But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41.8-10)
The overriding theme of Isaiah 40.1-41.20 is the consolation of Zion. The message of disaster presented to the reader in 39.5-7 is followed by a message of comfort: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God (40.1). The certainty of this comfort is supported by the three voices of consolation in Isaiah 40.1-11. Isaiah’s picture of the incomparable creator God (40.12-31) is one reason believers can know that God will provide succor in the hour of their trial. Another reason believers may look to the Lord for deliverance is that he is the incomparable God of history (41.1-7). Isaiah paints three pictures of God’s consolation in 41.8-20: the victorious servant (41.8-13); the divine metamorphosis (41.14-16); and the divine provision (17-20).
The Incomparable God of History (41.1-7)
The words: let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment, depict a courtroom setting, but the language implies an invitation to salvation more than a confrontation of judgment. Indeed, the invitation is universal. When Isaiah includes the inhabitants of the coastlands (islands or distant lands) and the peoples (nations, NIV), it is the entire Gentile world that is being invited to share in the blessings of God. Sadly, most who are invited to the banquet table find other things to do and miss the blessings that might be theirs (cf. Jonah 2.8 NIV; Matthew 22.1-14). The promise of renewed strength in 40.31 for men and women of faith is the same promise offered in 41.1. Only here do we begin to understand that Isaiah foresees both Jew and Gentile as the objects of God’s saving grace. Indeed, all who turn to the Lord will find provision for all their needs. “This is the point of the call, which will be developed further in 41:21-42:17. It is at the heart of Isaiah’s message that the Gentiles are to be fellow-heirs with Israel (19:24-25; 27:13). The Lord, therefore, extends to them, in the envisaged pressures of life, the same renewal that is available to Israel, i.e. by coming to him. It cannot, however, be done just like that: there is an issue to be settled, hence the courtroom terminology of approaching, speaking, meeting together and judgment (mispat, not ‘condemnation’, but reaching an authoritative decision)” (J. Alec Motyer, Isaiah, p. 309).
Isaiah describes a conqueror who causes an international furor as he drives out the nations that oppose him. While Isaiah was for the moment intentionally non-specific, it will become clear (44.24-47.15) that he is thinking about the military conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, the Persian king. But to declare that at the outset would defeat Isaiah’s purpose, which is to establish the Lord’s sovereign rule over all the events of history. God enthrones and dethrones kings, establishes and destroys empires; he alone is the ultimate causal agent in human history. Whoever this agent of the Lord may be, it is the Lord’s purpose that lies behind his every action: He gives up nations before him, so that he tramples kings underfoot; he makes them like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow. He pursues them and passes on safely, by paths his feet have not trod. Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he (41.2-4). “But here is a strong and magnificent affirmation. In every movement in world affairs the Lord is the initiator, purposing and achieving that which accords with his righteous nature and policies. … The Lord remains in charge of the detailed operations of the one he has stirred up” (Motyer, p. 310). Kings and emperors concern themselves with dynasties, but God is the only Sovereign and eternal King who has no progeny to whom he will cede his throne. He was alone in the beginning and he will be with his own at the end.
The great irony of the Lord’s invitation for those far off to draw near is that rather than accepting his invitation they turn to created (idols) things rather than the Creator. People live in fear, but rather than turn to the One who is able to deliver them, they attempt to encourage one another with platitudes like, “Be strong!,” as though words alone will change the course of events. They give each other tokens and talismans, but their superstitions are of no value.
The Victorious Servant (41.8-13)
The first of the three pictures presented by Isaiah depicts God’s sovereign deliverance through the victorious servant who vanquishes the enemies of God’s people. The faithful reader may be confident that he has a promising future. He is assured of this because of the covenantal promises made to the patriarchs: But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; … “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (41.8, 9b-10).
First, Isaiah establishes the relationship between the Lord and his people. That Jacob (Israel) is God’s servant is a principle of covenantal responsibility implicit in Exodus 21.1-11. Under the Mosaic Law servants, or slaves, had societal rights and privileges; the master of the house also had a master to whom he must give an account. So then, just as a master of the house was obligated to care for and see to the needs of his servants, so too God will provide and care for those whom he has chosen. “To be such a servant is implemented by divine action. From the ends of the earth … I called you is a poetical expression of the taking of Abraham from Ur and Israel from Egypt. It is a token of divine sway over all the earth and of the deliberate selection of this man and his family” (Motyer, 312).
Those who are members of God’s family are so because, like Abraham and Israel, he has called them to himself. Because they are his he assumes all the responsibility to protect and care for what is rightfully his. The language, I have chosen you and not rejected you, may be understood as, “I have determined not to reject you.” If God has thus made up his mind to receive the faithful offspring of Jacob / Israel, then the command not to fear carries all the force of his sovereign ability to accomplish his purpose.
