The Hand of the LORD Has Done This! (Isaiah 41:1-20)

Isaiah 41:1-20 says that the new creation will lead people to “see and know…consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.”  This new creation is described as rivers opening up on mountaintops (thus we are standing on top of heaven’s waterfall) and pools and springs appearing in the desert (v.18).  This new creation begins with the transformation of hearts by the power of the Spirit.  This is contrasted in the passage with the way that the nations will respond to the news and experience of judgment at the hands of Cyrus, king of Persia.  They respond not with faith but with fear — fear that leads them to help their neighbor.  Normally we would think that helping your neighbor is a good thing.  But here they are helping their neighbor so that they do not need to rely upon God — they prop each other up by helping one another to improve upon their idols.  Nevertheless, it is the LORD is the first and the last, the great “I am” who has done this — the judgment and the new creation.

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