God Beyond Compare But Not Beyond Care (Isaiah 40:12-31 July 27, 2014) There is a legend which describes the rite of passage for a Cherokee Indian boy to become a man. He is instructed to never tell another boy of this experience as each lad must come into manhood on his own. When he comes of age, his father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is told he must sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. If he survives the night, he will be deemed a man. The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe someone might find him and do him harm. The wind blows the grass and earth, and shakes the stump, but lad sits stoically, never removing his blindfold. He wants to be a man! Finally, after a horrific night the sun appears and he removes his blindfold. It was then that he discovers that his father had been sitting quietly on a stump near to him. His father had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from any harm. This is a wonderful picture of our heavenly Father. He is ever with us protecting us, watching over us even when we think He has abandoned us. This is one of the great lessons of the book of Isaiah. God does not abandon His people. Let me remind you of how this lesson was presented to Judah. In the 8 th century BC the prophet Isaiah warned his people that unless they repented, unless they turned from their idols, unless they trusted the Lord judgment would come.
Tragically, they failed to heed this warning. Isaiah knew that judgment had to follow this disobedience. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he prophesied that Babylon the very nation King Hezekiah had trusted for help would overrun Judah, destroy Jerusalem and the Temple, and cart the few survivors off into captivity. The Lord knew these exiles would feel abandoned by God, hopeless, despairing. And so the Lord used Isaiah to write a message of hope and comfort. This message starts off with comfort, comfort my people says your God. Then scattered throughout are precious words of comfort like this: Fear not, I am the One who helps you (41:13) When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God (43:2 3). Putting it all together we have seen that the consistent message of Isaiah is: I am the God who saves. I love you so trust Me and live.
We have seen that the first half of this book, chapters 1-39 declares that Yahweh is salvation trust Him there is no other hope Last week we began the second half chapters 40-66 which declares Yahweh is salvation trust Him there is still hope Even in the face of repeated sin and repeated failure God will still save His people. Here is how the last half of the book fleshes out: 40-66!! Yahweh is SALVATION trust Him there is still hope!! 40:1-11!!!! God s proclamation!!!!!!!!!!to save!! 40:12-31!!! God s power to save!!! 41:1-66:24!! God s plan to save!! Last week we looked at: 40:1-11 God s proclamation to save Today we will look at: 40:12-31 God s power to save Next week we will come to: 41:1-66:24 God s plan to save Judah was in a hopeless situation. Exiled, defenceless, landless. What they needed to remember is that this is nothing to Almighty God who can do anything. But as we saw last week this message goes beyond Judah to all nations in all ages. We are in a hopeless situation. Dead in our trespasses and sins, powerless. And we all have times of despair, times of tragedy and trial.
And what we need to remember is that this is nothing to Almighty God who can do anything. When you are facing a difficult situation the first thing we have to do is remember who God is. Our God can do anything. And so, Isaiah turns his focus to remind us of the power of our God who has said I am for you you are mine I will not forsake you. This morning we begin the second section God s power to save. Turn with me to Isaiah 40 verse 12. This morning we will look God s power as Creator. 40:12-45:17! God s POWER to save Israel!! As CREATOR!!!! 40:12-31! As SOVEREIGN!! 41:1-42:9! As RIGHTEOUS!! 42:10-43:7! As SAVIOUR!!!!43:8-44:5! As FAITHFUL!!! 44:6-23! As REDEEMER!!! 44:24-45:17 This stretches from Isaiah 40:12-31. Isaiah divides this section into two. The first is verses 12-26 where he shows that our God is beyond compare: Our God the Creator of the ends of the earth is beyond comparing to anything or anyone. The Hebrew word for glory literally means heaviness. Our God s glory so far outweighs anyone or anything He is beyond comparison. Isaiah demonstrates this by reminding us of some of the attributes of God. If you go our church library and look up a systematic theology book there you will find lists of the attributes of God. You will find terms like: Omnipotence Omniscience Omnipresence Aseity Immanence
And next to each of these attributes is a description. For example, theologians tell us that God is omnipotent. But what does that mean? I looked up omnipotent in Erickson s Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology. He said omnipotent means: GOD BEYOND COMPARE Omnipotent:!! God s ability to do all things that are proper objects of God s power God s ability to do all things that are proper objects of God s power. Quite frankly I don t know about you but I read that and I don t feel an incredible awe for God and His power. It doesn t make my heart sing. It doesn t make me know that if this God is for me no one can be against me. It doesn t inspire me to press on in the tough times. But fortunately for us, Isaiah doesn t give us a list of theological terms. He gives us something much better. He uses poetry and word pictures to describe the power of our Creator God who is beyond compare and these should make your heart sing. Here is what he tells us:
