Power
I Will Strengthen You
God said 200 years
before it happened that
He would go to the
four ends of the earth
He would go to the
remotest island
To judge
unrighteousness and rescue His people
God fulfilled the
prophecy of Isaiah through Cyrus the Great
He again fulfilled it
through Jesus Christ
And He will fulfill
it again in your personal life
“Fear Not… I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties,
Yes, I will help you. Isaiah 41:10 AMP
I Will Strengthen You
For most of us Isaiah 41 holds
only a verse that comforts us.
Verse 10 is a powerful verse
of comfort in and out of context.
Once you see the context of Isaiah 41, the big
picture, you will see how strong our God is.
The God of Creation, the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob is greater than any idol.
Isaiah 41 reveals how God will rescue His
people who have been taken in captivity.
Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the
temple and taken God’s people captive.
Now God was going to deliver them.
God used a foreign leader named Cyrus.
Cyrus the Great conquered and created
the largest empire the world has ever seen.
He became king of the four corners of the earth.
A Persian, not a Jew, freed the
people of God and restored the temple.
Isaiah lived 200 years before Cyrus the Great.
God revealed His plan 200 years before it
happens and uses a heathen to be His deliver.
God does not rescue a few of His people through
this Empire, but every one of His people who
have been scattered to the four ends of the earth.
You whom I [the Lord]
have taken from the ends of the earth and have called from the corners of it,
and said to you, You are My servant —
I have chosen you and
not cast you off [even though you are exiled].
Isaiah 41:9
The chapter starts off with…
“LISTEN IN silence
before Me, O islands”
Verse 5 brings up the islands again…
The islands and
coastlands have seen and fear;
the ends of the earth
tremble. They draw near and come
What is significant about islands?
Islands are remote…
They are separate
from the main land.
There is a feeling of isolation on an island.
On an island you can feel like you can do
whatever you want and escape judgment.
If you look at the history of Key West, Florida,
you will see many
illegal things have taken place there
because the people were so hard to reach for the authorities.
We, in need, can feel like we are on an island
and no one can reach us to help meet our need.
You whom I [the Lord]
have taken from the ends of the earth and have called from the corners of it,
and said to you, You are My servant —
I have chosen you and
not cast you off [even though you are exiled].
Isaiah 41:9
Look at what God calls His people…
“Fear not, you worm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I will help you.”
“you worm”
But this is not any worm, this is a grub, that
makes red or crimson color dye for cloths.
This passage is so rich.
“I will strengthen and harden you
to difficulties, yes, I will help you”
Many prophecies are fulfilled more than
once and this is one of those prophecies.
Just like God rescuing all His
people to the every ends of the earth.
He also sees you when you feel
all alone on an island with no help.
You may feel like a
worm.
But as one of God’s chosen you are
covered and filled with the blood of Christ.
Isaiah 1:18-20
18 "Come now, let
us reason together," says the LORD.
"Though your sins
are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as
crimson, they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing
and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist
and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword."
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
How strong is our God?
Look at history…
Look at what God said
He would do and then look at
how God did it in a way you would never have thought.
How does red crimson turn white as snow?
Only by the blood of Jesus.
Let God… “strengthen
and harden you to difficulties”
Scripture Reading
Isaiah 41:1-14 AMP
41:1 LISTEN IN silence before Me, O islands and regions
bordering on the sea! And let the people gather and renew their strength [for
the argument; let them offer their strongest arguments]! Let them come near,
then let them speak; let us come near together for judgment [and decide the
point at issue between us concerning the enemy advancing from the east].
2 Who has roused up one [Cyrus] from the east, whom He calls
in righteousness to His service and whom victory meets at every step? He [the
Lord] subdues nations before him and makes him ruler over kings. He turns them
to dust with the sword [of Cyrus], and to driven straw and chaff with his bow.
[Ezra 1:2.]
3 He [Cyrus] pursues them and passes safely and unhindered,
even by a way his feet had not trod and so swiftly that his feet do not touch the
ground.
4 Who has prepared and done this, calling forth and guiding
the destinies of the generations [of the nations] from the beginning? I, the
Lord — the first [existing before history began] and with the last [an
ever-present, unchanging God] — I am He.
5 The islands and coastlands have seen and fear; the ends of
the earth tremble. They draw near and come;
6 They help every one his neighbor and say to his brother
[in his tiresome idol making], Be of good courage!
7 So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith, and he who
smooths [the metal] with the hammer [encourages] him who smites the anvil,
saying of the soldering, That is good! And he fastens it with nails so that it
cannot be moved.
8 But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham My friend, [Hebrews 2:16; James 2:23.]
9 You whom I [the Lord] have taken from the ends of the
earth and have called from the corners of it, and said to you, You are My
servant — I have chosen you and not cast you off [even though you are exiled].
10 Fear not [there is
nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be
dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties,
yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My
[victorious] right hand of rightness and justice. [Acts 18:10.]
11 Behold, all they who are enraged and inflamed against you
shall be put to shame and confounded; they who strive against you shall be as
nothing and shall perish.
12 You shall seek those who contend with you but shall not
find them; they who war against you shall be as nothing, as nothing at all.
13 For I the Lord your God hold your right hand; I am the
Lord, Who says to you, Fear not; I will help you!
14 Fear not, you worm
Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you, says the Lord; your Redeemer is
the Holy One of Israel.
