Our passage today is built around a series of questions. You might find these questions comically easy to answer. Parts of this might feel a bit like Sunday school when you were very little. But work with me this morning. Multiple times, I'm going to ask you the question the prophet asks. When I do this, you can speak up, and answer. A wise man once said that knowing is half the battle. So consider this a test, to see what you know.
Verse 12:
(12) Who has measured in the hollow of his hand [the] waters,
while the heavens/skies, with the handbreadth who has gauged/directed/apportioned (Job 28:25),
and [who] has contained (1 Kings 8:27) with a third of a measure the dust of the earth,
and [who] has weighed out with the balance-scale (Prov. 16:11) the mountains,
while the hills with a set of scales (Jer. 32:10; Ezek. 5:1)?
Who does these things?
There are times in human history when humans have built magnificent things. We think of the great cathedrals of Europe. The Hoover Dam. The Golden Gate Bridge. They are enormous, impressive. And we can measure each of those things. We can know how much building material went into them. We can know how much they weigh. We can know how tall, long, and wide, they are. But how would we find those answers?
Not directly. We can't get out a ruler, measure the height, or width, or length. We can't get out a bathroom scale, and measure the weight of the concrete in the Hoover Dam. Right? Humans have built something far greater than themselves, but if we work at it, we can find the answer.
Now, when we leave our big cities, and get out in the countryside, and look around, what do we see? We see that God, like humans, has built a magnificent thing. There's oceans, and lakes. There's the sky/heavens. There's hills, and mountains. And there's lots and lots of dirt.
So both God, and humans, have built big, magnificent things. But one of the differences between us, is that God is far more capable of measuring what he's created. God sounds a bit like my wife, working in the kitchen (here, props are helpful). My wife measures liquids with a small glass measuring cup. God measures the oceans with his hand. My wife measures sugar and flour with a small plastic measuring cup. God measures all the dust of the earth with a measuring cup, and it only takes up about 1/3. I'm not sure what my wife measures using her kitchen scale, but she has one. That's what God uses-- a scale-- to measure the weight of hills and mountains.
So what does this tell us about God?
God has made all these things that we think are huge, but they aren't so huge to God. If this is really the answer, then what is God like? God is a giant. He's supremely capable. He has an easy, total control over his creation. He measures the world, like my wife measures water, or flour, or sugar.
With this, we come to verses 13-14. These verses are poetic, with lots of parallel lines we are supposed to read in groups. So it's best to just grab the whole thing at once. I say that, but I want to rabbit trail a bit after reading the first two poetic lines:
(13) Who has gauged/directed/apportioned the Spirit/spirit/mind (Ezek. 11:5; 20:32; Isaiah 19:3; 29:24; 1 Chr. 28:12) of Yahweh,
while/or a man of his counsel, who has informed (Joshua 4:22) him?
[The idea here is maybe paraphrased, "Who is his human advisor who brings God into the loop?"]
Whenever we read about the "Spirit of Yahweh" in the OT, my guess is that our knee jerk reaction is to assume we are talking about part of our Trinitarian God. But the Hebrew word "ruach" often means something like "mind." Ezekiel 11:5 talks about the "thoughts of your ruach," which very clearly means "thoughts of your mind." Ezekiel 20:32 talks about having a thought in your "ruach" that will never happen. The word is used, several times, in parallel with other words having to do with thinking (Isaiah 19:3; 29:24). And that's what's happening here, as well. The prophet isn't talking about the Holy Spirit. He's not saying it's impossible to measure God's Spirit. He's asking, "Who measure the depths of God's mind?" Is there are a teacher out there, advanced in knowledge, who can measure how much God knows? Is there someone who can chart God's progress, as if God is a high school student, and figure out what He's learned, and what He still needs to know?"
Is there? (No)
And then in the second line, which is connected (while X), he's asking, "Who is the human advisor who brings God into the loop? Who lets God know about how things are down here on earth? Who acts as God's news feed?
Who? (No one)
Verse 14:
(14) With whom does He allow himself to be advised (Prov. 13:10; cf. DCH),
AND he [that person] has given him understanding, ["and" isn't focused, but if we don't catch how this is all interconnected, we will draw the wrong theological conclusion here]
AND he [that person] has taught him in the path of justice,
AND he [that person] has taught him knowledge,
while the way of skill/understanding he has made known to him?
So who is the human who has taught God new skills? Who has shown God a better way to rule over creation?
(No one).