BEYOND COMPARE: The greatest POWER v. 12 The greatest MIND vv. 13-14 The greatest NATION vv. 15-17 The greatest IDOL vv. 18-20 The greatest RULER vv. 21-24 BEYOND COMPARE vv. 25-26 Our God is beyond comparing to: The greatest power v. 12 The greatest mind vv. 13-14 The greatest nation vv. 15-17 The greatest idol vv. 18-20 The greatest ruler vv. 21-24 He is utterly Beyond compare vv. 25-26 Just reading these verses makes us feel small but it makes us feel safe because our God is so big so beyond compare. Just reading these verses makes our hearts sing as we contemplate the glories of God. Isaiah s point is simple. If Judah or anyone ever thinks for a moment that God was impotent to save them then they have made a grave mistake. It is like saying an elephant could not crush an ant. Randy Pope says this mistake is thinking of God as little more than an extreme human. Don Carson says this mistake is to domesticate God. Just because something is impossible for man does not mean it is impossible for our God. We need to understand the full glory, awe, weight and power of our God. Isaiah had seen the glory of God in chapter 6 now he wants us to grasp the glory of our God who is beyond compare. First, our God is beyond the greatest power v. 12.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Google is good for a few things. It told me that if you collected all the water on earth from the oceans and rivers: It would total 1,386,000,000,000,000,000,000 litres of water or perhaps to put it another way that might be easier for us to grasp it is: 55,440,000,000,000 Olympic swimming pools of water. However you measure it that is a lot of H2O. Yet Isaiah says God could scoop that up in the palm of His hand as if it were a few drops. No man really knows how large the universe is or even what shape it is. Our best guess right now is that it is 93 billion light years across. An unimaginably large number. That means if you could somehow travel at the speed of light an incredible 300,000 kilometres every second it would still take 93 billion years at the speed of light to cross the universe. Isaiah says but that is nothing to the Lord. He holds out His hand and the entire known universe all 93 billion light years of it fits in the span of His hand. The power of our Creator God is almost beyond imagining. Or consider His greatness another way. Again Google helped me. If you add up all the dust, rocks, mountains and hills of the earth it would weigh: 5972190000000000000000000kgs Another number that is impossibly large to a man yet God could gather this up like a handful of dust and tell you its weight. When we consider His creation we should be laid low by the awesome power of God. We are so small and He is so immense. Here is the point there is nothing this God cannot do. To think He could not stop Babylon from harming His people is insane. Our God is also beyond the greatest mind vv. 13-14.
Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Judah questioned God s justice in allowing His people to be defeated by a wicked enemy. But are they in a position to question the wisdom of God? The more man s knowledge grows the more we realise our knowledge is so pitiful compared to the creation we live in. Man has many theories about creation, the universe, life but human wisdom leaves us with far more questions than answers. We simply can t get our minds around creation, eternity, the universe. But God who created everything from nothing knows all of these things. No mere man can counsel God on how to run His universe. Remember Job? When his life was smashed off the rails initially he was stoic I will trust God. Eventually he was worn down and wanted to know why God did this to him. He wanted to question the justice of God. God said to him I will answer you but: Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. You want to question how I run the universe? You want to counsel me on justice? Then first, I have some questions for you. Where were you when I created the heavens and the earth? Tell me. How did I create the galaxies tell me? Can you move the stars through the sky? How did I form the countless fathoms of the sea? Do you even know what lies in the depths of the sea? Tell me can you bring forth the sun in the morning? Do you even understand what light is? Can you bring snow and rain to the land? And what of the animals and birds and fish? Do you even understand the most basic truths about how I created and sustain them?
Question after question. But not one answer from Job. Then the Lord says to Job: Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? You really want to play this game? Do you really want to tell me how to run my universe? And Job says I am a fool: Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? But God says It is not that easy. I am not done with you yet Job. Get ready again: Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Would you counsel Me on what I consider to be justice? Then show yourself fit to judge the universe. Only then you can question My justice. Finally, all Job can say is: I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Job came to the same conclusion Isaiah wants us to come to. We just can t understand how God runs the universe and why He does what He does so who are we to question Him or give Him counsel on how the universe, this world, nations, our lives should go? All we can do is marvel at His sovereign control of all things. How can anyone even questioning the ways of God or saying what He did to Judah or in any other situation is unjust, unloving, unwise? Our God is also beyond the greatest nation vv. 15-17. Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. Doesn t that just put us into perspective? Dust and nothing before His glory. Sometimes we think we are pretty awesome.
