Isaiah 41 is a much less well known passage than its predecessor, but it contains just as much rich theology. Since the days of long ago and far away when I was a student at university reading these chapters (Isaiah 40-55) for the first time and sensing the vastness of this God as I read, these are the chapters I go back to when I want to most clearly see God as God reveals himself.
In order for us to see God as God reveals himself one key thing that we need to be able to do is to allow ourselves to be surprised by the text, and not assume that the passage needs to fit into our initial understandings. To help us do this I want to share a quote that I came across whilst reading through someone’s PhD thesis – one of the side benefits of my current job is the joy of reading a whole variety of different manuscripts. The quote is from Walter Brueggemann’s commentary on 1 & 2 Samuel and it sums up what I want to do in reading and encouraging others to read these chapters.
the task of interpretation will be to make this working of Yahweh dramatically available, without siphoning off the inscrutable and odd action of Yahweh into more cogent or “reasonable” forms. That is, the casting of the narrative does not invite us to an explanation of the action but to an awed silence before the one who is inexplicable, inscrutable, and finally irresistible.
W. Brueggemann – 1&2 Samuel
Read it, and read it again. Notice his key points. Interpretation of the biblical text – in his case Samuel, in ours Isaiah, is about showing how the text describes Yahweh – without trying to tame that action into ‘reasonable‘ forms. In other words we all have ideas about God that we think are rational and sensible – but when we come to this text we need to listen first and foremost to the text – not how we think the text should speak to us.
Then in the second sentence notice the caution. Commentary on the text, and equally, I think, preaching on the text, is not first and foremost about explaining. It is first and foremost about encounter. Encounter with the God who speaks the text and reveals himself in the text to us. This God demands an awed silence from us – for he is:
inexplicable – he cannot finally be explained or comprehended by us,
inscrutable – we cannot search him out,
and irresistible – ultimately this God is utterly compelling and we find in him all that we need and desire.
And so with that in mind we open Isaiah’s scroll to chapter 41 and we are called to pay attention.
“Be silent before me, you islands!
Isaiah 41:!
Let the nations renew their strength!
Let them come forward and speak;
let us meet together at the place of judgment.
The islands – the distant places from Israel’s perspective, are to be silent, and the nations of the world are to renew their strength so that they can come and meet God at the place of judgement. This is a trial scene, and the nations are in the dock. But slightly surprisingly they are not called to give account immediately. First they are called to listen – to be silent. And then God speaks.
“Who has stirred up one from the east,
Isaiah 41:2-4
calling him in righteousness to his service?
He hands nations over to him
and subdues kings before him.
He turns them to dust with his sword,
to windblown chaff with his bow.
3 He pursues them and moves on unscathed,
by a path his feet have not traveled before.
4 Who has done this and carried it through,
calling forth the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord—with the first of them
and with the last—I am he.”
Yahweh’s speech begins with a question that feels slightly puzzling to us. Mostly because v1-3 have a lot of ‘he’ and ‘him’. “He” is Yahweh (and the clue there is at the end of v4, which we will come onto at the end) – but “him” is not clear from the immediate text.
This ‘him’ is one who has been stirred up from the east, and called in righteousness to Yahweh’s service. This ‘him’ has had nations handed over to him, and Yahweh has subdued kings before him. It isn’t until 44:28-45:1 that we learn the identity of this figure – Cyrus, the Persian emperor who defeated Babylon, and who issued the edict that returned Israel to the land. There is a lot more we need to learn about Yahweh, and his servant, and his people before we are ready to think more about the identity of this figure who carries our God’s service.
But for now, in this speech of Yahweh we are not to focus on this figure, but on the action of Yahweh. It is Yahweh who is providing victory for this figure, without danger to himself. Yahweh does this by a path his feet have not traveled before. Previously in Israel’s story God has rescued his people out of slavery to a ruthless dictator by doing battle with the dictator.
But for the new Exodus Isaiah speaks about, it will not be like that. This time God is calling a pagan King to bring freedom to his people. God has used the nations to bring judgement on God’s people, but this time the nations will bring God’s work of salvation to his people. This is a strange new work. We have a God who chooses to do a new thing.