Now, I should pause here, and rabbit trail again, because we could very easily get the wrong idea from this verse. When we the read the OT, in particular, we see that God invites our participation. We have a voice in God's divine council. He takes our perspectives seriously. He values our input. I don't want you to grab the first line from verse 14, rip it from context, and lose sight of this. God does allow himself to be advised by people. But what doesn't happen, is that when we talk to God in prayer, that we give God understanding, or teach him, or help God to act skillfully. When you talk to God in prayer, you aren't teaching him anything. Talking to God in prayer is not like teaching your kids how to read, or how to successfully do fractions. We humans are hopefully always growing in our knowledge and understanding. But God is not like that.
So if we take a step back at this point, and try to see the big picture here, we should find ourselves thinking two things:
(1) that God is a capable giant, far greater than anything He's created. He looks at creation, not like a human looking at a cathedral, but like my wife looking at a cup of sugar.
(2) that God knows what He's doing.
In verse 15-17, the prophet draws a specific application from his opening questions:
(15) LOOK! The nations [are] like a drop from a bucket,
while like the dust from a set of scales, they are counted.
LOOK! The islands, like fine dust, they are weighed,
while Lebanon has nothing sufficient to burn,
while its animals have nothing sufficient for a burnt offering.
(17) All the nations are like nothing before him.
As wasteland (Gen. 1:1, often translated "formless"; Ps. 107:40) and emptiness/formlessness they are considered by him,
I was out driving around the other day, and I saw a bumper sticker on a guy's car that said this: "I love God, and I fear my country." A very based, libertarian, ND style bumper sticker.
We talked a lot in our Revelation series about how human empires tend to be big, and scary. They tend to feel permanent, and all-powerful. Everything in these chapters (regardless of who the prophet is-- this works for conservative and critical scholars) is addressed to God's people who have been conquered, and scattered throughout the Babylonian empire. Babylon was the superpower of its day. I'm sure that people looked at its military bases scattered across the empire, and its success in war, and its aircraft carriers, and F-35s, and thought, "Babylon is this capable, everlasting giant." People looked at Babylon, the way we look at the Hoover Dam, or the Golden Gate Bridge, or some huge European cathedral. Built to last, permanent, impressive.
God's not impressed. The nations are nothing before him. God views the nations, like my wife views a tiny bit of dust in her kitchen. It takes just a second to wipe the dust out of a bowl.
Is this how we view every Babylon?
I think it's easy to give the right answer to the question of who can measure the heavens, and earth, and waters. It's easy to say that when you go outside, and look around, you should find yourself in awe of God's power and glory.
But when you live under an oppressive government, especially one that's warmongering, that breaks its promises to other nations, that encourages demonic things like abortion, that throws you in jail for telling people about Jesus or about the realities of man and woman-- I imagine it's hard, in that situation, to believe Isaiah 40:17.
When we look at evil superpowers-- Babylons (in Revelation we talked about how there are many Babylons, many Beast #1s)-- we are a little less confident about God's power.
We will grant that God can measure the oceans, and that he weigh the mountains. But from our perspective, nothing could be bigger, and more powerful, than a human superpower. And so what the prophet calls out here, is LOOK! God looks at the nations, and treats the nations, like they are nothing. Like they are a wasteland of nothingness. In Genesis 1:1, at the time that God began creating the heavens and the earth, the earth was, in our English translations, "formless and void." That first word, "formless," really means something more like "wasteland." It wasn't usable. It had no function. It was unlivable. Basically, the entire earth was like the Badlands, or vast stretches of Utah or Nevada.
And that's how God views the nations. They're a wasteland. God can make all his plans without worrying about their power, and status. They're nothing. And we should take just a second, at least, and make sure we apply that to the U.S. No matter how impressive we build up this country, verse 17, all the nations are like nothing before God.
So what have we seen so far? (1) God is far greater than his creation. (2) God is far greater than the nations.
So this raises another question that the prophet wants us to consider. Verse 18-20:
(18) and to whom would you liken God/El,
and what likeness would you compare to him?
(19) The molten image a craftsman has poured out,
while a goldsmith with gold he overlays it,
while silver chains he smelts.
(20) The one who is too poor for a contribution/offering, wood that won't rot he chooses.
A skillful craftsman he seeks out for it to set up an image that won't totter.
Who is like God? What is God like?
In the Ancient Near East (ANE), when you hear that question, you'd find yourself thinking about idols. We will have lots to say about idols in the coming weeks, because that's a major theme in this part of Isaiah. So I don't want to give away the goods yet. But the focus here is on the idol-making process. An idol is something made by humans. Today, when you buy a toy, you can flip it upside down and see that it's made in China. Right? Every idol, you can flip it upside down, and see that it was made by some pagan craftsman-- some human-- who did the best he could.
