Isaiah 41
41
Coming Conqueror
1“Be silent before Me, O islands! Let peoples renew their strength. Let them draw near, then let them speak. Let us come together for judgment.
2Who has stirred up one from the east? He calls justice to His feet. He gives nations over to him and subdues kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, as driven stubble with his bow.
3He pursues them, passing on safely, by a path his feet had not traveled.
4Who has performed and done it? Calling forth the generations from the beginning, I, Adonai, am the first and the last, I am He!”
5The coastlands have seen and fear. The ends of the earth tremble. They draw near and come.
6Each one helps his neighbor and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7The craftsman encourages the smith, who smooths with the hammer, who strikes with the anvil, saying of the soldering, “It’s good!” as he fastens it with nails so that it will not totter.
My Servant, My Friend
8“But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham, My friend—
9I took hold of you from the ends of the earth, and called from its uttermost parts, and said to you, ‘You are My servant— I have chosen you, not rejected you.
10Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Surely I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
11Behold, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and disgraced. Those who quarrel with you will be as nothing and perish.
12Though you will look for those who contended with you, you will not find them. Those who warred against you will be as nothing at all.
13For I am Adonai your God who upholds your right hand, who says to you, “Fear not, I will help you.”
14Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you.” It is a declaration of Adonai, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15“Look, I will make you a threshing sledge, new, with sharp, double-edged spikes. You will thresh the mountains and grind them up, and will make the hills like chaff.
16You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away, a storm-wind will scatter them. But you will rejoice in Adonai. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17“The poor and needy ask for water, but there is none, Their tongues are parched with thirst. I, Adonai, will answer them, I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18I will open rivers on the bare hills and springs in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land into fountains of water.
19I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the olive tree. I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine together with the box tree—
20so they may see and know, consider and understand together, that the hand of Adonai has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.”
Challenge to Idolaters
21“Present your case,” says Adonai. “Bring forth your reasons,” says the King of Jacob.
22Let them bring forth and tell us what will happen. The former things, what were they? Tell us, that we may consider them and know their outcome. Or announce to us things to come.
23Declare the things coming afterward, so we may know that you are gods! Indeed, do good or do evil, so we may all see and be awestruck.
24Behold, you are nothing, and your work is null. Whoever chooses you is loathsome.
25“I have stirred up one from the north, and he has come. From the rising of the sun, He will call upon My Name. He will trample rulers as on mortar, like a potter treading clay.”
26Who told this from the beginning, so that we may know? Or from former times, so we may say, “He is right”? In fact, no one foretold it, In fact, no one announced it. In fact, no one heard Your words.
27First it was to Zion: “Behold, here they are!” And to Jerusalem: “I will give a herald of good news.”
28But when I look, there is no one. There is no counselor among them. When I ask them, they have no response.
29Indeed, they are all a delusion. Their works are null. Their molten images are wind and waste.
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Isaiah 41: TLV
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Isaiah 41
41
God Promises to Help Israel
1“You lands of the sea, stand silent before me! # 41:1 Or “hold a feast to me” (LXX).
Let the people renew their strength!
Let them approach me and state their case.
Let’s come together to decide who is right.
2Who raised up the conqueror from the east? # 41:2 See Isa. 46:11.
Who commissioned him for his righteous purpose? # 41:2 Or “Righteousness summoned him to his foot.” Some see King Cyrus as the conqueror mentioned here; others, Abraham. This can also be viewed as a prophecy of the Lord Jesus. He is the Mighty One who conquers nations with his love.
The Lord hands nations over to him # 41:2 See Gen. 12:1–3; Ps. 2:8; Rev. 2:26–29.
to trample kings under his feet, # 41:2 See Ps. 149:6–9.
to make them like dust with his sword # 41:2 See Eph. 6:17–18; Heb. 4:12.
and like windblown chaff with his bow. # 41:2 See Rev. 6:1–2.
3Swiftly he pursues them and advances unscathed
as he passes over unfamiliar land. # 41:3 Or “No shackle is placed on his feet” (Old Aramaic).
4Who achieved all this and made it happen?
Who guides the destiny of each generation
from the first until now? # 41:4 Or “calling nations [to be formed] from the beginning.”
I am the one! I am Yahweh, the first,
the unchanging one who will be there in the end!”
5The islands see it and panic;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they approach and draw near.
6The idol-makers all bolster one another up,
saying, “Take courage!”
7The woodworker encourages the metalsmith;
the one who flattens with the hammer
spurs on the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the welding, “Looks good!”
They nail down the idol so it won’t topple.
8 # 41:8–20 Yahweh sings three poems of comfort in this chapter: to his chosen servant, Israel (vv. 8–13), to his redeemed warrior-bride (vv. 14–16), and to the poor and needy (vv. 17–20). “But you—my servant, Israel,
Jacob, whom I’ve chosen,
seed of my beloved friend Abraham # 41:8 See James 2:23. —
9I drew you to myself from the ends of the earth
and called you from its farthest corner.
I say to you:
‘You are my servant; I have chosen you.
I have not rejected you!
10Do not yield to fear, for I am always near.
Never turn your gaze from me, # 41:10 Or “Don’t be frightened.” The Hebrew root word shāʿah means “to gaze, to look around.” for I am your faithful God.
I will infuse you with my strength
and help you in every situation. # 41:10 See Deut. 31:6–8.
