Behold, all of them, their works are vanity and nought; their molten images are wind and confusion.
The absurdity of idolatry is laid bare the moment you try to defend it. Let the heathen produce their best reasons for worshipping their gods, and those reasons will answer themselves. Can the idols tell us anything we did not know? Can they foretell the future? No. Understanding and power mark a true god; the idols possess neither, and so prove themselves to be nothing at all.
AI summary
Commenting on Isaiah 41:21-29
confusion--"emptiness" [BARNES]. God's description of His character (Isa 42:1-4). God addresses Him directly (Isa 42:5-7). Address to the people to attend to the subject (Isa 42:8-9). Call to all, and especially the exile Jews to rejoice in the coming deliverance (Isa. 42:10-25). Next: Isaiah Chapter 42
Behold, they are all vanity,.... Both the idols and the worshippers of them; in vain they claim the title of deity, to which they have no right; and in vain do men worship them, since they receive no benefit by them: their works are nothing; they can do nothing, neither good nor evil; nothing is to be hoped or feared from them, and the worship...