Idolatry on Trial
41: 1-29
The basic content of Chapters 41 through 48 can be stated in this way. God will demonstrate His absolute superiority over the idols by doing something never before done in human history: causing a people, His people, to return from exile (41:1 to 44:22). The background to this entire section is the Babylonian captivity. Isaiah is prophesying to events that are 150 years in the future. Therefore, the words penned here are not so much for Isaiah’s generation, but for those Jews who would be living during the Captivity. ADONAI will not only punish Babylon; He will also demonstrate, as He did with the ten plagues of Egypt, that the gods of Babylon were utterly powerless. In this chapter the LORD puts the entire system of Babylonian idolatry on trial. He will prove His superiority over Babylonian idolatry by prophesying future events. In 41:1-7 He gives a near historical prophecy regarding the coming of Cyrus. He will not name Cyrus until we get to Chapters 44 and 45, but it is obvious that Cyrus is the person he is talking about in 42:1-7. Remember the prophetic system. After first successfully prophesying near historical events, Isaiah’s far eschatological prophecies could be believed.
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