To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains. 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.
Isaiah 40:18-20
This is preaching designed to bring confidence and peace to those who trust God. Those who needed to hear this had hardened their hearts. God is showing how ridiculous it is to place trust in things we make for ourselves. You'd think we'd have that lesson down but instead we simply change idols. Ours are not just means of storing wealth and bringing luck. We can consider ourselves more refined because we we actually idolize the wealth itself but we are still guilty of idolatry. We still take a tiny little bit of something and look to it for security and peace. God, in His mercy, tries to show how foolish it is for us to substitute things for Him.
These verses, and some that follow, are written as an argument. So there are rhetorical questions and then answers to the questions. In the first question the foolishness of your wealth determining the value of your God is pointed out. Of course it should be the other way around. Cause and effect are backwards and the skill of the craftsman is applied to make a “god” that is designed not to fall over.
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? 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; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. 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. To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
Isaiah 40:21-25
We often need that reminder to keep our eyes off of mankind. Even the greatest rulers of the earth are compared to grass that dies as it emerges and then blows away. We can forget that God is sovereign and begin to fret and worry over world rulers. God limits the rule of men. And God asks, again rhetorically, which ruler will you compare me to? God says and keeps on asking as He uses “Holy” as His name. There is no ruler worthy of comparison to God and it is not even rational to search for a ruler to compare with God. We have our eyes pointed down at withered grass. We need to look the other way.
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. 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”? 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. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 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.
Isaiah 40:26-31
The stars are things that mankind will worship. The Babylonians in particular liked to study the stars. We are called to worship the Creator rather than the created thing. Not only are they unable to answer prayer or influence mankind, only by the power of God are none missing.
Remember the situation. The valley of the shadow of death was on these people. Being despondent was going to be a problem for any thinking person. Isaiah uses the Jacob-Israel sequence and it should be a reminder to us to stop wrestling with God and accept the name and calling He gives us. We see despondency in the people as they say “God isn't paying attention to where I am” and “He isn't giving me what I deserve”. The answer is that answer that we don't handle well. God is everlasting, He is Creator, He doesn't faint or even get tired, He is omniscient and has all wisdom. He is the one who will give you strength. In fact, receiving strength from God is part of God's character. We are called into relationship with God that supports us in what He leads us through. This support is not an odd event or a one time event. This support is something we should expect as a normal part of our lives but not as something we can manipulate to achieve our own goals. This is part of Christ's Lordship in our lives and God enables us to do the works He calls us to do.
I think we may like this verse because it sounds like a “method”. We see the method to be that we learn to “wait on the Lord” and then we can “mount up with wings like eagles”. It isn't a method. It is more of a command. The God of all wisdom and strength is telling you the only way that you can walk through the Babylonian captivity. If you are going to walk through a trial you need a Shepherd who can renew your strength. We see this in the 23rd Psalm.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23:1-6
We see the importance of an attitude of faith in our walk. His restoration in our lives. That His namesake (Christ) is the reason that He leads us in paths of righteousness. He is prepared for both protection and correction with His rod and staff. They should both give us comfort. We know that He will keep us by His strength. His goodness and mercy will be present in our lives even in difficult times and our eternity is with Him.
A1 – Invitation
1) Listen to me in silence, O coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength;
let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment.
B1 – Who Controls World History?
2) Who stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every step? He gives up nations before him, so that he tramples kings underfoot; he makes them like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow.
3) He pursues them and passes on safely, by paths his feet have not trod.
B2 – The Lord's Claim
4) Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.
A2 – The Response is Idolatry
5) The coastlands have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they have drawn near and come.
6) Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7) The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, “It is good”; and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved
Isaiah 41:1-7
God calls the gentiles together with Israel. The prophecy of Isaiah lets us know in multiple places that the blessings will be extended to all mankind.
God is in control and yet mankind's response is to seek their own solution and make a “god” they need to nail down so it won't fall over. Apart from the Grace of God we will also seek our own solutions but here is God's word to you that you should not let that happen in your life.
But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:8-10
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.His Lordship in our life will result in His shepherding us throughout our lives. The rod of protection and the staff of correction will be exercised in our lives because God has initiated and will complete, our salvation. He will also faithfully and patiently work to bring about sanctification in our lives.
Galatians 3:7-9
Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 41:11-14
Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff; you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the Lord; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together, that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Isaiah 41:1-20
We are called to bless the planet in the harvest of souls, and giving living water and simple drinking water, and by giving all the glory to God.
God isn't calling on us to invent a program but to do what He says, when He says to do it, the way He says to do it, with no other thought but for His glory as we “rejoice in the Lord and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
God has used the Church in a tremendous way to bring others into the Church and to bless the world. It is what we are called to do in submission to the Holy Spirit. The Church has grown under persecution in all sorts of barren places. The Roman Empire was only one example.
Ultimately we'll see these verses fulfilled at the judgment day. We do have the confidence in our salvation because God promises that He holds our right hand. He has an adequate grip and is able to finish the work that he began in us. Even if we only have the strength of a worm we are kept by the power of God and God has used the Church and will use us (as part of the Church) to reach the world. Think of the fields “white unto harvest” that Jesus talked about as I read the following portion of Isaiah along with living water and the blessing that the Church is to bring to the world.
We as offspring of Abraham (Galatians 3:7) are prophesied in this verse. He took us from the ends of the earth.
Just as a reminder. Isaiah often places poems within the prophecy and I'm mentioning this one as another example. There have been a bunch of these as we've been studying the prophecy that we have passed over without comment.
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