Isaiah 41:1

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. Keep silence before me, O islands, and let the people renew their strength. Let them come near, and then let them speak. Let us come near together to judgment.

Who raised up the righteous man from the east? Who called him to his feet? Who gave the nations before him and made him rule over kings? Who gave them as dust to his sword and as driven stubble to his bow? Who pursued them and passed safely, even by the way that he had not gone with his feet? Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last, I am he.

Let's pray. Father, as we look now into your word, we thank you that you have made yourself known to us through your word. You revealed yourself. We thank you for the revelation that we have of you in the Scripture. We pray that as we study your word, you would make yourself known to us more fully, Lord, that we would understand and comprehend your greatness, your power, and who you are.

Lord, that we would further know what it means to be in fellowship with you, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the first, the last, the one who was and is and is to come. As we study through this passage before us tonight, I pray that you, by your Spirit, would speak to us and that you would give us understanding. For we ask this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen.

You can be seated. At the close of chapter 40, we see that great truth: those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, and they shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. This promise of strength and renewed vigor to those who wait upon the Lord is on the heels of a spoken judgment by God.

Coming at the hand of the Babylonians, the children of Israel in Judah and Jerusalem had seen years and years of war. It seemed like with every generation, there was more battle, more conflict, and more war. This is the case in the world that we live in today. Jesus, in Matthew chapter 24, speaks about the condition of the world throughout the ages until He comes. He says there shall be wars and rumors of wars, kingdom rising against kingdom, and nation against nation. It seems that in every generation, there is conflict throughout the world.

God spoke to the people in Judah and Jerusalem that more conflict was coming. They had just seen the finish of a battle against the Assyrians at the close of chapter 39. However, judgment was spoken as coming through the Babylonians. It would be another couple of generations, more than 150 years, before the fulfillment of that judgment would happen. Yet, it was what they were looking forward to. God had prophetically announced what was coming down the road.

Right after that, He says, "Comfort, comfort ye my people." Ultimately, the comfort that God was speaking of in Isaiah chapter 40 was not a comfort or peace that would just come through the finish of war. Instead, it was a salvation that was going to come to the people—a finish of war spiritually, not so much physically. He gave that great promise in verse 29 of chapter 40 that He gives power to the faint, and to those who have no might, He increases strength. Even though the youths, those who are supposed to have vigor and strength, will faint and be weary, the young men shall utterly fail. But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. God is speaking to His people, those governed by Him. He says, "If you wait upon Me, you'll renew your strength."

Then, His attention changes in verse 1 of chapter 41. He speaks to the nations, referred to as the isles in the King James Version. He addresses all the rest of the people who do not wait upon the Lord. He says to them, "Keep silence before Me." The nations that are so quick to rage against one another are told by God to keep silence and let the people renew their strength. "Be quiet and get ready," He essentially says, "because I am going to enter into judgment with you. Be still for a moment because I have something to take up with you."

Renew your strength and come near to speak. We're going to contend together. This is very similar to what God spoke to His own people back in Isaiah chapter 1 when He said, "Come now, let us reason together." He was calling His own people in Isaiah chapter 1 to come before Him. They were to reason together and work through the fact that they had departed from Him.

Now, here in chapter 41, verse 1, He says, "I want the nations, the islands, those surrounding My people, to come near." We are going to chat. Come near so that we can enter into judgment. Then He asks them a series of questions in verses 2 through 4: "Who raised up the righteous man from the east, and who called him to His feet? Who gave the nations before him and made him rule over kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword and as driven stubble to his bow? Who pursued them and passed safely even by the way when he had gone with his feet? Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generation from the beginning?"

God answers the question for them: "I, the Lord, the first and the last, I am He." The answer to the question, "Who, who, who, who?" is God. It's very clear. He answers the question for us there in verse 4: "I am the one who did these things."

However, the deeper question, and perhaps the one that's more difficult to answer, is: Who is the righteous man that Isaiah or God is speaking about here in these first verses? We know that God is the one who sovereignly and powerfully raised this individual up, if it is indeed an individual. But who is being spoken of? Who is the righteous one from the east?

If you look through different Bible teachings from various commentators, you will find divided views. There is much debate about who this one raised up from the east is—the one who was raised up in righteousness, called to His feet, given the nations before him, and made to rule over kings. This one was powerful in battle, as these other nations were as dust to his sword and driven stubble before his bow.

