Isa 40:12-31
Notes
Transcript
God is Able...
God is Able...
Remember where we have been, God has not only given Hezekiah extra days, 15 years but we know that the number of years is not important if we fail to live for God daily.
And I say that because remember Babylon sent representatives to the king to share their joy that he has been healed… and Hezekiah swelled up with pride showed them all that he had.... never giving reference to God.
Calamity is coming but not during his days, but his own children and grandchildren will face it.
Now lets jump back to chapter 40 and lets look at verses 12 to 31
So not we start a new section where we see that God the creator is able and the guarantee of his promises.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
There is a contrast here between the waters and the dust. But the truth found here is that the Lord God is the one who brought all this together. He measured out, weighed the whole of creation in his hands, literally by His will.
He created the seas, the mountains, the waters of the earth and yes even the dust is His.
He laid out the whole world according to His purposes.
And remember, when God created it all, you know what he said.. He said it was GOOD.
Verses 13-14 Isa 40:13-14
13 Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,
or what man shows him his counsel?
14 Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
Who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
There is really an implied question here in this verse… If we cannot even take the measure of the physical world, who can we take the measure of God.
It is crazy to say we can… The mind of God cannot be measured or understood by us, let alone anyone else.
God doesn’t need our help in trying to govern His world, he will do justice to all. God in fact is the one who teaches us knowledge and wisdom.
He knows what is right, and just and we can put our trust in Him, can we not?
Yes, God knows what his right, we can trust him and he has the power and will establish His just plans on the earth.
Verse 15 Isa 40:15
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
Now think, if the mountains, seas are small in His preservative (vv 13-14). surely the great nations that dominate this world (Assyria and Babylon) are no greater than a tiny drop of water..
This is not saying that God doesn’t about them in calling them small, no it’s just he confesses that they have no real power apart from Him.
God is sovereign and is all powerful.
As a result, those who hear Isaiah, should not fear any of the nations or their armies instead they (like us) should trust in God’s power, wisdom and greatness.
Verse 16 Isa 40:16
16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
Now this passage is really telling, Considering the greatness of God. If we could build the greatest altar and fuel it with wood from the cedars of Lebanon. And if we could bring before God the choicest of animals for the burnt offerings...
While all of this is good and yes it can offer God. Isaiah is pointing out that God is more interested in the transformation of the heart over sacrifices.
Why? Sacrifices can be mundane, ritual. The heart suggests the heart which is given to God.
Verse 17. Isa 40:17
17 All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
The nations, the world has no power, all power is His. He is above all, and the nations who think they are great, as truly nothing before him.
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
Verse 18 Isa 40:18
18 To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
In light of the evidence presented thus far, what can you compare God too?
Isaiah asks the people here who can they compare God too. can you really compare him to those lifeless idols of the world?
God is above all those things (idols) made my man, you cannot even begin to compare Him to that which is worthless.
There is none, no one like our God.
Verse 19 Isa 40:19
19 An idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
What if someone hypothetically called out , how about htis idol. It might be overlaid with gold or silver. But in truth, you cannot compare it to God. It only has what man gives it.
Verse 20 Isa 40:20
20 He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.
Now a person chooses a wood that will not rot, to serve as the pedestal for the base of the idol. He does this, because how sad would it be if it did rot and the idol fell over… it might reveal that the idol god was not even able to keep it self stand upright.
Is it not clear by now that the Israelites should trust God and not some foreign nation and their their idols.
Verse 21 Isa 40:21
21 Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
The prophet asks the the question, have you not heard, have you not been told??? It really is telling that they do know....
They have been thought from the beginning just who God is in their lives, in their nation. He is all powerful, all knowing and above all.
The truth has been made known to them...
Verse 22 Isa 40:22
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
Isaiah affirms what the people already know about God.
He is enthroned above the clouds, in his heavenly dwelling place. Th circle of the earth implies the earth is understood and as a round ball.... there you go flat earth people, even the Bible tells us...
He is above and the earth is seen below, the people like grasshoppers perhaps implies not what we thinks of us, but it is just a symbol of his kingdom being far above us.
The heavens are spread out like a curtain, like a tent above us ...
Verses 23-24 Isa 40:23-24
23 who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
If God has this king of power and control over the universe, he is surely able to control the grasshopper kinds that walk throughout the earth.
God’s rule is over all of creation.
The people of Judah should not fear the earthy kings, instead fear God.
In verse 24 the earthly kings are compared to young tender sprouts, they are weak and have no power even though they want to proclaim their greatness.
They proclaim their greatness but like tender young plants, the wind, and weather can quickly uproot and destroy them carrying them off like the chaff of wheat...
Verses 25-26 Isa 40:25-26
25 To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
and because he is strong in power,
not one is missing.
God calls for the people to come to a conclusion based on what they know, who can they compare God too?
Is there anyone comparable?
Who is equal to God?
Look to the heavens, who created it? you can either assume man did or you can confess that didnt happen by anyone other than God himself.
He (God) knows their numbers and their names. And how does he do this? By the greatness of his power.
Verse 27 Isa 40:27
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Here the people almost imply they should have figured it out by now, but the way has been hidden from them… almost like it is God’s fault that he has not brought them through already...
It is almost like the people think God is unjust in the difficulty they might be experiencing at the moment.
But is their path just… when the Assyrians were attacking they called upon God. But do you call upon God just when you need him, why would you even do that...
We should worship him all the time, correct?
Verse 28 Isa 40:28
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
The Lord your God is eternal, and from ever lasting to ever lasting.
He has always been and being the Creator of the earth, we know that he is not impacted by human weariness or trouble.
He is perfect and his ways perfect, His understanding is just and perfect.
In response to all this, listen to these last verses
Verse 29 Isa 40:29
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Isaiah offers a word of encouragement to the people. They can endure trials with God’s help. And his help is available to them.
God is the one who gives extra strength so that the weary ones will not grow tired… God wants to help, our responsibility is to seek His help and live for Him.
Now the final two verses 30-31
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
So here is a question… How does one receive a measure of God’s power so that one can endure trials?
1st… we must realize that in the journey God’s strength is needed. Everyone will grow tired and weary at times.... we need his strength...
Second is how we tap into God’s strength and power.
Well it starts by realizing that he will give his us strenth, Strength is availabe to the weak and worn out…
But how does this take place...
We have to replace our thinking with his thinking, our ways with his ways, our hope or expectation with His...
Those who wait on Him, will find it. So what does it mean to wait on him?
It means to trust and follow him and not ones-self. We tend to lean on our own understanding our own thinking instead of His...
This hope is an active dependence on God, in that we patiently await for his timing with a confident expectation.
Trusting in God enables us to replace our weakness with His steadfast power, one what is likened to the soaring wings of an eagle.
The weary legs will be replaces with strong laegs, and a fainting person willl be able to go on and not stop
Trusting God allows for people to be able to walk the path that God has chosen for tier lives no matter how smooth or rocky that path is.. without quitting and without growing weary.