But what we really need is some perspective. Australia does well at the Commonwealth Games. We usually manage to beat the combined might of The Cook Islands, The Falkland Islands and Nauru. But, in the Olympics when the US and China and Germany are there we don t look as mighty. In the same way some nations in history look impressive. The Egyptian, the Assyrian, the Babylonian, the Persian, the Greek, the Roman, the Ottoman, the British Empires to name but a few. But they only look impressive when you compare them with other nations. Compared to the Creator they are dust and nothing. Today, China is on the rise but in terms of sheer firepower the US still has the edge. But every ship, submarine, plane, tank and missile in the US arsenal are nothing compared to God. Remember back to chapter 37 the mightiest army in the world of that day Assyria was looking to overrun Judah. The Lord said not this day. The angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 armed men in one night and Assyria turned tail and slunk home. To God who created and sustains the heavens no nation no coalition of nations no empire compares. When you walk carrying a bucket of water and one single drop sloshes out you don t give it a second thought. Compared to God every nation on earth in every age is less than that one disregarded drop of water. How could anyone think that God was powerless to stop the Babylonian invasion? It is like saying the Australian army could not defeat six angry pre-schoolers. Isaiah then says imagine if you could make a sacrificial altar that contained every tree in Lebanon. If you could cut down all the millions of huge, magnificent cedars in Lebanon and pile them up and set them alight. Then you offered every animal in Lebanon every sheep and cow and goat millions of them as a burnt offering to God. A nation can sacrifice everything it has and it will not impress this Creator God in the slightest. No nation can impress Him. He is far greater than the greatest nation. He is greater than the greatest idol vv. 18-20
To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains. He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move. Israel and Judah had both had long dalliances with idolatry. I have to confess that of all of the woeful views of God I find this the hardest to grasp. I have myself a little idol. In all the countless galactic clusters, in one galaxy, in one solar system, on one planet, in one nation, in one city one feeble, temporary man took a lump of wood and carved my idol. It doesn t compare to the things God made the heavens the earth man. Yet, some people say behold my god he will save me! I want to say my God can take your any day. How can anyone compare an idol to God? How can anyone dismiss the power of the Creator of the heavens to seek the help of something made rather poorly at the hands of a mere, insignificant man? There is a lot of debate about how these verses in particular verse 20 should be translated as a number of words are only found here in the Bible. If you look at the marginal reading for verse 20 it reads: He selects valuable wood. I am fairly sure that is correct. Most likely Isaiah is describing the production of a very expensive idol. The finest wood. Overlaid in fine gold. Fine metalwork. Regardless, his point is exactly the same as Isaiah makes in chapter 46:5 7: To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike? Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship! They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble. My little idol can t move, can t speak let alone have the power to save me.
How can Judah chosen and blessed by the Almighty Creator God ever consider turning to idols made by human hands which cannot move, let alone help? It is like the army of people who turn from the living God to horoscopes, gurus, false gods yet refuse to heed the Word of the living God. It is absurd. He is greater than the greatest ruler vv. 21-24 Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. Isaiah pictures the Creator God looking down on the curve of the world from the day of creation till now and He directs everything that occurs in history. He causes Kings to rise. He blows on them those Kings are gone. To the Creator and Sustainer the greatest of men even the princes of men are nothing before Him. To the One who sits above the circle of the world the greatest ruler is like a grasshopper skittering around. Kings come and Kings go all the while the One who Created does not change. Here is the point does Judah really think this God could not stop the advance of Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar? A.W. Tozer said something very profound: What comes into our minds when we think about GOD is the most important thing about us and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives GOD to be like.
What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. 1 If we have the right view of God His power and judgment and love and holiness this world makes sense. If we have a wrong view of God then this fallen world leaves us with more questions than answers. And that is why Isaiah finishes this section by asking us when you think about God is what comes to your mind that He is utterly beyond compare? We have to know that He is utterly beyond compare vv. 25-26 To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. Too often we think we know how this world should run what is just and fair what is right and we get there by using human wisdom and justice and insights. And if God s plan does not match up with these what we do is to bring God down to our level. We compare Him with man. That will never do! The true God is beyond compare. How dare we compare Him to anyone or anything that makes Him like them? He is not like anyone or anything. Look up and see the stars! All of our great power and we have only visited our moon, one day maybe a planet but a star is beyond us. We can only look at them in jawdropping awe. Our God created every star, every solar system, every galaxy, every galactic cluster and He sustains them. He created, sustains and knows the situation of every one of the near countless trillions and trillions of stars. Who dares to say this God cannot protect me? But this only raises a further question. If this God can save why didn t He? 1 A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1992), 1.