There is contention among commentators about who this righteous one raised up from the east is. However, two individuals are often singled out. Some say it was Abraham, who was called by God out of Ur of the Chaldees back in Genesis chapter 12. Others suggest it was Cyrus, who was called from the Medo-Persian Empire 150 years after Isaiah would speak these things. If you read through different commentators, such as Adam Clark, Baltimore, or Wolf, you will encounter these varying interpretations.

Warren Wiersbe notes that commentators have different views on the passages in Isaiah. Generally, they focus on either Abraham or Cyrus. One group of commentators believes that God is speaking about what He did in the past through Abraham, while another group argues that God is referring to what He will do in the future through Cyrus. Cyrus will become a key player in the next several chapters of the book of Isaiah.

In Isaiah chapter 39, God states that He will use the Babylonians to come and judge Judah and Jerusalem. You may remember that King Hezekiah turned a blind eye to this prophecy, thinking, "At least it won't happen in my day." He was correct; the judgment at the hands of the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar would not occur until 586 BC. However, it would happen. Hezekiah's dismissal of the prophecy reflects a common human tendency to ignore impending consequences.

In the context of God's judgment on the children of Israel in Judah and Jerusalem by the Babylonians, God also declares that He will judge the Babylonians and set His people free through Cyrus, the one He will call. In fact, when we reach Isaiah chapter 45, God names Cyrus specifically, which is perhaps one of the most powerful prophecies in the book of Isaiah. While many might think of the virgin birth or Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6, which speaks of the coming child, I would argue that one of the most significant prophecies is found in Isaiah chapter 45, where God says He is calling Cyrus to set His people free from Babylon. Remarkably, Cyrus had not even been born when God made this declaration.

There is a group of scholars who assert that God is speaking about Cyrus in Isaiah chapter 41, verses 2 through 4. Conversely, another group contends that He is referring to the past through Abraham. Personally, I lean toward the interpretation that God is speaking of Abraham. In this passage, He discusses both the past and the future, stating, "This is what I have done in the past. This is what I will do in the future."

The reason God contrasts His work in both timeframes is to demonstrate that the gods of this world, the idols of man, are nothing. They can do nothing, foretell nothing, and possess no knowledge or understanding. They are utterly useless. Isaiah chapters 40 through 46 highlight the foolishness of idolatry.

God says to the nations, "You're bowing down to all these images, these things carved out of wood or these things graven in gold and silver. And they're absolutely useless. They can do nothing for you. Can they tell you what happened in the past? Can they tell you what is going to happen in the future? Can they do anything right now? Absolutely not."

But God, who is on the throne in heaven, knows what happened in the past. He tells us what is going to happen in the future, and He rules sovereignly over the affairs of men right now. He has shown time and time again to be powerful over all the things that man worships and bows down to here in this world.

So God says to the people, the nations surrounding His own people, the children of Israel, "Listen, I want you to recognize that I alone am God over all these idols that you bow down to. They cannot reveal anything that has happened, is going to happen, or is happening right now. But I tell you before these things come to pass."

You see, the prophetic utterance of God, whether it's God foretelling the future or foretelling what happened in the past, is one of the greatest proofs of divine inspiration of the Scriptures. When God tells us that Cyrus is going to come more than 100 years before Cyrus is even born, and then Cyrus does come, God announces that Cyrus will be the one who delivers the children of Israel from Babylon before they have even gone captive into Babylon. When those things come to pass, you can point back and say, "See, God said that this would happen, and it came to pass."

It's not some sort of veiled, weird, ambiguous sort of thing. Every single year, at the end of the year when we come into December 31st and January 1st, the newsstands always have the Inquirer with the prophecies that the nation doesn't want you to know about from Nostradamus. There are always these veiled sorts of things that you read through and wonder, "What do you mean? That means what?" No one can really figure out what it means. It's very weird, ambiguous, and strange.

Yet God's word is accurate and specific. He says, "I'm going to raise up Cyrus." Or consider the word that God speaks through Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel chapter 3 and Daniel chapter 5, somewhere around there.

Remember, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream in which he saw a statue. The statue had a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, a body of brass, legs of iron, and feet that were iron mixed with clay. He didn't understand what this dream meant. In fact, he even forgot what the dream was when he woke up. Have you ever had that problem? You wake up with a nagging dream in your mind, but you can't remember what it was? Nebuchadnezzar experienced that, so he called all his wise men together and said, "Listen, I had a dream. I want you to interpret it." They replied, "All right, tell us what the dream was." He responded, "No, I don't remember the dream. You have to tell me the dream and its interpretation."

