Idolatry on Trial (Isaiah 41:1-7, 21-29)

Comfort, my people, your hardships are over.

Isaiah again calls the world to witness. In this case the nations. Who, but YHWH, has raised up a victor from the east. No one can stop him. He defeats kings and kingdoms. The best part of this bit of Isaiah, that can often be missed, is that he is delivering a message from God that will be fulfilled in the 530s BC, and Isaiah is writing this around 700BC. YHWH will not just orchestrate these events. He is announcing it 150 years in advance.

The response of the nations is to turn to idolatry. Can’t trust the power of the nations in the face of YHWH? You turn to false gods, of course.

In verse 21 and following, God challenges the idols. Can they predict the future, as YHWH can? Of course not. Idols are empty, nothing, powerless. YHWH foretells the future. YHWH brings His plans to fruition. The gods of the nations cannot do any of this. Partly because they are powerless. However, they are powerless because they do not even exist. They are the delusions of men. They are empty works of art that do not think, see, or act.