Chapter 41
Continues recounting the greatness of God, his unsearchableness. We don't even know how to question Him. He is great beyond what we can even consider. Unknowable perfection is what He is.
2021 - Vs 1, God is the speaker. He says "LISTEN". He says come near, and together we will judge. So this first verse is mainly to announce that God is about to speak and that all would do well to hear what he has to say, and to agree with Him in judgment.
Vs 2-4, God has "planned" history from beginning to end. He was there at the beginning and will be there at the end.
vs 8-10 are God promising the descendants of Abraham that He has not forgotten them, that He will gather them again. This verse:
10 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. [Isa 41:10 ESV]
2021 - I would divide this up differently than before. Vss 2-4 are speaking of a military leader, an invader, a conqueror, whom God has selected and chosen and sent out on an "errand". This conqueror is coming from the east, and Kings fall before him like chaff. God says that HE is the power behind this conqueror. And that from the beginning, his coming was planned. MSB says this reference is to Cyrus the Great, who conquered Babylon and allowed some of Israel to return to their homeland.
Then, vss 5-7 say that all the people are cooperating with each other out of fear of this coming invader. All of a sudden, realizing the danger, people are getting along - because they may need each other.
In vss 8-10, God promises Israel that he is going to protect them from this invader, because of Abraham, and because of the promises to him, and because he has chosen Israel for himself.
So we must be looking at a near/far here. God did not protect Israel from Babylon. They were over run, besieged, starved, and conquered in that day. But in one of those future battles - pre- or post- , an enemy is going to come against them and they will be protected. Since it says He called them from everywhere, I think this far reference is to the post-Millennial Battle that Christ will fight with his breath. The last battle of all. Vss 11-13 continue this thought. Those God fights will be so utterly wiped out that they cannot be found again.
Vss 14-16 though...Says Israel will overcome the enemies. This could be referring to Israel in the Millennial Kingdom, and God's restoration of the abundance and productivity of the land.
2023 - Note vs 9: 9 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"; [Isa 41:9 ESV]. What time is this referencing? The Jews were captive in Babylon when Cyrus came from the east. God did not call the Jews "home" to Babylon at that time. So either this is a reference to God gathering them in the past to Israel, or this is something yet future. Isaiah speaks many many times about the Jews coming home, and they certainly did after 70 years in Babylon. So...we could be seeing both a near and a 70th week fulfilment here. Also, contrast this statement that they are "not cast off" with the New Testament passages that they are blind and deaf to the word. In the OT, they were captive in Babylon but not forgotten by God. When they rejected Jesus, they were sent into a sort of "deaf and blind" darkness, metaphorically a silent and dark dungeon, but they are NOT cast off, even now. They are not replaced by the church. Israel is still chosen.
vs 11-13 say that Israel need not fight for itself. God will confound Israel's enemies, and when Israel searches for them, they won't be found because God has already eliminated them.
14-16, Israel shall be the greatest nation, dominant over all. Prophesies the return of Israel to God. I think the Millennial kingdom is still what is in view.
2023 - This, from 11-13 also:
11 Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. [Isa 41:11 ESV]. Does this not sound a bit like worldwide antisemitism? Now I suppose the world could turn against the church during the 70th week...but only if they are still here! I have a really hard time seeing 11-13 as having been already fulfilled. If they are still future, they have to be about the Jews, about Israel, about Zion, as distinguished from the church.
How can you think that in the NT, Israel becomes God's church, and the promises to Israel, predictions of Israel, become promises to the church. The church won't need to be recalled from all over everywhere. It is Israel that is scattered from the land promised to it.
2023 - I am on this Dispensational page more than ever. I do not see how these "wraparound" prophecies can be interpreted to apply to national Israel in the OT, and to the church in the NT. To me, they cannot be resolved in a consistent manner if interpreted that way.
2023 - Beginning in vs 21 we seem to get a complete break with what went on. Idols are attacked as useless. First commandment stuff. I don't see that being a still future problem. So I would say this part of the chapter is strictly OT stuff.
21-24, idols challenged to prove they are gods. To predict, to cause, to fulfill. They are nothing. Only God predicts the future, and makes it happen. Only God can explain the "why" of the past. Idols...so ridiculous to pray to wood, stone, and metal.
2021 - These verses seem to sort of go off on their own to refute idol worship. It is being contrasted I think with all that God has just promised. He has told them the past, He has told them Cyrus is coming, and He is telling them that in the Millennium they will have peace and plenty. He, God, is telling them all these things. By contrast, what do the idols say? What have they revealed of the past, what signs can they do today to demonstrate their power, or can they not at least say what is to come in the future? Only a god could do that.
More arguments made against idols, and their complete total unmitigated uselessness.
2021 - vs 25, again about Cyrus, who, per MSB, attacked Babylon from the north, after subduing Media. This is God still further demonstrating his sovereignty by giving details not only that Babylon will fall, and about who will do it, but from what direction he will come! Can your idols do that? God's point is that he is telling them before it happens.