Based on a series of sermons preached in PCC Prayer Meetings in 2020
21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the Earth?
Isaiah 40:21-26
22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the Earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: 23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the Earth as vanity. 24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the Earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth
We saw previously how God is incomparable and unportrayable. Any attempts to compare God with anything in creation or to portray him with images will not only fail but result in the direct opposite of what is intended. You see, the reason anyone would want to compare God with anything or portray Him with an image is to make Him known. However, God is so infinitely great and beyond comparison that if you try to compare Him with anything, you will end up doing injustice to His greatness. Imagine trying to extol the quality of a great king by comparing him with a cockroach. And the distance between God and anything in creation is far, far greater than the distance between a cockroach and a great king on Earth. Likewise, if you try to portray God, you will end up hiding His glory more than if you do not attempt at all.
But now to further emphasise the greatness of God, and to drive home the reality, Isaiah asks a series of rhetorical questions which compel us to declare without reservation that God is transcendently greater than all things in this universe because He is the creator and governor of all things.
Verse 21:
Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the Earth?
All these questions do not expect any answers. They are designed to express incredulity: Surely you have heard, surely you have known, surely it has been told you!
What should we have heard or known? We should know first of all that, as vast as the sky above us may appear to us, it is but the covering of the tent that the LORD has spread over the Earth to provide us a dwelling place, verse 22:
It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in…
The circle of the Earth probably refers to the bowl-like appearance of the sky when you are standing in an open area. It may not be so apparent in Singapore, where buildings are everywhere, but it would be very obvious and indeed awe-inspiring to the observer in the ancient world. As one beholds the vastness of the heavens, so he will also come to see how small man and animals are. They are just like grasshoppers under a gigantic tent.
And who is He who spread the tent for the inhabitants of the Earth to dwell there in? None other than our great God and Creator!
The second thing we should have heard or known is that the powerful princes, judges, and kings of the Earth are truly powerless and temporary before God. By God’s providence, they rise to their position of authority, but God does not permit them to stay in the position for long. They are only as long in their place of honour as a puff of smoke, and will soon be blown away like stubble. Verse 23b-24:
[He] bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the Earth as vanity. 24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the Earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
What an immense contrast with the Holy One of Israel, who created all things, preserves them in existence and governs all things. Indeed, He not only cares for the inhabitants of the Earth, but He has also made and is ordering all the planets, stars, and galaxies in the universe. Verse 25-26:
25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
What did the ancient people see when they lifted up their eyes at night? They see a plethora of stars. It is estimated that they could see perhaps five thousand stars—significantly more than what we can see today, given the massive light pollution. But today we know that there are many, many more stars. It has been estimated that in the Milky Way Galaxy alone, there are up to 400 billion stars, and there are perhaps 200 billion galaxies. And the LORD “calls them all by names by the greatness of His might.” And He sustains them by His sovereign power so that they remain stable through the generations of man.
To whom then will we liken Him? The LORD God, the only Creator and Governor of the heaven, the Earth and the universe, is truly transcendently greater than anything that man can see or even imagine.
Is this not a comforting thought? It would not be a comforting thought if you do not enjoy a loving relationship with Him. But as God’s covenant people, you do enjoy His covenant love. Christ, the Son of God, took on human nature because of God’s love for you. This is the prophecy that begins this chapter of comfort. Christ, the Son of God, would come in the flesh to gather and feed His people like a loving shepherd.
Indeed, He would die for them, as Isaiah will later make clear in chapter 53.
You are part of these people beloved of Him. You can find comfort in the fact that He not only shares in your nature, but remains the sovereign creator and governor over all powers in the world, and indeed over the vast universe with the supermassive galaxies and stars.
You will likely recognise that this is a recurring theme as we study Isaiah 40. But what shall we do with it?
Our Response
a. First, shall we not praise Him and extol His greatness with the Psalms He has given us? Psalms 8, 19, 33, 104 and 148, amongst others, are appointed for us to use to praise God for His incredible work of creation. Shall we not use them often? Shall we not use them, especially when we have the opportunity to behold the greatness of God displayed in His creation?
When you look up at the night sky and are awed by the wonderful display of God’s power, do not simply enjoy the sight. Instead, let your heart burst forth with Psalm 8 or even with Psalm 105 as you remind yourself that God made every star out of His covenant love for you and your children.
b. Secondly, when your heart is exasperated or even angered by the civil authority of your nation or another nation close to you, and it seems that you are helpless to do anything, do not fret; neither give in to grudging resignation.
Isaiah is seeking, in our text, to comfort the Jews in captivity under the Babylonians. He is assuring them that before the throne of God, their captors have only as much power and permanence as a puff of smoke, and as stubble before a whirlwind. In the fullness of time, God would visit them in a whirlwind of His vengeance.
Therefore, when we find ourselves oppressed or exasperated by the rulers over us or our brethren, let us seek to comfort one another by encouraging each other to look to Christ, the King of kings, and be reminded that only His Kingdom will last forever. Let us meditate on His permanence and His governance over the world that we may find comfort in our hearts in the midst of all the chaos and confusion.
c. Thirdly, apart from singing and meditating, let us pray. Let us pray with hearts overflowing with faith, love and hope as we remind ourselves that all is well: for He who hears our prayers and He who intercedes on our behalf is not only our covenant God, but the sovereign creator and governor of the universe and the nations. Amen.
—JJ Lim