They said, "King, that's impossible." He insisted, "Well, it better be possible, because if it's not, I'm going to kill you." It was pretty simple: tell him the dream and its interpretation, or face death. They began to sweat; their degrees would not have helped them that day. Ultimately, Daniel was brought before Nebuchadnezzar. The king said, "I hear that you're able to interpret dreams." Daniel replied, "No, I'm not able to interpret dreams." The king questioned why they had brought him. Daniel then said, "Wait a minute. My God can interpret your dream, so let me go pray, and I'll figure out what's going on."

God spoke to Daniel and revealed the dream. Daniel returned to the king and said, "Listen, king, I know what you dreamt. You dreamt about this statue: head of gold, chest and arms of silver, body of brass, legs of iron." The king confirmed, "Yes, that's what I dreamt. You're right. Let me tell you what it is." Daniel explained, "You're the head of gold, representing the Babylonian Empire. After you will come the chest and arms of silver, which represent the Medo-Persian Empire. Following that will be the body of brass, representing the Greeks. After them will come the Romans."

Daniel spoke so accurately, specifically, and beautifully. Ultimately, all of these empires would be destroyed by a rock that would be cut out of a mountain and cast down at the feet of the statue, which represents Christ. He is that rock. Daniel, by the power of God, spoke thousands of years ago about events that have yet to be fulfilled, but they have happened accurately and specifically because God's word is truth. The gods of this world cannot do that; they cannot tell us what happened eons ago or predict what will happen a hundred years from now. But God reveals to us what is happening and what will happen.

Today, we have the God of science, who tells us that millions and millions of years ago, or even billions of years ago, there was a big bang. From this big bang came everything that we see and know. It keeps on banging away. However, God tells us what really happened. The God of science may say, "Well, we think this is what happened," but they are mistaken. The God of creation tells us exactly what happened.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. The Spirit of God hovered over the darkness, and God said, "Let there be light." You see, God tells us what happened, which science can't understand. It can't figure it out. But God, who was there and who created it, can tell us what happened in the past, and then He tells us what's going to happen in the future—how it's all going to be wrapped up. It's all actually going to burn with a fervent heat. All the elements are going to burn away in fire. There will be a big bang at the end.

God tells us what happened in the past and what's going to happen in the future. But God also reveals that He is sovereign over the affairs of man here and now. Look at Isaiah chapter 41, verse 22. Now skip down to verse 26: "Who has declared from the beginning that we may know, and before time that we may see that He is right? Yea, there is none that shows. Yea, there is none that declares. Yea, there is none that hears your words."

God says these false gods haven't shown us anything that's going to come to pass. Where are they? Well, skip over to Isaiah chapter 43. God, again, in Isaiah 40 through 46, is showing the foolishness of idolatry. Isaiah 43, verse 9 states, "Let all the nations be gathered together and let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this and show us former things? Let them bring forth their witness that they may be justified, or let them hear and say, 'It is truth.'"

He says, "Bring all your wise guys together and show us what's going to happen, what has happened, so we can say yea and amen to it." But they cannot. Isaiah 44, verse 7 says, "And who, as I, shall call and shall declare it and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people and the things that are coming and shall come? Let them show them unto you."

So God says, "Listen, can any of these false gods do as I have done?"

Isaiah 45, verse 21 states, "Tell ye and bring them near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside me. A just God and a Savior. There is none beside me." This is God's prophetic utterance, not just foretelling what is going to happen, but also telling us the things that have already happened. God's prophetic utterance reveals that He is greater than all these other things that people bow down to.

So, what is the response to God's sovereign power revealed here in verses 2 through 4 of Isaiah 41? Look at verse 5. The isles, or the nations, saw it. They saw the power of God, and they feared, which is the right response. The ends of the earth were afraid. They drew near and came. They helped everyone his neighbor and everyone his brother, saying, "Be of good courage."

The carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smooths with the hammer encouraged him that smooths with the anvil, saying, "It is ready for the soldering." He fastened it with the nails so that it should not be moved. They had the right response, but a wrong reaction to that response. They saw the awesome power of God as He revealed that He is able to tell them what is happening right now, what has happened in the past, and what is going to happen in the future. They were fearful of that, saying, "Man, that's power."

