M S¹ 41:1-29. Types. S² 42:1-17. Anti-type.
S¹ T¹ 1-20. Abraham. From the East. Past.
T² 21-29. Cyrus. From the North. Future.
T¹ U 1. Islands. Yahaveh's call.
V 2,3. Type. Abraham.
W 4. Yahaveh the Doer.
U 5-7. Islands. Answer to Yehovah's call.
V 8-19. Type. Israel.
W 20. Yahaveh the Doer.603-588 B.C.
Isaiah 41)
1 Keep silence before me, O coast-lands (see 11:11); and let the people renew their strength (to endure): let them draw near; then let them speak: let us draw near together to judgment.
2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east (i.e. Abraham. Cp. Cyrus raised up from the north, v.25), called him to His foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? (i.e. those mentioned in Gen.14:1,8,9) He gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven straw to his bow.
3 He pursued them (i.e. Abraham pursued them to Dan. See Gen. 14:14,15), and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. (see "path" 2:3)
4 Who has wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I Am. (see also 44:6; 48:12. Thus 3 times in Isaiah and 3 times in Revelation [Rev.1:17; 2:8; 22:13]. "With the last" i.e. He Who called Abraham, the first, will be the last [Messiah], Who is the subject of this prophecy)
5 The coast-lands saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.
6 They helped every man his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, “Be of good courage.”
7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smooths with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, “It is ready for the soldering:” and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
V e 8-10. Encouragement. "Fear not".
f 11,12. Ascendancy.
e 13,14. Encouragement. "Fear not".
f 15-19. Victory.
8 But you, Israel, are My servant (see 37:35 for the 3 "servants" in Isaiah. This was Israel, as the seed of Abraham, not Cyrus [yet]. Cp. vv.21-29), Jacob whom I have chosen (see 1:29), the seed of Abraham My friend. (See 2 Chron.20:7. We do not rule over God, nor are we His equal. We are His servants. If you want His blessings, you had better remember this verse and serve Him well.)
9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called you from the remote parts thereof, and said to you, “Thou are My servant; I have chosen you (Gen. 12:1. Josh. 24:2-4. Neh. 9:7. Acts 7:2-7. See Deut. 7:6; 10:15; 14:2), and not cast you away. (When you hunger and thirst for truth, He will give you divine help. If you seek wisdom and understanding, He will help you. That is a promise you can claim.)
10 Fear you not (see Deut. 31:6,8); for I Am with you: look not around (it is this that dismays [see Pss. 73 and 77]); for I Am your God: I will strengthen you (inherent, for activity); yes, I will help you; yea, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness. (We are living in troubled times. Things become a little wishy-washy in this world. But nothing is wishy-washy with God. When you try to do right in serving Him, you can claim Father's promises of help and strength.)
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against you (see Ex. 23:22) shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and the men of your strife (i.e. your accusers) shall perish. (Christians have enemies in this world. You don't have to worry about them. God is on the throne, and He is in control. Our enemies don't have a chance, because they are God's enemies, as well.)
12 You shall seek them, and shall not find them, even the men of your contention: they that war against you shall be as nothing (see 5:8), and as a thing of naught. (You have a promise of divine help, if you are a servant of the Lord.)
13 For I the Lord your God will hold thy right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not;’ I will help you.
14 Fear not, you worm Jacob (fig., to emphasize the weakness of Israel), and all men of Israel; I will help you, says the Lord, and your Redeemer (see Gen.48:16. Ex.6:6; 15:13), the Holy One of Israel. (Do you have any weaknesses? Don't worry about your weaknesses, if God is helping you. Your Father is your kinsman Redeemer.)
15 Behold, I will set you for a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth (see 28:27): you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff. (Father has given us a platform that threshes the nations of the world with His truth. Why? Because we are hungry and thirsty for His Word. His truth cuts both ways like a two-edged sword.)
16 You shall fan them, and the wind (ruach) shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and you shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel. (see 13:10)
17 When the wretched and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst (see 19:5), I the Lord will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. (See "forsake" on 1:4. Why thirst? God is able to provide for your physical and spiritual thirst. Seek knowledge and wisdom from Him.)
18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. (Note that all these physical marvels must be accomplished by the miraculous power of God, not by the spirituality of His People. See 35:1)
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, 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 has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. (Why would you ever worry? You have divine help, if you will hunger and thirst for His Word. God call the enemy nothing. Don't ever shake and tremble. When you serve God, He hears you. He helps you. God has a purpose for you. You have a destiny that is ever so important to your Father.)
T² X g 21-23. Challenge as to Prediction.
h 24. Nothingness.
Y 25-. Cyrus. Raised up. The act.
Y -25. Cyrus. Raised up. The purpose.
X g 26-28. Challenge as to Prediction.
h 29. Nothingness.
21 Produce your cause”, says the Lord; “bring forth your strong (for weight or importance) reasons,” says the King of Jacob. (this Title occurs only here. Heathen kings were the gods of the people. So the Lord, the King of Jacob, is the God of Israel)
22 “Let them bring them forth, and show Us what shall happen: let them show 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.
23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, that We may know that you all are gods: yes, do good, or do evil, that We may be dismayed, and behold it together.
24 Behold, you all are of nothing, and your work of naught: an abomination is he that chooses you.
25 I have raised up one from the north (i.e. Cyrus. Cp Abraham [the other type was "from the east", v2.]. his prophecy was made 137 years before its fulfillment. Cp. 44:28; 45:1), and he shall speed: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon Me: (this is the counterpart of 45:3,4. Cp. Ezra 1:2 and 2 Chron. 36:22,23)
and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treads clay. (the title of the Babylonian governors and prefects of provinces. Heb. seganim. Cyrus [the Medo-Persian] did fulfill this on the Babylonian "princes")
26 Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know? and before-time, that we may say, ‘He is righteous?’ yes, there is none that shows, yes, there is none that declares, yes, there is none that hears your words.
27 From the first I have said to Zion,‘Behold, behold them:’ and I will give to Jerusalem one that brings good tidings.
28 For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counselor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
29 Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images (see 30:22) are vanity (see 57:6) and confusion. (see 24:10)