Isaiah 41:1-42:17
Is 41 “Listen in silence before me, you lands beyond the sea. Bring your strongest arguments. Come now and speak. The court is ready for your case.
I’ve never been to court, but I’ve certainly seen enough court cases on TV. The prosecution makes their argument. Then the defence. Then the judge delivers a verdict: guilty or not guilty.
That’s what we’ve got going on here. The weird thing is, is it’s not God doing the judging. No, he’s asking US to be the judge, to answer the question: who is God? Is it the Lord, the God of heaven’s armies? Or is it the idols?
The court is ready, let us hear the arguments, and let us judge.
First, the case for the Lord; second the case for the idols; and third what is God going to do: call his servant.
1. The case for the Lord: sovereign, real, in control
2 “Who has stirred up this king from the east, rightly calling him to God’s service? Who gives this man victory over many nations and permits him to trample their kings underfoot? With his sword, he reduces armies to dust. With his bow, he scatters them like chaff before the wind. 3 He chases them away and goes on safely, though he is walking over unfamiliar ground. 4 Who has done such mighty deeds, summoning each new generation from the beginning of time? It is I, the LORD, the First and the Last. I alone am he.”
The first evidence God gives is that he is calling forth a “king from the east”, calling him to God’s service. A powerful king, a brutal warrior is coming.
Now remember the background for chapters 40 to 66. Even though God had warned his people to repent through Isaiah, even though he’d miraculously rescued them from the Assyrians, Israel did not repent, Jerusalem continued to sin. And so what God had warned would happen, happened. Judgement fell. The Babylonians came and destroyed Jerusalem and took everyone away to Babylon.
Now, Isaiah speaks to those in Babylon, grieving over the loss of their land, and the defeat of their God. Isaiah speaks to them to remind them that God is not dead – no, he was the one who caused this to happen. And he is still in control, he is still with them. And he warns them not to forget God, and run after idols! I mean, what happened to Jerusalem should be a warning!
And now he warns those in Babylon – I am raising up a great king from the east. A mighty warrior is coming. Does this sound familiar? It’s similar words used to describe Assyria. And they swept through the lands like a mighty flood. Unstoppable. Why? 4 Who has done such mighty deeds, summoning each new generation from the beginning of time? It is I, the LORD, the First and the Last. I alone am he.”
When they hear these words, how do the people respond? 5 The lands beyond the sea watch in fear. Remote lands tremble and mobilize for war. In fear they run to their false gods! 6 The idol makers encourage one another, saying to each other, “Be strong!” 7 The carver encourages the goldsmith, and the moulder helps at the anvil. “Good,” they say. “It’s coming along fine.” Carefully they join the parts together, then fasten the thing in place so it won’t fall over.
We don’t even need to read further, do we? God does not fall over! He calls forth, he makes things happen. The case for the Lord is strong. Trusting in idols is stupid.
2. The case for idols: nothing
21 “Present the case for your idols,” says the LORD. “Let them show what they can do,” says the King of Israel. 22 “Let them try to tell us what happened long ago so that we may consider the evidence. Or let them tell us what the future holds, so we can know what’s going to happen. 23 Yes, tell us what will occur in the days ahead. Then we will know you are gods.
Many people nowadays have a Buddha statue in their house. Or they have a Lucky Frog in the corner. Or crystals. Many worship false gods: Krishna, the Hindu pantheon, ancestors – some even worship saints, praying to them as if they were Jesus himself. And if you do this – stop it. You do not need someone between you and Jesus, whether it is an ancestor or a priest or a holy man or a saint, or even an angel. As we saw last week, Jesus Christ has opened the highway to heaven. We have access to the very throne room of God. In Christ we are sons of God. No more idols.
For idols, whatever form they take, cannot even tell you what’s already happened, never mind what’s coming in the future. New idols such as the state, NAV, or business – they don’t know what’s going ot happen tomorrow. Oil prices drop, wars happen, refugees arrive on our doorstep – all this has taken us by surprise. Why put your faith in the state, in politicians, in money, in business, when they don’t even know what will happen tomorrow!
In fact, v23 carries on, In fact, do anything—good or bad! Do something that will amaze and frighten us. 24 But no! You are less than nothing and can do nothing at all. Those who choose you pollute themselves.
Idols are dead and bring death. God’s way brings life because he alone knows the future. He alone brings it about. No-one else even knows the future, let alone controls it! 26 “Who told you from the beginning that this would happen? Who predicted this, making you admit that he was right? No one said a word! 27 I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look! Help is on the way!’ I will send Jerusalem a messenger with good news. 28 Not one of your idols told you this. Not one gave any answer when I asked. 29 See, they are all foolish, worthless things. All your idols are as empty as the wind.
