The Greatness and Smallness of God
There are two sermons published for Isaiah 40. This sermon was preached in Wichita and the second is part of a series Mike presented at Dallas Theological Seminary
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
DATE: December 26, 2021
Introduction: I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas celebration with family and friends. It never gets old, does it? I’ve always loved Christmas, but I recall how it was always a stressful time when I was a Lead Pastor, overseeing Christmas programs, planning extra services on Christmas Eve, visiting shut-ins, and still trying to find time for my own family. That’s why for over 40 years I always asked one of my associates or interns to preach on the Sunday after Christmas so I could unwind and enjoy the tail end of the Season. Well, the chickens have come home to roost. Josh asked me to preach the day after Christmas! But I’m glad to do it, especially because he assigned to me what is one of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible—the 40th chapter of Isaiah.
For Advent this year, the staff has chosen a number of prophetic passages regarding the coming of Messiah, and Isaiah 40 contains one of those advent prophecies. But the real focus of this chapter is not so much on the coming Messiah as on the God who sent Him. There is no portion of the Word of God that tells us more about the nature and character of God than the 40th chapter of Isaiah. But before we dig into that main theme, I want us to consider the background and context of the chapter.
Background and context of Isaiah 40 (1-9)
In the previous chapter, Isaiah 39, the prophet announces to King Hezekiah that the nation of Judah is going to be taken into captivity by Babylon. Though that awful watershed event is still considerably more than 100 years in the future, the prophet presents it as a certainty. I read from Isaiah 39:5-7:
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 7 And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
Sadly, as the next verse makes clear, the king selfishly takes Isaiah’s prophecy as good news for himself because the judgment will not happen in his own lifetime, but it’s certainly not good news for the nation.
Has God decided to abandon His people? No, He will discipline them severely through the Babylonian captivity, but He will not abandon them. In the opening words of chapter 40 Isaiah looks even further into the future with these words of comfort:
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare (or hardship) is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’”
Yes, God is going to allow the nation to be chastised, but Isaiah predicts confidently that peace will follow, a peace based upon pardon for their sins, which in turn awaits Messiah’s coming. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all identify “the voice” of verse 3 as that of John the Baptist and the Lord whose way he is preparing as Jesus of Nazareth. He is the one who will bring an end to their troubles. He is the one who will pardon their sin.
But how can God’s people be sure that their captivity will be short-lived, that their sin will be pardoned, and that the Lord Himself will come to His people? The answer is found in the last phrase of verse 5: “For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” That should be enough for God’s people, because God’s promises are certain. A contrast is drawn in verses 8 between grass and flowers, on the one hand; and the Word of God, on the other: “The grass withers, the flower fades,but the word of our God will stand forever.” We use the phrase, “here today, gone tomorrow,” to describe the transitory nature of life here on earth. But it does not apply to God’s Word. It stands forever. You can count on it. You can take it to the bank. It will never let you down.
Well, who is this God, anyway, who judges sin, but then pardons the repentant, and comes to dwell among His people in the person of Messiah Jesus? It is time for God’s people to focus their attention on the awesome character of this God. It has been said (and I firmly believe it) that every theological error and every spiritual shortcoming in human history can be traced directly to some inadequacy in man’s conception of God. Two particularly egregious errors stand out among others.
Some of us err in that God is not big enough. Oh, He is greater than we are, to be sure. We pray to Him and we worship Him. But when the crises of life hit us, as they always do, they so often knock us for a loop. We fret, we stew, we get angry, and we are prone to ask, “Where is God in this mess?” The problem is that our God is not big enough.
But for others, God is not small enough. We believe He created the heavens and the earth, and He certainly determines who’s going to heaven and hell, but we hardly expect Him to be concerned about our daily decisions and problems. After all, He’s got His hands full with Russia, China, and Portland. When we think that way, our God is not small enough.
Now both of these views are inadequate; in fact, both are equally dangerous. Both certainly deny Scripture.
What is God really like? Well, He is both incomparably great and incomparably small. The theological terms which correspond to “greatness” and “smallness” are “transcendence” and “immanence.” The transcendence of God refers to the fact that He transcends or surpasses everything else. He is infinite, eternal, unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth–none of which is true of anyone else or anything else in the entire universe.
