ISAIAH
CHAPTER 41
To Israel the Lord says: Ye are my servants; I will preserve you—Idols are nothing—One shall bring good tidings to Jerusalem.
1 KEEP silence before
me, O islands; [1) "the
coastlands" The word designates the coastal region of Syria and Phoenicia,
for the Israelites a remote area, the limits of the earth." Thus, the "coastlands" represent
the very furthest reaches of the earth. 2) The Islands of the seathose
whom the Lord has lead away "The Americas are one of those Isles" Old
Testament Student Manual pg 182Isiah used this metaphor and suggested
that there, in the isles, they would learn to trust him and await his
word and be renewed togetherIsiah 24:15; 41-1-5; 49:1; 51:5; 60:9 ]
and let the people brenew their strength:
[along the lines of "try and gather your
strength for the judgement" - you will need it all for your trial] let
them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to
judgment. [The Lord summons all of the nations
of the earth for an argument. Remember Israel has been trampled
by the nations and Judah is about to be trampled by the nations per 39:5-7.
In the idolatrous Eastern mind the strength of a nation was indicative
of the strength of their god. If the nation was going about conquering
and pillaging its neighbors, then it must be because their god is the
strongest one around. Thus, they frequently discounted the God of Israel
because Israel was getting trounced. Here, the Lord is letting the nations
know that their method of determining which nations has the best god
isn't the most robust method available. The Lord presents His power as
being able to predict and subsequently bring about His predictions. The
idols cannot, thus the Lord wins.]
2 Who raised up the righteous man from
the east,
[ angels of the restoration, who are grouped together
under the composite title of Elias - The Savior, Cyrus as a type for
Christ, because he delivers Israel from Babylon. Just as Christ delivers
us from sin as Babylon represents] called
him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over
kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven
stubble [what drives the stubble? The wind;
who controls the wind? The Lord - So the Lord will exercise His will
upon the nations and people's of the earth as He sees fit ] to his bow.
4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.
7 so the carpenter encouraged the
goldsmith, [see symbolism in Isaiah 40:18-20] and he
that smootheth with the
hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering:
and he fastened it with nails, that it should not
be moved.
8 But thou, Israel, art my
servant, [For Israel to be God's servant means
primarily that she has a master with whom she feels secure, whom she
can trust, and who cares for her. If this is the lord whom she serves,
the manner of her service follows as a consequence.] Jacob whom I
have chosen,
[the chosen nature of Israel because of the Abrahamic
covenant. 'out of many other peoples whom God might have chosen, he chose
us. In so doing, he gave our life a significance which no person or thing
other than himself can ever take away from it. For as long as it remains
true that he chose us, we have a future.' The particular stamp which
the election bears in [Isaiah] is due to the fact that he makes it stand
out in relief from all the rest of God's acts in the whole of history
(41:4) and creation.] the seed
of Abraham my friend. [
It is because of Israel's election which is carried back to the patriarchs.
]
9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
10 ¶ Fear thou
not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I
will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand [ precedence, authority, or righteousness.
Concerning such references to the use of the right hand, Joseph Fielding
Smith has written: "The showing favor to the right
hand or side is not something invented by man but was revealed from the
heavens in the beginning. To Isaiah the Lord said: [Isaiah 41:10, 13.]
... "There are numerous passages in the scriptures referring to the right
hand, indicating that it is a symbol of righteousness and was used in
the making of covenants." (AGQ
1:156-57.) ] of my righteousness.
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.
12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, [ the language is merely descriptive for Jacob and his family who were as weak as worms: "She'ain lakh gevurah ela ba'peh. [Their strength was in their mouths]." Radak adds that the mouth is good for at least two things, of which one is prayer. Israel can pray for God's help and support. Radak must have been a bit of a naturalist, for he notes that worms can and do chew up everything that is in the soil, and even the mighty cedars of Lebanon fall before them. Worms may grind slowly, but they patiently grind it all. Maybe the reference to Israel as a worm is to suggest that over the long run, Israel has proven itself to be, like worms, tough and endurable. Even when a worm is cut in half it just regenrates itself into two worms fully functional. There could also be a connotation that the worm is more like a catipiller which is growing so that one day it may become as it is meant to be a butterfly. ] and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the bLORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers in
high places, [ LeGrand Richards has commented
concerning this verse: "Rivers in high places" could have reference
to the reservoirs built in the canyons to impound the winter run-off
of water so it may be used for summer irrigation. "And
fountains in the midst of the valleys." If you have seen some
of the flowing wells that have been drilled in some of the dry valleys,
you can understand this part of the prophecy. (IDYK, p. 185.) ] 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 plant in the wilderness the cedar, the ashittah tree,
[ is Hebrew for acacia The name acacia means the thorn
tree, and no name could be better deserved; for not only are the trunk
and branches beset with pairs of thorns, but every twig presents a thorny
point. And yet it is a pretty tree; the foliage with its many leaflets
is graceful, and in the spring the tree is illumined by innumerable little
golden balls of fragrant blossoms. The wild acacia (Mimosa nilotica), under
the name of sunt, everywhere represents the seneh, or senna, of the burning
bush. A slightly different form of the tree, equally common under the name
of seyal, is the ancient shittah, or, as more usually expressed in the plural
form, the shittim, of which the Tabernacle was made."] and
the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine,
and the box tree together:
20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand
together, that the hand of the LORD hath
done this, [It is the hand of the Lord that has
been nuturing you, caring for you, and now he is trying to contrast that to
the idols that thye have been worshiping - what have they done for you? ] and the Holy One
of Israel hath created it.
22 Let them [ your idols ] bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them [ their idols ] shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. [ contrast that their idols are really weak, they do none of this for Israel, a declaration of who has the real power here. ]
23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we
may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil,
that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. [
Have you idols do good, or do evil - but at least have them (your idols)
do something. A real cut to the worthlessness of the idols that they
were worshipping. Contrast that with verse 10 - what the Lord does.]
25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.
26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.
27 The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.