Isaiah 41: 1 – 29
The Value of Worms
“Keep silence before Me, O coastlands, and let the people renew their strength! Let them come near, then let them speak; Let us come near together for judgment. 2 “Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness 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, as driven stubble to his bow? 3 Who pursued them, and passed safely by the way that he had not gone with his feet? 4 Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the LORD, am the first; And with the last I am He.’” 5 The coastlands saw it and feared, the ends of the earth were afraid; They drew near and came. 6 Everyone helped his neighbor, and said to his brother, “Be of good courage!” 7 So the craftsman encouraged the goldsmith; He who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil, saying, “It is ready for the soldering”; Then he fastened it with pegs, that it might not totter. 8 “But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend. 9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: 10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ 11 “Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced;
They shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish. 12 You shall seek them and not find them—Those who contended with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing. 13 For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’ 14 “Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you,” says the LORD and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15 “Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, and make the hills like chaff. 16 You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; You shall rejoice in the LORD, and glory in the Holy One of Israel. 17 “The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, their tongues fail for thirst. I, the LORD, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18 I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. 19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together, 20 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. 21 “Present your case,” says the LORD. “Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob. 22 “Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show the former things, what they were, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; Or declare to us things to come. 23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and see it together. 24 Indeed you are nothing, and your work is nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination. 25 “I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come; From the rising of the sun he shall call on My name; And he shall come against princes as though mortar, as the potter treads clay. 26 Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know? And former times, that we may say, ‘He is righteous’? Surely there is no one who shows, surely there is no one who declares, surely there is no one who hears your words. 27 The first time I said to Zion, ‘Look, there they are!’ And I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings. 28 For I looked, and there was no man; I looked among them, but there was no counselor, who, when I asked of them, could answer a word. 29 Indeed they are all worthless; Their works are nothing; Their molded images are wind and confusion.
Having declared the glory and power of God as the One Who is Supreme over all things in chapter 40 , Isaiah now turns his attention to the way in which Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High - is about to bring about what He has purposed from the very beginning.
“Keep silence before Me, O coastlands, and let the people renew their strength! Let them come near, then let them speak; Let us come near together for judgment.
God calls to the coastlands which are the far off nations across the Great Sea and the peoples which are those around Palestine to be silent before Him, in awe and readiness to hear. And then like His own true people, they are to renew their strength by waiting on Him. They too are welcome to approach Him. He calls them to advance to His seat as world Judge and Ruler, and once they have come near to Him then they can speak to Him. Then they can consider things together and think over His past purposes and their significance.
Before I go on I want us all to consider the great teaching here. Look again and see that we have the opportunity to be like Adam when he walked with Adoni Yahweh in the Garden. We have the right at any time to come to Him in prayer and seek His face. We can petition the Supreme Judge of All and ask Him amazingly for judgment.
Now we do not have to worry about judgment on ourselves because our Great and Holy Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, The Son of God, took our judgment. So then we are able to petition Yahweh Elohe Yisrael – The Lord God of Israel for judgment on other people. It is like we are in court against an evil antagonist who has sued us. We are on one side and this evil rotten enemy on the other. We have the best Jewish lawyer representing us, our Master and King our Lord Jesus. The neat thing is that the Judge Is His and our Father.
So, let us all take a moment and think about some evil one who has harmed not us but others and let us take a quiet moment to tell The Majestic Judge the truth of harm the evil person or person[s] have done to hurt someone else. Let us ask the Awesome Wise Holy Creator to bring justice for the hurt or injured person.
Can’t think of anyone? Then let me give you one and hopefully you will be kind enough to continue to petition our Great God with my request. My request is that the Honor and Majesty of our Holy Lord Jesus be defended. As you know my former secretary Michelle is no longer working here. In her desire to get married she succumbed to the advances of a non-believer. At first she secretly began dating this guy. This guy however, the rich kid of a successful business owner is deeply involved active drug addict. In just two months Michelle has denied the Holy One Who was her God and replaced Him with this phony. She is now deep into heavy drugs. She took all her savings which was around $20, 000 where she was saving up for marriage, and has given it to this son of Satan to purchase drugs for him and her. This daughter of Adoni Yeshua is now into sex, drugs, stealing, lying, and anything to else you can think of. She has left her parents and has moved in with this guy. The guys parents wanting their son pleased with his new sex toy ignores the pleas of Michelle’s broken hearted parents to intercede and send their daughter home.