I will hold you firmly with my victorious right hand.’
11“All who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced.
All who contend with you will perish and disappear.
12You will look for your enemies in vain;
those who war against you will vanish without a trace!
13I am Yahweh, your mighty God!
I grip your right hand and won’t let you go!
I whisper to you:
‘Don’t be afraid; I am here to help you!’
14“Jacob, although you feel like a grub worm, # 41:14 David used this term to prophetically point to Jesus as he was being crucified. See Ps. 22:6. The Hebrew word is tola, which is a species of worm found in the Middle East (Coccus ilicus) that reproduces itself when the female fastens herself to a tree and lays eggs between her body and the tree. When the eggs hatch, the baby worms feed on her living body. When the eggs emerge, the blood remains on the tree as a crimson stain. When Jesus died on the cross (tree), his blood left a crimson stain, and he gave birth to the church. He nourishes us and sustains us with his body and blood. have no fear!
O men of Israel, I am here to help you!
I am your Kinsman-Redeemer, # 41:14 A kinsman-redeemer (go’el) is a male relative who was culturally responsible to act on behalf of a relative who was in trouble or danger, needed to be redeemed from slavery, or was in need of rescue. He became like a “savior” or “family protector” for his next of kin. Jesus, our next of kin, is our Kinsman-Redeemer. The Hebrew verb ga’al (“to act as redeemer”) is found more than one hundred times in the Hebrew Bible. See Ruth 2:20.
the Holy One of Israel! # 41:14 Although God is holy, he stoops to tenderly help those who feel unholy.
15I am making you into a powerful threshing instrument, # 41:15 Or “a threshing sledge,” a board with iron studs like teeth that is driven over wheat to grind the chaff off the grain, which is then winnowed.
with teeth new and sharp! # 41:15 Or “the owner of two mouths.” The Word of God is like a “two-mouthed sword” (Heb. 4:12), for it is spoken from God’s mouth and is released in power as it is spoken from our mouths. We will become God’s two-mouthed threshing instrument!
You will reduce hills to chaff and crush mountains # 41:15 Mountains are a frequent biblical metaphor for kingdoms and nations. into dust!
16You will winnow them, and the stormy wind will blow them away!
Then you will spin and dance with rejoicing # 41:16 The Hebrew word for “rejoice” (giyl) implies “twirling,” “spinning,” or “shouting with delight and joy.” in Yahweh,
boasting with admiration in the Holy One of Israel! # 41:16 Or “You will rejoice among the holy things of Israel.”
17“I, Yahweh, will respond to the cry of the poor and needy
when they are thirsty and their tongues are parched with thirst!
When they seek a drink of water but there is none,
I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
18I will open up refreshing streams # 41:18 See John 7:37–39. on the barren hills
and springing fountains in the valleys. # 41:18 See Ps. 84:6.
I will make the desert a pleasant pool # 41:18 See Isa. 35:1–10.
and the dry land springs of water. # 41:18 See Ps. 78:15–16.
19I will plant in the treeless desert cedars and acacias, # 41:19 Acacia wood was used extensively in the tabernacle and was used to form the ark of the covenant.
myrtle # 41:19 “Myrtle” is the Hebrew word hadassah, Esther’s Jewish name. and olive trees. # 41:19 Or “trees of oil” (the Holy Spirit).
I will set in the wilderness evergreens, # 41:19 Or “fir trees.”
together with many elms and cypresses. # 41:19 These seven trees speak of the fullness of new creation life. Compare them to the seven branches of the lampstand and the seven Spirits of God.
20Everyone will see
and know that I, Yahweh, with my mighty hands have done this.
They will consider and comprehend
that the Holy One of Israel has created it.” # 41:20 That is, the Lord created the unity of this forest. God is the one who makes us one.
Pagan Gods Are Nothing
21Yahweh says, “Present your case.”
“Let’s hear your arguments,” says the King of Jacob’s tribes.
22“Come, you idols, and let’s hear your prophecy for the future.
Tell us, tell us about your former prophecies
so we can test them and see if they were fulfilled,
or decree some future event for us.
23Prophesy what the future holds
to prove to us that you are gods.
Do something—anything! # 41:23 Or “Do good, do harm.”
Frighten us or put us in awe!
24But you are nothing at all! What have you ever accomplished?
Whoever chooses to worship you is disgusting!
25“I stirred up one from the north,
who comes from the rising of the sun.
He will call on my name. # 41:25 Or “He is summoned in my name.” Some believe that Cyrus fulfilled this prophecy, for he came from the east (Persia) and descended on Israel from the north. Others believe this is the Messiah, who came from the north (see Ps. 48:2) and is the Dayspring (the rising of the sun).
He will trample rulers into the mud as a potter treads clay.
26Which of you foretold this from the start?
Who prophesied it from long ago that we can say, ‘He is right’?
None of you prophesied it!
None of you announced it ahead of time!
No one heard you say a thing about it!
27I was the first to decree to Zion, ‘Look, this is what’s about to happen!’ # 41:27 Fulfilled prophecy is one of many evidences that God is real and powerful and that he knows all things.
I am bringing a messenger to Jerusalem with good news.
28But when I look, I find no one who is capable to counsel me!
There is no one who can respond to me with the right answer!
Who could I even ask?
29Look, all these gods are nothingness!
What have they ever accomplished?
Their metal images are nothing but empty wind and confusion!
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