41 “Coastlands, listen to Me in silence,
And let the peoples gain new strength;
Let them come forward, then let them speak;
Let us come together for judgment.
2 “Who has aroused one from the east
Whom He calls in righteousness to His [a]feet?
He delivers up nations before him
And subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
As the wind-driven chaff with his bow.
3 “He pursues them, passing on in safety,
By a way he had not been [b]traversing with his feet.
4 “Who has performed and accomplished it,
Calling forth the generations from the beginning?
‘I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’”5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
The ends of the earth tremble;
They have drawn near and have come.
6 Each one helps his neighbor
And says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 So the craftsman encourages the smelter,
And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
And he fastens it with nails,
So that it will not totter.
It’s a little difficult breaking up vv. 5-7 from their following friends, but as it seems a reaction to the first few verses, we’ll deal with them together. So, in the first, the coastlands are commanded to be silent and come before God. These may or may not be literal coastlands, as the word can also be translated “islands”, or “distant lands”. In any case, it was directed at the pagan nations around Israel, which will tie into the latter verses.
As the passage continues, God tells them to come forward and speak, but then He asks them questions about who has ordered events, from the beginning of time until the last. The only answer is that it is God who does so, and who has orchestrated these things, and so He simply says, “I am He.”
In response, the people of the coastlands are afraid, and the next few verses take a bit to digest. What in the world are they doing, and how does it relate or connect to this passage? Neighbors and brothers are helping each other, they smooth metal and beat anvils, soldering and fastening with nails. I had an inkling, and consulting a commentary on the matter, it seems I was going in the right direction. Or at least, we both agree, that they are fashioning idols.
They aren’t just making utensils or some random household goods. Rather, it is something they must work together, and make sure “that it will not totter.” Instead of worshipping God, they attempt to do much like the Israelites did centuries earlier (Exodus 32). In the wilderness, fresh out of Egypt, they had seen the mountain tremble, and many miracles of God. Yet, they begged Aaron to make them an idol since God was taking too long, and they didn’t know what to do.
How is it that we are so easily distracted by the things of this world. Whatever the motivation, the coastland people became absorbed in their craft and forgot all about the almighty God just encountered. The people of Israel, given time to sit and rest for a while, forgot the God they were waiting on and decided to make their own (god).
Sometimes God does make us wait. Okay, lots of times… In the previous chapter, God said, “those who wait on the Lord… will renew their strength.” Waiting is hard, and many of us are impatient. Don’t lose sight of what God has asked you to do, even if it seems to be “just waiting”. We need other people, just like the folks in this passage, and our work has value, given by God, but don’t let any of that be a substitute for God and what He wants to do in your life. Fix your eyes on God, watch and wait, as He performs and accomplishes His perfect plan (v. 4).