Isaiah 41:12

Isaiah 40–55 is often called the Book of Comfort. After many chapters of judgment, Isaiah turns here to hope, restoration and salvation, and these chapters speak above all to the people of Judah living through the Babylonian exile or in its shadow. They had lost their land, their temple and their king. They were a small, defeated nation among great empires whose gods looked victorious, and they were tempted to despair, or to settle among their captors and take up their worship. Many asked whether the LORD was able to help them at all. The rise of Cyrus of Persia, whom God would use to set them free, was a hope they only partly understood.

The chapter before sets out God’s incomparable power as Creator of all things (Isaiah 40:12–31). Chapter 41 opens like a courtroom, with God summoning the nations and their idols and daring them to show their power and to tell what is to come (Isaiah 41:1–7). They prove helpless, and later in the chapter God gives his verdict on the idols: “Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought” (Isaiah 41:24). Between the challenge and the verdict, with the words “But thou, Israel”, he turns to his own people. The idols are mute and powerless, while the LORD speaks, chooses, holds and helps. Right after this passage he promises to provide for the poor and needy and to turn the desert into fertile land (Isaiah 41:17–20).

“But thou, Israel, art my servant” sets Israel apart from the nations just summoned and the idols just exposed. The word for servant, ʻebed, means a servant or bondman, and in Isaiah it is a title of honour as well as of duty. A servant belongs to his master and is trusted with his master’s work. Israel was given that place: to bear witness to God’s truth, to keep his covenant and to carry his purposes into the world. God calls Israel “my servant” again in Isaiah 44:1 and Isaiah 49:3, and he speaks of his servant as “a light to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 49:6).

“Jacob whom I have chosen” names the nation by its ancestor. The verb bâchar, to choose, describes a deliberate selection, and the choice rests on God’s own will and grace. Moses told Israel that they were “an holy people unto the LORD thy God”, chosen out of all the peoples on the face of the earth (Deuteronomy 7:6), and that God chose them because he loved their fathers (Deuteronomy 4:37). A psalm uses the same names in the same order: “O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen” (Psalm 105:6). The two names carry the people’s history. Jacob is the man himself, and the name God gave him, Yisrâʼêl, joins a verb meaning to prevail or have power with El, God, a name Genesis ties to Jacob having power with God (Genesis 32:28).

“The seed of Abraham my friend” goes back to the beginning, to the covenant God made with Abraham when he called him (Genesis 12). The word behind “friend” is ʼâhab, the ordinary verb for love, to have affection for someone. Scripture gives Abraham this title in two other places. Jehoshaphat prayed about the land God gave “to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever” (2 Chronicles 20:7), and James writes that Abraham “was called the Friend of God” (James 2:23). So God’s bond with Israel began in love and trust, and here he reminds a frightened people that they are the children of the man he loved.

Verse 10 gives two commands, each with its reason, and then three promises. “Fear thou not” uses yârêʼ, a verb that covers both dread and reverent awe. Here it commands God’s people to stop being terrified of their circumstances and their enemies, and to trust the God who rules them all. “Be not dismayed” adds the picture of someone looking anxiously around in helpless confusion, overwhelmed by what he sees.

God’s answer to fear is himself. “For I am with thee” is the promise he gave Isaac (Genesis 26:24) and the promise Moses gave Israel: “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Deuteronomy 31:6). “For I am thy God” goes further. The word ʼĕlôhîym is plural in form, a plural of majesty when it names the one true God, and the word “thy” binds this God to his people by covenant. He alone is God, while the gods of the nations are idols made by hands, as Isaiah 44 sets out at length.

The promises build on one another: “I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee.” God gives his people strength to endure what is beyond their own power, comes to their aid and delivers them, and holds them up so that they stand. Psalm 46 says it in one line: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1–3).

“Behold” (hinnēh) in verse 11 calls attention to something certain. “All they that were incensed against thee” uses chârâh, to glow or grow warm, and so to burn with anger. Scripture uses this one verb for God’s anger and for man’s, and here it describes enemies whose hearts are hot with hostility toward God’s people. They “shall be ashamed and confounded”. The verb bûwsh properly means to grow pale, and so to be ashamed or disappointed, the public disgrace of people whose plans have failed, and kâlam adds confusion and humiliation. “They shall be as nothing” means their power and threats come to an end.

