Wednesday, February 17
How does Isaiah 40 develop the themes of God’s mercy and power?
Throughout this chapter, God’s mercy and power are interwoven (see below) and even blended together, because they are both necessary in order for God to save His people. He wants to save them, because He is merciful; He is able to save them, because He is powerful.
Mercy (Isaiah 40:1-5): comfort, coming of the Lord to deliver.
Power (Isaiah 40:3-8): glory, permanence versus human weakness.
Mercy (Isaiah 40:9-11): good news of deliverance, Shepherd of His people.
Power (Isaiah 40:12-26): incomparable Creator.
Mercy (Isaiah 40:27-31): as Creator, gives power to the faint.
Having introduced God’s might in terms of His glory and permanence (Isaiah 40:3-8), Isaiah elaborates on His power and superior wisdom, which make earth and earthlings appear puny (Isaiah 40:12-17). Here Isaiah’s style, with rhetorical questions and vivid analogies referring to the earth and its parts, sounds like God’s answer to Job (Job 38-41).
What is the answer to Isaiah’s rhetorical question: “To whom then will ye liken God?” (Isaiah 40:18)?
For Isaiah, as for Job, the answer goes without saying: no one. God is incomparable. But Isaiah picks up on his question and refers to the answer that many ancient people implied by their actions, which is that God is like an idol (Isaiah 40:19, 20).
To this notion Isaiah responds. Already it looks foolish to use an idol as a likeness of God, but just to be sure people get the point, he elaborates on God’s uniqueness and brings in the unanswerable argument that He is the holy Creator (Isaiah 40:21-26).
How does verse 27 reveal the attitude of the people addressed by Isaiah’s message? In what ways are we guilty of having the same attitude?
The purpose of God’s message is to comfort people who need it! Like Job, their suffering had made them confused and discouraged concerning His character.
Look through the verses for today. They talk not only of God’s mercy and His power but also of the fact that He is the Creator. Why is this truth so important to understand? How does the Sabbath, each week, help reinforce this crucial point?
