Isaiah 42:1

Isaiah 42:1 says, Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.  The emphasis here seems to be on the Messiah, Jesus Christ, even though it spoke of Cyrus during that time.  We do know that even though he may have done great things for the people of Israel in his day that Cyrus was not the elect of God, but Jesus Christ is.  What Cyrus was doing mainly benefited the Jews of that day, but what Jesus Christ did on the cross and at His resurrection from the dead benefitted everyone from all ages, including the Gentiles.  That includes all of us who were not born as a Jew. 

Verse two adds, He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.  Jesus Christ did not come with mighty power but with meekness, which at times disappointed His disciples.  They wanted an immediate earthly victory over Rome, but this was not Jesus’s purpose.  We should not be looking for powerful military victories in the world today as Christians, but we should be looking to reach out to the world with the meekness that Jesus displayed. 

Verse three continues, A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.   Isaiah said that even though Jesus would be bruised, He would not be broken.  The Jews of that day thought they had broken Jesus forever when He died on the cross, but He was only bruised by death and not defeated. 

Verse four concludes, He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.  Isaiah said that Jesus would not be discouraged, and He would set judgment on all the earth, not just Israel.  Though He died on the cross, He was never discouraged by having to die that all who put their faith in Him might live.  We now just need to live by faith in Him and obey His laws.

Verse five states, Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:  Isaiah reminded the people of Israel once more of God’s great power.  He not only created the heavens and the earth, but He created mankind and breathed the breath of life into man, giving all people a spirit to walk on the earth.  This separates us from every other creature on the earth.  Not only did God create people to be spiritual as well as physical beings, He created them to have a personal relationship with Him while at the same time giving them the free will to choose not to. 

Verse six adds, I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;  Matthew Henry says this applies to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, but I believe it is a call to all Christians.  Isaiah said God had called the people of Israel to righteousness through a covenant relationship with Him, and so it is to us.  Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is the new covenant that we put our faith in to be saved.  They were never righteous of their own merit, and neither are we. We become righteous as Christians because of our covenant relationship with God when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Isaiah said that the Jews in that day because of their covenant relationship with God were then to be a light to the Gentiles, calling them into that same covenant relationship.  We as followers of Christ are mostly Gentiles, and we are to be a light to the rest of the world today. 

Verse seven continue, To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.  Jesus Christ did come to restore sight to the blind, but I believe this is spiritual sight to those who were spiritually blind and not physical sight.  He also came to set those who were imprisoned free, but again I believe that this was spiritually being a prisoner of sin and not a physical prison.  Jesus did heal physical blindness and at times those who were imprisoned for their faith were set free, but these were always temporary things, and I believe that this refers to the everlasting spiritual sight and freedom from the penalty of sin that we receive when we put our faith in Him.  Until we do, we are spiritually blind and under the power of sin. 

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Isaiah 41:21

Isaiah 41:21 says, Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.  Isaiah then said God invited those who proclaimed the power of idols to show the proof of their power.  God had on so many occasions shown His power to the world, and especially to the people of Israel, that He could ask that these other supposed gods do the same.  Whatever idol anyone may be putting their faith in is never going to be able to deliver anything really.  We might profit materially from putting our faith in certain idols, but it will not be because they have any power of their own. 

Verse twenty-two adds, Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them 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.  Isaiah said that these false gods needed to show what they had done in the past and what was going to happen in the future.  God had a record of His works in the past, and if people remained true to His promises, they would see evidence of the accuracy of what He said was going to happen in the future come true.  The false gods, the idols, could offer no proof of what they had done in the past, nor could they offer any accurate prediction of what was going to happen in the future.  As followers of Christ, we need to look to Him in all things, from what He has done in the past to what He promises will happen in the future. 

Verse twenty-three continues, 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.  Isaiah continued to challenge these idols to show what was going to happen in the future, whether it was bad or good.  If they were all-powerful, this would be no problem.  God had foretold both good and bad things that were going to happen to the people of Israel and they always came to pass, as would anything that He foretold of the future then.  We can be thankful that God’s promise of the coming Messiah happened as He said it would, even if He didn’t come as people wanted Him to come.  We today can be certain of His coming again, even if we don’t know the time. 

Verse twenty-four concludes, Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.  Isaiah then said that God pronounced these idols to be nothing and those who worshipped them to be an abomination.  As Christians, we have to acknowledge that anything of this world that we begin to put more faith in than we do in God is without power and if we trust in them instead of God, we are an abomination in our profession to be His people.

