Isaiah 40:27-31
“Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God’?
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
“They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Awesome Scripture!
Isaiah 40:12-31 in the NKJV is entittled “To Whom Will You Compare the LORD?”
In Isaiah 38 Hezekiah is coming to the end of his life, (describe in your own words)
he weeps bitterly and
the Lord extends his life for another 15 years
Judah will be delivered from the Assyrians
The shadow goes back 10 steps on the stairway of Ahaz
In Isaiah 39 (describe in your own words)
the king of Babylon sends messengers with letters of consolation and gifts to Hezekiah regarding his recent illness.
Hezekiah in his pride shows off for the emissaries and Isaiah pronounces judgment on Hezekiah’s kingdom.
Isaiah 40:27-28a
“Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God’ Do you not know? Have you not heard?”
These are rhetorical questions …
Don’t you remember? (tell in your own words a synopsis of: and between each segment repeat "do you not know? have you not heard? Has it not been told to you? don't you remember?)
The Exodus
The Red Sea
The water from the rock in the desert
The Manna
The clothing and sandals that did not wear out in the desert
Deuteronomy 25:9
The Jordan River
The fire coming down from heaven at the dedication of the
Temple
King Asa and Judah delivered from the Cushite army
2 Chronicles 14:11-12
“Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, ‘LORD, there is no one like You to help the powerless against the mighty.’
“Help us, LORD our God, for we rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this vast army. LORD, You are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against You.”
“The LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah.”
“Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Are you blind? Are you deaf?
Don’t you remember? Don’t you believe?
Then the prophet goes on to testify about the LORD.
Isaiah 40:28b
“The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.”
Here God points out
1) He is eternal (do you not know? have you not heard?)
The Alpha and the Omega - the beginning and the end
1 Timothy 1:17
“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Psalm 90:2
“Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.”
2) He is the Creator (do you not know? have you not heard?)
Genesis 1:1-2
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
John 1:1-3, 14
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”
“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
This creation is not just reorganization of existing matter it is creating something from nothing.
3) He is omnipotent (do you not know? have you not heard?)
Job 42:2
“I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”
Jeremiah 32:27
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for Me?”
4) He is omniscient (do you not know? have you not heard?)
Psalm 147:5
“Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.”
Isaiah 46:9
“I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done.”
“Ends of the earth” is just a figure of speech
Job 26:7
“He stretches out the north over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing.”
In ancient times some believed that the earth was flat and floated on a great sea of water. There were many curious beliefs. One of the most odd was the belief that the earth was a circular, flat piece of land that rested on the backs of several elephants and the elephants stood on the back of a giant tortoise. The was not description of what the tortoise was standing on. How did Job know that "the earth hangs on nothing?"
Job 26:10
“He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters at the boundary of light and darkness.”
(show photo of the earth from space with the day/night terminator clearly defined - how did Job know this?)
Ecclesiastes 1:6
“The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles.”
Show photo of a hurricane formation from a satellite image.
A person in one spot on the earth back then would know if the wind was blowing north or south or east or west but how would they know that it traveled often in a circular pattern without seeing it from a point far out in space?
How did they know this?
Because we have a God described in Isaiah 40:28 who is …
Isaiah 40:28b
“The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.”
So … what do we do with this God?
Let’s just look at our main Scripture again
Isaiah 40:28b-31
“The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
“They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Let’s put all of these verses on one screen. They will probably be too small to read but there is something we need to point out …
Isaiah 40:28b-31
“The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
“They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
If you look at the first verse of this segment of Scriptures you can see that it is all about God.
In the last three verses it describes what we as humans can get from God.
In ancient times people thought that everything revolved around the earth.
Sometimes se take a Scripture like this one and we make it revolve around us; what do we get out of this? It’s all about me.
In doing so we stand this Scripture on its head. We make a precious moment promise out of it. And there are great truths and promises in this Scripture but only when our hearts, souls and minds revolve around God.
When things are upside down you know something is wrong.
An upside down ice cream cone is not good
An upside down car is not a good thing
The Posidon Adventure - this was not and adventure - it was a disaster why? Because it was upside down!
When my heart, soul and mind revolves around me and what God can do for me it is upside down and there is only weariness and weakness and fainting.
Romans 15:17
“Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.”
Colossian 3:4
“When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”
This is the air I breathe, This is the air I breathe
Your holy presence living in me
This is my daily bread. This my daily bread,
Your very Word spoken to me.
And I’m desperate for You
And I’m lost without you
Where are you today in relation to the eternal, all powerful, all knowing Creator?
Do you live as if He exists to serve you or do you glory in Christ Jesus and your service to Him?
The reason we take communion each month is to remember the complete and absolute sacrifice that Christ was in order to reconcile us to God.