However, in response to God's power, what did they do? They went to the carpenter, the goldsmith, and the skilled workmen, saying, "We better make sure that our gods can't fall over. We better fasten them real well so that they can't be moved and fall down."

You see, oftentimes when man is able to see a demonstration of the power of God, he responds in fear. But ultimately, as a result of that response, he doesn't draw near to the Lord. Instead, he flees the other way. We see this in the Gospels time and time again with the religious establishment. Remember, Jesus performed mighty miracles, such as the resurrection of Lazarus and the healing of Jairus' daughter. What was the response? People were afraid, thinking, "Man, who can do things like this?"

But then, what did they do with that response? The religious leaders set out to kill Him. They said, "We've got to get rid of this guy. He is dangerous because he's going to undo our power."

He's going to undo our authority, and so we've got to get rid of this Jesus. We see it even in our day. Back in September 2001, when 9/11 happened, immediately after that, churches all across our nation were filled. People were afraid. But did they take that fear and use it in a proper way to draw near to God? Largely, no. You see, they let fear drive them away from the true God instead of surrendering to His glory, His majesty, and His power. They turned from God and made themselves silver and gold gods instead. They say to one another, "Be of good courage."

Now, there is no sense in being foolishly courageous. Let me say that again: there's no sense in being foolishly courageous. What does foolish courage look like? It's like the person strengthening themselves with a knife while standing before someone with a gun. That's foolish courage. "Be of good courage. You can fight." No, you're going to be dead.

Here you have these idol worshipers who see a demonstration of the mighty power of God. So what do they do? They think, "Well, we better make sure that our gods can't fall over." There's a great demonstration of this in 1 Samuel chapter 4. In 1 Samuel chapter 4, the children of Israel go out to fight against the Philistines, who happen to be one of their greatest enemies. The children of Israel go to fight the Philistines, and on the first day of their battle, they get spanked.

They gather back together that night in their camp and start to speculate, "What did we do wrong? It's not right that we failed against the Philistines." One of the elders, one of the leaders in the camp of Israel, had this really bright idea: "We forgot God." So they sent to Shiloh, where the tabernacle of God was located. They said, "Hey, you've got to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out to us because we need God in the battle." They wanted to use God as their good luck charm, kind of like a rabbit's foot.

They brought the Ark into the midst of the camp, and they were so excited about this that they screamed with such a great yell that the ground shook, kind of like this afternoon. The Philistines, in the camp across the valley, heard this roar from the children of Israel. The children of Israel had just been beaten by the Philistines that day, and now they sounded like they were having a party. The Philistines were afraid, even though they had been victorious in the battle that day.

So here the Philistines are, fearful when they hear this, and they start to speculate, "What's going on over there in the camp of Israel?" Someone says, "The gods of the children of Israel have come among them. We're in trouble." Notice that they said, "the gods of the children of Israel" in 1 Samuel chapter 4.

Why is that? Well, I suggest that the reason they referred to the gods of the children of Israel is because the children of Israel had been a bad witness. They had been worshipping false gods, plural, when they were supposed to be worshipping the one true God. The Philistines said, "Quit yourselves like men." The King James Version essentially conveys that they said, "Hey, listen, man up. Tomorrow's going to be a hard battle. We've got to be ready for these children of Israel now that their gods have come in their midst."

The children of Israel went into battle the next day, and they were defeated even worse than they had been the first day. The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord was stolen from them. The Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it to the city of Ashdod, one of the capital cities of the Philistines. They placed the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon next to the image of their false god Dagon.

When the priests of Dagon woke up the next morning and went into the temple, they found that Dagon had fallen over. So what did they do? They propped him back up and made sure he was secure. The next morning, the priests of Dagon returned to the temple. What did they find? Dagon had fallen over again. This time, his top half had fallen off, leaving only the stump, and his head and hands had been broken off.

What was their response? When they saw that the power of the one true God, visibly present in the Ark of the Covenant, was stronger than their false god Dagon, do you think they submitted to the one true God? No, they got rid of the Ark. They sent it to the next town and propped Dagon back up. This illustrates the foolishness of man. When the gods of this world shake and totter in the presence of God, instead of submitting to the one true God, they want to rid themselves of Him. They are fearful of Him, yet they seek stronger gods to stand before the one true God.

I believe we have seen this in our own nation time and time again, especially in the last ten or so years. As I mentioned when we were in Isaiah chapter 19, when God moves upon a nation for judgment, one of the first things that happens is that the gods they worship begin to tremble and topple.

