{"id":25649,"date":"2023-03-21T22:00:16","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T05:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-40_1-14-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-03-14T17:04:39","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T00:04:39","slug":"isaiah-40_15-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-40_15-31\/","title":{"rendered":"The Incomparable God Who Renews Our Strength"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isaiah 40:15-31 \u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Isaiah 40:15-31.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 40:15-17 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 15-17:\u00a0 The biggest theme coming out of verses 15-28 is that\u00a0God is the incomparable one.\u00a0 Nothing can compare to Him.\u00a0 The nations can\u2019t compare to Him\u00a0<\/strong>(v15-17).\u00a0 Even Lebanon, which is a fertile, wooded area of Judah, lacks the wood or animals needed to bring the size of offering that God deserves (v16).<\/p>\n

Isaiah 40:18-22 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to?
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0A man too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot. He looks for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 18-22:\u00a0\u00a0Idols can\u2019t compare to God (v18).\u00a0 Whereas idols are the creations of people (v19-20), God is the creator of the earth (v21-22).<\/strong>\u00a0 Whereas idols are temporary, God has been there from the beginning, \u201csince the earth was founded\u201d (v21).<\/p>\n

Isaiah 40:23-25 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 23-25:\u00a0\u00a0Human rulers cannot compare to God (v23-25).\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Building on images from verse 6, Isaiah pictures human rulers like grass that withers soon after being planted.\u00a0 Why put your trust in people who will not last?\u00a0 Place your trust in the everlasting God, says Isaiah.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 40:26-28 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the\u00a0LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”?
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do you not know? Have you not heard? The\u00a0LORD\u00a0is 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 26-28:\u00a0 Another big theme in Isaiah, especially Isaiah 40-66 is that God is the Creator.\u00a0\u00a0God is a detail-oriented Creator.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0He even has a name for each star and places each one in the universe purposefully (v26).\u00a0\u00a0If God is that careful and detail-oriented with stars, Isaiah suggests, God is also careful and detail-oriented with His people.<\/strong>\u00a0 For the Jewish exiles in Babylon, or us today, who complain that \u201cMy way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God\u201d (v27), Isaiah is showing how silly such complaining is.\u00a0 For\u00a0God is our Creator, everlasting, never tiring, and understanding in ways that we can\u2019t even see<\/strong>\u00a0(v28).<\/p>\n

Isaiah 40:29-31 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0but those who hope in the\u00a0LORD\u00a0will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 29-31:\u00a0 As massive as our universe is, as even more massive as God is, still God has a heart to give strength to weak and weary people.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you think of him?\u201d (Psalm 8:4)<\/p>\n

How does God renew our strength?\u00a0 God renews our strength when we hope in Him, wait on Him, spend time with Him, and draw near to Him (v31).\u00a0 When we spend quality time with God we can come away feeling refreshed, ready to walk, run, and even soar again.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Creator God, no one compares with You, not just in terms of Your size, power and greatness, but in terms of Your love, care and compassion.\u00a0 What are we that You would think of us and care for us, even wanting to renew our strength?\u00a0 Never have I felt that way toward an ant, and yet You feel that way toward us though we are much smaller than ants to You.\u00a0 Thank You that as I hope in You I will renew my strength.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Isaiah 40:15-31.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 40:15-17 (NIV)
\n15\u00a0\u00a0Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
\n16\u00a0\u00a0Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
\n17\u00a0\u00a0Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 15-17:\u00a0 The biggest theme coming out of verses 15-28 is that\u00a0God is the incomparable one.\u00a0 Nothing can compare to Him.\u00a0 The nations can\u2019t compare to Him\u00a0(v15-17).\u00a0 Even Lebanon, which is a fertile, wooded area of Judah, lacks the wood or animals needed to bring the size of offering that God deserves (v16).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25649"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25652,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25649\/revisions\/25652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}