Exposition by Max A Forsythe
In the first few verses of today's passage we hear echoes of Job's conversation with God [Job 38-41]. The humbling of that earlier revelation proved sufficient for Job's repentance and salvation. In every time and place it is necessary to know who and what God is in order to appreciate the divine order of things. The Apostle Paul quotes from this section twice in his letters to Rome and Corinth. In both places he takes the text of verse thirteen, "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may [counsel or instruct] him?" The first citation [Romans 11:34] is part of a doxology of praise for the wisdom and knowledge of our Creator God which is beyond mere human understanding. In the second citation [1 Corinthians 2: 16] Paul insists that since we cannot understand the mind of God, therefore we are able to recognize God's truth only to the extent that we have the mind of Christ.
The having of this mind of Christ delivers us from spiritual bondage to all other religions. This is why the Apostle John declares [John 8:32] that those who know the correct doctrine of revealed truth will be set free. Of course, the world today may wonder what there is to be set free from just as much as the Spiritual leaders of Jesus time, who argued that they too were not slaves of any sort. Yet Jesus told the truth; that they and everyone who ever sins, is a slave to sin. However, people in all times and places have been reluctant to hear that truth.
In order to hear it, like Job and all the rest we must be convinced that there is a Creator God and that He has indeed spoken. Our passage today will show us, if we have the mind of Christ, that the God of heaven is an infinite, eternal Spirit with wisdom and power. If those last few words sound familiar it is because they come from the fourth question of our Shorter Catechism, where the Westminster divines asked in their study guide, "What is God?" Their scriptural answer is one of the finest theological observations of all time. "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." In our short passage from Isaiah forty, at least five of these concepts are illuminated for the understanding of our hearts. May the mind of Christ be ours as we hear the words of the prophet.
"God is a Spirit." With this phrase we may begin our exposition. Look carefully at verses eighteen through twenty, where Isaiah describes the images of men fashioned from earthly materials. There are the idols, cast from metal and covered with more precious gold and silver. The poorer people selected wood and craftsmen to create their graven images. Certainly, people in the west today are not as comfortable with such primitive idols as some cultures in the east and other remote areas. However, there are crystals, pyramids and chemicals from which charlatans promise power and understanding. There are astrologists who would enslave people to observations of heavenly signs and seasons. There are also con artists who pretend to reveal deep secrets from the dark depths of space and time. But God is not like any of those. God is a Spirit, and except to reveal Himself in Christ, God is not physical or material.
According to the commandment, it is sinful to compare God to any person, place or thing. In our time we might also add that He is not comparable to any idea either. After all, some of the very modern liberal theologians like to talk about the necessary idea of God which may encourage people to act decent and better than they might. This will not do! God is simply: God. He is the Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe, as we shall see in the other portions of our text.
As we look at verse twelve we begin to get a hint of the infinity of our Creator God. In verse twenty six we are invited to lift our eyes to the seemingly endless starry hosts of the universe. Even with the Hubble telescope circling the planet, we have yet to find an end to the awesome starry hosts. Small pin points of light that we used to think were a single star have turned out to be distant galaxies of unnumbered stars. The more we look, the more we find stretched out to infinity. Yet, the God of the universe is greater than His creation. He has taken the measure of the waters, He has marked off the heavens, He knows the sum of the earth's dust, stone and earth. He who created all of this and more, knows the name of each item in the inventory of space. Do you even know how many objects circle our star which we call the sun? A few years ago I purchased a "traveler's guide to the solar system" and was surprised to discover that there were several thousand God made objects in orbit around our sun. We only heard about the biggest ones in school.
Or do you even know how many man made objects circle our globe? Well, NASA knows that. There are approximately three thousand pieces of man made metal out there. And all of it needs to be tracked because if even that lost screw driver would hit a working astronaut, it could ruin his whole day, not to mention his life!
Years ago I used to go into one of those ice cream places that promised thirty-three flavors or more of ice cream. Now it takes time to decide what you want with that many choices. Just imagine when there are five hundred television channels to choose from; what will people do? Who can even keep track of such a choice? Even choosing a phone company is getting perplexing and difficult. Just the other day someone called and wanted to sell me his service. When I mentioned the company we use he admitted that he bought time there at the same rate we do and then resold it at a higher price! If you think details like those I have mentioned are difficult to keep up with, imagine, if you can, knowing all of the stars and managing their courses since the very beginning of creation. Infinite - there is a great and awesome word to describe the eternal God of heaven.
Then there is the eternal nature of God who exists outside of time! Look back to verse eight, where we see that God's word stands forever. Compared to His eternity, our short lifespan is brief indeed. Certainly, modern science has observed more of the heavens and gained more knowledge of the earth than was common in Isaiah's time. Yet, that worldly knowledge which derives its insight from the theories of Charles Darwin is foolish indeed. Isn't it intriguing that the more facts and calculations we have to measure and understand the creation, the less we really truly know about the creation?
How then can we speak of wisdom if we do not know and praise nature's God? Of course, some secular writers are willing to admit that there may have once been a creative process. Yet, in going that far, they will not admit that He is still active in His creation. But turn to verses fifteen through seventeen to see the ongoing power of God. "Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket!" Then in verse twenty-three we see that God "brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing." Every time we get frustrated with worldly rulers it is well to remember that they are barely a drip in the cosmic order of things! God breathes and Empires fold up. Have we learned that lesson from the events of the late eighties, when the Communist power evaporated like so much dry grass?
"'To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?' says the Holy One." "Our God is [indeed] an awesome God" as the spiritual song goes. Such knowledge should give us confidence day by day. Paul would agree, for in Romans 8: 38-39 we hear him say: "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." May we learn such confidence from the knowledge of the Holy revealed to us through Isaiah and God's Holy Spirit.
Resources Used:
Ellis, Charles..
The Wells of Salvation.
Thomas, Derek..
Welwyn Commentary Series: God Delivers.
Young, Edward J.
The Book of Isaiah.
The Holy Bible.
New International Version (1984 Edition)
NOTE: I am not able to automatically
recommend any future editions.
Christ Covenant Reformed (Presbyterian Church in America) -
Box 13926 - Columbus, OH 43213
(c) 2001
131 July 1994
Permission granted to redistribute unedited versions with this notice.