I’m reminded of a conversation between Lucy and Aslan in Prince Caspian that Lucy wistfully wishes that Aslan would appear like last time:
“Oh dear, oh dear,” said Lucy. “And I was so pleased at finding you again. And I thought you’d let me stay. And I thought you’d come roaring in and frighten all the enemies away—like last time. And now everything is going to be horrid.”
Lucy & Aslan – Prince Caspian
“It is hard for you, little one,” said Aslan. “But things never happen the same way twice. It has been hard for us all in Narnia before now.”
As I type this in the closing hours of 2021 I imagine for many of us at least the idea that things might be different in 2022 carries some hope. And yet, how often do I want things to be like they were? There is obviously a good sense of looking back – but there is also a negative way in which looking back can be a way of constraining what we want God to do.
Like the Israelites in Isaiah’s day, and like Lucy in Prince Caspian, we need to know that things do not happen the same way twice. We have a God who, as my Rector in my teenage years used to cryptically quote from RS Thomas, a God who is “a fast God, always before us, and leaving as we arrive”. I never really got that idea in those days, but with the passage of time it seems an appropriate image.
In many ways this feels a disturbing vision of God to come to a new year with. A God who is ready to do something new. To work in a different way. The quote from Brueggemann reminds me that I need to sit with this picture of God. The reassurance I need is found in pressing on in this text.
Look again at v4:
4 Who has done this and carried it through,
Isaiah 41:4
calling forth the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord—with the first of them
and with the last—I am he.”
The key questions for 2022 are not those beginning with: “What? How? Why?” Those questions press on us from all sides very often. The key question is “Who?” Who is at work in the midst of this situation, in the midst of these pressures and demands, in the midst of this uncertain fog and gloom?
The answer of v4 for the Israelites is: “Yahweh”. Yahweh is the one who is at work. He has been at work from the very beginning. He called forth the generations. He is still at work today. As Christians we know this Yahweh as the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is at work, and he has carried it through. And from beginning to end it is Yahweh at work.
The second half of v4 is something of a paraphrase in the NIV. Literally it could be translated:
I [am] Yahweh – first – and with the last – I [am] he.
I’ve put the square brackets to indicate that in English we need the verb “to be” – but in Hebrew they often didn’t. This refrain – “I am he” occurs frequently in this part of Isaiah. It echoes Yahweh’s revelation of his own name to Moses in Exodus (“I am who I am/I will be who I will be). Like that revelation to Moses, “I am he” affirms Yahweh’s constant presence, yet also reminds us that Yahweh is free to express that presence as he chooses – in his time, according to his wisdom and purposes.
“I am he” is also echoed in the gospels. When Jesus walks on water and makes to pass the disciples by he says “I am he” (the Greek used is the same as the ancient Greek translation for Isaiah 41:4). Likewise when the guard come to arrest him before his crucifixion he says “I am he” – which can just be a way of saying “here I am” – but given that the guards fall backwards to the ground seems also to be a way of alluding to Isaiah.
Jesus choice of words is a claim to be divine. Jesus is saying that is the Yahweh of Isaiah. He is the Yahweh who revealed himself to Moses. He is the God who is who he says he is, who is with us as he chooses to be with us, and who come to us and calls us into this new year, one step at a time. He calls us to step out with him. To trust that he is who is says he is. That while he cannot be explained, he cannot be contained and he cannot be fully understood, he can be trusted. He will carry through his purposes.
We may well want him to do all sorts of things this year. We may well have our ideas of how that should work. But he is the God who may this time be calling us out of slumber to walk with him before anyone else sees the traces of what he is doing. The question is: will we pay attention to the God who walks by a path his feet have not trodden before?
As we follow this God our assurance is found not in understanding, not in comprehension and certainly not in control. Instead our assurance is found in the reality that this God is ultimately irresistible. He gives us himself – he declares “I am he”. He is who he says he is. The soaring poetry of Isaiah points us to this reality. And so I want to keep on digging into these chapters, and sit with the directions they point us in – and the God they point us back to. The God who is all we need at the start of a new year.
Joshua's Tree Rooted 