Isaiah 41:16

Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. THOU SHALT FAN THEM - winnowed (cf. ). THE WHIRLWIND SHALL SCATTER THEM - (; .)...

16._Thou shalt winnow them. _The meaning is the same as in the former verse, but by a different metaphor; for he compares the Church to a sieve, and wicked men to the chaff which is driven away by the sieve and scattered in every direction. As if he had said, “Though for a time the Gentiles bruise and winnow you, yet a severer judgment awaits them; for by their destruction they shall be bruised and driven away like chaff.” But we ought to observe the difference, because here believers are bruised for their good, for they suffer themselves to be subdued and placed under the authority of God; while others, who obstinately resist and do not suffer themselves to be brought into subjection, are scattered by the wind like chaff or stubble, as the Prophet tells us. Thus God had struck them with his flails, had bruised and trodden them, had winnowed and tossed them about, in order that, when the...

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 FAN THEM - Keeping up the figure commenced in the previous verse. To fan here means to winnow, an operation which was performed by throwing the threshed grain up with a shovel into the air, so that the wind drove the chaff away. So all their enemies, and all the obstacles which were in their way should be scattered. AND THE WHIRLWIND SHALL SCATTER THEM - The ancients believed that people might be swept away by a storm or whirlwind. See Job 27: The cast wind carrieth him away and he departeth; And as a storm hurleth him out of his place. Compare Homer, Odys. xx. 63ff, thus rendered by Pope: Snatch me, ye whirlwinds!

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

THOU SHALT FAN THEM, AND THE WIND SHALL CARRY THEM AWAY, AND THE WHIRLWIND SHALL SCATTER THEM,.... In illusion to the custom of the Jews, who had their threshingfloors on the tops of hills and mountains, where they took the opportunity and advantage of the wind in winnowing their corn, which fanned it, and carried away the chaff, and scattered it abroad; in like manner, it is suggested, the enemies of the church and people of God should be dealt with, which are like the chaff the wind driveth away, and is found no more, Psalms 1:5, and so Rome Pagan was no more as such when subdued by Constantine, nor will the Papal antichristian states, Daniel 2:35. Compare with this what is said of literal Babylon, which will have its accomplishment in mystical Babylon,...

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 *....

WIND. Hebrew. _ruach._ App-9. GLORY. See note on Isaiah 13:10....