He is a Father and a Shepherd. In Psalm 91:4 He says: [I] will cover you with [my] pinions, and under [my] wings you will find refuge; [my] faithfulness is a shield and buckler. So if God all powerful and beyond compare Judah asks how did we end up in captivity with no nation, no Temple and no hope? Did we slip from His mind? Was He preoccupied? Did He not care? If Isaiah 40:12-26 declares God is beyond compare. The second part verses 27-31 declares But He is NOT beyond care. Trials and disasters do not mean God is unable or uncaring. He is like the Cherokee father. He is there with us through the trials and dark times. In fact what we will find is that God is love personified. God does whatever it takes to save His people. This is crucial to know. Over the years I have spoken to many who think the Lord has just forgotten them or can t help them. Where is God in their pain? How can God love me and let me suffer so? Why don t I see the power of God and joy of God in my life? Why hasn t God answered my prayers to change this painful situation? If God can do something why doesn t He?
Is my cause disregarded by God? Here was the Lord s response to Judah. Verse 27: Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God? Did God miss what happened to Judah? Does He just not care? Has He disregarded their plight? Bad things happen because of sin. But God does not disregard His people. He cares. God knows the hairs on your head. God knows when a sparrow falls from the sky and you are far more precious to Him than a sparrow. Notice what is happening here. Judah sinned in foul, degrading ways. They refused the warnings of prophets and priests. They were specifically told if you do not repent and turn from your ways the holiness of God will mean judgment. Then sin and judgment came. Judah s first reaction when judgment fell was to blame God or question God instead of confessing that judgment merely followed their sin. Unfortunately, we do the same thing. Bad things happen because we are bad and caused this world to become bad. But God did not disregard us. He has a plan to rescue His people from their sin and its effects. Verse 28: 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; his understanding is unsearchable. Do you really think the Creator God who sits watching above the circle of the earth missed the invasion of the Promised Land by Babylon, the destruction of His Temple, the massacre of His people and their march into captivity? God doesn t grow weary, He does not take nanna naps, He doesn t take little coffee breaks whereby we can slip through the cracks and be ignored. The trials and struggles of life are not due to God being off duty. They are due to the sin of man.
But God cares. He cares so much He has a plan. A plan to free us from the judgment we brought on ourselves. Here is God s plan. Verse 29: He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. We have all been there. Faint, powerless no hope wondering what the future holds. God will pick us up and give us the strength. Verses 30-31: Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. Even the young and the strong have times where it is all too much. But when we turn to the Lord He renews our strength. Verse 31: They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. No wonder we put this on bumper stickers and on posters. God does care. He has a plan for the weary and faint to strengthen them and make them soar! But notice the plan does not mean we don t have to go through the trial of weakness and fainting. Our sin means we have to go through the valleys. Judah had to go into exile. We have to suffer. We have to go through tough times. It is just that when we do He is with us. And when we call on Him when we wait on the Lord then He renews our strength and we soar. Ultimately the plan is to undo all the effects of our sin and make us new. The rest of Isaiah outlines that plan. For Judah, the God who sees the end from the beginning knows that the captivity in Babylon was just one stop on the path to soaring. God knew He would raise up someone to deliver them from captivity and take them back to their land. He had it all under control.
God also has a plan for the nations for us. He also wants us to soar. But because sin does lead to valleys we often ask where is God in my time of trial? Has He disregarded me? Questioning God comes naturally. I am told a couple of the Australians on flight MH 17 were Christians. I suspect their family asked questions. I have questions. Could God not stop the missile, Russia, Putin, the rebels? Was His arm too short? Isaiah 40 reminds us that God is beyond compare. He is greater than: BEYOND COMPARE: The greatest POWER v. 12 The greatest MIND vv. 13-14 The greatest NATION vv. 15-17 The greatest IDOL vv. 18-20 The greatest RULER vv. 21-24 BEYOND COMPARE vv. 25-26 The greatest power v. 12 The greatest mind vv. 13-14 The greatest nation vv. 15-17 The greatest idol vv. 18-20 The greatest ruler vv. 21-24 No plane, no missile, no ruler is beyond His reach. He is like the Cherokee father watching over His people. He is there with us when we walk through the dark valleys. God is not beyond caring. So why do bad things happen? It is not because God is beyond care. In Jeremiah 29:10-14 God tells the exiles that ultimately His purposes for them are good:
For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. But notice a couple of things. Their sin meant there was judgment. And His plans for good followed them turning to Him and seeking Him. I don t know how the deaths of flight MH 17 work out for good but the God of Isaiah 40 does. I know the truth of Romans 8:31: If God is for us, who can be against us? If the God who is beyond compare is on our side who can be against us? I trust the way He runs this world. Here is what the rest of Isaiah makes clear. The exiles were like us when bad things happen. They asked: Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things happen to good people? Interesting how we immediately assume we are good. But, this is a question without answer because the truth is there are no good people.