Now, you may say we don't really have gods in our nation today. You're right; we don't have silver and golden images or wooden idols that we go into temples and bow down to. But that doesn't mean we don't have gods. In the context of the Old Testament, if you want to fast forward to the year 2010, a god is whatever you put your trust in.

And so, look at our own nation. What are the things that we trust in? One of the big things we trust in is money, the economy, the Dow Jones. I believe that we are seeing God move against our nation for judgment, or at least God has removed His hand of protection from our nation. When God removes His hand of protection, the enemy is able to come in, and we see the effects of that here in our nation.

In October of 2008, we saw the stock market topple in one day—777 points. That's an interesting number. 777 points just so happened to be 7% of the Dow Jones in one day, and it occurred on the Feast of Trumpets. Well, that's kind of interesting. Could God be saying anything to us? Perhaps He is. God is moving against our nation in a way of judging us.

What was the reaction of the people? Did we submit ourselves to God and cry out to Him? A nation is blessed that has God as their Lord. No, we didn't do that. Instead, we threw as much money as we possibly could. It really wasn't money; we threw as much debt at it as we could to try and prop it back up. Let's prop it back up. We need to make sure it doesn't fall. We have to trust in the Dow Jones because that's our God. It's a dangerous thing.

We see here in this passage in Isaiah 41 the very same thing. God calls the nations before Him and says, "Listen, keep silence before Me. I have something I want to talk to you about. This is foolishness. You see My power evidently set forth before you. And what do you do? You take courage in your foolish, false gods. You turn to each other and say, 'Oh, be of good courage. Everything's going to be okay. Everything's going to be just fine. The G20 will figure it out. We'll be okay.' Man, it's a scary day when your trust is in the G20."

In verse 8, God says, "But thou, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, My friend, thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, 'You are My servant, and I have chosen you, and not cast thee away.' Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen you."

Yes, I will help you, and I will uphold you with my right hand of righteousness. God speaks to His people. In the first six or seven verses, we see God speaking to the nations. The nations witness a demonstration of the power of God, yet their response is not to submit to Him; instead, they strengthen themselves and their false gods.

Now, God turns His attention to Israel. Remember, Israel means "governed by God." When God speaks to Israel, He is addressing those who are His chosen people, His servants, as we see in verse eight: "But unto you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend." Here, we see three terms that God uses in His relationship with them. He says, "Listen, you are Israel. You are governed by God. You are my servant. You are my chosen. You are the descendants of my friend, Abraham."

God says to His chosen servants and friends, "Do not be afraid." Such words are only comforting if they are backed up by something substantial. It's like when someone wants to harm you, and your good buddy, who is four foot two and weighs 90 pounds, says, "Don't worry, I got your back." That is not very comforting.

However, God says, "Don't be afraid. Why not be afraid? For I am with you. I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will uphold you. I will help you." Jesus says the exact same thing to you and me as His servants today. In Matthew 28, Jesus said, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you." And what does He add? "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

So, God tells us the same thing that He would tell His people governed by God 2,800 years ago: "Do not be afraid." Why not be afraid, God? Well, because, number one, I am with you. Number two, God says, "I am your God." The fact that God is God strikes fear into many. There are some people who are atheists today simply because they do not like the idea that there might be a God. It scares them to death, and it should. In the book of James, we are told that even the demons believe that there is one God.

And what is their response to that? They tremble. They are fearful at the thought of there being a God. There are a lot of people today who are fearful at the thought of there being a God, especially the God of the Bible. But listen, it is not a fear; it is a comfort when He is your God. God says, "Do not be afraid. I am with you. I am your God." In fact, when He is your God, you have an overwhelming sense of peace.

Remember what Jesus told His disciples in John 14. Just as He was telling them that He was going away and would not be with them any longer, He said, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions. Were it not so, I would not have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." Jesus encourages His disciples with the fact that they have a relationship with Him. Here, He says, "Listen, I am your God."

What does it mean to have Him as your God? Thirdly, He says, "I will strengthen you." Do not be afraid because I will strengthen you. God desires that we come to the proper recognition of who we are: that we are weak, that we have nothing, and that we can do nothing apart from Him. In John chapter 15, when Jesus is talking about abiding in the vine, He says, "Apart from Me, you can do nothing." We need to come to that recognition because many of us, when we first came to the Lord, thought, "Man, Lord, You really chose a good one when You chose me. I'm going to do so much for You." That is a good desire, but as we walk with the Lord, we begin to realize that we really have nothing.