So, will you agree with me on this petition to the Holy Supreme Judge of All? I ask that our Holy God issue a command to ‘crush’ Michelle in order for her to realize her sin and return back to God. In addition, I ask the Lord to ‘Destroy’ this evil guy by the name of ‘Matt’ and his parents for what they have done not only to Michelle but to other young ladies. If you think that my request is too severe you have to realize that lives have been possibly forever destroyed by this guy and his family. It is time for these people to get a taste of their own medicine.
El Roi – The Strong One Who Sees All wants the Israelites to consider what He has done through Abraham His ‘loved one’ which means ‘friend’. Would you like to be in the same category as Abraham? You are if you are a believer and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at what He says in John 15:14-16, 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.’
You need to memorize these verses and have them ready to encourage you daily as to your position in the heart and mind of El Shaddai – Almighty God.
2 “Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness 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, as driven stubble to his bow? 3 Who pursued them, and passed safely by the way that he had not gone with his feet?
Our Holy Ruler calls on them to consider Abraham, who was raised up by Him from Ur of the Chaldeans in the east, the one who believed God so that He called Him ‘in righteousness’ to His immediate service (to His foot). Abraham was the one who kept his charge, and walked in accordance with all His commandments and laws, walking in righteousness.
Please note the statement, ‘He gives nations before him and makes him rule over kings. He gives them as the dust to his sword, as the driven stubble to his bow.’ Nations and kings were not able to stand before Abraham. Yahweh Elohe Yisrael – The Lord God of Israel made Abraham and his descendents glorious so that their sword and bow were very powerful, with the result that the nations melted before them, becoming like dust and stubble.
4 Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the LORD, am the first; And with the last I am He.’”
This confirms that God has both Abraham and his descendants in mind. He is speaking of a number of generations.
Who has done all this? Why, Yahweh, the One Who exists over time from beginning to end. Indeed He is the first before all, and He acted through Abraham in the beginning on his first entry into Canaan, and He is ‘with the last’ So Yahweh calls on the nations to recognize the wonderful work He has done through Abraham right up to His people of this day. Beginning with one man and his family tribe and increasing them until under David ‘he’ became a large empire. Everyone should respond in awe and follow Him, and recognize that He is Yahweh, the One Who is and the One Who is there.
5 The coastlands saw it and feared, the ends of the earth were afraid; They drew near and came. 6 Everyone helped his neighbor, and said to his brother, “Be of good courage!” 7 So the craftsman encouraged the goldsmith; He who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil, saying, “It is ready for the soldering”; Then he fastened it with pegs, that it might not totter.
Through Abraham the nations finally begin to respond to the work of God. , possibly at first in the empire of David, where they used their skills to good account instead of making gods with them. Under King David and his son Solomon all rivalry and Jealousies ceased for awhile and the nations encouraged each other. All worked together for the good of the whole, all commended each other, all became good neighbors. Idolatry was replaced by skilful workmanship, and was quality work, fastened securely.
Sadly though through Israel’s compromise to the customs of the other nations there became a combined effort of the nations against God. They ‘drew near and came’, but then their response was a decisive ‘no’. Then they combined and sustained and strengthened each other by making idols which ‘could not be moved’, a pathetic attempt to parallel the permanence of the First and the Last. But they were lifeless. They had to strengthen each other in doing it for they received no help from the gods. Only Adoni Yahweh Is the True and Living God. All others are just nothing.
8 “But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend.
He now declares Israel’s unique position. They are His chosen, but not because of what they themselves are, but because they are the seed of Abraham, the one who loved Him, the one who came from the east. They are His chosen ones in Abraham. They are begotten through Jacob. Thus do they enjoy the unique position of being the servant of Yahweh because they are ‘in Abraham’. They are the seed of Abraham His servant. We have already had ‘David my servant’ as chapter 37 verse 35 told us. Now we have ‘Israel my servant’. But both come below Abraham, who was ‘the one who loved Him’
The use of ‘Jacob’ here in contrast with the name Israel may be intended to indicate their unworthiness. If you have some time I would like to challenge you to go to the book of Genesis and list all the times the Lord lists the name Jacob and the times He uses Israel. You will come away noting that the Lord uses the name Jacob when he is in the flesh and when Jacob is acting spiritually our Holy God uses the name Israel.
9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away:
This brings out Israel’s unique privilege. They were called to be a holy nation, a kingdom of priests. It was they who should have taken His word to the nations. We are already getting the seeds of the idea of ‘the Servant’. David is His servant, chosen by Him to rule over His people who are also called upon to be His servant. Israel is His servant, chosen to be a witness to the nations. Thus the Servant is one yet many, king and people, fulfilling the purposes of God revealed to Abraham, who was His servant par excellence.
There may be implicit within this also the thought that those who have since been dispersed to every corner of the earth may also be confident that they too can be His servant and a witness both where they are and by returning. For they can be sure that He has not forgotten them.
