Isaiah 41:17-20

The *Lord turns desert into garden (Psalms 84:5-7). In Isaiah 42:15, the *Lord turns garden into desert.

• The *Lord will cause extraordinary changes in the world. Only the *Lord, Israel’s God, can do such things. The people in Israel know that God created everything. So all things and all people are under his control.

False gods have no power

v21 The *Lord is the King of Israel. He tells the gods of the nations to produce their evidence, as in a court of law. v22 ‘Let these gods come here. Let them tell us what will happen in the future. And let them tell us the meaning of past events. Then we can consider what they say. Or let the gods announce future events, so that we can know what to expect. v23 Tell us what will happen in the future. Then we shall know whether you really are gods. Do anything you like! Do it, whether it is something good or something bad. Then we shall be able to see how clever you are. v24 You do not even exist! So you cannot do anything. Anyone who chooses to respect you fills me with disgust.

v25 I have called a man from the north. He has come from the east. He knows me. He will walk heavily on rulers, as a maker of pots walks on his *clay. v26 Not one of you gods was able to announce these events before they happened. None of you spoke about them. Nobody warned us. Otherwise, we could say, “That one was right.” v27 I, the *Lord, am the first to announce that my people are coming home. I am sending someone to bring the good news to the inhabitants of *Jerusalem who remained there. v28 But when I looked at the gods, none of them had anything to say. None of them could answer my questions. v29 Truly, all these gods have no use whatever. They can do absolutely nothing. They are completely without any sort of power.’