God’s Power to Prove That He Is the Only Living & True God
21Can your idols
make such claims as these? Let them come and show what they can do, says God,
the King of Israel. 22Let them try to tell us what occurred in years
gone by or what the future holds. 23Yes, that’s it! If you are gods,
tell what will happen in the days ahead! Or do some mighty miracle that makes
us stare, amazed. 24But no! You are less than nothing and can do
nothing at all. Anyone who chooses you needs to have his head examined!
25But I have stirred
up Cyrus from the north and east; he will come against the nations and call on
my name, and I will give him victory over kings and princes. He will tread them
as a potter tramples clay.
26Who but I have
told you this would happen? Who else predicted this, making you admit that he
was right? No one else! None other said one word! 27I was the first
to tell Jerusalem, “Look! Look! Help is on the way!” 28Not one of
your idols told you this. Not one gave any answer when I asked. 29See,
they are all foolish, worthless things; your idols are all as empty as the
wind.[1] (Isaiah41:21–29)
God Has the Power to Prove That He Is the Only Living and True God.
Every
one of the events prophesied by Isaiah would be fulfilled exactly as revealed
by God:
Ø the Persian king,
Cyrus, would be raised up by God
Ø the Jews would be
taken captive by the Babylonians
Ø the Jews would be set free by Cyrus and allowed to return to the promised land
Along with that,
God promised to protect righteous believers and to meet their needs day by day
as they experienced these three significant events. God’s power to fulfill
these prophecies and to perform these miraculous works proves that He is the
only living and true God. When people objectively and honestly study the
prophecies of God’s Word and their fulfillment, they immediately understand the
most basic truth in the universe: the Lord (Jehovah, Yahweh) is the only
living and true God.
In the face of this indisputable evidence, all people who choose to reject the Lord and worship false gods must appear in court to stand before the Judge of the universe to present their case. And when idolaters step forth to present the defense for their idols, their arguments for idolatry must be just as strong as the case for the Lord’s power and existence.
a. God challenges
the idolaters of Isaiah’s day and of all succeeding generations to present
their case for worshipping idols, false gods (vv. 21–23). “Prove that your
false gods can predict the future and make the predictions come true. Prove
that they can explain past events, then show how they relate to the present and
are leading to a specific outcome, to a future that has already been destined
and determined by their power.” If
false worshippers could foretell coming events and bring those events to pass,
they could prove that their so-called gods were true. Not only that, idolaters
must prove that their false gods can do mighty works, works (good or bad) so
miraculous that they would fill people with amazement and fear. But no
so-called god can do these things. Only the one living and true Lord can do
them, and only He has proven that He can.
These are exactly the things God has done down through the generations of human history. In addition to working mightily in the lives of righteous believers, the Lord has fulfilled every prophecy of His Holy Word, explaining past events and how they relate to the present and to the predictions of what will take place in the future. Beginning with the woman’s seed, who would crush the head of the serpent, stretching through the birth of Israel as a descendant of Abraham, and reaching on down through history to the coming of Christ, the Lord has fulfilled the wonderful predictions concerning the coming seed, the Savior of the world. (Ge. 3:15; 12:2–3; 15:1–21; Is. 49:1–50:11; 52:13–53:12; Mt. 1:18–25) In addition to predicting and fulfilling past events, the Lord also gives prophecy after prophecy concerning the future of the world. As the events of past predictions have come true, so the predictions of future events will be fulfilled. Not a single word of His promises will fail (1 K. 8:56; Mt. 5:18; Lu. 21:33).
b. Of course, idolaters can make no case for their false gods. Subsequently, God issues His verdict on all idolaters and their idols. His verdict shatters the hopes and the trust of all idolaters, for when facing the scrutiny of God’s holy judgment, idols are exposed as less than nothing, utterly worthless. The verdict God pronounces against idolaters dooms them for eternity. They are abominable, detestable, filthy in the sight of God.
c. The proof that
the Lord is the only living and true God is of critical importance (vv.
25–27).
To emphasize the truth, the Lord stresses three astounding facts:
Ø He alone had the
power to control history, and He would prove His power by raising up Cyrus of
Persia to conquer the earth and free Israel (vv. 2–4).
Ø He alone could
predict the historical rise of Cyrus and that the Persian king would carry out
God’s judgment upon the nations and free God’s people from their Babylonian
captivity (13:17–18; 41:1–3; 44:28; 45:1). No one else could ever make a
prediction that revealed the name of the coming ruler more than a century
before his birth. No one else in heaven or earth could even hint that such an
event would take place, much less cause it to occur.
Ø He alone could predict that a messenger would proclaim the good news, the fact that His people would be set free from their captivity and return to the promised land.
d. As God looks around the courtroom, waiting for a response from the idolaters, not even the slightest evidence can be presented to support false gods. Apparently, God issues His final verdict on all idols and idolaters (vv. 28–29). They are false—each and everyone—false gods and false worshippers. They are empty, useless, and worthless. And the worship and works of the idolaters amount to nothing in the sight of God. Their images and false gods are as empty as the wind and nothing but confusion.
Thought 1. We all worship something. None of
us is free from worshipping while we walk upon the face of the earth. We either
worship the Lord Himself, or we worship ourselves, some other person, material
possessions, or false gods created by the human imagination. Even an atheist
who denies that God exists gives his heart to something. When we worship
something, we commit our heart and life to it; and we focus our devotion,
energy, and ambition on it. God demands that we focus upon Him, the only living
and true God, and that we commit and devote ourselves to Him, giving Him our
utmost attention and greatest energy. But many of us do the very opposite.
Only the Lord is
to receive our devotion and worship, but many of us are more focused upon
living in impressive houses, wearing the latest style of clothing, and securing
more wealth and property than we are upon worshipping God. Many of us spend
more time in front of a mirror than we do in daily prayer. Some put
girlfriends, boyfriends, wives, husbands, children, and friends before the Lord.
Still others put recreation, relaxation, and comfort before the Lord. Any
person or thing that becomes dominant in our lives, any person or thing we put
before the Lord, becomes an idol, the focus of our devotion and worship. God
forbids such idolatry and false worship:
V “For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with
this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him
declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that
He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, seeing He
giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined
the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they
should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He
be not far from every one of us: 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. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think
that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and
man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth
all men everywhere to repent: Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He
will judge the world in righteousness by that
man whom He hath ordained; whereof He
hath given assurance unto all men, in
that He hath raised Him from the dead” (Ac.
17:23–31).
V “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that
which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of
Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the
things that are made, even His
eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when
they knew God, they glorified Him not
as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their
foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like
to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own
hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth
of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator,
who is blessed forever. Amen” (Ro. 1:18–25).
V “As concerning therefore, the eating of those things that are offered in
sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is
nothing in the world, and that there is
none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in
heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of
whom are all things, and we in Him;
and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are
all things, and we by Him” (1 Co. 8:4–6).
V “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen” (1 Jn. 5:21).
V “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image, or any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou
shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Ex.
20:3–5).
V “Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a
standing image, neither shall ye set up any
image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God” (Le. 26:1).
V “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn
aside, and serve other gods, and worship them” (De.
11:16).
V “There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any
strange god” (Ps. 81:9).
V “I am the Lord: that is My name: and My glory will I not give
to another, neither My praise to graven images” (Is.
42:8).[2]
[1] Taylor, Kenneth
Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible,
Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
[2] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2005. Isaiah: Chapters 36–66. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
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