The immanence of God, on the other hand, (and notice the spelling of immanence; there are several other words that sound the same but mean something else) refers to the fact that while He is greater than anyone or anything in creation, He is also intimately involved with His creation. He is present with us; He is concerned about us. He is Immanuel, God with us!
You know, great persons are not always small persons. In the course of my own life, I have had the opportunity to meet some pretty famous people–powerful politicians, wealthy people, brilliant academics, world-class athletes, and experts in various fields. It has been fascinating to me, and sometimes hurtful, to observe how some of these “great” people respond to ordinary people like myself. Some of the greats have time only for other greats–wealthy only for other wealthy, brilliant only for other brilliant, powerful only for other powerful. But God is both transcendent and immanent, great and small.
So critical are both of these truths that the prophet calls us to attention in verse 9: “Behold your God!” If Isaiah were standing in this pulpit today, I believe he would say, “Men and women and children, I am about to share with you the most profound truth a person can possibly know! Listen up! Quit daydreaming! Don’t let your mind wander! I am about to introduce to you the great and glorious God of the universe!”
Then in the next two verses, 10 and 11, Isaiah uses a literary device to help his readers grasp his message–he shares his theme in microcosm and then expands upon it in the rest of the chapter. In other words, he preaches the first point of his sermon in verse 10, and the second point in verse 11. Then in verses 12-26 he will expand upon the first point, and in verses 27ff he will expand upon the second.
The theme in microcosm (10-11)
The fact that God is infinitely great is clearly stated in verse 10:
God is infinitely great. (10) “Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.” There are four terms in this verse which help develop the concept of God’s transcendence: might, rule, reward, and recompense. These terms describe God’s absolute right to exercise dominion and authority, and to dispense justice. He is the King of kings, He is the Lord of lords; He is in ultimate control. That’s the kind of God we worship.
God is infinitely great, but that’s not the whole truth about Him. It is also true that…
God is infinitely small. (11) Verse 11: “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” Here we find four additional terms that describe the character of God, only they reveal His immanence, His smallness, if you will: tend, gather, carry, lead. These terms show God to be one who provides for the likes of helpless sheep–like us. He loves us, cares for us, watches out for us, feeds us, comforts us.
Sounds like the Good Shepherd of John 10, doesn’t it? Indeed, it does, because everything we will learn about God in this passage is true of Jesus as well. As we learn more about God, we learn more about Jesus, and vice versa.
Time has now come to develop in detail the themes already presented in microcosm. So beginning in verse 12 and continuing through 26 we have a most profound presentation of the fact that …
God is big enough to rescue His people. (12-26)
No matter how devastating the Babylonians will be to Jerusalem, Isaiah wants the people to know that God is big enough to rescue them. And no matter what we face today, whether health challenges, financial setbacks, temptation, or opposition from Satan, from government, from the culture—our God is big enough to rescue us. The prophet calls upon his readers to examine six major categories of reality and to compare our infinite God to these categories. Isaiah rightly starts by challenging us to …
1. Look at the created universe itself! (12-14) The rhetorical questions in verse 12 are all designed to highlight the omnipotence of God. I’m going to do a lot of paraphrasing our text this morning, borrowing some from Eugene Peterson’s The Message, because the Hebrew poetry is difficult and I want to communicate it as well as possible. Verse 12: “Who has scooped up the ocean in his two hands, or measured the sky between his thumb and little finger, Who has put all the earth’s dust in one of his baskets, and weighed each mountain and hill on scales?”
Do you know anyone who can do that? God can, and God alone. He just spoke it all into existence and He holds it all in place by the word of His power.
But the created universe not only reveals the omnipotence of God; it also reveals His omniscience. Verse 13: “Who could ever have told God what to do or taught him his business? What expert would he have gone to for advice, what university would he attend to learn justice? Who do you suppose might have taught him what he knows or showed him how things work?” No one, of course! God didn’t need help in designing His universe, nor does He need help in running it!
Human knowledge, you know, comes by observing, generalizing, deducing, and interpreting data. It is always contingent knowledge, though scientists often pretend otherwise. But God’s knowledge is never contingent. At no time did He depend upon consultation, instruction, or outside information. The created universe speaks clearly and loudly of the omniscience and greatness of God.