Your present circumstances may not appear promising, but you may be assured that the Lord will give you the resources and strength you need to do what is required of you. Paul understood this when he wrote to the Philippians: Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me (4.11-13; cf. Psalm 84).
Jesus himself warned his disciples that after he left they would face many troubles. He told them plainly that the world would hate them just as it hated him (John 15.18). His very last words to them as a group before his crucifixion were words of comfort: I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world (John 16.33). The Lord’s assurances are emphatic: For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” With such a One on his side the believer has nothing to fear; no enemy is too powerful and no obstacle so great that it can withstand the force of the Lord’s will.
The Divine Metamorphosis (41.14-16)
The second word of encouragement is illustrative of the incomparable power of God to transform a hopelessly inferior worm into a force of divine judgment. The language of Isaiah is reminiscent of Job: “How then can a man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!” (Job 25.4-6). What is impossible for men is easy for God. It is not man’s incapacity that is being considered, but God’s infinite ability. The psalmist questions man’s worth in relationship to God’s glory (Psalm 8.4), but the apostle John describes the wondrous new relationship that every believer has with God in Christ: Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4.4). The victory in Christ is even more clearly articulated in chapter 5: For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5.4-5). The one who abides in Christ possesses an inestimable treasure in a jar of clay (2 Corinthians 4.7) and in the end he will overcome every obstacle (cf. Revelation 21.5-7).
The Divine Provision (41.17-20).
The last panel of the picture shows how God is able to change the adversity of one’s circumstances to divine provision. When every earthly prospect appears hopeless the Lord gives life and hope. The Israelites’ expectation of finding water as they wandered in the desert was not a good one, but time and again God miraculously provided water and food. God answers the prayers of those who seek him; he invites men and women to ask great things of him: “Thus says the Lordwho made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” (Jeremiah 33.2-3). The believer is invited to come to God and ask of him that his or her needs may be met. This is not to say that God is a “sugar daddy” who indiscriminately caters to the whims of selfish people, but he is attentive to the needs of those who seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6.33).
God refreshes his people by giving them his Spirit. To the Samaritan woman coming to fill her water jars Jesus said: “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4.13-14). “The most convincing witness in a truth-denying world is not an apologetic argument of our own brilliance: the most convincing answer to our times is the manifest presence of God in our midst. Stake your life, your very survival, on the reality of the Holy Spirit. Live on John 14-16 and Romans 8 and 1 Corinthians 1-2 and other passages on the Spirit. Think of God and entreat God and pray to God in keeping with his own self-revelation in his Word. Believe that the sovereign Spirit can uphold you, strengthen you, [and] refresh you. He will make you invincible” (Ray Ortlund, Jr., Isaiah, p. 265). People often attempt to live beyond their financial means and inevitably fail. God invites us to live beyond our spiritual means and he guarantees our success.
The Incomparable God of History (41.1-7)
The words: let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment, depict a courtroom setting, but the language implies an invitation to salvation more than a confrontation of judgment. Indeed, the invitation is universal. When Isaiah includes the inhabitants of the coastlands (islands or distant lands) and the peoples (nations, NIV), it is the entire Gentile world that is being invited to share in the blessings of God. Sadly, most who are invited to the banquet table find other things to do and miss the blessings that might be theirs (cf. Jonah 2.8 NIV; Matthew 22.1-14). The promise of renewed strength in 40.31 for men and women of faith is the same promise offered in 41.1. Only here do we begin to understand that Isaiah foresees both Jew and Gentile as the objects of God’s saving grace. Indeed, all who turn to the Lord will find provision for all their needs. “This is the point of the call, which will be developed further in 41:21-42:17. It is at the heart of Isaiah’s message that the Gentiles are to be fellow-heirs with Israel (19:24-25; 27:13). The Lord, therefore, extends to them, in the envisaged pressures of life, the same renewal that is available to Israel, i.e. by coming to him. It cannot, however, be done just like that: there is an issue to be settled, hence the courtroom terminology of approaching, speaking, meeting together and judgment (mispat, not ‘condemnation’, but reaching an authoritative decision)” (J. Alec Motyer, Isaiah, p. 309).
Isaiah describes a conqueror who causes an international furor as he drives out the nations that oppose him. While Isaiah was for the moment intentionally non-specific, it will become clear (44.24-47.15) that he is thinking about the military conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, the Persian king. But to declare that at the outset would defeat Isaiah’s purpose, which is to establish the Lord’s sovereign rule over all the events of history. God enthrones and dethrones kings, establishes and destroys empires; he alone is the ultimate causal agent in human history. Whoever this agent of the Lord may be, it is the Lord’s purpose that lies behind his every action: He gives up nations before him, so that he tramples kings underfoot; he makes them like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow. He pursues them and passes on safely, by paths his feet have not trod. Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he (41.2-4). “But here is a strong and magnificent affirmation. In every movement in world affairs the Lord is the initiator, purposing and achieving that which accords with his righteous nature and policies. … The Lord remains in charge of the detailed operations of the one he has stirred up” (Motyer, p. 310). Kings and emperors concern themselves with dynasties, but God is the only Sovereign and eternal King who has no progeny to whom he will cede his throne. He was alone in the beginning and he will be with his own at the end.
