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Chapter 10
The Incomparable Greatness
of Jehovah
(Isaiah 39:5-6 [BSB]) Chapter 40, like many of Isaiah's oracles, has an element of it that applies to his own day, but also points forward to that time when the Messiah would come. But "Isaiah's day" now often assumes a future conquest and captivity by Babylon, and even a deliverance from Babylonian Captivity, as if it was already fact. This is a literary device sometimes found in the Old Testament prophets that has been called the "prophetic perfect tense": The prophetic perfect tense is a literary technique used in the Bible that describes future events that are so certain to happen that they are referred to in the past tense as if they already happened.
("Prophetic Perfect Tense". Wikipedia) Chapter 40 appears to be letting the people know that God is going to redeem his people from the coming Babylonian captivity and lead them back to their own land. Yet it also prefigures a time when God will lead his people out of the dominion of the Devil himself and destroy all enemies. The first eleven verses can be summarized like this: 40:1-2---The nation has suffered enough. It is now time for comfort. (Comfort, comfort my people...) 40:3-5---God will lead his people out of captivity. (... prepare the way of the LORD...) 40:6-8---God's word is sure and will be accomplished. (...the word of our God will stand for ever.) 40:9-11---The Great Shepherd will come and he will care for his sheep. (...he will gather the lambs in his arms...)
Isaiah 40:1-2
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.
(Isaiah 40:1-2) The first two verses are an oracle of hope that I mentioned in a previous chapter. The word "comfort" is a recurring word in the last portion of the book of Isaiah. The Lord of Hosts, the Holy One of Israel, is a God of comfort. Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the LORD has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.
(Isaiah 49:13) "For the LORD will comfort Zion;
he will comfort all her waste places,
and will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the LORD;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song....
who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
of the son of man who is made like grass..."
(Isaiah 51:3,12 [RSV]) Break forth together into singing,
you waste places of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
(Isaiah 52:9) "As one whom his mother comforts,
so I will comfort you."
(Isaiah 66:13a [WEB]) The theme carries over into the New Testament. The Holy Spirit, one of the three persons in the Godhead, also goes by another name--through transliteration of the Greek, the "Paraclete" (John 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7). This is usually translated "Advocate" or "Helper", but it is also sometimes translated "Comforter". In I John, the word is also used to refer to Jesus (I John 2:1). God comforts his people. He comforts his people because he loves us. But there is one more reason that he comforts us: He comforts us so that we may comfort others. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
(II Corinthians 1:3-4 [NHEB])
In the book of Isaiah, who is it that God will comfort? His answer is "My people".
The phrase "my people" is found three times in the Bible....No, maybe four times. No, wait: 216 times. It is a recurring phrase with strong emphasis. These people aren't just some casual acquaintances that God has little knowledge of or feelings for. They are his people. When Moses spoke to Pharaoh, he brought this message:
"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Let my people go...'"(Exodus 5:1b) We today, who are referred to by Paul as "the Israel of God", are his people. He cares about us. Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.
(I Peter 5:7 [RSV])
Isaiah 40:3-5
A voice cries:"In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
(Isaiah 40:3-5) Prepare the way. The imagery of verses 3-5 is of the ancient practice of repairing and preparing a road before a great king used it to go on a trip (cf. Isaiah 57:14; 62:10; Malachi 3:1; Revelation 16:12). Isaiah is saying that THE Great King is coming, and this king himself will lead his people from captivity. (cf. Isaiah 40:9-11) Although the message of this passage to the people of Isaiah's day (and to the people at the time of the Babylonian Captivity in the hundred years or so after the message was delivered) was that God will deliver his people from Babylonian captivity, there is a type/antitype lesson here as well. The poetic picture of preparing a highway for God when he comes to deliver his people from Babylon foreshadows the preaching of John the Baptist, who heralds the even greater deliverance to come through Jesus Christ. In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight."
(Matthew 3:1-3; cf. Mark 1:2-3; Luke 3:4-5; John 1:23) John the Baptist prepares the way for the Son of God, who physically comes, and who will rescue his people from the captivity of sin, from the kingdom of darkness, and deliver them into the kingdom of the saints in light.
Isaiah 40:6-8
A voice says, "Cry!"And I said, "What shall I cry?"
