Isaiah 41:29

Behold, they are all vanity—confusion— Behold, as to all them they are vanity—vanity. This verse contains the conclusion of the whole disputation; collecting from what has gone before, that the idols from whom the Chaldees and others sought the knowledge of future events, were false and vain; neither to be worshipped nor feared; that there was neither in them nor in their worshippers any thing whereupon to depend; deceivers and deceived, helpless, weak, and despicable. See 1 Corinthians 8:4 and Vitringa.

REFLECTIONS.—1st, We have here,

1. A challenge given to idolaters, to try their cause before God; or, as some suggest, the matter of the controversy here intended is the divine power and godhead of the Redeemer, spoken of in the former chapter, which heretics, ancient and modern, have denied, who are cited to produce their evidence; though the first sense seems most natural. The court is set, the citation sent forth, silence proclaimed, the defendants of idolatry called to plead, and assured of a fair hearing if they dared bring the matter to an tribe. Note; (1.) We may rarely challenge the enemies of the religion of Jesus to do their worst, since their opposition will issue in their greater confusion. (2.) The truths of the Gospel will bear the strictest scrutiny; they who most attentively read their Bibles, and weigh the arguments there advanced, will be unmoved by the wretched cavils of infidelity.

2. He mentions an instance of his glorious power, to which the idols cannot pretend. The righteous man here described is Cyrus; and what should be done hereafter is, in the prophetic language, spoken of as already accomplished. (1.) When God calls us to his foot, we may safely commit ourselves to his guidance, though the way in which he is pleased to lead us be dark, and the issue unknown. (2.) All our enemies must bow before us, when the Lord is our strength and our Redeemer.
3. He represents the vain opposition of the idolaters. He also shews, [1.] The jealousy of the world and the devil against the incroachments of religion. [2.] That the sinner's heart is often exasperated by the means which were designed for his conversion. Note; How ready the wicked are to unite for purposes of evil! and should the servants of the blessed God be less active in his service?

4. He encourages his Israel to trust him. Thou, Israel, art my servant, and, being owned by him, will be assuredly protected; Jacob, whom I have chosen, separated for God's service from the world of idolaters, the seed of Abraham my friend, that high and honoured character, and, therefore, beloved for their father's sake; whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, whither they were dispersed, and said unto thee, thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away, notwithstanding all their provocations. And this is most true also of the spiritual seed, those who yield to be saved by grace, and are faithful to the cause of God.

2nd, To silence the fears, and encourage the faith and hope of God's people in their distresses, they are called upon to look to the rock which is higher than they.
1. God, their covenant-God, is with them to strengthen, help, and uphold them with the right hand of his righteousness; and then of whom need they be afraid? If he strengthen, what foe can prevail? If he help, what greater support can they need? If he uphold with his right hand, who shall pluck them from it? Note; (1.) If God, by his presence and grace, be continually with us, then in every trial, under every temptation, in the hour of death and the day of judgment, we must be safe. (2.) Faith in the promises is the sovereign antidote against all fear.

2. They shall be victorious over all their foes, to their great joy. Incensed as the enemies of God's people were against them, seeking with implacable enmity their ruin, confusion shall cover them, and, mighty as they were in power and policy, their strength shall fail, their devices be disappointed, whilst Israel victorious, like a sharp threshing instrument, shall beat them small as the dust, humble the loftiest, and abase the proud, and, scattering them as chaff before the wind, shall rejoice in the great salvation of God herein so gloriously displayed, which may refer literally to the victories of the Maccabees; but spiritually regards the conquests of God's people over the great enemies of their souls. For, however weak they may be, as worms of Jacob, their Redeemer is mighty; and, though earth and hell without, and corruption within, fright and trouble them, yet their mightiest inbred lusts, as well as their strongest persecutors, God can subdue before them; and a day of joy indeed will it be to see them fall. Note; (1.) Every Christian has a hard warfare to maintain, and there are many adversaries. (2.) Fear is often apt to beset us, when we see ourselves compassed about on every side, and feel how impotent we are to withstand our spiritual enemies. (3.) If God were not in such seasons to speak a word of comfort to our souls, we must utterly faint. (4.) Though the contest be hard, the victory is sure to the faithful soul. (5.) The greater our enemies, the more will the power of God be magnified in our deliverance. (6.) Whatever victories we, through grace, are enabled to obtain, our glorying must be in the Lord, not in ourselves; the work is his, and to him must be ascribed the praise.

3. In their deepest distresses the people shall find him a very present help in trouble. When oppressed with thirst they cry, instantly shall their prayers be heard and answered. From the high places the gushing streams shall burst, in the vallies the fountains shall flow; the very desert shall abound with pools and springs, and every beautiful and spreading tree spring up to shelter them.—A work so wonderful, that they would with wonder and surprise own, This hath God done. And this was eminently the case when, by the preaching of the Gospel, the Gentile world heard and turned to the Lord; and such a wondrous change was wrought on the hearts of men, as if the desert had been clothed with trees and pasture: and such also every truly converted person experiences to be his condition, when the Spirit of God renews his heart. [1.] He is described as poor and needy, sensible of his deep spiritual wants and wretchedness. [2.] He cries, and is heard; for prayer is the breath of an awakened soul. [3.] He thirsts for the pardon of his sins, a sense of the divine favour, and the supports of divine grace: and lo! the Lord quenches his thirst with views of the redeeming Blood; sheds abroad in his heart a sense of his love, and implants in his soul a living principle of grace. [4.] When this is the case, the whole heart is changed, the miserable sinful soul becomes pure, peaceable, heavenly-minded, holy, happy. [5.] This miracle of grace makes the finger of God evident; and to him the praise of this glorious work alone must be ascribed.
3rdly, The Lord, having comforted his people, resumes his controversy with the idolaters his enemies.
1. He challenges them to produce their arguments, let their Gods be brought forth and speak for themselves; if they have knowledge, or prescience, let them shew it; if power, let them exert it; can they either describe the past, or foretel the future? do good or hurt to their foolish votaries? not the least: they are nothing; a work of vanity; and justly are they counted an abomination, who forsake the living God for such senseless deities.
2. God declares his own work and design. I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come; from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: this is to be interpreted of Cyrus; by his father, a Mede; by his mother, a Persian; which countries lay, the one to the north, the other to the east of Babylon, whose princes he trod down as mortar, and proclaimed deliverance, in God's name, to the captives.

3. God, in foretelling this, convinces them of the vanity of the idols, who could never inform them of any such transactions. The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them, and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings: Cyrus, who issued the edict for their restoration; or the Lord Christ, with his fore-runner John Baptist preaching the Gospel of the kingdom: events, whichever of them be referred to, concerning which the worshippers of idols foresaw nothing, nor had a word to plead in vindication of their abominable practices. Their idols evidently proved mere vanities, and their curiously molten images utterly useless and unprofitable.