I know some incredibly skilled craftsmen. Nothing that they make is so amazing, that it can be compared to God. You can't look at any of their work, and say, "That thing, in particular, is an awful like Yahweh, the God of heaven and earth."
Now, if you talked to a Babylonian or Israelite living in that time period, you'd find out that people's views of idolatry are a bit more complicated than this. But the prophet wouldn't be impressed by their philosophy of idolatry. Every idol is made by a human. And nothing we make is like God. So God can't be compared to anything in creation, or to any nation, or to any idol.
Are we all tracking so far?
In verse 21-24 the prophet pushes his readers/hearers to have clarity about God, and the nations. He again asks a question that needs an answer. He assumes his readers/hearers know what he's going to tell them. But maybe there's a difference between knowing, and knowing:
(21) Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
Has it not been reported from the beginning to you?
Haven't you understood from the foundation of the earth?
(22) The one sitting/dwelling upon/above the circle/disc of the earth (Prov. 8:27)--
while its dwellers/sitters [are] like grasshoppers--
The One stretching out like a canopy, the heavens,
and He spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
(23) The one bringing rulers to nothing;
the ones judging/exercising authority over the earth, into wasteland (again, Gen. 1:2) He has made [them]. ["into wasteland" is focused]
(24)They aren't hardly planted,
they aren't hardly sown,
their shoot hasn't hardly taken root in the earth, and, what's more, He has blown upon them,
and they wither/dry out,
while the storm wind like the stubble carries them, ["like the stubble" is focused]
Again, we tend to view superpowers as all-powerful, everlasting, impressive. God views them like little baby garden plants. They barely get going, when God breathes on them, and they dry out, and then a storm wind scatters them until they're gone without a trace. Nations are as sturdy as a baby onion plant.
In verses 25-26, the prophet asks another question. This is a repeated question, answered in a new way:
(25) and to whom will you compare me?,
and I will/would be his equivalent?, says The Holy One.
(26) Lift up to the heights your eyes,
and see: Who created these things?-- the One Bringing out by number their host (Deut. 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kings 17:16; 2 Kings 21:5; Isaiah 24:21; Psalm 103:21; 148:2; Neh. 9:6; 1 Kings 22:19).
To all of them, by name, He calls.
Because of [his] great power and mighty strength, none are missing.
The one thing that we humans might be tempted to say is like God, are the stars. The host of heaven. In Babylon, stars were considered deities, and part of the pantheon of Babylonian gods. Even in the OT, the word we use for stars is a blurry word (having a broader semantic range) also used for heavenly beings-- for members of God's divine council (Isaiah 24:21; 1 Kings 22:19). In the OT, when you talk about stars, you usually find yourself thinking about angels, and divine beings. Can God be compared to the host of heaven-- to the stars, to the sons of God?
The answer is found in verse 16. All these things, and beings, were created by God. God "brings out" the stars every night. He calls them by name. And He protects them all, so that every night they show up.
So we might be tempted to worship the stars, or the other members of God's divine council, but only if we forget what we know about how God created the heavens and the things in the heavens.
Up to this point, everything has maybe seemed a little abstract, and like it maybe doesn't have much practical use. Perhaps. I'm not sure. I'm astonished at how nerdy this has become, to be honest.
But in verse 27, the prophet finally reveals the problem. Everything we've read has been designed to answer a specific complaint being made by these Israelites stuck in Babylon. So if you've become a little bored, and lost, this is a good place to come back:
(27) Why do you say, O Jacob,
and [why] do you speak, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from Yahweh,
while from my God/Elohim, my judgment/decision is overlooked/disregarded/passing by."
So again, regardless of who the prophet is, and regardless of when these words were originally written, these words are addressing a specific problem long after the time of Isaiah. Israelites stuck in exile, feel like God just doesn't see them. They are on a path in life that's hidden from God. They feel like God should help them, but that help is just passing right on by. It's like in the summer when the ice cream truck cruises the neighborhood, loud obnoxious music going. Imagine you're standing on the curb, money in hand, wanting ice cream, and the truck just cruises right on by.
So this is a people that needs God's help. And in two different ways, they describe God's failure to help. (1) God doesn't see their path in life. It's like God is a block away, unaware of them. (2) God's judgment/decision on their behalf just cruises right on by.
Now, it'd be easy to criticize the Israelites on this point, but let's try to be sympathetic for a minute. Imagine being an Israelite in your 40s. You've lived your entire life in exile in Babylon. Even if your parents faithfully taught you the old stories about the exodus, and the parting of the sea, and the conquest of Canaan, those are very old stories. And what you've seen with your own eyes, is nothing. You know that Yahweh is your God/Elohim. But He sure doesn't seem to be doing much for you, and this is something, again, that's been a lifetime.
