“God Has Broken Into the System”
Isaiah 41:1-20
Okay, most of us have a Christian mindset. We were brought up going to church, and have had a sense of the God of the Bible in our belief system for as long as we can remember. We are much like those to whom Isaiah was writing. The Israelites had grown up in Judaism and had a sense of Yahweh that they had learned from their parents and family. However, they were the only nation that believed in One God, rather than multiple gods. Not only that, they were one of the smallest nations. Verse 14, reads, “Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel. Whereas we Americans, exist in one of the wealthiest and strongest nations of this world. However, the challenge Isaiah presents makes as much sense today as it did then.
This chapter begins with an imaginary court case between God and the idols. The objective is to determine who is really God.
God calls “the islands” which in this case are meant to be the “nations” to “be silent”. They are in the presence of the Judge of the universe and He expects them to listen to His evidence. Then He will offer them the opportunity to respond. God plans to demonstrate to His fearful people that although they may be captive in Babylon, that has no reflection on His power or lordship.
The first section, verses 2-7, begins with a rhetorical question which is repeated and answered in verse 4. The question has to do with,
who was it that called the “one from the east?”
This person Isaiah was referring to was the Persian Cyrus, who was the one who was going to bring down the Babylonian Empire. God makes this point, that it ws God who stepped into history and made this happen, rather than the cosmos lining up in some certain order and a mythical creature creating the event.
We will notice that this argument is used repeatedly and intensified several times throughout the next few chapters, as this court case continues.
The process in which God takes,
by standing outside of our time,
calling things to occur,
directing the paths of nations and individuals from beginning to end
is a profound message.
Isaiah is demonstrating that God is not part of the process, like the pagan gods of the surrounding nations. Instead, we read the “I am he,” statement, reflecting back to Exodus, reminding the Israelites and informing the nations around them, that God simply “is.”
He is God, with no beginning and no end.
The next section of verses describes the response of the nations. They will be terrified, so the most obvious thing for them to do was to make better idols.
Isaiah explains that for those who worship idols, there is no encouragement from those idols, so idol worshippers must encourage each other. Isaiah goes on to describe the complexity of the process by referring to the four different classes of workers necessary for making a god. Think about it, it’s hard work to make your maker. Isaiah even goes as far to put the comment “It is good,” verse 7, as a reminder of what God stated in Genesis when He was creating existence. Which leads us to the question,
“Who really is the Creator and who is the created?”
In the remainder of this section, Isaiah reminds His people that there was no need to fear. Now for the run of the mill Isrealite, much like the run of the mill Christian, they may not have doubted God’s ability to do something about their situation, the fear revolved around whether God “wanted” to do something about their situation.
To which Isaiah reminds them, in verses 8 & 9, that they are His “servant,” and God had not forgotten His promise to “Abraham.” The phrase “do not be afraid” is repeated often in this section of Isaiah’s book, and is a central issue. God’s people were afraid God had abandoned them. So Isaiah was sent to remind them again and again, that this was not true.
Sound familiar.
Humanity hasn’t changed much.
How often do we go to the worst case scenario, and need someone to reassure us that God has not left us,
that God will protect us, He will defend us.
The encouragement Isaiah offers, is that he reminds them that God is personally present with them no matter what happens.
In verse 14, we read the word, “Redeemer” for the first time in the book of Isaiah. But it won’t be the only time. It will appear thirteen more times before we are done.
In this verse, the word redeemer is associated with “the Holy One of Israel,” and His power to bring His people back to Him.
In this section Isaiah continues to offer protection but now he has switched the focus from defense to offense. God plans to use Israel, as a “threshing sledge.” The word “sledge” reminded me of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” by C.S. Lewis. The witch rode a sledge, however the sledge Isaiah was referring to was constructed from pieces of wood with sharp stones “teeth” driven into them. This device was pulled around over a pile of cut grain so that the kernels of grain were separated from the husks both by the weight of the sledge and by the cutting effect of the stones. Isaiah was letting the Israelites know that they were not going to be bystanders in this freeing from Babylon. God had plans to use them. This may bring to mind such participants as Daniel and his influence in both Babylon and Persia.
Don’t forget the women in history, Esther too played an important role.
Verses 17-20 summarize, in graphic form, what Isaiah has stated up to this point. Isaiah shows that God is capable of doing the impossible. Referring to nature, Isaiah reminds the Israelites, that God is not a part of the cosmos, He remains outside of all things and can turn the “desert” into “pools of water.” And by doing so, the world will know who He is.