God allows us to go through difficult trials to bring us to that place where we completely rely upon Him, where we recognize that we are insufficient in and of ourselves. Paul went through that. The Apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, says in verse 9 that after he had gone through several infirmities and cried out to the Lord to remove the thorn in the flesh from him, God said, "My strength is made perfect in your weakness. My grace is sufficient for you." Paul came to the realization in verse 10 that when he is weak, then he is strong.

In Philippians chapter 4, we find that we can do all things through Him who gives us strength. In Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10, Paul says, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." We need to strengthen ourselves in God. The idol worshiper strengthens himself in the work of his own hands.

But the follower of God, the friend of God, strengthens himself in God alone. God says, "I will strengthen you. Don't be afraid." Why? Number four, "I will help you." Psalm 54, verse 4, the psalmist says, "Behold, God is my helper." God also says, "I will uphold you," as stated in Isaiah 41. In Psalm 54, not only does it say that God is my helper, but the next portion of the verse says, "The Lord is the one who upholds my soul." God will uphold me.

Psalm 37, verse 17 states, "The arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous." Psalm 63, verse 8, a favorite verse of mine, says, "My soul follows hard after Thee, and Your right hand upholds me." So God says, "Do not be afraid, Israel. You are governed by God because you're my servant. I've chosen you. You're the descendant of my friend, Abraham." Therefore, don't be afraid because I'm going to strengthen you. I'm going to help you. I'm going to uphold you. I will be with you.

In Isaiah 41, verse 11, it says, "Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded. They shall be as nothing, and they that strive with you shall perish. You shall seek them, and you shall not find them. Even them that contend with you, they that war against you shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught, or something that's non-existent." Why? "For I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto you, 'Fear not, I will help you.' Fear not, you worm, Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you, saith the Lord, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel."

"Behold, I will make thee a sharp threshing instrument, having teeth. You shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and you shall make the hills as chaff. Thou shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away. The whirlwind shall scatter them, and you shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel."

I love what we see in these six verses here, from verse 11 through 16. God speaks of those that are angry with you, those that fight against you, those that are coming against you in conflict. God says, "I will put them to shame. They shall be humiliated. Those that think they are something will be shown to be nothing but mere mortals. They'll be destroyed. They'll vanish away," God says. "All those who contend with you, I will contend with them." Remember God's promise to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12.

He says, "I will bless him who blesses you, and I will curse him who curses you." It is not a good thing to stand in opposition to God's people because God will contend with those who contend with you. God says that those who come against you will be destroyed. You will look for your enemies, and you won't even be able to find them. Those who fight against you will be completely removed; they will be little more than a memory. Why? Because I will fight on your behalf.

How will this come to pass? God says, "I'm going to hold your hands. I'm going to tenderly call you, saying, 'Fear not. I will help you.'" It is interesting how He poses it there in verse 14: "Fear not, you worm, Jacob." What is that all about? Why does He call the children of Israel a worm? It is interesting that He calls them by the name Jacob. Remember, the children of Israel were descendants of Abraham, ultimately through his grandson Jacob.

Jacob was named Jacob, which means "heel catcher," because when he was born, he was the second of a set of twins. He was holding on to his brother's heel when his brother was born first. Thus, Jacob came out, and they called him heel catcher. His name was synonymous with his character; he was a deceiver, a heel catcher, until he met with God in Genesis chapter 32. There, he wrestled with who I believe was the Lord Jesus. After wrestling with Him all night long, Jesus performed a remarkable move on him. He touched Jacob's hip, and it went out of socket. I would really like to know that move.

There he was, lying on the ground, holding on to the Lord, crying out, "Bless me, bless me." Jesus asked him, "What's your name?" He replied, "My name is Jacob." Jesus said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, because you have striven with God and with man and you have prevailed." Jacob was no longer a heel catcher; now he would be one governed by God. A transformation took place in Jacob's life.

Now, God says to the children of Israel, calling them by the name Jacob, "Fear not, you worm, Jacob." Why does He call them a worm? Like a worm, they are exposed to danger. They are about to be trampled upon by their enemies and have no way of defending themselves. When you think of a mean and gnarly creature, a worm is not the first thing that comes to mind. They were despicable in their own eyes and in the eyes of their enemies; they were esteemed as nothing.