Verse twenty-five states, 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.  Isaiah said God had raised up one from the north and he was coming.  This was a reference to Cyrus who ruled over the Medes to the north and the Persians to the east according to Matthew Henry but was also a prophesy that would culminate with the coming of Jesus Christ as the forever Redeemer.  When Cyrus came to power, he would release the people of Israel to return and rebuild the temple in the name of God.  Of course, Jesus didn’t come to bring an earthly victory over the world at that time, but He came to bring a spiritual victory for all time.

Verse twenty-six adds, 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.  Isaiah said God asked who there was who could show what they had done in the past and was righteous enough to redeem people, and the answer was that God alone could make this claim.  God alone knows what is going to happen in the future, and all we need to know as Christians is that He is already victorious over sin and death and that Jesus Christ will one day return to claim those who have put their faith in Him.

Verse twenty-seven continues, The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.  Isaiah said that God Himself was the One Who would deliver Zion from captivity.  This applied to their deliverance from Babylon in that day but also refers to God’s deliverance of all people for all time who will put their faith in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Who lived without sin, died and rose again to claim everlasting victory over sin and death. 

Verse twenty-eight says. For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.  Isaiah said that there was no one among the counselors of men who could give God an answer about what was going to happen in the future.  The Jews were not the only ones freed from captivity by Cyrus, but none of their gods saw that it was going to happen.  The Jews were not the only ones freed from the captivity of sin when Jesus Christ came, lived, died and rose again for them to be given a way to redemption if they would accept it, and they nor anyone else understood how it would happen.  God had told them, but they didn’t believe or understand, and the gods of no other nation were capable of telling anyone what God was going to do. This is still true today.  There is only one true God.

Verse twenty-nine adds, Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.  All these false gods were said to be a vanity, or nothing.  Idols always have been and always will be nothing.  They are without any power or any ability to give or sustain life, but the one true God can and does do both.

 

Isaiah 41:14

Isaiah 41:14 says, Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.  God referred to the people of Israel, the descendants of Jacob, as worms.  They had become a powerless nation, but God told them not to fear because He would help them, I believe once they repented and turned to Hi again.  The song, At The Cross, had a line in it that said, “Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I,” and it was changed to “such sinners such as I,” because it was said that people didn’t want to think of themselves as worms, but this seems a Biblical concept to me.  We should never think more highly of ourselves than God thinks of us, and even if we are compared to a worm in our strength, we as followers of Christ are still protected by God’s powerful hand. 

Verse fifteen adds, 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.  Isaiah said God was going to make Israel a powerful nation once again, saying they would be like a threshing machine with teeth and would thresh the mountains and the hills, making their enemies seem like chaff.  Still, they would only be an instrument in God’s hand when they lived by faith in Him.  We will never be more than an instrument in God’s hand as Christians, but He has already given us the power to defeat any spiritual enemy that we encounter. 

Verse sixteen continues, 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.  Isaiah said that God was going to scatter the enemies of Israel like chaff being scattered in the wind.  As followers of Christ, no  matter how powerful our enemies may seem the are but chaff in the wind as long as we are living in obedience to God and relying on His power to keep us safe. 

Verse seventeen states, 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.  Isaiah said that when the poor and needy sought water and couldn’t find any, that God said He would provide it for them.  As Christians, if we find ourselves spiritually thirsty and unable to find relief, God has already given us Living Water to quench our spiritual thirst.  We can never quench it without relying on Him. 

Verse eighteen adds, 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.  Isaiah said God was going to give the people of Israel who were thirsty an unlimited supply of water.  We as Christians, if we are spiritually dry and thirsty, already have an unlimited supply of Living Water, so we simply need to turn to God and begin to drink our fill. 

Verse nineteen continues. 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:  Isaiah said God was going to cause the wilderness to be filled with trees once again.  The world may seem a desolate place for us at times, spiritually if not physically, but once we start living by faith in God, He will cause our lives to flourish spiritually once more.  God will always meet our needs, even if we seem to be surrounded by a wilderness of sin.  

Verse twenty concludes, That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.  Isaiah said that when God did this that the people of Israel would understand that He was the One responsible for their blessings.  As Christians, no matter how blessed we may be materially, we need to realize that all our blessings come from God and give Him the credit and praise Him for all that He has blessed us with.  This is true if we have more than we need or if we are barely having our needs met.  In either case, we need to give God the glory and praise.

 

Isaiah 41:10

Isaiah 41:10 says, 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 of my righteousness.  Isaiah told the people of Israel to not be dismayed at their current situation because God was with them.  No matter how bad things may look for us in the world as follower of Christ today, we should never be dismayed, because God is with us and He has already claimed the victory. 

