Lo, all that are incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they that strive with thee shall be as nothing, and shall perish.
Isaiah 41 speaks to a people who had turned to idols and lived under foreign rulers. This verse is God's verdict on their enemies, and it raises two questions: who are these enemies, and why should a weak people believe their opponents will come to nothing?
The chapter opens with God pointing to a conqueror He will raise up, and then turns to address the people He has chosen. One writer traces the movement in a single sentence:
Isaiah 41 begins the historical details that prove this. Who raised up Cyrus to overthrow idolatry? But while he was destroying it, Israel is the elect servant of God, the seed of Abraham. This title of "servant" is a key to the rest of the book. He is not to fear: God will uphold him, and those who strive with him shall perish.
God raised up Cyrus, a foreign conqueror. That could look like God had moved on to a new favourite. Not so:
The honour to which Cyrus was called along the way was no change in His purposes or affections toward Israel. Not Cyrus, but Israel, was His servant.
The verse promises an outcome for the enemies. It gives no reason drawn from the people themselves. One writer names where the strength lies:
We are plainly told that all the nations that oppose Israel will in the end be ashamed, confounded, and perish. Those that war against Israel will come to "nothing." Not that Israel has any strength, but because the LORD, Israel's God, will "hold" and "help" Israel.
The same writer notes how openly the passage admits how small the people are — and that this is exactly the point:
Their weakness is most pointedly owned (14); yet by virtue of their Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, they would thresh mountains and hills.
These are the same people whose idolatry brought God's discipline on them. The promise does not rest on their record:
With the words "But you, Israel," God turns from the Gentiles to address the Jewish nation. They have failed badly, and God has disciplined them for their idolatry. Yet they are still the people of His sovereign choice. They are the seed of Abraham, the friend of God, "called" out from the great ones of the earth, and "chosen" to be God's servant to witness for Him. God may indeed chasten His people, but He will not cast them off.
The surrounding chapters are a running argument against idol-worship, and these promises are set out as what the people could have had instead:
In verses 8 and 9 of our chapter, Israel is reminded that as the seed of Abraham, who is honoured as "My friend," they are a chosen people, called to be the servant of God. How foolish, then, this turning to idols! The verses that follow give the most assuring words of encouragement and support. If only they had received them in faith, those words would have lifted them far above any reliance on idols. They should be upheld and their enemies confounded.
The return from Babylon did not fulfil these words. One writer sets the prophecy beside Nehemiah's description of life after the return:
These last words leave no reasonable doubt. The prophet is looking far beyond his own day. He does not describe the Jews living under their Persian or other Gentile rulers. He describes days still future, when Israel will take captive those who once held them captive, and will rule over their oppressors. The description here and Nehemiah's words cannot belong to the same period: "Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers... behold, we are slaves."
The return home was real, but it was only a pledge:
Isaiah 41:8-20 was in no way fulfilled in the return. It is still unaccomplished. The return, important as it may have been, was a mere pledge of Israel's glorious hope. The promised blessing of the people comes after tribulation without parallel. When they are truly repentant, the LORD will make them an instrument of judgment — "worm Jacob" and "mortals of Israel" though they are — to break down and scatter the proud power of all their foes, to God's glory.
- Chosen, not deserving. These people had failed badly. Yet they remain God's chosen servant. He chastens His people, but He will not cast them off.
- Held, not strong. Israel's enemies come to nothing. Not because Israel is strong — the passage admits their weakness — but because the LORD holds and helps them.
- Rivals, not replacements. Raising up Cyrus changed nothing in God's purposes or affections toward Israel. Not Cyrus but Israel was His servant.
- Confidence, not idols. Received in faith, these assurances would have lifted the people far above any reliance on idols.
- Pledged, not yet paid. The return from Babylon was a pledge of the hope, not its fulfilment. The blessing comes after great tribulation, when Israel truly repents.
Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them -- them that contend with thee; they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
God gives this promise to a people He is chastening. One day they will look for the enemies who surround them and find no one. Two questions follow: who is God speaking to, and when does this happen?
Cyrus was the foreign king God used to bring Israel's exile in Babylon to an end. It would be easy to read these promises as his.
The honour God gave Cyrus in passing changed nothing in His purposes or affections towards Israel. Not Cyrus but Israel was His servant.
God says this to a people with a long record of failure.
They have failed badly, and God has disciplined them for their idolatry. Yet they are the people of His sovereign choice, the seed of Abraham the friend of God — "called" out from the great ones of the earth, and "chosen" to be God's servant to witness for Him. God may indeed chasten His people, but He will not cast them off.
So what brings these enemies to nothing?
We are told plainly that all the nations that oppose Israel will in the end be ashamed, confounded, and perish. Those that war against Israel will come to "nothing." This is not because Israel has any strength. It is because the LORD, Israel's God, will "hold" and "help" Israel.
What is true of Israel here is true of every believer.
We can find no solid ground of rest except in what He is to us, not in what we are for Him.
Some read these promises as finished long ago, when the exiles came home from Babylon.
