Questions-Day 12 (2/24/13)

February 24       

Incomparable

Isaiah 40:25-26

²⁵ To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One.

²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these?

"Here I am send me" leads the prophet Isaiah to speak both words of warning and consolation to the people of Israel.  Isaiah 40 begins

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

² "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins."

These were the first words proclaimed to a forsaken huddle of Israelites whose city had been destroyed by the Babylonian invaders, whose loved ones had been killed, and who themselves had survived only to live as exiles under the control of Babylon.  And unless you have been in a similar situation, it is hard to imagine how it felt finally to hear the good, great good news that this bleak life was finally coming to an end, that the "war was over," that God was coming to their rescue.

For the remaining verses of this chapter, Isaiah proclaims a series of questions to address the pondering question of the people.  Essentially, the brokenness of the people leave them wondering how God can do this.

Take a moment and find Isaiah 40.

Read Isaiah 40:1-11.  This is Isaiah's preface to the proclamations of the wonders and deeds of God in the history of Israel.

As you Read 40:12-26, either highlight/underline in your Bible or write every question that you read below:
Notice now the transition of Isaiah in this marvelous creation of literature, as the questions are woven into promises; as the power God had to act on behalf of the people becomes a power that will work within the people:

²⁷ Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”?

²⁸ Do you not know?
Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

²⁹The Lord gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

To whom can we compare God?