Year 3, Day 25: Isaiah 41

The Trouble

It took me a while to catch on to the first ten verses of Isaiah 41.  After all, at first pass these verses don’t seem to be saying much.  It seems like God is talking to the world (nations) about the things they naturally do.  But then we get to verses 6-7.  The blacksmith supports the goldsmith.  Everyone helps their neighbor.  They hammer things into perfection so that it is strong and immoveable.  Human society is supporting one another so that it can keep things the way they are.  Sounds like typical human work, doesn’t it?

You see, that’s really the problem.  Human beings work and work to get into a position where they can be happy and never change.  We work hard for that end of life where we can just coast and roll smoothly in a carefree manner.  In many ways, is that not the American Dream?  Study hard so you can get a good job.  Get a good job so you can save up lots of money.  Save up lots of money so you can live a carefree life in retirement.  Doesn’t that sound familiar?

Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t think there is anything bad about studying hard, working hard, and even saving some money.  I think that’s all pretty good stuff, actually.  But the problem is in the motivation.  Why are we doing it?  Are we doing it so that we can provide a nice life for ourselves?

Stop for a moment and reread the question at the end of that last paragraph.  I’m willing to bet that most everyone read over that question and didn’t think a thing wrong with it.  So let me rephrase that question, putting the spin on where I meant it as I typed it.  Are we doing it so that we can provide a nice life for ourselves?

When we get to verses 8-10, look at where the emphasis rests.  In God’s spiritual relationship with Israel, God calls them His servant.  In fact, that’s the word God uses to describe the relationship twice in those verses.  Israel is a servant to God.

God’s Response

But keep reading through verse 10.  God tells them to be not dismayed.  Be not afraid.  God is with them.  God protects them.  God upholds them.  God strengthens them.  God keeps them in righteousness.

The problem with humanity is that we spend so much time trying to provide for ourselves.  The first six verses are all about God trying to tell the nations that their stubborn reliance upon themselves is the biggest difference between them and the Hebrew people.  We need to learn how to have a good work ethic, sure.  But we need to work while relying upon God’s will, protection, and providence.  We work hard out of God’s provision, not our own.

I, The Lord

The next ten verses continue on in a similar pattern.  Look especially at verses 17-20.  Who is the subject of practically every single sentence?  “I, the Lord,” the Bible says over and over.  God is the provider of sustenance.  God is the provider of life.  God is the provider of understanding.  God is the provider of knowledge.  God is the provider of creation.  It all rests with Him.

How Good Are Your Idols At Providing?

So then we come to the end of the chapter.  Here is a concrete challenge.  God tells those who are in the world to look at their idols and see if they can predict what is coming.  Within the specific context of this chapter, what God is doing is telling the nations that Cyrus is coming.  The Persians will come onto the scene and nobody will be able to withstand them – although He will use Cyrus to restore the Hebrew people to the Promised Land.  But the rest of the nations will be swallowed up by the Persian Empire when they come to conquer the Babylonians.

However, the point for us is really still pretty valid.  Can any of our idols look into the future and guarantee our survival?  I can’t help but think of our stock market analytics.  Can they really guarantee success?  What about our news media?  Can they guarantee a successful glimpse into the future?  What about pop culture?  Can they look into the future with any success and pull us through?  What about the rest of the idols we have in this life?

No, the reality is that there is only one person who can look into the future.  Only God can truly know what is to come.  For that record, only God can truly guarantee our success – or at least survival.  From the perspective of salvation, this is even truer.  Only God can look into the future and promise eternal life.  No idol can compete with that.

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