And God says, "Listen, do not be afraid, you worm, Jacob. You're nothing. You're there on the ground to be tread upon by men, but don't worry. Why? Because I am with you. Although you may be feeble, despised, or base, you may even be called a worm yourself. If God is your God and you are His servant, one chosen by Him and called a friend of God, then He makes you strong against your enemies. They will not be able to stand against you."

So He says to His people, "Do not fear, Jacob, you worm. Do not be afraid, you men of Israel." The word for "men" there could be translated as "mere mortals." Don't be afraid. In their own estimation, they would be destroyed, but God says, "You're not as defenseless as you think you are because I will stand with you. I will help you." Their courage and strength did not come from trite little expressions or mere words; it came from the fact that God was their God. They would stand strong because of that.

In verse 17, God continues speaking through the prophet. He says, "When the poor and the needy seek water and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 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. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shiddah tree, the myrtle, and the oil. I will set in the desert the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together."

God says, "I am with you. Do not be afraid because I will do this and I will do that. I will hear your words. I will not forsake you. I'll provide water for you when you're thirsty. I'm going to provide shelter for you in these forests. The desolate lands will become a fruitful forest. I'll give water to the thirsty and shade for the weary."

Why? Verse 20 tells us, "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." You see, God's work is for God's glory. Through His work, God glorifies Himself. He wants His own people to see, to know, and to understand that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6, states, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Not only does He want His own people to recognize that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, but He also desires those who are outside—those who are of the nations, those who are not governed by God—to see that God fights on behalf of His people and takes care of their needs. He is a strength to the weak and a shelter to the weary, so that they may see, know, consider, and understand together that the hand of the Lord has done this.

In verse 21, it says, "Produce your cause, saith the Lord. Bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth and show us what shall happen. Let them show the former things what they be, and that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them, or declare the things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods. Yea, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and behold it together." God calls to all the idols, to the makers of those idols, and to those who worship and bow down to them. He challenges them to show us what has happened in the past and what will happen in the future. He urges them to do something—do good, do evil—anything that we might know they are real.

Every time I read these verses, specifically verses 21 through 23 of Isaiah 41, I am reminded of 1 Kings chapter 18. It was there that Elijah, the great prophet of God, battled the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah. Do you remember the story at Mount Carmel in Israel? Elijah had been fleeing from the wicked king Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel, hiding out for several years. One day, God said, "Listen, no more hiding. It's time to confront the king."

Elijah then met one of the servants of the king and said, "All right, the day has come. I want you to gather Ahab and all the prophets of Baal and Asherah up to Mount Carmel. I'll gather the people of the nation of Israel together. We're going to have a little contest." Elijah stood before this gathering, a multitude of people from the children of Israel.

And he says to them, "Listen, we're going to determine today who is God. If God be God, serve Him. If Baal be God, serve him. But today, this is it. We're going to figure out who is God. And this is how we're going to do it. We're going to have a contest."

The prophets of Baal come forward, 450 of them. In this corner, the prophets of Baal— all 450. In this corner, Elijah, one man. He says, "All right, you build an altar. I will build an altar. I will put a sacrifice on my altar. You put a sacrifice on your altar. I'll even let you go first. You call out upon your God to have Him bring fire. Whichever God shows up by fire, He's God." Then he turns to the children of Israel. "Everybody agreed? Sound good?" They respond, "Yep, let's do it."

So they set up their altars and their sacrifices. All day long, the prophets of Baal are calling out to Baal. They start cutting themselves, bleeding all over the place. They are the first emo kids in the Bible, bleeding and crying out to their God all day long. Elijah mocks them, saying, "Hey, maybe your God is on the toilet. He can't hear you. Maybe He's on vacation. He doesn't know what's going on."

Finally, at the end of the day, Baal does not show up by fire. Elijah sets the altar in order once again because it had fallen down. He prays a very simple prayer, calling out upon God to bring fire. God brings down fire, consuming the sacrifice, the wood, the rocks that he had put there for the altar, and even the water that he had poured out upon the altar. Everyone sees that day that God is God.

Essentially, what was being done there is exactly what Isaiah is calling for here. He is saying to the false gods of the world, or God is saying to the false gods of this world, "Show up, do something. Tell us what happened in the past. Tell us what's going to happen in the future. Do something. Do anything."

