Isaiah 42:14-25
Isa 42:14
I have long time holden my peace; I have been still,
and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will
destroy and devour at once.
From the beginning of time God has held his peace by
allowing the Gentile world to walk in its own ways according to their own false
religions but the time for silence has now passed and when the true gospel goes
forth upon the earth, it will challenge every religion and show how false every
single one is. Just like a woman
who carries a child, she doesn’t make any cries until the time of giving birth
when she experiences tremendous pain.
Birth comes in a fury and quickly and the Lord will follow suit by
destroying and devouring all the false religions of the world which will happen
at once on Judgment day when they are all exposed and destroyed.
Isa 42:15
I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all
their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.
What we have in this verse is the fact that true gospel
will go forth throughout all the world without any hindrance.
Just as mountains and hills are a hindrance to move troops and equipment,
they will be no hindrance to the gospel.
The mountains and hills are also representative of kings and kingdoms.
It does not matter how closed a country is, they will be unable to stop
the spread of the gospel into their country.
The herbs which are lesser could be considered the common people who may
be told by their government to betray anyone who holds to the true gospel but
even they will be unable to stop the spread of the gospel.
Rivers were sacred to the heathen nations and an example would be the
Nile in Egypt as it was always associated with idols.
God will dry up the rivers and the pools which would be like marshes.
He will cut off all things the pagans use for their idolatry.
Isa 42:16
And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew
not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make
darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do
unto them, and not forsake them.
Then those who have been spiritually blinded all their
lives by false religions and have now become saved will now experience true
grace. They knew nothing of true
grace before because in their false religions they always had to perform some
kind of ritual or sacrifice to a false deity but under grace their salvation was
free and without ritual because it was secured by the Lord Jesus Christ on
Calvary. These paths of not having
to do something was unknown in false religions back then and even today
adherents of false religions have to perform rituals.
The darkness they walked in while in false religion will now turn into
the light of the true gospel.
This then is the message which we have
heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness
at all. (1 John 1:5) The light
of the true gospel will show how dark their lives were under false religions.
The crooked things which were rituals like human sacrifice or temple
prostitution were no longer a part of their life and they would live straight
lives under grace and never resort to anything like those things.
The crooked things may also be the challenges of life and God will bring
them through everything and they will never have to worry about being forsaken.
Isa 42:17
They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed,
that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our
gods.
This verse may be understood in two different ways.
First, when those who worshipped the false gods and then came to the
truth of the gospel and the true God, will be greatly ashamed when they
experience the magnificence of God in contrast to their false gods.
They will realize that their trust in graven images was futile and
realize those false images did nothing for them.
When they compare the true God to the false gods, they will realize that
they have been lied to and that their life under those false gods was one big
lie designed to appease the flesh but offered no salvation for them.
The second way to understand this passage is to realize that many in
ancient Israel did not forsake the false religions in light of the fact that God
would not forsake them. Many
turned back to the false gods and trusted in graven and molten images but
eventually they became ashamed and would face their decisions on Judgment Day.
Isa 42:18
Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
Isaiah turns to those who still remained obstinate and
would still go after the false gods even in light of what was being proclaimed
to them. The deaf were those who
did not have spiritual ears to hear the truth and the blind were those who could
not spiritually see the serious errors of their ways.
Just like today, people are still deaf to the gospel and blind to its
truths.
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
(Matthew 13:9) Even in the
times of Jesus, there were many who rejected the truths of the gospel.
Isa 42:19
Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my
messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect,
and blind as the LORD'S servant?
Then God addresses those in Israel who were supposed to
be the ones who were to carry on the teachings of the law.
The Jews were supposed to be the servants of God but they were blinded to
the truth because they chose to adapt false teachings and replace the Scriptures
with the teachings of men. This is
why they did not recognize the Messiah when he came on the scene.
The messengers were the teachers and
the priests who were supposed to teach the word of God but they could not
because they forsook the study of the law and adopted false teachings.
Then the perfect or mature rabbis who were supposed to have a good handle
on the word of God were themselves blind because they too forsook the word of
God and went to man’s teachings and the false gospels of the heathens.
Isa 42:20
Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the
ears, but he heareth not.
Ancient Israel was privy to many things that the LORD had
done for them but because of spiritual blindness and deafness, they were unable
to see any of it. This condition in
Judah did not get better because in the time of Jesus, the leaders were still
blind and deaf to the truths of the world of God.
Same with many today who are given spiritual truths but choose to reject
them.
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of
Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and
seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15 For this people's
heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes
they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and
hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and
should be converted, and I should heal them. (Matthew 13:14-15)
Isa 42:21
The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he
will magnify the law, and make it honourable.
The LORD was pleased for his righteousness’ sake and in
spite of the spiritual blindness of the leaders he will magnify the law.
He will do this not because he desires to destroy Judah.
He will magnify the law by exalting the authority of it which will have
two results. Those who keep the law
will experience the blessing of God and those who reject the law will suffer the
judgment of God both on earth and on Judgment Day.
He will also make the law honorable because when Christ comes on the
scene, he will fulfil the demands of the law and then be able to impute that
obedience to the Elect whom he will grant everlasting life.
Isa 42:22
But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they
are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are
for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
Those who rejected the true gospel were robbed and
spoiled of the true eternal riches in Christ.
To whom God would make known what
is the riches of the glory of
this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
(Colossians 1:27) They were
also hidden like people who hid in caves and holes to protect themselves from
the enemy not realizing that the very one they are hiding from is the very one
persecuting them and that they are serving him.
This is part of the satanic deception.
They are in the prison house of sin as we previously saw in Isaiah 14:17
where no one can deliver them from it except the true gospel which takes them
out of that house and frees them.
They are in such spiritual bondage that they do not even cry out to be freed and
rescued.
Isa 42:23
Who among you will give ear to this? who will
hearken and hear for the time to come?
Then even though the prophet has outlined their spiritual
condition, he now asks them who understands that fact that they are in spiritual
bondage to the enemy and who will act to help free them from spiritual bondage?
The time to come will be when the Lord Jesus Christ will come on the
scene and the veil will be removed from some of the Jews who will then become
believers and will be persecuted by those who remain in spiritual bondage.
The time to come may also be pointing to the Babylonian captivity which
if they turn back to the LORD could be avoided.
Isa 42:24
Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers?
did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his
ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.
Then in response to the rebellion and disobedience of the
people of Israel, God states that he is the one who gave them to spoilers and
robbers which would be the enemies of the people of God such as Assyria and
Babylon and eventually Rome. Then
God declares that it was against him that they sinned especially after all that
he did for them and how he watched over them.
Instead of continuing to walk in his ways from the time of Moses, they
chose to walk after the false gods and the false religions thus provoking the
LORD to judge them and deal with them as if they were heathens.
Isa 42:25
Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger,
and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew
not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.