The great irony of the Lord’s invitation for those far off to draw near is that rather than accepting his invitation they turn to created (idols) things rather than the Creator. People live in fear, but rather than turn to the One who is able to deliver them, they attempt to encourage one another with platitudes like, “Be strong!,” as though words alone will change the course of events. They give each other tokens and talismans, but their superstitions are of no value.
The Victorious Servant (41.8-13)
The first of the three pictures presented by Isaiah depicts God’s sovereign deliverance through the victorious servant who vanquishes the enemies of God’s people. The faithful reader may be confident that he has a promising future. He is assured of this because of the covenantal promises made to the patriarchs: But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; … “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (41.8, 9b-10).
First, Isaiah establishes the relationship between the Lord and his people. That Jacob (Israel) is God’s servant is a principle of covenantal responsibility implicit in Exodus 21.1-11. Under the Mosaic Law servants, or slaves, had societal rights and privileges; the master of the house also had a master to whom he must give an account. So then, just as a master of the house was obligated to care for and see to the needs of his servants, so too God will provide and care for those whom he has chosen. “To be such a servant is implemented by divine action. From the ends of the earth … I called you is a poetical expression of the taking of Abraham from Ur and Israel from Egypt. It is a token of divine sway over all the earth and of the deliberate selection of this man and his family” (Motyer, 312).
Those who are members of God’s family are so because, like Abraham and Israel, he has called them to himself. Because they are his he assumes all the responsibility to protect and care for what is rightfully his. The language, I have chosen you and not rejected you, may be understood as, “I have determined not to reject you.” If God has thus made up his mind to receive the faithful offspring of Jacob / Israel, then the command not to fear carries all the force of his sovereign ability to accomplish his purpose.
Your present circumstances may not appear promising, but you may be assured that the Lord will give you the resources and strength you need to do what is required of you. Paul understood this when he wrote to the Philippians: Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me (4.11-13; cf. Psalm 84).
Jesus himself warned his disciples that after he left they would face many troubles. He told them plainly that the world would hate them just as it hated him (John 15.18). His very last words to them as a group before his crucifixion were words of comfort: I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world (John 16.33). The Lord’s assurances are emphatic: For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” With such a One on his side the believer has nothing to fear; no enemy is too powerful and no obstacle so great that it can withstand the force of the Lord’s will.
The Divine Metamorphosis (41.14-16)
The second word of encouragement is illustrative of the incomparable power of God to transform a hopelessly inferior worm into a force of divine judgment. The language of Isaiah is reminiscent of Job: “How then can a man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!” (Job 25.4-6). What is impossible for men is easy for God. It is not man’s incapacity that is being considered, but God’s infinite ability. The psalmist questions man’s worth in relationship to God’s glory (Psalm 8.4), but the apostle John describes the wondrous new relationship that every believer has with God in Christ: Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4.4). The victory in Christ is even more clearly articulated in chapter 5: For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5.4-5). The one who abides in Christ possesses an inestimable treasure in a jar of clay (2 Corinthians 4.7) and in the end he will overcome every obstacle (cf. Revelation 21.5-7).
The Divine Provision (41.17-20).
The last panel of the picture shows how God is able to change the adversity of one’s circumstances to divine provision. When every earthly prospect appears hopeless the Lord gives life and hope. The Israelites’ expectation of finding water as they wandered in the desert was not a good one, but time and again God miraculously provided water and food. God answers the prayers of those who seek him; he invites men and women to ask great things of him: “Thus says the Lordwho made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” (Jeremiah 33.2-3). The believer is invited to come to God and ask of him that his or her needs may be met. This is not to say that God is a “sugar daddy” who indiscriminately caters to the whims of selfish people, but he is attentive to the needs of those who seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6.33).
God refreshes his people by giving them his Spirit. To the Samaritan woman coming to fill her water jars Jesus said: “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4.13-14). “The most convincing witness in a truth-denying world is not an apologetic argument of our own brilliance: the most convincing answer to our times is the manifest presence of God in our midst. Stake your life, your very survival, on the reality of the Holy Spirit. Live on John 14-16 and Romans 8 and 1 Corinthians 1-2 and other passages on the Spirit. Think of God and entreat God and pray to God in keeping with his own self-revelation in his Word. Believe that the sovereign Spirit can uphold you, strengthen you, [and] refresh you. He will make you invincible” (Ray Ortlund, Jr., Isaiah, p. 265). People often attempt to live beyond their financial means and inevitably fail. God invites us to live beyond our spiritual means and he guarantees our success.
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