Sunday, August 24, 2008

Our Great God cont. - Isaiah 40 & 42

Even more declarations from God as He declares Himself to His people.

Is. 40:26 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.

The prophet encourages the people to look to the heavens and think about their Creator. Not only did He create them, He has a name for every star and every planet; He knows exactly how many there are. The heavens remain constant through the strength and force given them by the Creator. He is the Source of the laws of science and the power that sustains the universe.

Col. 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Not one heavenly body deviates from its designed path and/or purpose.

Is. 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

Again, God’s people know the answer to this question. They are being exhorted to remember the awesomeness of their God. He is everlasting—from vanishing point to vanishing point, without beginning or ending. “The LORD” is a reference to YHWH, Jehovah, the name that was significant to His relationship with Israel through His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Ex. 6:2-4 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.

Jehovah is the same God that created the heavens and the earth. He never tires or weakens. He is beyond our understanding.

Is. 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Is. 42:8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

I love this verse. YHWH is now addressing His people. It is another unequivocal statement of God as God—the One and Only. There is no other being that is His equal. This is not wrongful pride; this is just a statement of fact. It’s a statement that should strengthen our faith. Only YHWH is deserving of glory and praise.

Is. 42:9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.

This is a statement that supports the truth of the previous verse. Only God has the ability to predict the future. Every prophecy from the mouth of God has come to pass just as He has foretold. As He continues to foretell in the future (through later prophets and in the NT), they too will come to pass according to His word. The scripture is full of proofs of this declaration. History and science are full of proofs of this statement—from the declaration that the earth is round to the prophecies concerning the world empires in Daniel, to the coming of the Messiah, etc.

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