Verse eleven adds, 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.  Isaiah said that God had proclaimed that those who opposed Israel were going to be put to shame, no matter how powerful they thought they were.  This will always be true, when Jesus Christ returns if not before.  We may not always see this happen in our particular situation, but it is already an accomplished fact.

Verse twelve continues, 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.  Isaiah said that even if the people of Israel sought these enemies, they wouldn’t find them, because God had reduced them to nothing.  We don’t need to go out looking for enemies to fight today as followers of Christ but just need to acknowledge that all our enemies are nothing from a spiritual perspective.

Verse thirteen concludes, For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.  Isaiah said that they didn’t need to fear because God was holding their right hand.  As Christians, we don’t need to be afraid of the powers of the world, because God is holding us in His mighty hand.  There is no power that can defeat God, so if we are living by faith in Him, we are spiritually safe forever, no matter what happens in our life.

Isaiah 41:1

Isaiah 41:1 says, Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.  Matthew Henry says this chapter was intended to both convict the idolaters and to comfort those who had remained true to God.  He also said that even though it was intended to convict the Babylonians and to comfort the Israelites in that day that it also applies to people of the world today.  God will convict those who are sinning of their sin, whether they acknowledge this conviction or not, and He will comfort those who put their faith in Him, no matter what is going on in the world.  There was nothing that either group of people could say that would diminish the power of God, so they were called on to stay silent before Him.  There is no need to question God’s authority, because He has already won the victory.   

Verse two adds, Who raised up the righteous man from the east, 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 to his bow.  Isaiah said that God asked who had done for the people who worshipped false God’s what He had done for the righteous man, or those who put their faith in Him, since no one of their own merit is righteous.  God had given the people of Israel power over the other people around them as long as they put their faith in and were obedient to Him.  As followers of Christ, He has likewise given us victory over sin and death, not because of our own merit, but because of His mercy. 

Verse three continues, He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.  I believe that Isaiah was saying that God provided a way for victory even when the people of Israel saw no way.  At times, it may seem that the world is about to overpower us and we can see no way to overcome it, but God will always make a way, even when we don’t see one. 

Verse four states, Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.  Isaiah said that when people asked Who had delivered the people from generation to generation that the answer was God Himself had done this.  This was true from the beginning and will be true to the end.  God always has and always will provide a way for salvation if people only accept His gift. 

Verse five adds, The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.  Matthew Henry says this referred to the Gentiles seeing the power of God and coming to Him even when the people of Israel were still rejecting Him.  I do know that the people of Israel as a nation still reject Jesus as the Messiah or Christ today, which is the reason that we as Gentiles who have accepted Him as our Savior and Lord are tasked with sharing the gospel with the world. 

Verse six continues, They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.  Isaiah said that those who put their faith in God helped and encouraged one another.  This should be true of Christians today.  We need to help and encourage those in need, not just our fellow believers but also anyone that God gives us a chance to help.  It is not enough to say that we will pray for them if we are unwilling to be used by God to actually help and encourage others. 

Verse seven concludes, So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, 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.  People of different professions helped and encouraged one another.  We as followers of Christ should never be self-centered and have no concern for other people who work around us.  When it comes to work in the church especially, we all need each other and no one job is more important in God’s eyes than any other. 

Verse eight says, But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.  God then had a message for His chosen people, whom He had made a covenant with through both Abraham and Jacob, which applied to all who accepted it.  As Christians, we have entered into a covenant relationship with God, which is a continuation of the one He made with Abraham that was fulfilled when Jesus Christ came.  We are not God’s people by birth as the people of Israel who lived up to the covenant relationship with God were called to be, but we are a part of His people by our rebirth spiritually as Christians, and we should always be ready to hear God’s word to us. 

Verse nine adds, 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.  Isaiah said the people of Israel were God’s people by His action of calling them and choosing to reach out to the world through them. Likewise, we are a part of God’s people as Christians because He has reached out to us and called us to put our faith in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Who lived, died, and rose again so that we might have an everlasting relationship with God if we put our faith in Him.

Isaiah 40:21

Isaiah 40:21 says, Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?  Isaiah asked if they had not heard that God was the One Who laid the foundation of the earth.  As Jews, they should have heard this all their lives, but they didn’t live as though they believed it.  God has always made Himself known to people, and He will continue to do so until Jesus Christ returns, when everyone will finally acknowledge Him.  Until then, we need to continue to share the gospel with the world, so that people may know God and His plan for salvation.  Too many people will then be asked if they didn’t know this and will have to say that they did but they didn’t believe it.  

