Messianic · Only God declares things to come

Isaiah 41:21-29

Isaiah · ~700 BC · Status: Future · Confidence: 60%
“Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.”
King James Version · the opening — all 9 verses are below
More of Isaiah 41 on this siteIsaiah 41:1-20

God challenges the idols to prove their deity by foretelling the future — the very test of predictive prophecy on which this whole subject rests.

Read the whole passage — all 9 verses (KJV)

41:21Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.

41:22Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.

41:23Shew 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.

41:24Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.

41:25I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.

41:26Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.

41:27The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.

41:28For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

41:29Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.

Fulfillment References

Isaiah 42:9 Isaiah 46:9-10 Isaiah 48:3-5 John 13:19

How Traditions Read This Prophecy

Apostolic (Oneness) PentecostalThe God who alone foretells the future (Isa. 46:10) is the one God revealed in Jesus, who said 'I have told you before it come to pass' (John 13:19).
JewishGod's courtroom challenge to the idols — only the LORD declares the end from the beginning, the ground of Israel's confidence.
CatholicGod's unique foreknowledge, the basis for trusting His word and His Christ.
ProtestantA foundational text for predictive prophecy — God stakes His deity on foretelling 'things to come'; the idols cannot.
OrthodoxThe LORD alone knows and declares the future, unlike the idols.
DispensationalGod's predictive power, validating the prophetic word about Messiah and the future.
AcademicPart of Deutero-Isaiah's 'trial speeches' against the idols; scholars highlight the argument from fulfilled prediction as a distinctive theme.
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Bible Prophecy Explorer · based on J. Barton Payne’s Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy catalogue · an openly Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostal study resource — all traditions presented fairly. Pastor: C. Myles Young, D.Min. · Bishop: Nathaniel J. Wilson, Ed.D.