Isaiah 41:8-20 was in no way fulfilled in the return. It still has not happened. The return, important as it may have been, was only a pledge of Israel's glorious hope... The promised blessing of this people comes after tribulation like no other. Jehovah will then make them, when they truly repent, an instrument of His judgment — "worm Jacob" and "mortals of Israel" though they are.
The promise does not stop at survival. God gives this people a part in what happens to their enemies.
The LORD will not only keep Israel safe during the judgment of the nations. He will also make Israel an instrument in His hands to carry out His judgment on the nations that have opposed her, and to "scatter" those who scattered her. This carries us on to the days when Israel, redeemed from all her enemies, will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
None of this could happen without a deeper deliverance first.
Christ came to where they were to save them, and in His suffering He cried, "I am a worm" (Psalm 22:6). He had to take that way. He went to the cross, into the dust of death, before either we or Israel could be delivered.
The verses around this one keep repeating two words: "Fear not."
At the end of their time of trial, the guilty people will hear these words: "Comfort, comfort my people." They are bowed beneath the judgment of God, chastened and repentant, but close to despair. And we hear this word "Fear not" repeated and echoed again and again. Fear not, My love will comfort you, I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will be with My servant. Have I not redeemed you? Am I not with you? ... This comforting word from God runs like a refrain through the whole later part of Isaiah.
- Chosen — God speaks to a failing people He still calls His servant. He chastens them, but never casts them off.
- Held — the enemies come to nothing because the LORD holds and helps His people, not because the people are strong.
- Nothing — the people search for their enemies and find no one. God has brought them to nothing at all.
- Future — the return from Babylon did not fulfil this. The promise still waits, and comes after a time of trouble like no other.
- Joy — the end is more than safety. The LORD makes the worm His instrument, and a redeemed people glory in the Holy One of Israel.
For I, Jehovah, thy God, hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
Isaiah 41 reads like a courtroom, where God challenges the nations and their idols and points to a conqueror He is raising up. Then He turns to a small, frightened people — and verse 13 tells them whose hand is holding them.
The chapter first sets the promise against a background of empires on the move. Behind the conqueror who terrifies the nations stands the God who named him long in advance.
The warning follows that God has raised up a mighty conqueror from the East to punish the nations for their idolatry. A later chapter (Isa. 45:1) names him: Cyrus. Before his unstoppable power the nations will be like dry stubble... But behind Cyrus stands the directing power of the LORD. He knows the whole history of the generations from the beginning. The One who is the first – before all, and will be the last. Who but the LORD could foretell the coming of Cyrus 200 years before he came?
Yet raising up this conqueror did not mean God had changed toward Israel. Commentators note the careful distinction the chapter draws:
The honour God gave Cyrus along the way did not change His purposes or His love for Israel. Not Cyrus but Israel was His servant.
God is speaking to people who had failed. The promise does not hide that. It rests on God's own choice, not on their record.
They have failed badly, and God has disciplined them for their idolatry. Even so, they are the people of His sovereign choice. They are the descendants of Abraham, the friend of God. He "called" them out from the great ones of the earth and "chose" them to be His servant and witness. God may, indeed, chasten His people but He will not cast them off.
The enemies who fight this people will vanish. The reason is not their own strength.
Scripture also tells us that every nation opposing Israel will end in shame, confusion, and ruin. Those who make war on Israel will come to "nothing." This is not because Israel has any strength of its own. It is because the LORD, Israel's God, will "hold" and "help" Israel.
The next verse calls them "worm Jacob." The weakness is not hidden. It is stated — and then God takes that very weakness into His hand and uses it.
Left to himself Jacob is only a worm, and Israel is only a "few men," but the LORD is the Redeemer and Helper of Israel. So the LORD will not only keep Israel safe while He judges the nations. He will also make Israel an instrument in His hands to carry out that judgment on the nations that have opposed them.
That changes where a person looks for rest.
Who but He could have said through Isaiah, "Fear not, I am the one who helps you. Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel." We can find no solid ground of rest but in what He is to us, not in what we are for Him.
Writers reach for this promise in real distress. One pictures faith keeping watch through a dark night, waiting for morning.
It is thus that faith is strengthened by our gracious Lord, and as He holds the hand, and His strength is made perfect in our weakness, we will keep the watch and look out for the morning, "the morning without clouds;" cheering the darkness about us with faith's cry, "All's well."
The same words have carried people through their last hours. One writer retells the story of Christian, sinking into fear at the river of death, while a companion presses this promise on him:
He whispered words of faith and hope. He told him to look away from himself to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to rest on the promise, "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.'" As Christian looked to Jesus, the darkness melted away. The light of his Saviour's love shone into his soul again, and he crossed the river with a song of triumph.
- Whose hand. God holds the right hand of His people; He is not just near them; He grips them.
- Whose choice. The hand holds because of God's choice, not our performance. He may discipline His people, but He will never cast them off.
- Whose strength. Enemies come to nothing. Not because the people are strong, but because the LORD holds and helps.
- Whose usefulness. The hand that holds a "worm" also makes it an instrument in God's service.
- Whose rest. Solid rest lies in what He is to us, not in what we are for Him — in the dark night and at the last river alike.