“I will put the cedar in the wilderness, The acacia, the myrtle and the olive tree; I will place the juniper in the desert Together with the box tree and the cypress,
So that they may see and know, And consider and understand together, That the hand of the LORD has done this, That the Holy One of Israel has created it.
THE FUTILITY OF IDOLS
“Present your case [for idols made by men’s hands],” says the LORD. “Produce your evidence [of divinity],” Says the king of Jacob.
Let them bring forward [their evidence] and tell us what is going to happen. Regarding the former events, tell what they were, That we may consider them and know their outcome; Or announce to us the things that are going to come.
Tell us the things that are to come afterward, That we may know that you are gods; Indeed, you should do something good or do evil, that we may be afraid and fear [you] together [as we observe the miracle].
Hear this! You [idols] are less than nothing, And your work is worthless; The worshiper who chooses you [as a god] is repulsive. [1Co_8:4]
“I have stirred up and put into action one from the north [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great], and he has come; From the rising of the sun he will call on My Name [in prayer]. And he will trample on [the Babylonian] officials as on mortar, Even as a potter treads clay.” [2Ch_36:23; Ezr_1:1-3]
Who [among the idols] has declared this from the beginning, so that we could know? Or from earlier times, so that we could say, “He is [unquestionably] right!”? In fact, there was no one who declared it, Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed it; There was no one at all who heard you speak [for you pagan gods are speechless].
“I was first to say to Zion, ‘Listen carefully, here they are [the Jews who will be restored to their own land].’ And to Jerusalem, ‘I will provide a messenger (Isaiah) to bring the good news [that Cyrus will be stirred up and put into action to save them].’ [Isa_40:9; Isa_52:7]
“But when I look [on the pagan prophets and priests], there is no one [who could predict these events], And there is no counselor among them, Who, if I ask, can give an answer.
“In fact, all of these [pagan prophets and priests] are false; Their works are worthless, Their cast images are [merely] wind and emptiness.
40. What provision does the Lord make for the needy in spirit or in body?
WHAT THE LORD’S HAND DOES FOR THE NEEDY
Life is not easy for any of us, if we regard external conditions only; but directly we learn the divine secret, rivers flow from bare heights, fountains arise in sterile valleys, and the desert blooms like the forest-glade. To the ordinary eye there might appear no outward change in the forbidding circumstance; but faith’s eye always beholds a very paradise of beauty where other eyes see only straitened circumstances and a trying lot.
Once again our minds are brought back to the great convocation announced in the opening verses of the chapter. The idols are asked to say or do something to prove that they are divine. See Isa_41:21-23. There is no response; with the result that a crushing verdict is passed on them as recorded in Isa_41:24. On the other hand, the prophet of the Lord is prepared with His predictions of Cyrus “the one from the East,” (see Isa_41:2 and Isa_44:28) which would be fulfilled before that generation had passed away. Let us give heed to the sure word of prophecy, “as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,” 2Pe_1:19.
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