Based on a series of sermons preached in PCC Prayer Meetings in 2020
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity
Isaiah 40:15-17
Isaiah 40 is one of the most comforting passages in the Scripture. Indeed, one of the purposes of this chapter is to encourage the servants of the LORD to seek to comfort God’s people as an essential aspect of their ministry. How are they to comfort God’s people? They are to do so by pointing them to Christ and making Him known.
We saw how the chapter begins with a prophecy about the coming of Christ and of His ministry as a shepherd to God’s people.
Then in verse 12, we see a reference to the greatness of God in creating the universe. We noted that at this point, many commentators become unwilling to say that Isaiah is still thinking about Christ, but simply about God. Well, I think he is still thinking about Christ not only because the content demands it, but because the New Testament places significant emphasis on Christ as the Creator. John says of the Word of God, “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made” (Jn 1:3). Moreover, in Psalm 102:25, we are given to sing, “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.” Now, in the New Testament, the apostle to the Hebrews, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, makes it clear that these are the words of the Father to the Son (Heb 1:10-12).
In any case, the following two verses—verses 13-14—are about the Spirit of the LORD. Again, many commentators hold that this is not really about the third person of the Trinity. But if verse 12 is about the creative work of the Son of God, why should we doubt that verses 13-14 are about the Holy Spirit, since He hovered over the waters when God created the earth?
But now we come to verses 15-17. Should we still be thinking about Christ? Or should we be thinking about God Triune when we read these verses? Well, I would suggest that the answer is both. Remember that there are three persons in the God-head, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one God, same in substance, equal in power and glory.”
Therefore, as soon as we think about the deity of Christ, we should think about the Father and the Spirit, and about the Triune God. Likewise, when we think about the Trinity, we should think about Christ, for it is through Him we see God.
So, what does our text teach us? It teaches us the greatness of God. Therefore, it teaches us the greatness of Christ.
Here are three thoughts corresponding to the three verses. First, He is exceedingly great. Secondly, He is exceedingly worthy. Thirdly, He is exceedingly significant.
1. He Is Exceedingly Great
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
If you have a pail of water, will you be concerned about a single droplet on the side of the pail? Well, compared to God, the nations of the world, with all the people, the mighty armies, the massive weapons of war, and the impressive buildings and the wealth, are but a drop of water dripping from a bucket.
In fact, they are but the dust on the balance of our LORD. You know what dust is on the balance, don’t you? When you want to weigh something, do you bother that there is a little bit of dust on the balancing tray? No, no; you may not even bother to blow off the dust. The fact is, the dust does not affect the accuracy of your readings. They are counted as nothing in terms of weight.
Such are the nations of the world in the sight of our Lord. Such is America, China, or India. Such is Europe, Africa or Australia. These great countries are nothing in the sight of our LORD. Even the great land masses on which the nations are established are so small in God’s sight that He can, as it were, pick them up with His fingers “as a very little thing.” They are like a speck of fluff in God’s fingers.
Our Saviour, the Emmanuel, is so great and yet He counts it not robbery to be equal with God, but humbled Himself so low that He may show kindness to the minuscule specks of existence that we are.
Can we ever repay Him for His kindness towards us?
2. He Is Exceedingly Worthy
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
We say these words speak of Christ’s exceeding worthiness because that is exactly what worship is. Indeed, the English word ‘worship’ actually comes from the idea of ‘worthship’ or ‘worthiness.’
God is worthy of worship. So, Christ is worthy of worship. How worthy is He? The unnamed woman who washed the Lord’s feet with her tears, and Mary, who imitated her, thought that Christ was worthy enough to receive their bottles of costly perfume and their extremely humbling acts of worship. Peter felt that he could lay down his life for Him. He is worthy. But Isaiah is saying that He is worth far, far more than that.
He is so worthy that if the children of God were to cut all the trees of Lebanon and burn all the cattle they could find, they could not begin to do justice to His worthiness. They could not fully acknowledge just how worthy He really is. Note that by Lebanon, Isaiah is not referring to a single mountain, but the entire mountain range lying north of Lebanon. The point is that all these mountain ranges, abounding in magnificent forests and trees and a multitude of animals great and small, do not have enough to make up a sacrifice which would sufficiently reflect the worthiness of God and of Christ.
If that is so, how can we be reconciled to God when we have sinned against Him? We have sinned against an infinite God. Nothing in creation is of sufficient worth to cancel the debt we owe God. Nothing in creation is of sufficient worth and significance to be offered as a sacrifice to God that will not leave us with the sin of omission—of not acknowledging God’s worth sufficiently.
But thank God that our Saviour is not only of this creation, but of the creator. Thank God that…
3. He Is Exceedingly Significant
17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
Make no mistake. This statement is not about the nations. It is really about God or about the Son of God. You see, in the sight of man, the nations are the greatest, most powerful and most significant thing in existence. This was so in ancient times. This remains so today. Mountains may be levelled, forests may be cut down, rivers may be dammed, lakes may be dried, and the world will still go on with nary a tear shed. But let a nation be destroyed, and rivers of tears will flow for generations. Nations are precious and hugely significant entities in the universe.
Yet, the nations are nothing, indeed less than nothing and vanity when stacked against the Lord. Even the sum total of the substance of the universe and all the people in the world is nothing before Him.1
This is the reason why only the sacrifice of Christ himself could be sufficient to atone for our sin against an infinite God. This is why only the worship of Christ can be perfectly acceptable and sufficient to acknowledge the glory of God. This is why our worship is only acceptable and pleasing to God when it is offered in and through Christ and in His name.
Conclusion
Christ is exceedingly great, exceedingly worthy and exceedingly significant. How do these truths bring us comfort?
Well, as individuals, we are made of no less than the same substance as the earthworms and the slugs of the earth. And we have made ourselves worse than worms by sinning against God. We are nothing before God. In absolute terms, we are insignificant. We deserve nothing of the goodness of God. Even our worship can have no value, for what value does the praise of those who are wicked and corrupt have?
Yet, Christ, the God-Man who is the alone significant person amongst men, laid His life down for us and in this way brings us into fellowship with God, infinite, eternal and unchangeable. Is this not comfort enough? Does this not give us confidence and a sense of significance? Does this not assure us of God’s love for us, and of His sovereign control over all things in this universe for our eternal blessedness? Amen.
—JJ Lim
- It is like saying: the planet earth is huge. Its diameter is about 13,000km, it circumference is about 40,000 km. But that is small compared to the sun. Its diameter is more than 100 times that of the earth. But then our sun is almost 2000 times smaller than the largest known star, the VY Canis Majoris. You can fit 9.3 billion of our suns into VY Canis Majoris. What does this show us? Well, it shows us that our earth is really small. But it also shows us that the VY Canis Majoris is really huge. ↩︎