Read the Bible, and let it rock your world. It is widely accepted that an ancient Greek named Pythagoras first proposed that the earth was round. He lived around 500 BC. Aristotle developed that same theory later…he lived around 350 BC. Our friend the prophet Isaiah lived at least 200 years before them, in 700 BC….and in 40:22 he identifies that the earth is a circle. Boom.
These 4 Chapters are full of references to Christ and predictions of the future. And when God speaks, He reveals something about Himself…every time. Just like that one sentence where He says through Isaiah “God sits above the circle of the earth”. There is similar evidence in Job 26, where God shares through Job how the earth “hangs in space” and how clouds are “filled with rain”. It was the modern age before we could prove any of these things…but God revealed them long before we could prove it.
Why?
So that when they were eventually proven, we could look back and say “Hey, God said that’s the way it was, He was telling the truth…we can believe what He says” In fact, as you read today’s passage that’s exactly why God said He had foretold the future to us. That’s why He has done the miracles that He has. That’s why He has given wisdom and insight, and the ability to discover some of what He has done…so that we will praise Him.
How infuriating it must be to watch the people you have blessed and revealed yourself to ignore you and wander off to create things made of wood and stone and then worship them. Just yesterday as I was having one of those days when “nothing goes right” I was thinking to myself “I don’t mind working, but I don’t like working stupid”. Do you know what I mean? I went to the store to return parts that were the wrong size, and ended up buying the exact same parts again…they hadn’t been wrong after all. Nevermind the trip to the store…I had already installed them, and torn the whole thing apart…now I had to do it all again. That’s “working stupid”.
So, if I am going to accept that the universe did not create itself, and that I was created by someone or something else I want to do it right. If I am going to pay homage and respect to some entity from beyond our physical realm…let’s call it “worship”…. then I’m going to worship right. The last thing I want is to “worship stupid”. Idol worship is stupid. Seriously…think about this for just a minute. We dig up something from the earth, maybe a rock, maybe a precious stone, and we give it to a talented guy who chisels some of it away so it looks like a person or an animal. Then, we find a a way to fasten it down on a pedestal (because it would fall off if we didn’t) and we give it credit for creating us. That is as stupid as it gets.
When I read this passage (and tomorrow’s…since I am adding this a day later… I hear God reasoning with me, and teaching me about His unlimited power and authority. There truly is nothing that I am in control of, or possess that I could bring to God as an acceptable offering. There isn’t anything that exists in the world…or in the entire universe for that matter, that God needs to make Him complete, or that could influence Him in some way. He already owns and controls all that there is.
That is, except for us. God (with unlimited power and authority) has given you and I the freedom to make our own choices, and choose our own destiny. That doesn’t mean we can alter world events in a way that God doesn’t want to happen…He can still shape events in any way He wants. It only means that we can choose where we will go, and how we will live. Therefore, the only thing on earth that could be offered to God, that He desires, is our worship. It’s the one thing He doesn’t “control” on His own.
Chapter 40:27-31 These passages are so familiar, quoted often and found on many plaques and wall hangings…generally accompanied by a picture of an eagle, soaring on the breezes. And it should be quoted, because it’s a great truth “those who trust in God will find new strength”. It’s interesting that God says this in response to the unfaithfulness of the people. Even while God is orchestrating their punishment He finds ways to provide hope and encouragement. Why is it that when we are struggling we won’t simply stop and ask God for help?
I am as guilty as the next person…I want to do it myself. I see my actions sometimes through the lens of my grandchildren..they are helping “grandpa” with a job…but all they are really doing is getting in the way and making a mess. They are too young and inexperienced to know how to use tools…they don’t even know the names of them, let alone how to use them correctly. But they want to help, and they want to “do it themselves”. That’s how we are at times, I think. God is patiently trying to show us how to live, worship, serve and work…and we resist his nudges, because we want to do it ourselves.
Chapter 42 is one of the many Messianic references in Isaiah. The New Testament references the prophecies of Isaiah concerning Christ more than any other book of the Old Testament. Just like God has decided to bring the Assyrians to conquer the land of Israel, He has chosen Christ to come and deliver the land from sin altogether. And in the same thought, He has ordained that Jesus will be the one to return and take all Christians home with Him to live in heaven. Praise the Lord for His unlimited wisdom and insight! Every word He speaks is filled with wonder, mystery, insight and awe. God be praised!
Faithfully,
PR