Daily Devotions
Isaiah
"I have raised up one from the north"
Text: Isaiah 41:25
GOD’S PROPHETIC WORD
The LORD challenged the idol makers and idols to give a true prophetic word. No one could offer a true prophecy. God applied the same test to Himself. He would give a prophetic word. This word concerning a powerful invading army.
“I have raised up one from the north,
And he shall come;
From the rising of the sun he shall call on My name;
And he shall come against princes as though mortar,
As the potter treads clay.
Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know?
And former times, that we may say, ‘He is righteous’?
Surely there is no one who shows,
Surely there is no one who declares,
Surely there is no one who hears your words.
The first time I said to Zion,
‘Look, there they are!’
And I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings.”
Isaiah 41:25-27
1. Prophecy of a powerful Invader.
a) He would come from the North.
b) He would come with great power.
c) He would battle many princes and emerge victorious.
d) He was likened to a potter dealing with clay.
e) This invader:
i) God had appointed Him.
ii) He would do God’s bidding.
iii) He would acknowledge the greatness of the LORD.
2. In direct contrast.
a) None of the idol makers or idols could make such prophecies.
b) No one had any knowledge of the future.
i) Who could have known that the Assyrians would become an Empire?
ii) Who could have foreseen that they would be defeated by the Babylonians?
c) The reality is that “no one knows”.
3. Good news to Zion.
a) The Assyrians would come.
b) They would destroy Israel.
c) But the LORD would not allow them to harm Jerusalem.
d) This was the “good tidings” to Jerusalem.