Verse twenty-two adds, It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:  Isaiah said that God sat above the earth and stretched out the heavens and that people were as grasshoppers before Him.  As followers of Christ, we must acknowledge that He is the Creator of everything and the Redeemer of all who put their faith in Him.  There will never be anyone or anything more powerful than God.  

Verse twenty-three continues, That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.  Isaiah said that God made all the powers in the world, the ones who were over other people, to be nothing.  There are many rulers today who deny God who think that they are very powerful, but one day, they will know that their power was a vanity, or nothing. 

Verse twenty-four states, Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.  Isaiah said that the people of Israel who denied God and lived by their own sense of justice and power would never settle into a position where they could grow and prosper.  If we want to grow and prosper spiritually, we cannot do it outside of the will of God, even if we are followers of Christ.  We cannot make our own laws if they oppose God’s laws, no matter how powerful we may be in the world. 

Verse twenty-five adds, To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.  Isaiah said that God asked to whom would they liken Him, and the answer then and the answer now has to be no one.  There is no other God besides the one true and living God.  We must acknowledge this and then just put our faith in Him and follow His leadership. 

Verse twenty-six continues, Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.  Isaiah called on the people to look up to the heavens and see the mighty work of God.  He created the universe and called all of His creation by name.  Matthew Henry says this means that we aren’t to always be bogged down looking at the earth and our problems but are to look up to the majesty of God.  When life seems to be bowing us down to our lowest level of hope, we just need to look up to God once more if we are followers of Christ.  He will always bring us spiritual hope. 

Verse twenty-seven says, Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?  Isaiah asked why the people who were descendants of Jacob were now saying that they were hidden from God or that His ways were hidden from them.  God entered into a covenant relationship with Jacob, and God had never failed in His part of the covenant.  If we as Christians are feeling defeated spiritually, we need to acknowledge that it is because we have failed to continue to live up to our part of our covenant relationship with God, which calls for us to always look to Him in faith for the answers to life’s problems. 

Verse twenty-eight adds, Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.  Isaiah basically asked them didn’t they know Who God is.  There is no failing in God, so why were they living as though He had failed.  We should never question the power and authority of God as Christians, and if we start to when life is getting hard, we need to just look up to Him once more.   

Verse twenty-nine continues, He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.  Just as Isaiah said to the people of Judah then, we need to look to the One Who gives us the power to not faint under the pressures of life so that He might strengthen us when we have no strength of our own. 

Verse thirty states, Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:  Isaiah said that even the young men who relied on their own strength would grow weary, faint and utterly fall.   No matter how strong we may think we are physically, we will fail spiritually if we don’t look to God for our spiritual strength. 

Verse thirty-one adds, But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.  Isaiah said that those who wait on the Lord for strength and wisdom would never fail.  They would soar like eagles, run and not be weary, and walk and not faint.  To me, this means from doing the greatest to doing the least for God everyday He will always give us the ability to do whatever He has called us to do.  Sometimes we may be soaring spiritually and sometimes we may be just trudging along, but God will empower us either way.

Isaiah 40:15

Isaiah 40:15 says, Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.  Isaiah said that to God the people of any nation, no matter how powerful, were like a drop in a bucket or the dust of the earth.  We may think nations today are very powerful, but they are nothing compared to God, and as followers of Christ, He is our source of power.  There will never be anyone who can overpower Him.  

Verse sixteen adds, And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.  Isaiah said that all the sacrifices that the people might offer would add nothing to God.  Whatever we may offer to God today can add nothing to Who He is.  God does not accept us because of anything we can give Him, but He accepts us because of what He gave us, which is forgiveness from our sins by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord. 

Verse seventeen continues, All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.  Isaiah then returns to the fact that all nations combined are nothing in power before God.  God created it all and He can easily destroy it all, so we should be thankful that He thinks enough of people who failed Him to provide a way for them to be redeemed instead of just destroying us. 

Verse eighteen states, To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?  Isaiah then asks what image, or idol, men could make that would compare to God.  The answer then and now is that there is not one.  This includes us as individuals.  We should never attempt to put ourselves on the same level as God.  Golden images may look pretty, but they are nothing compared to God. 

Verse nineteen adds, The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.  Isaiah said that the workman made these graven images and overlaid them with gold, but they were still just manmade things.  Anything that we worship more than God is powerless to help us. 

Verse twenty concludes, He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.  Isaiah said that those who made the images or idols attempted to make sure that they could not be moved, but anything that stands between God and us will one day be removed no matter how well rooted it may be.