How does the world look at God today?
How does the world know who He is today?
In order to explain how the world thinks today in regards to God and religion I will need to take you back to the Enlightenment Era. The Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 18th century, the “Century of Philosophy”.
Some consider the publication of Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica as the first major enlightenment work.
– Wikipedia
This meant that everything was measured by the bar of reason and if something was not manageable by human reason it was discarded. Take the Holy Bible for example, Thomas Jefferson felt it was necessary to rewrite the New Testament and explicitly leave out any reference to miracles. On this basis, Rudolf Bultmann, a German New Testament scholar of the first half of the twentieth century, argued that the New Testament had to “come of age” and in order for humanity to believe it, the NT should be “demythologized,” and have all mention of the supernatural stripped from its pages.
Human reasoning may have caused some issues, however, today we are met with the danger of ideas arising based on fancy rather than fact.
The pendulum has swung to the opposite direction and today there is a wide disillusionment with reason in anything but the technical arena. Today, reason is met with skepticism. This may have a little to do with two world wars, but for many there is the sense that reason has failed to make the world a better place. Instead, reason has stifled one’s emotions and doesn’t allow the freedom of expression. The result being, that ideas and formulations no longer need to be based on logic. If it feels good, do it. If it is useful to you, then it must be true. We have come full swing, back to paganism being prominent, because paganism is hampered by reason, and invigorated by anything one believes can be true. Here lies the irony, someone can use a computer, which has been created through pure logic, and can only be utilized through logical principles, to proclaim how in a past life they walked with King Arthur in his court.
Taking this way of worldly thinking into account, Isaiah’s arguments fit right in and are relevant today as they were for the Israelites.
The basic question is “How do we know what is true?”
The answer Isaiah gives, doesn’t take us back to reasoning, it takes us to an appeal to experience.
The answer isn’t outside our system,
because God has broken into our system and revealed Himself to humans who are His faithful witnesses.
The ways in which truth exists are consistent and coherent. This demonstrates that the Bible shows the importance of reason. The problem arose when the Enlightenment thinkers placed human reasoning above God. Isaiah’s Holy One never acts in irrational ways, however, if when human minds begin to think they can fully explain the Holy One, well, then that’s when they get in trouble.
Humans are finite, with finite capacities. God is infinite, and there are infinite things our finite minds can’t comprehend, no matter how intelligent we think we have become.
Where does that leave us today?
We need to rediscover God’s Word in both its written form and its experiential form.
When we read God’s Word we need to see that there is a God who is outside the system and who knows, in advance, what will happen within the system and can redirect that system to achieve His goals, either from the outside or from the inside. This is where we come involved, because God lives in us. He uses us, His servants by changing our lives and doing things that only He can do, and allowing us to give evidence that He is the one who has done them. Verse 20 of today’s passage reads,
(I am reading from “The Message,”)
Everyone will see this. No one can miss it—
unavoidable, indisputable evidence
That I, God, personally did this.
It’s created and signed by The Holy of Israel.
Franklin D. Roosevelt had this to say about fear during World War II, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” As a rhetorical hyperbole, there is some truth to that statement. If we can overcome one fear, than we can begin something that in and of itself may have positive results. Yet, we are still left with how to overcome fear in the first place.
God answers the issue of fear through Isaiah’s words and this answer still works for us today. We are reminded that although it may seem like it, we are not alone. Verse 10 – reminds us that God is with us. Not only is He with us, He has promised to help us, verse 14. I have created bookmarks or refridgerator markers, for you to use to remember.
Putting this into perspective and
with the help from the creator of the universe
who has our backs,
why are we afraid?
Because many of us forget that we have been created in the image of God. He has given us the dignity of sharing His image and this means we are not robots used to promote His cause. Rather than wanting us out of His way, He desires to use us to bring forward His plan. And that plan has to do with the impossible task Christ gave His disciples prior to returning to heaven. In Matthew 18:18-20, again from “The Message,” Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”
God has a plan, and we are part of His plan. He is not going to abandon His plan, or us. What an incredible honor we have as Christians and this honor is available for all who believe. It is up to us, who have experienced a relationship with God and who have the Holy Spirit residing in us, to share the message,
that God has indeed, broken into the system and
has a plan. Let’s follow Him.
Let’s pray.