10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
The Lord Yahweh encourages His people in their service. If they are faithful they can be sure of His strength and help wherever they are. For He is with them in their situation and those who look to Him will be upheld. Notice, however, that the hand that will uphold them is the right hand of His righteousness. These promises are only made to those who seek to be righteous in His sight. The righteous right hand will only uphold those desirous of righteousness just as He called Abraham in righteousness. These promises remain true today. The righteous may look for help to the Righteous One for ‘The right hand’ is the hand of power.
11 “Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish. 12 You shall seek them and not find them—Those who contended with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing. 13 For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
The opponents of God’s people will be thwarted. Those who are enraged against them will become ashamed of their rage and will find themselves confounded; those who strive with them will achieve nothing and will perish, so that if they are sought for no one will be able to find them. Those who war against them will be nonentities. And this will be because Yahweh is holding His people’s right hand, assuring them of His constant help so that they need not be afraid. The picture is one of complete protection. But the holding of the right hand is not just for comfort. It is in order to impart strength. His people may go through tribulation but they can be sure that He is always with them.
I do not know about you but I know my value. I am but a worm, a useless unprofitable servant. I am only anything because of the Mercy and Grace of God. Do you think that I am too hard on myself? Hardly, look at the exact reflection of how the Lord considers humans.
14 “Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you,” says the LORD and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
The idea of a worm is of one who is totally unworthy, one who is a reproach. The word used for men regularly means ‘few’, and thus inconsequential, unable to deal with the problem in hand. Even though Jacob is but a worm, he needs not fear, for the One Who will help him is Yahweh, and the One Who will redeem him is the Holy One of Israel. Though he is worth nothing, God, as the Holy One of Israel, is willing to pay a price for his deliverance, even as ‘Jacob’. So Jacob is but a worm and the men of Israel are few, that is, they are inconsequential. His people are both the worm Jacob and the few men of Israel. They are as nothing, but they need not fear for if only they will trust Him they will bring the world to naught because God will help them.
15 “Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, and make the hills like chaff. 16 You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; You shall rejoice in the LORD, and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
Please notice how our Holy Creator can change the worm to a mean lean threshing machine. Our Great God Father Yahweh will make him like a threshing instrument, sharp, new and with teeth. The mountains and the hills will be turned into dust and chaff by them. The mountains are their opponents, and they will not only be turned into chaff, they will also be blown away. Then His people will rejoice and glory in the One Who has done it, for He is Yahweh, He is the Holy One of Israel.
Threshing instruments were heavy sledges of timber with stones and sharp metals underneath. They were dragged over the grain to divide it up and separate grain from chaff, ready for fanning with the winnowing fans which would blow away the chaff leaving the good grain.
The final idea is that God’s true people will become triumphant overcoming all obstacles.
17 “The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, their tongues fail for thirst. I, the LORD, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
We have already seen the stress on God’s people as a worm and as inconsequential, now our Great Merciful Holy Master sees us all as poor, crushed under the weight of things, and needy, unable to face life’s challenges. Our Lord sees His people as those who seek water and cannot find it so that their thirst takes over, and their tongue is parched and useless.
In hot countries shortage of water is always a problem, especially when it was dependent on rain which was not always abundant, and when invasion may well have destroyed their wells. Thus it refers to their present experience and may well be only a general statement from their own experience. Our Holy Yahweh assures them that He will answer them, and the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. 19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together, 20 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.
When His people are in want He will make adequate provision for them wherever they may be. The bare heights will become full of water, the valleys full of copious springs, even in the desert and wilderness areas there will be oases and springs. And in those areas abundant trees will grow, provision for God’s people to rest under and find shade.
The purpose of it all this action by our Might God is that His people might thoroughly know Who and What God Is.
This picture is the exact opposite of those which depict God’s judgment on the nations. Then the trees are hewn down , the streams dry up and the land becomes desert. This thus has in mind the final blessing, as well as God’s provision and protection along the way.
21 “Present your case,” says the LORD. “Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob. 22 “Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show the former things, what they were, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; Or declare to us things to come. 23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and see it together.
We back in court again folks. Our Precious Holy Lord Yahweh now lays down His challenge to the nations and to their gods. Let them come as it were before the court and prove their case. Let them bring out their idols because as a non- brainer the idols cannot come of themselves. Let them prove themselves, and produce their strong arguments. Let them declare the future, and show what is to happen. Let them explain the past and its significance, and show what will be its results. Let them declare the significance and impact of the coming of Abraham. Let them show the things that are to come from it. Then all will know that they really are gods. This is what God has been doing. Let them do it as well.