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the LORD blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
(Isaiah 40:6-8) There is a huge difference between God and man. You can't always trust man; but, you can always trust God. With man, even in his best estate with his best intentions, even if he keeps his word and never wavers from it, he is only here for a little while. Even if he does magnificently well, and is scrupulously honest and faithful, it's still possible that, when his body lies decaying in the grave, that his good intentions will perish with him. But God's promises endure. Man is just a temporary, fading flower. Elton John touches on the fragile and temporary nature of life in his song "Candle in the Wind". In the book of James, we see it described this way: Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit." You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
(James 4:13-15 [BSB]) Even the most powerful or famous of men are only here for a little while. But God's Word endures forever. Jesus said, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
(Matthew 24:35 [WEB]; Mark 13:31)
In the famous poem "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley, the author tells of
the reported remnants of what was once a great statue of the Pharoah Ramesses II
(known also in the Greek language as Ozymandias). The statue is half buried, with
its two legs no longer supporting a trunk, and a "shattered visage" lying nearby.
On the pedestal of the once great statue, Shelley has these words, followed by his
concluding comments:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Even the mightiest of men are only here for a little while--a candle in the wind--a mist that quickly vanishes. But God is eternal, and his word will last forever.
One of our songs says it this way:
Time is filled with swift transition,Naught of earth unmoved can stand,
Build your hopes on things eternal,
Hold to God's unchanging hand.
(from "Hold to God's Unchanging Hand" by Jennie Wilson)
Isaiah 40:9-11
Get you up to a high mountain,O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
"Behold your God!"
Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd,
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
(Isaiah 40:9-11 [RSV]) God is mighty, yet gentle. He is all-powerful, yet tender. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
(Matthew 11:29) He is described in the book of John as the Good Shepherd: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
(John 10:11 [BSB]; cf. v.14) He is described in the book of Hebrews as the Great Shepherd: Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in you that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
(Hebrews 13:20-21 [RSV]) He is the Good Shepherd. He is the Great Shepherd. He is our Shepherd. He cares for us.
Isaiah 40:12-31
The remainder of chapter forty, beginning with verse twelve, has been appropriately titled by some as "The Incomparable Greatness of Jehovah". Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on a scale
and the hills with a balance?
Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD,
or informed Him as His counselor?
Whom did He consult to enlighten Him,
and who taught Him the paths of justice?
Who imparted knowledge to Him
and showed Him the way of understanding?
(Isaiah 40:12-14 [BSB]) In verse twelve, Isaiah asks a series of questions in which he marvels at the magnificence of God. But these could also be seen as a series of challenges. He doesn't ask someone to make mountains. He asks for something much simpler. Just tell us how much that they weigh. He doesn't ask someone to make an ocean. Just tell us how many gallons there are in them. He doesn't ask someone to create the earth. Just tell us how many bushels of dust there are. Man can't even measure what God has created. In verses thirteen and fourteen, Isaiah asks who is wise enough to teach God? No one. God is the One who created knowledge and wisdom. The language is somewhat reminiscent of what we see near the end of the book of Job, where God takes his turn to question Job: Gird up your loins like a man,
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding."
(Job 38:3-4 [RSV]) God then spends most of the next four chapters asking questions of Job. It is also reminiscent of the words of Agur in Proverbs chapter thirty: Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is his son's name?
Surely you know!
(Proverbs 30:4) Agur connects the creative power of God with our ability to trust him. In the next verse he says, Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
(Proverbs 30:5) Waiting upon the LORD, trusting in him is a wise thing, because he has the power and the willingness to accomplish what he has promised. By way of comment on the rest of the chapter, I would like to recount the story of a man by the name of Eric Liddell. You may or may not recognize the name. Some may recognize it if I mention that he was the central figure in the movie Chariots of Fire, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1981.
(Credit: Fair Use [from the movie Chariots of Fire via Wikipedia])
![Fair Use [from the movie Chariots of Fire via Wikipedia])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chariots_of_Fire_beach.jpg){kind=link}
Eric Liddell was a deeply religious man who lived during the first half of the twentieth century. He was a track athlete from Scotland. He was a very good track athlete. In the early 1920's he ran the 100 yard dash in 9.7 seconds, which was a British Isles record. In fact, it was a record that was to stand for a remarkable 35 years--one of the longest standing records in all of British track and field. He is generally regarded today as the greatest and most beloved athlete in Scotland's history. As mentioned, Liddell was a deeply religious man. He also was the favorite for the most prestigious event in the Olympics--the 100 meter dash. When the schedule for the Olympic track and field events came out, which were to be held in Paris, France in that year (1924), the preliminary heats for the 100 meter dash were listed to take place on a Sunday. Liddell simply said, "I'm not running on a Sunday." His views were perhaps entwined with the theologically mistaken idea common in our day that views the Christian day of worship, Sunday, as also "the Christian Sabbath" (whereas the Bible teaches that the Sabbath is Saturday and was given to and for the Israelites in the Old Testament). However, his belief that Sunday as the Lord's Day should be honored as such isn't entirely inappropriate, and his willingness to honor God and to stick to his convictions is to be greatly admired. His theology wasn't quite accurate, but his unwavering determination to adhere to his principles and to reverence God is a positive lesson for people today. Liddell had a characteristically awkward running style. Instead of leaning forward, he would hold his body straight up, and, in the latter stage of a race, he would throw his head back, as can be seen in some existing historical photos of Liddell.
