Isaiah 41:12

Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. THOU SHALT SEEK THEM, AND SHALT NOT FIND THEM - said of one so utterly put out of the way that not a trace of him can be found (). THEY SHALL BE ... AS A THING OF NOUGHT - they shall utterly perish....

12._Thou shalt seek them. _That is, _if thou seek them; _for enemies are not sought, when they have been put to flight; and therefore I think that this future ought to be rendered as a subjunctive_, “If thou seek them, thou shalt not find them; _for they shall be destroyed and reduced to nothing.” Here it ought to be observed that he describes two kinds of enemies, one, of those who attack us by open violence, the other, of those who attack us by words, that is, who tear us by slanders, curses, and reproaches, and who, as if they were defending a righteous cause, carry on various controversies with us, and summon us to courts of justice, and often accuse us of those crimes of which they have been guilty. But these are the stratagems of Satan, and we need not wonder that they who are his servants imitate their lord and master. The Prophet therefore mentions armed enemies who violently fig...

10-20 God speaks with tenderness; Fear thou not, for I am with thee: not only within call, but present with thee. Art thou weak? I will strengthen thee. Art thou in want of friends? I will help thee in the time of need. Art thou ready to fall? I will uphold thee with that right hand which is full of righteousness, dealing forth rewards and punishments. There are those that strive with God's people, that seek their ruin. Let not God's people render evil for evil, but wait God's time. It is the worm Jacob; so little, so weak, so despised and trampled on by every body. God's people are as worms, in humble thoughts of themselves, and in their enemies' haughty thoughts of them; worms, but not vipers, not of the serpent's seed. Every part of God's word is calculated to humble man's pride, and to make him appear little in his own eyes. The Lord will help them, for he is their Redeemer. The Lor...

THOU SHALT SEEK THEM - This denotes that it would be impossible to find them, for they should cease to exist. The whole verse, with the verse following, is emphatic, repeating in varied terms what was said before, and meaning that their foes should be entirely destroyed....

SECTION II.—RECOVERY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD FROM THEIR SIN, AND FROM THEIR BONDAGE IN BABYLON (CH. 41-48.). EXPOSITION ISAIAH 41:1 ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DELIVERER, AND EFFECT ON THE SURROUNDING NATIONS. Isaiah returns to the standpoint of Isaiah 40:9. A deliverer of Israel is about to appear. The nat

Ver. 12 THOU SHALL SEEK THEM, AND SHALT NOT FIND THEM,.... They not existing, or being fled into holes and corners, to rocks and mountains, to hide themselves from the wrath of the Lamb, Revelation 6:15: EVEN THEM THAT CONTENDED WITH THEE; or, "the men of thy contention" p; who contended with them, not by words and arguments, but by severe persecutions, striving thereby to hinder the progress of the Gospel, and to root Christianity out of the world: THEY THAT WAR AGAINST THEE SHALL BE AS NOTHING, AND AS A THING OF NOUGHT: or, "the men of thy war" q; that proclaimed and carried on war against the Christians, in order to destroy them utterly; yet they, and all their efforts, came to nothing, the Gospel prevailed, and Paganism was utterly abolished; which came to pass in Constantine's time, at the opening of the sixth seal,...

God enters into a controversy with those who had fallen into the worship of idols. Isaiah 41:1. _Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment._ He challenges them to a debate. He gives them breathing time bids them prepare themselves, and come with the best arguments that their minds could find. Isaiah 41:2. _Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? He gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet._ Who was it that raised up Cyrus, and who made him str

CHAPTER 41 Jehovah's Challenge 1. _The address to the islands and the peoples (Isaiah 41:1)_ 2. _Jehovah's question, Cyrus and his ways predicted (Isaiah 41:2)_ 3. _Nations troubled on account of Cyrus (Isaiah 41:5)_ 4. _Israel as Jehovah's servant (Isaiah 41:8)_ 5. _The message of comfort and assurance of restoration (Isaiah 41:9)_ 6. _Jehovah's second challenge: He alone can declare things to come (Isaiah 41:21)_ 7. The future t

ALL THE ENEMIES OF ISRAEL SHALL PERISH. This section is eschatological, and probably later, perhaps much later, than its context. All Israel's foes shall perish. Yahweh's people shall destroy their enemies as a threshing-sledge so powerful that it tears in pieces the threshing-floor itself, and even the hill upon which to catch the breezes the floor is situated. ISAIAH 41:14. YE MEN O f: read, thou worm, thus restoring the same pair of synonyms as in Isaiah 14:11 and Job 25:6. REDEEMER: _go-' el,_ Ruth 2:20 *....

THEM THAT CONTENDED. the men (Hebrew. _'ish)_ of thy contention. NOTHING. See note on Isaiah 5:8....