It is said that those who do not know or do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. One of the most repeated commands in the Bible is “remember”. Remember what has happened. Remember what God has done in the past. Remember what he has promised to do.
So remember how these idols had no idea what God was about to do. No-one in Babylon knew that a king from the east would come from the north and capture them. If they did, they would have been ready! But the idols of Babylon, the false gods, were as empty as the wind. We know what happened because history tells us. Just as Isaiah predicted, about 80 years before it happened, in 538 King Cyrus of the Medes and Persians, from the land east of Babylon, swept down out of the north and Babylon crumpled like a piece of paper.
Did any of their idols warn them? No, only God knew, only God said in advance what would happen.
What idols do I worship? What is it that we put our trust in instead of God? Where do I find my deepest identity: in him? Or something else? What could I not live without? Him? Or something or someone else?
Even good things can be idols. Wife, family. They can be idols if they come before God. No the church, but God. For even the church, religion, religious performance, can be an idol. Exercise, going to the gym can be an idol – if we get our significance, our security, from how big and strong we are! All good things – but never let the good be the enemy of the best. God is the best – He is above all things. We I must bring everything else I do under Christ’s rule, under his lordship. He is the Lord. I am his servant, his son, his creation. And in him I am secure. His way brings life.
Idolatry brings death, destruction. Many of us know this. We live with the pain of past sin. Jesus’ work on the cross can forgive our sins, but we often still have the consequences to work through. And that’s tough. But now He is with us as we deal with the consequences, the results of our sin. And he helps us to rebuild.
Idols are worthless because they know nothing. God is in control of the future, and he is going to do a great thing.
3. What will the Lord do? He will send his servant
Is 42 “Look at my servant, whom I strengthen. He is my chosen one, who pleases me. I have put my Spirit upon him. He will bring justice to the nations. 2 He will not shout or raise his voice in public. 3 He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. He will bring justice to all who have been wronged. 4 He will not falter or lose heart until justice prevails throughout the earth. Even distant lands beyond the sea will wait for his instruction.”
Ok. The first question is who is this servant that God will send? In 41:2 he calls the king from the east (Cyrus) his servant (“called to God’s service”). But it doesn’t seem to be him. Cyrus is called to be the rampaging warrior, trampling kings underfoot, crushing them like pottery. But this servant will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle.
Well, maybe it’s Israel? 41:8 “But as for you, Israel my servant, Jacob my chosen one, descended from Abraham my friend, 9 I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying, ‘You are my servant.’ For I have chosen you and will not throw you away.
Well, that is certainly their calling, isn’t it? This is what they were supposed to be: a light to the nations, bringing justice, showing people God in all his glory. But we know their track record, what they’ve done in the past, and it’s not good. I mean they’re in Babylon for a reason. And next week’s passage starts like this 19 Who is as blind as my own people, my servant? Who is as deaf as my messenger? Who is as blind as my chosen people, the servant of the LORD?
It seems to be someone who will call Israel back to the Lord. A faithful servant. Perhaps, as Isaiah spoke these words, he thought it could be him. But no, his message was going to fall on deaf ears – God had told him this in chapter 6 – but this servant will not lose heart until the whole world has heard!
So who is this servant? Well, we get a hint in v1: This servant will be anointed with God’s Spirit (v1). This only happened to kings, prophets, and priests. Now hang on, in the first part of Isaiah we met a King. A great, eternal King who would rescue God’s people. A child would be born to a virgin. A child who would be called wonderful counsellor, everlasting God. God himself would visit his people and would save them! Could this “servant” be God himself? But why is he called servant.
This is why for the Jews from Isaiah’s time to Jesus’ time, they thought of them as two different people. The Victorious King. The suffering servant. Because we read on, we find out more about this gentle servant who will bring justice to the nations. He will do it through great suffering, even, in chapter 53, giving his own life. Now that doesn’t sound like a victorious king, does it?
Only when Jesus came did we see ah, the King IS the Servant. He is the all powerful King – but he will use his power to save, not to condemn. He will lead people not by v2 shouting or raising his voice in public, or crushing the weak – no big political rallies, no manipulation, no use of force to make people obey. Nothing like normal politics. This Servant is a different type of leader, one who will bring justice – that sentence literally means proclaim or declare justice – God’s right judgement – to the world. And look how the verses continue: 6 “I, the LORD, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you, and I will give you to my people, Israel, as a symbol of my covenant with them. And you will be a light to guide the nations. 7 You will open the eyes of the blind. You will free the captives from prison, releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.