“They that strive with thee” uses rîyb, to contend or quarrel, in a lawsuit or in open conflict. These “shall perish”. The verb ʼâbad properly means to wander away or be lost, and so to perish, and it is used elsewhere of lost animals and lost property. Here it says the enemies will be lost to sight, gone as a threat.

In Isaiah’s day these were the nations that oppressed and mocked Israel, above all Assyria and Babylon, and all who scorned God’s power and Israel’s place as his servant. In that world people measured a god by his nation’s success in war. God declares that he rules history and will humble those who stand against his people. “The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth” (Psalm 9:16), and he is “the faithful God, which keepeth covenant” (Deuteronomy 7:9). Psalm 37 sings of the same reversal, in which the oppressed are lifted up and the oppressors brought low.

“For I the LORD thy God” in verse 13 uses God’s covenant name, Yᵉhôvâh, the self-existent and eternal One, and “thy God” makes it personal. The promise comes from the One who is utterly reliable. “Will hold thy right hand” uses châzaq again, the verb of verse 9. The God who took hold of Israel at the ends of the earth now takes hold of its hand, firmly, so that it stands. In verse 10 he upheld Israel with his own right hand, and here he grasps theirs. Holding someone’s hand meant protection, guidance and a pledge of support, much like a parent leading a child along a hard path. A psalmist says, “Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand” (Psalm 73:23).

“Saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” God speaks while he holds on. The verb ʻâzar means to help, aid or succour, the real and effective help that delivers from distress.

God calls Jacob a worm to name how weak and lowly his people had become, and in the same breath he promises to help them. The word tôwlâʻ means a maggot or the crimson grub. It pictures Israel as the great nations saw them in exile, and perhaps as they saw themselves: small, defenceless and unable to help themselves. It is a word of humble identification with a promise straight after it, and it shows that Israel’s rescue will be all God’s grace and power, so the glory for it will be all his. Paul learned the same lesson: “my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). The sufferer of Psalm 22, a psalm that speaks of the Messiah, says of himself, “But I am a worm, and no man” (Psalm 22:6).

“And ye men of Israel” widens the address to the whole nation, so that every exile hears himself named. The word for men, math, can imply few in number, which would fit a people shrunk beside the might of Babylon. “Saith the LORD” is nᵉʼum Yᵉhôvâh, the solemn word for a prophetic utterance or declaration, and it puts the full weight of God’s name behind “I will help thee”.

The two titles at the end of verse 14 show why the worm is safe. The verb gâʼal means to redeem as next of kin, and the redeemer, the go’el, was the close relative who had the duty to protect his family. He bought back land that a poor relative had sold (Leviticus 25:25), he avenged the blood of a murdered kinsman (Numbers 35:19), and he could marry a kinsman’s widow to raise up an heir, as Boaz did for Ruth (Ruth 4:1–12). When God calls himself Israel’s Redeemer, he takes that family duty on himself. He will deliver his people from bondage and exile, restore their inheritance, and guard their honour and their future.

The word qâdôwsh means sacred or set apart, and “the Holy One” speaks of God’s moral purity and of his standing above all creation and every false god. “Of Israel” binds this holy God to one people. Isaiah uses the title more than all the other books of the Old Testament together, from the opening charge that Israel had “provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger” (Isaiah 1:4) to the promises where the two titles stand side by side again: “Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 43:14). So the God who is highest above his people is also their nearest kinsman, and because he is holy, his promise is pure and sure.

“Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth.” God himself does the making (sûwm, to set or make). Israel was a farming people, and every hearer knew the môwrag, a heavy wooden sledge with sharp stones or iron teeth set into its underside. Oxen dragged it over the harvested grain spread on the threshing floor to break up the stalks and free the grain. “New” (châdâsh) speaks of a fresh capacity that Israel had never had. “Having teeth” is baʻal with pîyphîyâh, literally “owner of edges” (ba’al pipiyyot), a sledge with sharp, double edges.