My guess is that each of us have had times in our lives when we've really needed God's help, and it didn't seem like God gave that help. We find ourselves, in that situation, feeling abandoned, uncared for. If God is our father, we feel like orphans.
In that moment, we maybe tell us ourselves that when we cried out to God, that God for whatever reason was telling us "no." Or we tell ourselves that God is in control, and that all things work out for good for those who love him. We maybe say, publicly, the things we think we should say.
But 40 years in, I think it'd be natural to find ourselves sounding like Israel here. The road I'm taking in life is hidden from God. The help I need, just passes by. I'm sure God shows kindness and favor and power to some, but not to me.
I think there's lots of Christians walking around who live in this place. At one point in the past, they had hope, and optimism, that God would help them. They believed, when they called out to God, that God heard, and answered, and that He said yes.
And then something happened, that changed all of that. They were hurt. They felt alone. They found themselves calling out, with the psalmist, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
And from that point forward, they found themselves living differently. They had a certain kind of faith in God-- they believed the creeds, they trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior. But they lost practical faith in God's goodness, and in his love.
Many Christians have this happen virtually overnight, when some tragedy strikes. But here, in Isaiah, this has happened over decades of being oppressed, being far from home, and living in a place where everyone worships other gods. God's people are weak, and powerless.
If we don't sympathize with God's people stuck in Babylon here for decades, I don't think passage can grab us.
So God's people say, "My way is hidden from God. The help I need passes right on by."
And what God says, in response, is this. Verse 28:
(28) Haven't you known,
or haven't you heard, the Everlasting God, Yahweh, the One Creating the ends of the earth, doesn't become weary,
and He doesn't get tired.
There is no searching his understanding--
(29) The One giving to the weary, power,
while to the powerless, might/strength He increases/makes great,
(30) and youth/teens become weary,
and they get tired,
while young men/people surely stumble,
(31) while the ones waiting upon Yahweh will receive anew [their] strength.
They will go up with wings like the eagle;
they will run,
and they will not become weary.
They will walk,
and they won't get tired.
Our passage ends with an encouragement. God has this plan that He's setting in motion. He knows what He's doing. He's not tired, or worn out. He's the powerful creator of heaven and earth. And God, very soon, is going to take from his power, and share with his people. They will receive his power, and strength, and energy. They will end in a place where they have more strength, and stamina, than young people. They'll do laps around them, eventually, because they won't grow tired.
Verse 31 is a famous verse-- one of the most famous in the whole OT. It's like the patron saint verse for tired moms and dads, who hope that God will give them the energy to make it through another day. Enough energy to keep up with their little kids.
But I think, whatever else we do with this verse, we should hear it against the backdrop of Israelites stuck in Babylonian exile. They are tired of living in a strange land, in a godless country. They know they are foreigners here, that this is not home. They are tired of calling out to God, and getting nothing.
And what God is saying, is that help is on its way. God has this plan that's been set in motion. And part of this plan, is that God will give them a renewed strength. The strength God offers, I think, is partly physical. The Israelites are physically drained, and worn out, and tired. Live away from home long enough, far from God, and that will happen. So I think we can keep this verse on our walls, just above our coffee pots. But I think part of what God offers here, is the strengthening of faith. The day will come when God's people no longer say, verse 27,
"My way is hidden from Yahweh,
while from my God/Elohim, my judgment/decision is passing by."
When God's help comes, they will be strengthened, because they know that God does see them, that He is with them. They will find themselves in a place where they have practical faith. Where they have confidence that God is a good Father, who gives good gifts.
And if we pull in last week's verses, we can add to this. Last week, we read about how God is having a road built for himself. Angels are out excavating, and smoothing a road for God to come home to the land of Israel. Right? And on this road, God will bring his people home. So the time is very quickly coming, when it will no longer feel like God's people walk one road in life, and God walks another. Soon, God will walk with his people, and He will bring them home.
In the meantime, what does the prophet encourage the people to do? It's a little bit indirect. But in verse 31, he calls on them to "wait upon Yahweh."
In certain circles of Christianity, this idea of "waiting on God" is really important language. Maybe you're familiar with it; maybe you're not. Maybe you know the names, and movements, that use this.
What does it mean to "wait upon Yahweh" in this verse?
It means to be patient. It means to not lose faith. It means to keep your hope that God's help is on its way. The people have been in exile a very long time. God's judgment has been passing them by. But that's about to change.
So that's our passage. I made it! This feels like it was a lot. I've tried to do too much. But let me leave you with one last thought, that I think is the main point of this passage.