Verse 24 states, "Behold, you are nothing, and your work is nothing. An abomination is he that chooses you." The false gods of this world are shown to be nothing. Psalm 115, verse 4 says, "The idols of this world are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak. They have eyes, but they do not see. They have ears, but they do not hear. Noses they have, but they do not smell. They have hands, but they do not handle. Feet they have, but they do not walk. Neither do they speak through their throat."

Those that make them are like unto them, and so is everyone who trusts in them. Basically, what he says is that those who make these false gods that can't see, can't hear, can't taste, can't speak, can't smell, and can't do anything—those that make them and those that worship them are just like them.

Deaf, dumb, and blind. Stupid. When we get to Isaiah chapters 45 and 46, God puts it like this: How foolish is this? You go out into the woods, look for a strong tree, a good cedar, and you cut it down. While you're cutting it down, you get kind of tired and hungry. So, you decide to make yourself a fire. You take some of the tree, make a fire, cook some bread, and warm yourself by that fire. You eat whatever you've made on that fire. Then, you take the rest of the wood and build it into a god. You carve it into a god, bow down to it, and say, "Thank you for feeding me." How foolish. How stupid. Those who make them are like them. Behold, you false gods, you are nothing. Your work is nothing. You are an abomination. Anyone who chooses you is an abomination.

In verse 25, God says, "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 the princes, as mortar, and as the potter treads the clay." God has called upon one from the north and from the east, and he is going to come. He will call upon God's name and tread down the kingdoms of this world. Most commentators agree that Cyrus is in view here. We will be introduced to Cyrus a little bit more when we get to Isaiah chapter 45. Cyrus is the one that God would use to set the children of Israel free from the Babylonians. God says, "I've raised him up from the north, from the east. I've called him by name, and he is going to come and tread them down."

In verse 26, God asks, "Where are the false gods of this world? Where are the other gods of this world that can tell us that Cyrus is going to come?" They are not there. Why? Because they are nothing. The first shall say to Zion, "Behold them, and I will give to Jerusalem one that brings good tidings." I beheld, and there was no man even among them, and there was no counselor that, when I asked for them, could answer a word. Behold, they are all vanity. Their works are nothing. Their molten images are wind and confusion. The idols of this world are just that: they are idle. They do nothing.

But God was the first to declare such things. He is the first to declare what happened in the past and what is going to happen in the future. He alone brings good news. God alone is the only one who brings good news of salvation. The false gods of this world can bring no salvation. He gave them the opportunity to stand up and speak. He gives them an opportunity to plead their case, but they hold their peace. They keep silent.

Just as we saw in Isaiah 41, verse 1, "Keep silence before me. You're nothing." But why did they keep their silence? They kept their silence because they are vanity. In verse 29, it states, "Behold, they are vanity. Their works are nothing. Their molten images are wind and confusion."

It's interesting. When you talk to people who worship and serve a false god—be it those who follow the Latter-day Saints, those who follow Jehovah's Witnesses, those who follow Allah and Islam, or those who follow Buddha or Confucius—you find that when they start to share with you what they believe and why they believe it, it is wind and confusion. We have a reasoned faith. You study the Scriptures and find that it is a reasoned faith. Why? Because we have the one true God. He is the only one that is alive. All these other gods are false gods. In reality, they are demonic.

Allah is the moon god; he is a demon. For all intents and purposes, they are bowing down to a demon, and he calls them to do demonic things. Like what? Strapping bombs to themselves and blowing up other people. It's demonic. It's wicked. If you go through any of these religions, you will find they have roots in demons, and people bow down to them. But they are nothing. They are vain.

There is one God, and He alone can save. He shows Himself to be mighty against the gods of this world time and time again. Why does He do these things? That they may see, that they may know, that they may consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord has done this. The Holy One of Israel has created it. We serve an awesome God. He is our God.

And he calls us his chosen friends. Yes, we are his servants, but more than that, we are his friends. He said, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. Were it not so, I would not have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, know that I will come and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

We serve an awesome God. Amen? Let's stand and pray.

Father, we see the foolishness of idolatry time and time again, not only as we look through your Word, but as we look around the world. As we see the futility of following after and serving the things of this world, the gods of this world, we recognize that the gods of this world are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. Ultimately, they have nothing; they are nothing.

But God, we pray that you would shine brightly through us as we serve you and follow you. Show yourself alive as you transform our lives, making us more and more into the image of your Son. Shine brightly through us, Lord, that this world would see our good works and glorify you, our Father. May they see, know, consider, and understand together that you are God.

We praise you and thank you. In Jesus' name, Amen. Thank you.