PREDICTIVE PROPHECY IN ISAIAH
(Isa 41:21 NIV) ""Present your case," says the LORD. "Set forth your arguments," says Jacob's King."
(Isa 41:22 NIV) ""Bring in your idols to tell us what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come,"
(Isa 41:23 NIV) "tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear."
(Isa 41:24 NIV) "But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly worthless; he who chooses you is detestable."
(Isa 41:25 NIV) ""I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes-- one from the rising sun who calls on my name. He treads on rulers as if they were mortar, as if he were a potter treading the clay."
(Isa 41:26 NIV) "Who told of this from the beginning, so we could know, or beforehand, so we could say, 'He was right'? No one told of this, no one foretold it, no one heard any words from you."
(Isa 41:27 NIV) "I was the first to tell Zion, 'Look, here they are!' I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good tidings."
(Isa 41:28 NIV) "I look but there is no one-- no one among them to give counsel, no one to give answer when I ask them."
(Isa 41:29 NIV) "See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; their images are but wind and confusion."
THe Lord challenges idols and their fllowers to set forth their case and bring thier proofs forward - let them decleare things to come beforehand(22) "That we may know that you are gods"(23). Thier inability to do so proves they are nothing. On the contrary, the Lord's before the event promise of a deliverer out of the north (Cyrus) is uniqve. Who else is able to match this prophecy and thereby validate his claims that men might say, "He is right"?(26) No one else has proclaimed this event, this herald of good tidings, beforehand. Proof that the Lord alone is God and all others a delusion.
(Isa 42:9 NIV) "See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you."" At the conclusion of the first "Servant Song" with its manifold Promise - "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them."
(Isa 44:7 NIV) "Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come-- yes, let him foretell what will come."
(Isa 44:8 NIV) "Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one."" There is no God besides the Lord - Let rival claimants proclaim what is to come! The Lord's record of announcing "from of old the things to come" is unmatched and Israel is a witness to it (cf. 43:10-12 on witness theme.)
(Isa 45:21 NIV) "Declare what is to be, present it-- let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me." Further polemic versus idolatry. "Present your case!" Who else declared long beforehand the things to come? None but the Lord. He alone is God; "there is none besides Me."
(Isa 44:24 NIV) ""This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,"
(Isa 44:25 NIV) "who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense,"
(Isa 44:26 NIV) "who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'It shall be inhabited,' of the towns of Judah, 'They shall be built,' and of their ruins, 'I will restore them,'"
(Isa 44:27 NIV) "who says to the watery deep, 'Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,'"
(Isa 44:28 NIV) "who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid."'" God the Creator and Sovereign Lord of history frustrates omens, divination, and human wisdom, but confirms the word of His servant and performs the coumsel of His messengers; a) Return to Jerusalem - repopulated. b) Jerusalem and cities of Judah to be rebuilt. c) Temple to be rebuilt d) Cyrus the Lord's instrument to accomplish same.
(Isa 46:8 NIV) ""Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels."
(Isa 46:9 NIV) "Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me."
(Isa 46:10 NIV) "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please."
(Isa 46:11 NIV) "From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do."
Transgressing idolators are reminded of the Lord's declaration of the "former things of old" (v.9) and "the end from the beginning" "from ancient times things not yet done" (v.10) He will again accomplish His purposes through Cyrus (a "bird of prey from the east")
(Isa 48:3 NIV) "I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass."
(Isa 48:4 NIV) "For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze."
(Isa 48:5 NIV) "Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, 'My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained them.'"
"The former things I declared of old, they went forth from my mouth and I made them Know; then suddenly I did them and they came to pass." (v.3) "I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you...."(v.5) cf. vs. 6, 7, 14 where the Lord declares He will perform new things (declared beforehand) as further proof to Israel.
(Isa 34:16 NIV) "Look in the scroll of the LORD and read: None of these will be missing, not one will lack her mate. For it is his mouth that has given the order, and his Spirit will gather them together."
Minute detail of each kite having its mate in desolated Edom cited as certain. Every detail in picture of Lord's judgment on Edom to come to pass as wrihen in the Book of the Lord - "Seek and read.... Not one of these shall be missing." The mouth of the Lord has commanded it and His Spirit will gather them.
