Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 41:16-29 I Will Give to Jerusalem One That Brings Good Tidings

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Isa 41:16-29 I Will Give to Jerusalem One That Brings Good Tidings.

Isa 41:16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 41:17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
Isa 41:18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
Isa 41:19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
Isa 41:20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
Isa 41:21 Produce your cause, saith the LORD ; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
Isa 41:22 Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.
Isa 41:23  Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
Isa 41:24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.
Isa 41:25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.
Isa 41:26  Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.
Isa 41:27 The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.
Isa 41:28 For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counseller, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
Isa 41:29  Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images arewind and confusion.

Here are the last two verses of our previous study which will give us the context for the first verse of our study today:

Isa 41:14  Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 41:15  Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

The first verse of our study today continues, and it completes that thought:

Isa 41:16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

The last study explained our function of accomplishing in and upon others what the Lord Himself is accomplishing in and upon us “in this present time”. It is the most glorious calling we can be given:

Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to becompared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

In “this present time” we are given to be “joint heirs with Christ” of the kingdom His Father has given Him for all the suffering He endured, “…if so be that we suffer with Him”:

Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Let’s be very clear. When are we “the sons of God?” Is “we are the children of God…” speaking of those things “that are not as though they were” or is this a present fact? The scriptures answer this question in very emphatic terms:

1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Christ was the ‘Son of God’, and this is what we are told about who we are “in this world”.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

We are at this very moment “the sons of God”, and the next words nail this down… “and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him: for we shall see Him as He is”.

In other words, “We are presently sealed by the holy spirit of promise as the sons of God here and now, as a down payment of a far more glorious inheritance, yet to come.” The receiving of that inheritance will take place at the first resurrection and it is called “the redemption of the purchased possession”:

Eph 1:14 Which [holy spirit] is the earnest [Greek: down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession [until the first resurrection, Rev 20:6], unto the praise of his glory.

The holy spirit tells us:

Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Why is ‘the creature waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God’? God has decreed that it is His firstfruit harvest, “the manifested sons of God”, through whom He will redeem all men of all time. It is the Lord Himself who has revealed to us His plan for us:

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

We are not left to guess what it was Christ’s Father sent Him to accomplish:

Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

It is to that end we are told:

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

The Literal Version reads:

Col 1:24 who now rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf and fill up in my flesh the things lacking of the afflictions of Christ on behalf of His body, which is the assembly,

To make that verse clear, what we are being told is that ‘the afflictions of Christ on behalf of His body are not complete without our sufferings’. What we are being told is that our bodies being offered as a living sacrifice ‘for His body, which is the church’ is ‘the things which are behind of the sufferings of Christ for His body’s sake which is the church’.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

That sounds too high a calling to be true, but our bodies offered as a living sacrifice are an essential part of the sacrifice of the body of Christ for the sins of this world, and that is why, if we are the Lord’s elect firstfruits, we will not be cast away as Ishmael, Esau and King Saul were cast away.

It is through the Lord and His Christ that these following verses will be fulfilled now in “this present time… for His body’s sake, which is the church”. But then, through us, all the rest of mankind from Adam to the lake of fire will also be brought to know and love Christ and all He has done for them.

Isa 41:17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
Isa 41:18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
Isa 41:19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
Isa 41:20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

These are part of our Lord’s words which “shall never pass away” (Mat 24:35). What that means is the Lord will meet our needs in every way right now, and He will continue to do so during the thousand years of the rule of “the Lord and His Christ over the kingdoms of this world”. Finally, they will continue to apply to all the Lord will do through us during the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death.

The Lord’s judgments are at this very moment “first begin[ning] at the house of God”, but His kingdom will endure through the thousand-year reign and all through the great white throne judgment and until God is all and in all. For that reason, we are called to always be challenging the carnal mind of mankind:

Isa 41:21 Produce your cause, saith the LORD ; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
Isa 41:22 Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.
Isa 41:23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

The scriptures are the only book in the world which tells us “what shall happen”. The scriptures alone reveal that the Lord Himself will appear, and at that time “the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1Co 15:16-17) to “rule with Him a thousand years” (Rev 20:6).

Inwardly we are at “this present time” ruling the nations within us, but the outward future application is to confront the powers of the nations as nothing and to ‘come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the Potter treads clay’.

Isa 41:24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.
Isa 41:25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.

Christ calls the first resurrection “the resurrection to life” (Joh 5:29). Revelation 20 reveals that when the thousand years are expired there will be a second resurrection, which Christ calls “the resurrection of damnation”. The word ‘damnation’ here is better translated as “the resurrection of judgment”, because it will be at that time the masses of mankind who are not being judged in this age will then be judged. All whose names were in the book of life prior to this second resurrection were partakers of the first resurrection at the beginning of the thousand-year reign of the Lord and His Christ:

Because we are more than servants and are considered Christ’s friends, He has revealed to us this sequence of events.

