To Whom Will You Liken God? Series

There’s a lot of power in a good question. Because sometimes a question is so pointed that it leaves no possible answer but absolute truth—there’s no wiggle room, there can be no hesitation, just plain truth.

In the Bible there’s lots of questions like this. Think of the powerful questions in Romans 8, like verse 31: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Or verse 35, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” You can only answer those questions with the affirmation that nobody can stand against us, and nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ.

There’s many questions near the end of the book of Job too. Then the LORD confronts lowly mortals with his greatness as Creator. Think of Job 38:4, God’s hard and humbling question: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” Not much Job could say to that. He has to be silent before the LORD’s majesty.

In our chapter too, we find a whole series of questions. Much of Isaiah 40 is written in the style of a debate, with arguments being put forward and considered. Many questions are asked, and many must be answered with a ‘nobody’ or a ‘nothing.’ Like the question, “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?” (40:18; cf. v 25). There’s a lot of power in that question, because the answer is that God is incomparable, unique, singular.

Isaiah asks all these questions for a reason. Isaiah 40 is the chapter of ‘comfort, comfort’ for God’s people, for God will deliver. One day He’ll bring them back from exile and restore them. But this was a hard truth for Judah to accept. Maybe it seemed like God’s hands were tied. He wasn’t able to prevent the Babylonians from capturing the land in the first place, so was He really going to be able to bring his people home?

And Isaiah’s answer is simple but profound: to put the spotlight onto God’s character. Like in verse 5, “The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” God is going to show his majesty, reveal his greatness. God can save, and not just because He is greater than Babylon’s many gods. He can save, because God is the only God!

To whom shall the LORD be made equal? There really is none who can compare with him! And when we really see that truth, and we accept it, then we’ll be comforted in all our trouble, our sin and brokenness. I preach God’s Word from Isaiah 40:12-31 on this theme,

To whom will you liken God?

1) He is Lord of creation

2) He is Lord of the nations

3) He is Lord of his people

1) He is Lord of creation: We said that our chapter asks a lot of questions. And that’s how our text begins in verse 12, with a set of questions meant to bring the reader to the point of confessing that the LORD is the only creator: “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?”

Isaiah speaks here about the totality of the creation, the world in its vast extent. Picture the prophet standing on a high hill, with the slowly swelling ocean in front of him, the circle of sky above him, a range of mountains and hills and plains behind him—and he says that all of it, the seas and the dry land, the heavens and the earth, have been made by God.

And when God made it all, it was like the LORD was working as a master craftsman at his workbench. He measured and He poured; He calculated and he shaped—all was his to mould after his own will. With intimate attention, He brought everything into being.

So at once we’re confronted with our own limitations and powerlessness next to Almighty God. When we make our way through this world, we sometimes feel significant and valuable. But Scripture says we’re but tiny players on a massive stage; we are travellers passing through who will soon be forgotten. We can’t control anything, nor have any permanent impact on the world we live in. We are the moved, rather than the movers. But God is greater. He holds all creation in his hand: stirring up the storms, shaking the earth, generating ocean currents and sending the wind. He’s a great God—and here’s the good news message—in Christ, He is our God.

Another question: “Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as his counselor has taught him?” (v 13). In the ancient world, the gods of the nations weren’t usually imagined to be all-knowing. They had power and ability—that’s why people prayed to them, after all—but the gods also needed help. So the gods would have a counsel of lesser beings to advise them, even humans to assist them. ‘Why don’t you try this? Have you thought of this?’