When we think about God creating the heavens and the earth, we tend to focus on our attention on defending the idea that we are made in/as God's image, and that we haven't evolved from monkeys. We poke holes in evolutionary theories, and then think we're done.
But most of the time, when the Bible talks about creation, it does so for a very practical reason-- to give us faith in God's power. There are things in life that seem huge, powerful, everlasting. Oppressive governments-- Babylons-- can feel this way. Cancer can feel this way. Struggles to pay the bills, and keep credit card debt at nothing, can feel huge.
When the Bible talks about God creating everything, it's designed to put things in perspective. God is a huge, powerful giant, who measures the mountains with a kitchen scale. God measures the oceans with a measuring cup. God measures the world, like my wife measures for cooking.
God is not overwhelmed by anything in life. God is powerful. And God is willing to give his power to his people. He will give them physical strength. And He will give them spiritual strength-- faith-- as they come to see what God is willing to do for his people.
So if you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by life, if you find your faith faltering, go outside, and take a few minutes to just stop, and look at creation. Think about what you know about God creating the world. Think of all of the times you gave the answer. And then think about why that matters. What does creation reveal about God's skill, and understanding, and power?
Translation:
(12) Who has measured in the hollow of his hand [the] waters,
while the heavens/skies, with the span/handbreadth who has gauged/directed/apportioned (Job 28:25),
and [who] has contained (1 Kings 8:27) with a third of a measure the dust of the earth,
and [who] has weighed out with the balance-scale (Prov. 16:11) the mountains,
while the hills with a set of scales (Jer. 32:10; Ezek. 5:1)?
(13) Who has gauged/directed/apportioned the Spirit/spirit/wind of Yahweh,
while/or a man of his counsel (?), who has informed (Joshua 4:22) him?
[The idea here is maybe paraphrased, "Who is his human advisor who brings God into the loop?"]
(14) With whom does He allow himself to be advised (Prov. 13:10; cf. DCH),
and he [that person] has given him understanding,
and he [that person] has taught him in the path of justice,
and he [that person] has taught him knowledge,
while the way of skill/understanding he has made known to him?
(15) LOOK! The nations [are] like a drop from a bucket,
while like the dust from a set of scales, they are counted.
LOOK! The islands, like fine dust, they are weighed,
while Lebanon has nothing sufficient to burn,
while its animals has nothing sufficient for a burnt offering.
(17) All the nations are like nothing before him.
As wasteland (Gen. 1:1; Ps. 107:40) and emptiness/formlessness they are considered by him,
(18) and to whom would you liken God/El,
and what likeness would you compare to him?
(19) The molten image a craftsman has poured out,
while a goldsmith with gold he overlays it,
while silver chains he smelts.
(20) The one who is too poor for a contribution/offering, wood that won't rot he chooses.
A skillful craftsman he seeks out for it to set up an image that won't totter.
(21) Don't you know?
Haven't you heard?
Has it not been reported from the beginning to you?
Haven't you understood from the foundation of the earth?
(22) The one sitting/dwelling upon/above the circle/disc of the earth (Prov. 8:27)--
while its dwellers/sitters [are] like grasshoppers--
The One stretching out like a canopy, the heavens,
and He spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
(23) The one bringing rulers to nothing;
the ones judging/exercising authority over the earth, into chaos/formlessness (Gen. 1:2) He has made [them].
(24)They aren't hardly planted,
they aren't hardly sown,
their shoot hasn't hardly taken root in the earth, and, what's more, He has blown upon them,
and they wither/dry out,
while the storm wind like the stubble carries them, ["like the stubble" is focused]
(25) and to whom will you compare me?,
and I will/would be his equivalent?, says The Holy One.
(26) Lift up to the heights your eyes,
and see: Who created these things?-- the One Bringing out by number their host.
To all of them, by name, He calls.
Because of [his] great power and mighty strength, none are missing.
(27) Why do you say, O Jacob,
and [why] do you speak, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from Yahweh,
while from my God/Elohim, my judgment is overlooked/disregarded/passing by.
(28) Haven't you known,
or haven't you heard, the Everlasting God, Yahweh, the One Creating the ends of the earth, doesn't become weary,
and He doesn't get tired.
There is no searching his understanding--
(29) The One giving to the weary, power,
while to the powerless, might/strength He increases/makes great,
(30) and young boys/teens become weary,
and they get tired,
while young men surely stumble,
(31) while the ones waiting upon Yahweh will receive anew [their] strength.
They will go up with wings like the eagle;
they will run,
and they will not become weary.
They will walk,
and they won't get tired.