Liddell with his head thrown back at the finish of a race.
(Credit: Unknown [Sports event handout {via Lewisham's Olympic Legacy}]; Public Domain)
![Unknown [Sports event handout {via Lewisham's Olympic Legacy}]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Liddell#/media/File:Eric_Liddell.jpg){kind=link}
A story that has come down about this is related as follows: At an athletics championship in Glasgow, a visitor watching the 440 yard final in which Liddell was a long way behind the leaders at the start of the last lap (of a 220-yard track) remarked to a Glasgow native that Liddell would be hard put to win the race. The Glaswegian merely replied, "His head's no' back yet." Liddell then threw his head back and with mouth wide open caught and passed his opponents to win the race.
("Eric Liddell". Wikipedia) Something mildly problematic that was overlooked before the movie began to be filmed was soon noted by the actor Ian Charleson, who played the role of Eric Liddell in the movie. When he ran with his head thrown back, he couldn't see where he was going. He later made the observation that Liddell had apparently run by faith and not by sight. In the movie, Chariots of Fire, Liddell is depicted as having found out almost at the last minute, basically when he is boarding the ship to cross the English Channel to go to France for the Olympics, that the preliminaries of the 100 meter dash would be run on a Sunday. Although the storyline in the movie is basically true, they did take a few artistic liberties. In actuality, Liddell found out months earlier that the preliminaries would be on a Sunday. When he found out, he simply stated, without show or fanfare, "I'm not running on a Sunday." His decision brought with it a lot of pressure and harassment. Although many of his fellow athletes were impressed by his stance and admired him for it, many pressured him to change his mind. The Scottish newspapers brought pressure on him and called him a traitor to his country. Reporters came to his residence and shouted the same. One of his housemates said that he had become "the most unpopular man in Britain" (Duncan Hamilton. For the Glory: The Untold and Inspiring Story of Eric Liddell). The English government tried to pressure him to change his mind and run for the glory of England. He was called before the British Olympic Association and the Prince of Wales and interrogated and pressured to change his mind. Among the many factors that were in play was the fact that the games were being held in France--a perpetual rival and sometimes enemy of England. In the movie, some of the dialogue has been invented, because much of the actual dialogue is unknown. In the movie, Edward, Prince of Wales speaks to him about loyalty to his country. The future king says: "There are times when we are asked to make sacrifices in the name of that loyalty. And without them our allegiance is worthless. As I see it, for you, this is such a time." Lord Cadogan, of the British Olympic Association says: "Hear, hear. In my day it was King first and God after." Liddell still refused to run. In real life, Lord Cadogan spoke to the team prior to the Olympics. In an apparent effort to get Liddell to change his mind, Lord Cadogan did say this, "To play the game is the only thing in life that matters." The Scottish newspapers picked up on this statement the next day, and urged the team members to "play up and play the game...upholding the honor and reputation of Great Britain." In the pocket handbooks given to each of the British Olympic team members, Cadogan had written the same phrase. All of this was directed at one man. Liddell still refused to run. When the Sunday of the race came, while the other participants were running, Liddell was speaking at a local church. Although friends and teammates had pressured him in an effort to get him to change his mind, and the newspapers of the day and reporters coming to his residence were calling him a traitor and urging him to participate for the glory of Great Britain, and a representative of the British government was telling him that to play the game is the only thing in life that matters, Liddell held to his convictions and decided to do what he believed was right. We don't know exactly what he said from the pulpit of that local church building that day; it hasn't been recorded. The movie depicts him, however, as reading from portions of Isaiah chapter 40, beginning at verse 15: Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as the dust of the scales;...
All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness....
(He) brings princes to nought,
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing....
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary,...
