Isaiah 41:23
Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
The challenge is laid to all who claim to be gods to prove it by declaring the things to come hereafter and by doing good or doing evil, so that it may be known together whether they are gods. The power to tell men the past and the future is what distinguishes the true God from all false gods. The inability of the gods worshiped by the heathen to declare things to come and show what will happen hereafter proves that they are nothing, that their work is worthless, and that choosing them is abomination. Set against this challenge stands the affirmation that the Lord alone declares what is to come and that there is no other God.
The verse belongs to Isaiah 41 through 45, a very full revelation of God's purpose for His people that is to be prayerfully studied, teaching them to look to Him for wisdom and salvation and not to turn away from Him to finite human beings and finite man. The declaration to which it belongs is full of promises, assurance, and precious encouragement for the latter days. It is given to comfort true believers amid God's afflicting providence in judgments coming upon the world near the closing of earth's history, with earthquakes and storms on land and sea and heavy calamities on sea and on railroads, while Lucifer, who perverted his higher education, wars against God and acts as a mighty deceiver to cause calamities and take many from the ranks. The word of the Lord in these chapters will certainly be fulfilled, and those who fulfill them in these latter days place themselves where the Lord will surely do all He has promised. Isaiah 41 foretells the work of presenting the warning message to the world and giving people information about why believers hold their faith.