Isaiah 40 and The Greatness of God

I've been reading through Isaiah and recently I've come to Ch.40. These few chapters in the book are SO God-exalting that I couldnt help but write a bit from them.

"...All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever." (40:6c-8)

Here we're reminded that men are small before God. Isaiah uses a metaphor here to say flesh "is" grass. We know this isn't literal. The imagery here is clear though. All of us can relate to seeing grass in all its' glory. We've seen a grassy field when it's a healthy crisp dark green and we've seen it as a short crumbly yellow. We've seen flowers when they're fully bloomed and beautiful and we've seen the petals fallen, curled up, and dried. Here Isaiah says the life of the grass and the life of the flower is in the hand of the Lord... or more specifically in the "breath" of the Lord. This tells us God is the giver of life and secondarily He is in charge of the seasons and the weather. That makes me wonder... we sure do complain a lot about the weather don't we? It's almost never how we want it... it's either too hot or too cold. I wonder how our perspective might change if we see the weather as God's will and God's doing. If we did, perhaps we wouldn't complain... we'd have a small daily reminder to accept what God is doing even when it isn't comfortable for us. If we can do that with the weather... it might be easier for us to roll with what God is doing when He does things differently in the bigger areas of our lives, huh?

God also holds human life in His hands. Again, this reminds us of the attitude we are to have when loved ones die. When life is given and when life is taken... it's of God. We need to sift through our emotions to see that God's wisdom, timing, and decisions are by nature greater than our minds could ever fully understand. We shouldn't complain therefore, but should trust that He knows what He's doing. God made us emotional beings in His image, but we must submit those emotions to Him. Our emotions are subject being influenced by our unsanctified flesh. We can experience circumstances in life that help us allow our emotions to crash forth in floods. These floods of emotion that often come from pain are what crowd out wisdom and a biblical understanding of the character of God and the truths of His Word. This is partly why we sin as believers... we allow our circumstances to affect our human emotions to such an extent that we forget the commands, truths, and words of God in Scripture. When we forget those things we act on our emotions too quickly and fall into sin. I believe this is the case for MUCH of our sin in life.

This is why v.8 says "the word of our God stands forever." The word of God stands beyond withering grass, weather, and fading human life. It's the Word of God we are to stand on. Time and seasons pass. People die. Our constant in all this however is the living Word of our God. He knows seasons pass and people die... in fact, it's all in His capable hands. We must therefore look at these things and be drawn not to our emotions or self help books, but to THE book of God's written revelation.

V.12-14 continue to exalt God. He carefully created the earth. He "measured," "marked off," "calculated," and "weighed" the elements as only He could do. Evolution couldn't do this. Evolution works practically by accident or as it goes, right? The principle of Evolution is that it adapts to its' surroundings. God didn't have to do that. He did it all from the beginning. He planned the end from the beginning. Nothing surprises Him. We find similar statements in v.22 as He "stretches out the heavens like a curtain." In v.26 we learn that God put an exact number of stars and has names for the stars in the sky and that according to his plan and purpose... "not one of them is missing." Evolution didn't do this... a sovereign God with purpose did it.

Look back at v.15-20. Here God is contrasted with the other nations, those who think they are powerful. Scripture says "they are like a drop in the bucket." A drop is pretty small. Put a drop of water in a bucket and hold it out in the sun... it dries up quickly. A comparison is a consideration of similarities and a contrast is a consideration of differences. Here God is contrasted with the nations. Lebanon is mentioned specifically. This contrast culminates in v.18-20 where we are asked rhetorically, "To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him? As for the idol, a craftsman casts it, a goldsmith plates it with gold, and a silversmith fashions chains of silver. He who is too impoverished for such an offering selects a tree that does not rot; he seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman to prepare an idol that will not totter." The implication is that nothing can compare to God!

What I find interesting here though is that with all the Bible's talk (especially the OT) of idols and with all God's righteous hatred of idols... we're never told the process idol worshipers went through. This passage gives incredible detail. It says there are idols for rich people and idols for poor. Think about this... idolatry was a business in Bible times. Idols were merchandise that different grades and quality. I believe we're given this information not just as historical data... in fact I don't think that was its' purpose here at all. These details of idol manufacturing are given to us in subtle sarcasm. Imagine how much thought went into idol making, idol sales and purchases, idol advertising, etc. Can you see why God hated it so much? To say idolatry was premeditated is an understatement. People bought idols like we would buy furniture or a television. It was commonplace, tolerated, household sin. Today the issue isn't so much material idols in the way described in Isaiah, but mental idols. We spend just as much time forming, crafting, thinking about, and nursing an infatuation of other idols in our minds. For humanity these idols could be false gods that are ok with the way they're living. A false god doesn't judge us and only considers things sinful when we do.

Finally the classic passage in Isaiah 40 is at the end in v.29-31,

"He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
30 Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who [l]wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will [m]mount up with [n]wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary."

Here we're told God gives strength. He gives it to those who wait on Him. Often times of waiting are the hardest times. The waiting itself can make us grow weary and tired. We find renewal however in waiting not simply for the sake of waiting, but waiting "on the Lord." When our waiting is focused on God we're reminded again that He is in charge and if there's anyone we can wait on AND trust in... it's God. Waiting on God never brings disappointment.

Thank you Lord for Isaiah 40. :)