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

“Ye are Gods” refers only to those who are in Christ:

Psa 82:6  I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

The next verse demonstrates that this is one of those instances where the Lord ‘speaks of those things which are not as though they were’ (Rom 4:17):

Psa 82:7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
Psa 82:8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

Without a resurrection we are told that mankind has “no preeminence above a beast”:

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
Ecc 3:19  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
Ecc 3:20  All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

Ezekiel expressly tells the prince of Tyre he is “a man, and not God”.

Eze 28:1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
Eze 28:2  Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

That is what we all think of ourselves. It is only through Christ that we are raised to become gods:

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now [in Christ] are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

As they relate to “the former things” the scriptures are the most trustworthy, provable and truly scientific words on earth.

Isa 41:22 Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.

The life cycle of every creature demands that every creature, as well as every creature’s food source, had to be in place from the very beginning for any of it to be here today. Evolution is a laughable, ridiculous lie and atheism is total foolishness. As a farm boy I can tell you for certain the chicken definitely came before the egg. Without a hen to lay, there are no eggs. Without a hen to set on the eggs, they do not hatch, without a hen to feed the chicks they starve. The hen was created before the eggs were laid! That’s a provable, scientifically demonstrable fact!

The entire living creation cries out for an instantaneous Creator!

Psa 14:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Psa 53:1 To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.

The entire creation was spoken into existence in six literal 24 hour days consisting of six “evenings and mornings”:

Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

It all happened, and it was done “suddenly”.

Isa 48:3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.

Those who deny their own Maker are many, and they dominate all governments of men, academia, all secular journalism and all “science falsely so-called”. Religions themselves deny the God of the scriptures. We have all been adherents to the lies of the great men who rule over the nations.

Put them all together and give them the one thing they all agree with, and this is still what the Lord thinks of all of these combined forces of mankind:

Isa 41:24  Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.
Isa 41:25  I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.

As with all scripture, these words had an application to the time in which they were written concerning the coming of Cyrus the Great, who would liberate the Lord’s people and send men back to Jerusalem from Babylon to rebuild the temple. However, these words also have an application to us as the Lord’s Christ who will be the Lord’s “threshing machine with teeth”.

Isa 41:26  Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.
Isa 41:27 The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.

Who is “the first” of verse 27? Throughout this prophecy the Lord declares time and again. Our answer is in this same chapter:

Isa 41:4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.

And again in:

Isa 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

Isa 48:12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

Christ hammers this fact in the book of Revelation:

Rev 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Rev 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Rev 2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;

This fact is repeated for emphasis at the end of this prophecy, and it most always includes the fact that the Lord is also “the last”:

Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

The point being made is:

Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

When we recognize that we are “Jerusalem above [who] is free”, then we will understand that He Who is first and by whom all things consist is giving us the good tidings, the good news of our salvation:

Isa 41:27 The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.

No one else can do such a thing. Certainly, none of those who refuse to hear the Lord’s words can:

Isa 41:26  Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.

It is only the Lord Himself who will send us a messenger of all the good He has in store for us:

Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

Isa 41:27  The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold… I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.

The word ‘them’ is not in the Hebrew. The Lord is simply contrasting His ability to tell us what has been and what will be with those who know neither:

Isa 41:28 For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counseller, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
Isa 41:29  Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.

The Lord is not telling us that His enemies hold their peace rather than tell a lie. What we are being told is that when He asks them to tell us where we came from and what the future holds for us, “there was no counselor [who] could answer a word” of Truth. There are endless theories concerning the beginnings of the creation, and there are endless books, tapes, CD’s concerning the book of Revelation, professing to know what the future holds. But “their molten images [the stumbling block of their iniquities (Eze 14:4), their false doctrines] are wind and confusion”, meaning they are all lies and deceits.

However, the Lord has made known to us both where we came from and where we are bound:

Isa 41:27  The first [the Lord] shall say to Zion, Behold, behold… I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.

That “One” who brings good tidings is Christ, and He tells us that we are Him, and that He is sending us to do what His Father sent Him to do:

Act 22:8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

If indeed we are as He is in this world, then it follows that the “one bringing good tidings” is us if we are His elect. “As my Father has sent me, even so send I you.”

We will conclude this study with a few words of those “good tidings”:

1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered intothe heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

In our next study we will learn much more about that “one who brings good tidings”.

Here are our verses for our next study:

Isa 42:1  Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Isa 42:2  He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
Isa 42:3  A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
Isa 42:4  He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
Isa 42:5  Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
Isa 42:6  I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
Isa 42:7  To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
Isa 42:8  I am the LORD : that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
Isa 42:9  Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
Isa 42:10  Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
Isa 42:11  Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages thatKedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
Isa 42:12  Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.
Isa 42:13  The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.

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