2. Look at the nations! (15-17) Verse 15: “Why, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, like the dust on the scales; behold, he sweeps up the islands like so much dirt off the floor.” A bucketful of water can be of some significance, especially to a thirsty man or a dry radiator. But a mere dropfrom a bucket is of no significance for any purpose. Furthermore, even the slightest weight will affect scales, but the dust that rests upon them does not throw them off. The Greek isles and the Hawaiian Islands are amazing treasures to us, but to God they are just clumps of dirt.
A beautiful word picture is employed in verse 16: “Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.” Isaiah is here asking us to imagine a scene:
All of nature is an altar.
The world famous cedars of Lebanon, of tremendous quality and quantity, constitute the wood pile for the altar.
The countless beasts that once roamed its forests are the sacrifice on that
altar.
Now here’s the prophet’s conclusion: our God is so great that even a sacrifice like that is in no way worthy of Him.
In fact, according to verse 17, “All the nations together add up to simply nothing before him; in fact, they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.” The phrase “less than nothing” is very picturesque in Hebrew. It actually reads, “a part of nothing.” Since a part of anything is less than the whole thing, a part of nothing is obviously “less than nothing.” I can’t help but think of the United Nations as I read this verse, or the G-20, or NATO. As imposing and presumptuous as they are on the world scene, they are less than nothing when compared to God! Why should we be intimidated by these human organizations or allow them to worry us?
3. Look at the gods of men! (18-20) In verses 18-20 the prophet offers a scathing rebuke of idol worship! “So who even comes close to being like our God? To whom or what can you compare him? Some pagan idol?!? Give me a break! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains.” He then goes on to observe that an idol has to be carved from a special kind of wood. After all, no one wants his god to rot on him. And once he has obtained such a wood, perhaps redwood, or maybe even hedge, he has to find a craftsman skilled enough to make the base larger than the top so the wind won’t blow it over. After all, no one wants his god to fall over on him while he’s worshiping. Do you sense the scathing mockery?
It’s amazing, but there are people who actually bow down to such idols rather than to the infinite, eternal, immutable God of Scripture. And lest we think that such foolishness is confined to the ancients and the primitive, we should be honest enough to acknowledge the idols of today–more often made out of metal and glass and electronics than wood, but just as helpless.
4. Look at the world’s inhabitants! (21-22) Verse 21 & 22: “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you all your lives? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? Our God 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.” I think the point being made here is that people are without excuse when they fail to worship almighty God. They are without excuse because they have heard the truth. Both nature and conscience have spoken it loudly and clearly to them, according to Psalm 19 and Romans 1. Listen to Psalm 19:
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
There is no excuse for being ignorant of who God is. Of course, when the prophet calls the world’s inhabitants “grasshoppers,” this is not meant to demean redeemed humanity’s value to God, but rather to show that without Him we are worth no more than the peskiest of insects.
5. Look at the world’s great leaders. (23-24) Verse 23 & 24: “God brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No 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.” Presidents and Prime Ministers, Supreme Courts and Parliaments, even the most ruthless dictators, are powerless before God.
A number of years back I made a list of the leaders of major nations of the world who lost their positions within one year–some through assassination, some through political upheaval, others through scandal. It was amazing. Eight of the ten leading nations in the world had a turnover at the top in one year! The world’s movers and shakers are actually like saplings that haven’t yet taken root in the ground. All God has to do is to blow on them and they’re toast.
6. Look at the heavens! (25-26) Verses 25-26: “So—who is like me? Who holds a candle to me?” says the Holy One. “Look at the night skies: Who do you think made all this? Who marches this army of stars out each night, counts them off, calls each by name—so magnificent! so powerful!—and never overlooks a single one.” A few years ago I had the privilege of floating the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon for a week. At night we would camp on a sandbar and we could see the sky without any of the light pollution that impacts the night sky in most of our civilized world. The stars were stunning, incredible, even to the naked eye.
According to the prophet there is a question that should confront us when we observe the stars: “Who is responsible for all this?” Certainly not the blind forces of chance! It is the Creator who is responsible! The stars are His creatures. He not only knows how many there are, but also their names. That is, He has given each of the stars its nature, its characteristics, and its function.
Now the profound emphasis Isaiah has given to the awesome greatness of God creates for us a potential hazard. It might cause us to respond to all this by thinking, “If God is as great as all that, then surely He can’t be concerned about my situation, my problems, my fears, my dreams. After all, if I’m nothing but a grasshopper, what hope is there?”
