Isaiah 41 … Consider Him, Irrefutable

Originally posted: 4/03/2021

“Present your case,” the Lord says.
“Bring forward your strong arguments,”
The King of Jacob says, (41:21).

We hear a different tone from yesterday. As yesterday began with His comfort, today we listen in on His confrontation, as God calls for nations from coast to coast to gather before the King of Jacob and muster up their strength to present their case.

“Coastlands, listen to Me in silence,
And let the peoples gain new strength;
Let them come forward, then let them speak;
Let us come together for judgment,” (41:1).

His voice would command their attention, muting any argument against Him as He confronts them with all that He Is. And the events transpire as those of a courtroom drama as we are offered a glimpse into His heavenly hall of justice; and before one witness can even utter a word, the facts emerge. And none would be able to deny His might, to disprove His power, or claim that He is wrong; for all His Words and His Works lay forth the Truth of Him, Irrefutable.

Irrefutable: undeniable; unable to be disproved or refuted; impossible to deny or disprove; impossible to prove wrong, or that cannot be denied

Consider Him, Irrefutable

The scene is laughable really, as God opens the floor to those who think they somehow have any influence over the determinations of Almighty God. For who can possibly do, or say, or be anything even close to Him, Unequaled?

“To whom then will you liken Me
That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One, (Isaiah 40:25).

He alone has called forth every generation and He will be there to the last; and in so doing, He proves Himself Irrefutable, through What He Does, What He Says, and Who He Is.

“Who has aroused one from the east
Whom He calls in righteousness to His feet?
He delivers up nations before him
And subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
As the wind-driven chaff with his bow.
³ “He pursues them, passing on in safety,
By a way he had not been traversing with his feet.
⁴ “Who has performed and accomplished it,
Calling forth the generations from the beginning?
‘I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. I am He,’” (41:2-4).

And this scene deserves our full consideration, for every word that brilliantly portrays What He Does, What He Says, and Who He Is, demonstrates the inarguable Truth of Him, Irrefutable.

• His enemies will tremble; His Unrivaled Power is Irrefutable.
  • The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
    The ends of the earth tremble;
    They have drawn near and have come.
    ⁶ Each one helps his neighbor
    And says to his brother, “Be strong!”
    ⁷ So the craftsman encourages the smelter,
    And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
    Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
    And he fastens it with nails,
    So that it will not totter, (41:5-7).

• His people will never be rejected; His Sovereign Choosing is Irrefutable.
  • “But you, Israel, My servant,
    Jacob whom I have chosen,
    Descendant of Abraham My friend,
    ⁹ You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
    And called from its remotest parts
    And said to you, ‘You are My servant,
    I have chosen you and not rejected you,'” (41:8-9).

• Fear will never overshadow Him; His Empowering Presence is Irrefutable.
  • “‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
    Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
    I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
    Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand,’” (41:10).

• Contentions of the enemy will cease and perish; His Redemptive Help is Irrefutable.
  • “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
    Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
    ¹² “You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
    Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.
    ¹³ “For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand,
    Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’
    ¹⁴ “Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;
    I will help you,” declares the Lord, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,” (41:11-14).

• His intent will be accomplished; His Holy Purpose is Irrefutable.
  • “Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;
    You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them,
    And will make the hills like chaff.
    ¹⁶ “You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
    And the storm will scatter them;
    But you will rejoice in the Lord,
    You will glory in the Holy One of Israel,” (41:15-16).

• His provision will never wane; His Overflowing Blessings are Irrefutable.
  • “The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none,
    And their tongue is parched with thirst;
    I, the Lord, will answer them Myself,
    As the God of Israel I will not forsake them.
    ¹⁸ “I will open rivers on the bare heights
    And springs in the midst of the valleys;
    I will make the wilderness a pool of water
    And the dry land fountains of water.
    ¹⁹ “I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
    The acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree;
    I will place the juniper in the desert
    Together with the box tree and the cypress,
    ²⁰ That they may see and recognize,
    And consider and gain insight as well,
    That the hand of the Lord has done this,
    And the Holy One of Israel has created it,” (41:17-20).

• False gods cannot alter His Will; His Determined Outcome is Irrefutable.
  • “Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place;
    As for the former events, declare what they were,
    That we may consider them and know their outcome.
    Or announce to us what is coming;
    ²³ Declare the things that are going to come afterward,
    That we may know that you are gods;
    Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.
    ²⁴ Behold, you are of no account,
    And your work amounts to nothing;
    He who chooses you is an abomination,” (41:22-24).

• Whether or not anyone chooses to receive and believe His Truth; His Good News is Irrefutable.
  • “I have aroused one from the north, and he has come;
    From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
    And he will come upon rulers as upon mortar,
    Even as the potter treads clay.”
    ²⁶ Who has declared this from the beginning, that we might know?
    Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?
    Surely there was no one who declared,
    Surely there was no one who proclaimed,
    Surely there was no one who heard your words.
    ²⁷ “Formerly I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’
    And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a messenger of good news.’
    ²⁸ “But when I look, there is no one,
    And there is no counselor among them
    Who, if I ask, can give an answer.
    ²⁹ “Behold, all of them are false;
    Their works are worthless,
    Their molten images are wind and emptiness,” (41:25-29).

How do we respond to Him, Irrefutable?

When these words of their promised future were declared to God’s chosen people, it also entailed the prophecy of His coming judgment on their rebellion and sin against Him, when the kingdom of Judah would be taken captive by Babylon. And though His judgment would come, God was calling His people to stake their lives and their future on the Irrefutable Truth of What He Does, What He Says, and Who He Is.

The editorial caption for this chapter in the NASB is, “Israel Encouraged.” And we all need encouragement; and when we have been saved through faith in Christ Jesus, we have Irrefutable Encouragement.

Today, let us be encouraged as we choose to remember and trust in Him, Irrefutable.

Let us remember and trust that nothing can frustrate or turn back His plan, for His plan is Irrefutable.

“This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. ²⁷ For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?” (Isaiah 14:26-27).

Let us remember and trust that nothing can separate us from His Love, for His Love is Irrefutable.

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?… ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, (Romans 8:35, 38-39).

Let us remember and trust, that even when others attempt to refute the Truth of the gospel message, His Good News in Jesus Christ is Irrefutable to all who believe.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (Luke 11:25-26).

And let us remember and trust that when we are in Christ, we have been set free from the bondage and captivity of sin; and when the Son sets us free, His Gift of Freedom is Irrefutable.

“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed,” (John 8:36).

We know we still live in a world fraught with trials and tears; and the looming sense of being held captive in a sin fallen world can sometimes leave us discouraged and on the verge of despair. It is then we must remember and trust Him, Irrefutable.

It’s laughable, really, to imagine the enemy gaining any ground against Him. We must always remember and trust What He Does, What He Says, and Who He Is. We must remember and trust that His Unrivaled Power, His Sovereign Choosing, His Empowering Presence, His Redemptive Help, His Holy Purpose, His Overflowing Blessings, His Determined Outcome, and the Truth of His Good News are Irrefutable.

The day is coming when we will see Him utterly conquer and destroy the enemy. And on that day we will rejoice and glory in Him forever.

 “You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will rejoice in the Lord,
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel, (41:16).

Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” ¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. ¹⁸ And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth,” (Revelation 11:15-18).

And that is Irrefutable Truth on which we can stake our lives and our future; for it has been promised by Him, Irrefutable.

Let’s Grow Together!