Just as last week we saw the Lord in all his power and glory come like a shepherd carrying his sheep to safety, today we see Jesus, the promised King, God almighty himself, come as the Servant. And as we see Jesus on the cross, the King of the Jews said the sign above him, we see a proclamation of God’s right judgement on sin – as Jesus took it all – all our sin – in his body. Sin will be punished. And we see a proclamation of forgiveness – we are the battered reed, the flickering candle – and he does not put us out, but strengthens weak arms, and weak knees and gives us new strength. WE are made new, made to be like him to follow him, and we shall soar on wings like eagles. We are those with blind eyes who will now see. We who are prisoners of sin are now free, because of what Jesus has done. If we are in Christ – if we belong to him, put our trust in him,. Obey him - we are a new creation. A new man. And all the power of heaven is within us by the Spirit.
8 “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols. 9 Everything I prophesied has come true, and now I will prophesy again. I will tell you the future before it happens.” 10 Sing a new song to the LORD! Sing his praises from the ends of the earth! Sing, all you who sail the seas, all you who live in distant coastlands. 11 Join in the chorus, you desert towns; let the villages of Kedar rejoice! Let the people of Sela sing for joy; shout praises from the mountaintops! 12 Let the whole world glorify the LORD; let it sing his praise.
This is the great future which God promised his people. Cyrus was a great rescuer, yes, but there was a greater rescuer, a greater King to come. Isaiah was a great prophet, yes, but a greater prophet, the Word himself, would come. Israel was a great nation, and blessed the world in many ways – but Jesus, he was the perfect son of God, the righteous servant who did not sin. When Israel stumbled he did not. No idol worship in Jesus. He is the righteous one.
So what is our response?
1. We praise God! In the way we live we praise God. Have you thanked God for his great salvation? Do you sing his praise on the way to work? Do I fill my mind with his glory and wonder and say to him “wow, you are great!”?
2. Understand that we live in Babylon (or sinful Jerusalem). We live in a country that worships idols. Greed drives our society. We run after pleasure, the idol of the “good life”. A big house, a cabin in the mountains, a boat, maybe a motorbike. It is deep within us. The idol of pleasure affects our relationships. You don’t make me happy - I’ll drop you. No thought of service, of sacrificial love. We’ve got a few families in the pregnancy and young baby stage of life. That’s a hard stage. And certainly reveals how sinful we are. Lean on the Lord, pray, ask him to help you not be selfish angry, snapping at your wife (or husband). The Holy Spirit does not leave us when we are pregnant (or married to a pregnant lady).
3. We need to repent of our idols. How stupid we are to trust on our idols. Things that will fall over. All our wealth can be lost in a moment. Cabins need to be repaired, and boats eat up our time. A waste, sacrificing our lives to THINGS. Idol worship is dumb. Yet we do it. Sacrifice our family on the altar of career. Ignore our kids because we’re too busy packing fruit in a shop because society says to us that’s the woman’s role. Wife? Mother? No, not important. What your kids really need is to be looked after a stranger and YOU are needed to pack fruit in a shop. It’s rather stupid isn’t it? The idol is wobbling.
4. If we claim to follow God, our lives should look different. Like Israel, we are God’s servants. We are chosen by God. How should we then live?
Well it’s not by wearing different clothes or having a big cross around our necks or wearing funny hats. None of those things mean anything. But it is a heart change. How we treat other people. How we see strangers, foreigners. How we use our money, our time.
And it’s seen not in grand gestures or public displays of being good or religious. It is how we are at home, in private, when only God sees us. For example, how we treat our wife (or samboer, if you haven’t repented yet and married her!). Do we love her like Jesus? Are we committed to her? Are we concerned about her relationship with the Lord? With her godliness? Are we willing to say “no” to things that would get in the way of being godly? And “yes” to things that will help her be godly? Will we lead our family in reading the Bible, in family prayer? In getting everyone off to church. In making sure we go to Bible study, even if our wife says “oh, honeeyy, do you have to go out and bats her eyelashes at us....”
Do we run after idols like “I deserve to happy, it’s because I’m worth it”. Or do we follow the Lord “I will love, no matter what the cost, because He has loved me”.
Is that hard? Yes! But we are not alone. 41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
Many of us know the pain of running after idols. Of living the world’s way instead of God’s way. But those idols always come crashing down at the worst possible time.
Brothers, let us follow Christ, no matter the cost. Even though we, like Israel, may feel like a lowly worm, unworthy before God v14 Though you are a lowly worm, O Jacob, don’t be afraid, people of Israel, for I will help you. I am the LORD, your Redeemer. I am the Holy One of Israel.’
He is our saviour, and his salvation is secure. He knows our future and it is good because we are with Him.
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