Recognizing such a possible deduction, Isaiah hastens to return in verse 27 to the second point of his sermon–the smallness, the immanence of God first mentioned in verse 11. While God is big enough to rescue His people, it is also true that …
God is small enough to care. (27-29)
When I speak of the smallness of God this morning, I do so reverently. What I mean is simply that He has condescended to visit a very small planet like ours and to reach out to very small creatures like us. Why would he do that? Because He loves us. And why does He love us? I really don’t have a clue. I guess just because. But, sadly, we are often tempted to doubt that love.
We are often tempted to question God’s care and concern. (27) Verse 27: “Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or whine, Israel, saying, ‘God has lost track of me. He doesn’t care what happens to me!’?” Perhaps these complaints are leveled by some godly Jew who has learned of the pending captivity and feels it’s not fair for the whole nation to suffer because of the sins of a few. But we have our own complaints, don’t we?
“Why didn’t I get my prayer answered?”
“Why doesn’t good fortune ever come my way?”
“Why are rogue nations like China, North Korea, and Iran allowed to create so much chaos for the rest of us?”
“Why do terrorists get by with their evil intentions?”
“Why do politicians get re-elected when they are always lying, corrupting the system, and rewarding their friends?
“Why does the media get away with constantly twisting the truth to fit their own narrative?”
“Why do criminals get released without bail, only to commit the same or worse crimes as soon as they get out?”
I can’t help but think of R. G. Lee’s questions in that greatest of all 20th century sermons, Payday Someday:
“Where is God?
Is He blind that He cannot see?
Is He deaf that He cannot hear?
Is He dumb that He cannot speak?
Is He paralyzed that He cannot move?
Where is God?”
Whoever it is who is complaining, Isaiah tells us, the complaint is ill-founded, for
One proof that He cares is found in His character. (28) Verse 28: “Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening? God doesn’t come and go. He’s here to stay. He’s the Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath.” God is everlasting, so He is not limited by time. He is the Creator; so He is not limited by space. He is God, so He doesn’t grow weary or tired.
So any suspicion that He has abandoned me and doesn’t care cannot be traced to limitations in His character. Rather it must be traced to limitations in our understanding of His character. That’s why Isaiah adds at the end of verse 28, “His understanding is unsearchable.” The same prophet says in chapter 55, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Try as I might there is no way I can fathom God’s reasons for allowing certain things to happen and not allowing others. But that doesn’t justify my complaints. He is God and He can be trusted!
The proof that He cares is also found in His actions. (29) “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” Have you experienced the cool refreshment of God’s power and strength? Do you know how to relax in His goodness and trust in His faithfulness? We do not do that very well, do we? We allow the circumstances of life to crowd out the greatest truth in the world: God loves us and cares about us. In fact, He wouldn’t love us one whit more if we were absolutely perfect. He wouldn’t love us one whit less if we were the worst scoundrel in the world.
Conclusion: A wonderful promise, based upon God’s greatness and smallness, is offered to all those who trust him. (30-31)
This amazing chapter closes with these well-known and timeless words:
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
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.
The analogy used here is drawn from the athletic world. Young men are generally the most physically robust of human beings. Yet despite their strength and vitality, they nevertheless can become exhausted at times. They have even been known to fall at the finish line. But what may happen to strong young men does not happen to those who hope in the Lord, i.e., who wait patiently for God’s purposes to be carried out. Instead, they will renew their strength. The Hebrew reads literally, they will “exchange strengths.” Are you ready for a great exchange?
Your weakness for God’s strength,
your confusion for God’s wisdom,
your fear for God’s faithfulness,
your anxiety for God’s unchangeableness,
your sin for God’s forgiveness.
Friends, God is big enough to rescue you and He’s small enough to care. No matter what mountain you are facing today, He is there to help you climb it. No matter what temptation is plaguing you, He is faithful and will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able to endure. No matter what opposition comes against you, He is able to protect you.
But in order to experience His power and presence, you have to come to Him through His Messiah, the One He sent to be the Savior of the world. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Prayer: Father, we bow before You in awe. We are in awe of who You are. We are in awe that you could love us–enough to send Your one and only Son to die for us and provide forgiveness for our sins. We give you all the glory and honor. Amen.
Benediction: Romans 11:33-36: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who has been his counsellor? Or who has ever given to God that God should repay him? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever.” Amen.
DATE: December 26, 2021
Tags:
Immanence of God
Transcendence of God
Creation
Idolatry
Nations