You whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from its corners, and said to you, ‘You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you away;’
Abraham was taken from distant Ur of the Chaldees, or Israel called out of Egypt. The phrase points to the extremities of the earth, emphasizing that God's reach embraces even the remote margins of His dominion.
AI summary
While the nations trusting in their idols are thrown into alarm before the eastern conqueror, Israel may take comfort: every word here breathes the deepest affection. The repetition of the suffixes gives the address a pressing, clinging, loving key-note, recalling the intimate relation Jehovah has established with His servant people.
AI summary
Commenting on Isaiah 41:8-10
These are believers in Christ scattered across the earth, seized and claimed by Him as His own. God called them by grace precisely when He passed by the great men and nobles; not many mighty were chosen. This security in His election should steel them against persecution.
AI summary