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
...they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
(Isaiah 40:15a,17,23,28a-c,31 [RSV]) A few days after the 100 meter dash had been run--without Eric Liddell, Liddell was scheduled to run in the 400 meter run (the rough equivalent of a quarter mile). It wasn't the event that he had primarily been running during his track career. He had only run it a handful of times in his life. It hadn't been his best event. But it wasn't being run on a Sunday, so he had decided to run in it. One of the artistic liberties that were taken in the film involved his sister. In real life she supported his running. In the movie, however, she is depicted as opposing it, because she thought that it might interfere with his dedication to God and planned missionary efforts. In the movie she is seen as coming to France at the last minute, unbeknownst to her brother, after she heard that he took a stand against running on a Sunday. She is seen slipping into the stadium just before the race. One other piece of artistic license seen in the movie has one of the American runners, Jackson Schultz, handing Liddell a note of encouragment prior to the race. In real life the note was handed to him by his trainer, but it was handed to him. The actual note read: "In the old book it says, 'He who honors me, I will honor.' Wishing you the best of success always."
(The part of "the old book" that the quotation is taken from is I Samuel 2:30.)
Because of his previous times, and because of the strong field of competitors that day, Liddell wasn't expected to medal. One member of the field had set a new world record in preliminaries earlier in the Olympics. Liddell drew the outside lane, which ordinarily was bad. Because of the staggering of the starting blocks, the person in the outside lane cannot see the rest of the competitors. It was worse than normal in this case because Liddell was not as familiar with this race as the others were and couldn't keep an eye on them to check on the pace of the race.
Because of his ability and experience in the 100 meter dash, the other runners expected Liddell to start out fast, perhaps too fast, and to fade badly at the end of the race. When the gun sounded for the start of the race, Liddell started out very, very fast. (The depiction of the race in the movie is based upon an existing film of the actual race in 1924, and the details pretty accurately depict the events of the original race, including a runner falling near the end of the race.) With his fast start, Liddell was in the lead early. But the field, including the world record holder, soon started to close the gap, pulling to within about three yards. In the last part of the race, however, Liddell actually increased his lead. As he is running, the movie has the Chariots of Fire theme song begin to play in the background, with the words of Liddell also being played, in which he says that he believed that God made him for a purpose, and that he also made him fast. As he throws his head back, he pulls away to come in first place, winning the gold medal, and setting a new European, Olympic, and world record in the process.
(Credit: Unknown [via Lewisham's Olympic Legacy. Perhaps originally from Le Mirior des Sports.]; Public Domain) The world record would last for another four years--the Olympic record for another eight years--the European record for another twelve years. After returning home, while other Olympic heroes were basking in Olympic glory and reaping the benefits of Olympic glory, including increased business and social standing, Liddell left to be a missionary in a remote village in China. He remained there for the next twenty years. In World War II, when Japan invaded China, the Japanese army overran the village where he was, and he was among the many placed in concentration camps. At one point, there was a prisoner exchange worked out between the Japanese and British governments, and Liddell was said to be one of those on the list to be freed. It has been reported that he instead gave his spot to a pregnant woman. During the last year of the war, 1945, Liddell died in a Japanese concentration camp. He is still regarded as Scotland's greatest and most beloved athlete. Although he lived almost half of his life in Great Britain, he was born and he died in China. He is sometimes listed by the Chinese as their first Olympic champion. The title of the movie Chariots of Fire comes from the song "Jerusalem", the music for which was written by Sir Hubert Parry in 1916. The song incorporates the words of a poem of the same name written by William Blake in the early 1800's. The poem also goes by the name "And did those feet in ancient time", which is the first line of the poem. With regard to the phrase "chariots of fire", Blake drew from three Old Testament references in the book of II Kings (II Kings 2:9-12; 6:11-17; 13:14), one of which is this: And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, "Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?" And one of his servants said, "None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom." And he said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him." It was told him, "Behold, he is in Dothan." So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city.
(II Kings 6:11-17 [ESV]) Eric Lidell, like Isaiah long ago, understood who man is and who God is. He understood that all "...the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales...." He understood, as Elisha did, that "...those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Today we live in times in which we are pressured to moderate our values and to accept the world view and moral standards of the world around us. We are pressured to accept the idea that sacrificing our religious views on occasion is a reasonable sacrifice to make to be part of modern society--that, with regard to importance, it is society first and God somewhere after--that our beliefs and values no longer fit with an enlightened society and we need to change--that we should be required to change, in order to be allowed a place in that society. In times like these, when pressure builds, and hope fades, and the moral fabric around us crumbles, and we are pressed to accept the values of the ungodly and to betray our beliefs and principles, we need to remember...and to know...as Eric Liddell almost certainly knew, that in God's eyes "...the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust of the scales", and that "...those who are with us are more than those who are with them."