Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.
Isaiah 41:24 belongs to Isaiah 41-45, where God very fully reveals His purpose for His people, and those chapters should be prayerfully studied. In Isaiah 41:22-24 the true God challenges false gods to declare past events and predict what is to come as proof of their divinity. Those addressed — idols and false gods, finite men, and all who oppose God — are nothing, and their work is worthless. Choosing such powers or turning to them is abominable, and those who turn to false powers become worthless themselves.
In contrast, God alone is God and there is none beside Him. He does not forget Israel His servant but blots out transgressions and sins, redeems Jacob and glorifies Himself in Israel, and He calls all the ends of the earth to look to Him and be saved, giving righteousness, strength, and justification to all the seed of Israel who come to Him. Therefore God's people must not turn away from God's wisdom and trust to look to finite man for wisdom or make flesh their arm, for the Lord alone is to be their trust.
The declaration to which the verse belongs is full of promises, encouragement, and assurance whose word will certainly be fulfilled. It was given to comfort true believers amid the afflicting judgments coming upon the world near the closing of this earth's history. Those who fulfill these words in the latter days place themselves where the Lord will surely do all He has promised. Its call to prepare for the Lord's coming applies to the last days in that minds and faculties must not be surrendered to Satan through intemperance, drugs, or pleasure-seeking, but cultivated and used faithfully for God. The verse warns that the Lord will not be trifled with, calls His people to diligent work for repentance with most earnest effort, and promises strength given to His own people.
Isaiah 41:24 belongs to Isaiah 41-45, where God very fully reveals His purpose for His people, and those chapters should be prayerfully studied. In Isaiah 41:22-24 the true God challenges false gods to declare past events and predict what is to come as proof of their divinity. Those addressed — idols and false gods, finite men, and all who oppose God — are nothing, and their work is worthless. Choosing such powers or turning to them is abominable, and those who turn to false powers become worthless themselves.
In contrast, God alone is God and there is none beside Him. He does not forget Israel His servant but blots out transgressions and sins, redeems Jacob and glorifies Himself in Israel, and He calls all the ends of the earth to look to Him and be saved, giving righteousness, strength, and justification to all the seed of Israel who come to Him. Therefore God's people must not turn away from God's wisdom and trust to look to finite man for wisdom or make flesh their arm, for the Lord alone is to be their trust.
The declaration to which the verse belongs is full of promises, encouragement, and assurance whose word will certainly be fulfilled. It was given to comfort true believers amid the afflicting judgments coming upon the world near the closing of this earth's history. Those who fulfill these words in the latter days place themselves where the Lord will surely do all He has promised. Its call to prepare for the Lord's coming applies to the last days in that minds and faculties must not be surrendered to Satan through intemperance, drugs, or pleasure-seeking, but cultivated and used faithfully for God. The verse warns that the Lord will not be trifled with, calls His people to diligent work for repentance with most earnest effort, and promises strength given to His own people.