Chapter 40
Isaiah mellows out for a few verses at least, no doubt still nursing his sunburn from that time he walked around in the desert naked for 3 years. He assures us that the warring is over and now god is on his way and we'll finally be able to look directly at him. But not the grass or flowers. Apparently if god breathes on them they die.
Anyway, seeing god will be amazing, but we won't know how to describe him. He's not like an idol, crafted and overlaid with gold and silver. So our indescribable god will then sit down and rule us from heaven, having removed all the princes and judges. And immediately the insecurities will start: To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. (v. 25) And the meek shall inherit the earth.
Chapter 41
Now that peace has been established, the judging can start. He'll reward the good people who helped their neighbours and built houses, and punish his enemies. He's going to give them plows so good they'll be able to thresh the mountains right down to flat earth and dig wells and irrigation so anyone who's thirsty will have water. In the interests of preventing desertification, and just to prove he can, he'll plant trees in the desert.
Then he challenges non-believers to bring their gods and idols over and prove who's got the best deity, by doing one of the following: telling us how a past prophecy turned out, making a prediction about the future, or doing something scary or amazing. What has god himself done? Well, he's going to give them a leader who will come from the north but will have a name from the east. Supposedly the leader is Cyrus, but honestly, this prophecy is so vague it could be practically anyone. Since no one said this before, god wins and the idols are false.
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