‘The King of Jacob’ is a significant title. God is not ashamed to be the king of the patriarch Jacob, to be the king of the worm. Indeed He boasts about it. So the nations see His people as nothing, as unimportant, as having something of a past history but as now no longer counting? Well, this is proof that they cannot see the future. Why, He declares, He is their King. Their past is significant. And from that worm will He produce glorious things. And only a ‘God Who Is’ could use a worm to establish the everlasting kingdom. But had the gods really been gods, they would have known of it.
The challenge is expanded. These gods not only know nothing, they do nothing. He is going to do something, so let these also at least do something, anything, whether good or evil. Then at least all would be able to be bewildered and dismayed, and behold it. ‘Do good or do evil’ is often seen as the equivalent of ‘do anything at all’.
24 Indeed you are nothing, and your work is nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination.
The assumption is made that nothing will happen, and the argument is now applied. These gods are of nothing, and their work is nothing. Thus anyone who chooses them is an abomination, because they choose an abomination. We are what we choose. Note the strength of language. They are hateful to God.
25 “I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come; From the rising of the sun he shall call on My name; And he shall come against princes as though mortar, as the potter treads clay. 26 Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know? And former times, that we may say, ‘He is righteous’? Surely there is no one who shows, surely there is no one who declares, surely there is no one who hears your words. 27 The first time I said to Zion, ‘Look, there they are!’ And I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings. 28 For I looked, and there was no man; I looked among them, but there was no counselor, who, when I asked of them, could answer a word. 29 Indeed they are all worthless; Their works are nothing; Their molded images are wind and confusion.
One has come from the north who has been raised by God. Abraham entered the land from the north and ‘went on southwards’, emphasizing that he came from the north. So it was Abraham who came, and yet also those who came in Abraham. It was in essence a whole army of descendants. As Abraham advanced on the land he was Yahweh’s Servant, and Yahweh’s future Servant was in him, comprising all who would be servants of Yahweh in the fulfilling of His purposes but always having in mind the Servant of Yahweh par excellence Whom Yahweh had promised. He has been spoken of beforetime, even from ‘the beginning’ by Yahweh. But no one else has spoken of him, or has taken heed of Isaiah’s words about him. No one else has recognized Him. He is one who brings good tidings.
Thus he is a figure in the future, and yet he is in the past. When Abraham came into the land of God’s inheritance the future Servant came in him, One who was as it were in his loins. He came as God’s Servant. And no one recognized Him except Yahweh and Isaiah. But Isaiah has proclaimed Him. He will be Immanuel, God with us, coming in the name of Israel and representing Israel. He will fulfill Israel’s destiny.
Our Holy Lord Yahweh now issues a challenge as to who else has been able to speak of the significance of Abraham, and of his seed, and of the One Who is coming Who is the seed of Abraham. But there is no one. The so-called gods are unaware of either. They do not know what is happening. No one declares it, no one reveals it and there is even no one who has absorbed the words of Isaiah about Him. They manifest total ignorance.
Jerusalem was to be the bearer of good news, and especially through the one whom He sent. But now, Isaiah asks, where is that One? There is no one. Among them there is no Counselor. The king has failed. The leaders have failed. There is no one who can reply to Isaiah’s searching words, and speak up. They are all show and pretence, and their idols are as bad as they are.
Sadly, among the people of Jerusalem there is as yet no one who can counsel on these matters, and who can speak to God about them. This comment may be in the words of Isaiah as he has sought to find those who will receive his prophecies and teach them. Or it may be God’s condemnation of the people. Either way the matter is summed up simply. They are vain and empty, what they do is worth nothing and accomplishes nothing, and their idols simply produce messages which are empty wind or total confusion. What is therefore required is a new Servant of God Who will be able to give counsel and fully reveal the truth of what Isaiah has been speaking about, acting on behalf of Israel.
As we wind up in our study of this chapter please note how it is interesting to consider the significance of the word ‘behold’ in this passage.
1). Behold their enemies will fail and perish (verse 11).
2). Behold Jacob will become a sharp threshing instrument with teeth (verse 15).
3). Behold the gods are nothing (verse 24).
4 & 5). Behold, behold them. Zion are to be doubly beheld as the ones who are the hope for the future, and who are to bring forth those who proclaim good tidings. But Zion has failed, as is evidence by the fact that there is no one (verse 27).
6). Behold all of them, their words speak and are empty, as are their idols, which are merely wind and confusion (verse 29)
In our next chapter we will see our Holy Creator God’s answer – “Behold My Servant!’ (Chapter 42 verse 1).
Until then may our Lord God richly bless you.