Psalm 14 tells us there is no one who does good, not even one. The real question should be: Why do bad things happen to bad people? Why do bad things happen to bad people? There is answer to this. The answer is that this is a world gone bad. Because we are bad that is why people kill and people hurt and people have tragedy. Because we are bad the world went bad and disasters happen. The source of our pain is our own badness. God who is beyond compare created us good but we rebelled and we went bad. God was well within His rights to leave us to suffer. To just let bad things happen to us because we are bad. But God is not only beyond compare but He is also a God who cares. And as we will see in Isaiah God has a plan to make us soar. Our sin takes us to hard places but God lifts up the weak and makes them strong. We will see that His plan is to raise up a servant to save Judah. But that is just a picture of the real servant. Because here is the final, great plan of God.
A bad thing happened to the only good person. A bad thing happened to the only good person. Isaiah 53:4 6: Isaiah 53:4 6:!! HE bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.! HE was pierced for our transgressions.! HE was crushed for our iniquities.! Upon HIM was the chastisement that brought us peace.! With HIS wounds we are healed.! The Lord has laid on HIM the iniquity of us all. He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. With his wounds we are healed. The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. What is supposed to absolutely blow our mind is this the One who Created everything, directs the very fabric of history, needs nothing - this is the One who cares so much He became man, He was crushed, He was killed for me a sick, depraved sinner. What we well find is that this occurred so:
A good thing will happen to bad people. A good thing will happen to bad people. If you are here this morning and you have not trusted Jesus then bad things will happen to you now and after death. It need not be so. God says trust Him and live. Trust me and accept the good plan I have for you. He will begin to work His plan in you now and it will ultimately lead to good and to heaven. And if you do know Jesus. Remember, it does not mean there are no trials in this life there are. What it does mean is that God has a plan to finally take care of all the consequences of our sin. God is beyond compare but He is not beyond care. John 3:16:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. In Jesus He will finally take care of every consequence of our sins and He will make us soar. For those He loves He will never leave or forsake us. He is like the Cherokee father watching over His children, protecting us making sure that His plan for us His plan for good comes to fulfilment. And ultimately that is where comfort comes from.
Main Point: God Beyond Compare But Not Beyond Care (Isaiah 40:12-31 July 27, 2014) God who is awesome beyond compare is also a God not beyond care. He cares so deeply He sent Christ to save His people. Read Isaiah 40:12-31 What attributes of God do you know? How do they help magnify your view of God? In what ways can we domesticate God and bring Him down to our level? How does reflecting on the creation change the way you view God? Read v. 12. How does this make you feel? How does this make you feel about God? What aspects of creation make God seem big to you? Application: What helps you understand the power and glory of God? Why do men (and sometimes us) question the justice of God and how He leads this world? What does this tell us about our view of God? How did God answer Job when he raised similar questions with God? Application: When you find yourself questioning the ways of God what do you do to get away from that practice? Why does man have such a high view of himself? How does God view the nations? Why has idolatry been such a huge practice over the years? Read Isa 46:5-7. How is it that men still worship these man-made things? Application: What are the modern day idols? How can we make sure we don t look to them for help? A.W. Tozer said: What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. 2 2 A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1992), 1.
Discuss this quote. How can you make sure you think correctly about the glory and power of God? What types of things do we sometimes end up comparing God to? How can we avoid this? Even when we understand the true power of God why do we then question the care and love of God? Application: How can you stop yourself questioning the love of God? How do we know God never disregards His people? Why does bad things happen in this world? So, why do we often blame God when bad things happen? What does Isaiah mean - They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint? How do you find comfort in times of despair? Application: How would you comfort a Christian who is going through a dark trial. What is the plan of God for Judah for us? How do you answer the question: Why do bad things happen to good people? How did God s plan involve: A bad thing happening to the only good person? How can: A good thing happen to bad people? What helps you know that our God is with you in the times of trial? What comfort and encouragement do you find in Isaiah 40?