“Thou shalt thresh the mountains” uses dûwsh, to tread or thresh, the crushing work of the sledge. “And beat them small” (dâqaq) means to crush to dust. “And shalt make the hills as chaff”: gibʻâh is a hill, the lesser height beside the mountain (har), and chaff (môts) is the light husk that the wind blows away. The mountains and hills stand for the great nations and empires, Babylon among them, and every obstacle that towered over God’s people. A sledge crushes grain, and the picture of one grinding mountains to dust shows a victory far beyond any human strength.

The worm of verse 14 becomes the sledge of verse 15, and the power is God’s, working through his people. Micah gives Zion the same command, “Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion” (Micah 4:13), and Zechariah gives the principle behind it: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). For Israel this meant the LORD going with them to fight for them against their enemies (Deuteronomy 20:4). For believers it means the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8).

“And thou shalt rejoice in the LORD.” The passage that began with fear ends with joy. The verb gîyl means to rejoice or be glad, and its root pictures spinning round under strong emotion. Israel’s joy is in the LORD himself, who gave the victory. “And shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel”: hâlal first means to shine, and so to boast, celebrate and praise, and it is the root of “hallelujah”, “praise the LORD”. Israel will boast, and its boast will be God, holy, faithful and mighty to save. A psalmist says, “My soul shall make her boast in the LORD” (Psalm 34:2), and another, “in thy presence is fulness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). Paul writes, “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:31), and, “Rejoice in the Lord alway” (Philippians 4:4).

Israel was God’s servant and often failed in that calling. Isaiah goes on to describe another Servant, the one in whom God delights (Isaiah 42:1–4) and who suffers for the sins of others (Isaiah 53:1–12), and Jesus is that Servant. He “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Paul says that the promise to Abraham’s seed points to one: “And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). In him God chose his people and adopted them as his children (Ephesians 1:4–5), and those the Father gives the Son are kept: “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

The promise “I am with thee” took flesh in Jesus, called Emmanuel, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23), God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16), through whom we come to the Father (John 14:6). He took Peter’s wife’s mother by the hand and lifted her up (Mark 1:31), took a dead girl by the hand and raised her (Mark 5:41), and calmed a storm with a word (Mark 4:39). He promised the Comforter, the Holy Spirit (John 14:26), and his word to us stands: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). The right hand of God’s righteousness points to Christ’s saving work, for by the obedience of one many are made righteous (Romans 5:17–19). He now sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3) and makes intercession for us there (Romans 8:34).

Like Israel, Jesus faced men incensed against him, and they handed him over to death (Luke 23:1–25). His resurrection put his enemies to shame. On the cross he spoiled principalities and powers and triumphed over them (Colossians 2:15), death is swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54–57), and the devil’s end is the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). In him we are “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37–39).

Jesus also took the lowly place that the word “worm” names, for he “made himself of no reputation” and became obedient unto death (Philippians 2:7–8). He is the Redeemer who bought us back with his own precious blood (1 Peter 1:18–19). He is “the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24), and Peter applies to him the psalm’s words “thine Holy One” (Acts 2:27). So he can say, “be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He is the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and he will also come as judge. John the Baptist said of him, “whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor” (Matthew 3:12), and Revelation shows him smiting the nations with the sharp sword that goes out of his mouth (Revelation 19:15). All the promises of God are yea and Amen in him (2 Corinthians 1:20), and the joy of verse 16 ends in a great multitude from every nation crying, “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9–10).

These words were spoken to Israel first, and they reach everyone who belongs to Christ. Paul says that those who are of faith are the children of Abraham (Galatians 3:7), and “if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). So your standing with God rests on his choice and his love, which hold steady while achievements and circumstances shift. He showed that love “while we were yet sinners” (Romans 5:8). You are his servant too, made free from sin to serve God (Romans 6:22), and a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

When fear comes, God’s answer to you is the one he gave Israel: “I am with thee”, “I am thy God”, “I will help thee”. You can put your whole weight on his hand. The mountains in your way may be opposition to your faith, a long trial, or the spiritual powers Paul names, and the strength to face them is the Lord’s: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13), by the same mighty power God worked when he raised Christ from the dead (Ephesians 1:19–23). “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17). And when he has carried you through, the fitting response is the one this passage ends with: to rejoice in the LORD and to make your boast in the Holy One of Israel.