Isaiah 40:27-31

c. PERSEVERE IN WAITING FOR THE LORD

TEXT: Isaiah 40:27-31

27

Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and the justice due to me is passed away from my God?

28

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding.

29

He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength.

30

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

31

but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.

QUERIES

a.

Why did Israel have such an attitude toward Jehovah?

b.

When would Jerusalem come to renew their strength?

PARAPHRASE

O Jacob, O Israel, how can you say, The difficult way I must travel is hidden from Jehovah, and God does not notice my trouble and take up my cause and defend my rights? You certainly have had plenty of opportunity to know this is not true of Jehovah, haven-'t you? You have certainly heard the truth about Jehovah, haven-'t you? Jehovah is the God of eternity. He was before creation and He is the Creator. He is eternal in all His attributes and eternally powerful and strong and vigilant. He never tires or grows weary. Finite men will not understand this eternality because it is impossible for men to fully comprehend the infinite. There is abundant evidence of God's eternal power so men may believe even if they cannot understand it. Jehovah is the One who gives power and strength to everyone else! All men eventually grow weak and exhaust their strength, even the young, virile athletic-type men tire and grow weary. But those who believe in Jehovah will be given fresh strength, will rise up from their difficulties as if they were eagles soaring upward to the heavens, will run upon their course of life as steadily as a racer who never tires or as one who walks for miles and miles and never grows weary. Jehovah will give those who believe in Him a measure of the divine strength that He Himself has.

COMMENTS

Isaiah 40:27-28 POWER IN JEHOVAH: If the people of the Lord (in this case Israel) are to receive the comfort He offers through the promised Servant, they must prepare, perceive and persevere. The people have, either unconsciously or deliberately, mentally reduced Jehovah to the level of their idol-gods. The influence of Baalism in Judah from the days of Isaiah to the captivity grew until the people practically called Jehovah Baal, and Baal Jehovah (cf. Isaiah 66:17; Jeremiah 2:8; Jeremiah 12:16; Jeremiah 23:13; Jeremiah 23:27; Hosea 9:10; Hosea 13:1-2). When one reduces his concept of God to a wooden statue or a human philosophical system, one cannot help feeling his god is powerless to help himfor his god is nothing more than a creation of his own futility and frustration! Isaiah's people, however, had abundant teaching and evidence that Jehovah was eternal (see comments Isaiah 40:21, etc.). Their complaint that Jehovah was unconcerned or unaware of their struggles was inexcusable. What their problems were at this time we are not told. It may refer to the political and military pressures being felt by the whole world as a result of the life-and-death struggle between the Assyrians and the Babylonians. Judah had become a political pawn on the geographical chess-board of these two great world empires. So Judah was complaining that Jehovah was either incapable of protecting her rights (Heb. mishepatyi; cause) or impervious to her situation.

Isaiah reminds the people that historically they have had prophet after prophet teach them of Jehovah's omnipotence and omniscience. Generation after generation they have had demonstrations of His constant concern for them and His repeated miraculous deliverances. Their fault was that of so many of usletting circumstances overwhelm us. Peter would have walked on wateruntil he saw the waves (Luke 14:22-33). The people of Judah had another problemthey could not understand eternality, deity, supernaturalness. They understood (they thought) only the natural, experienceable. Like so many today, what cannot be understood or reduced to the experienceable cannot be believed. Isaiah confirms that Jehovah, being Eternal Creator, is fully understood by no human being. But that does not keep man from believing when he has sufficient evidence to believe. Man does not fully understand all the physical and material things he knows about (gravity, nuclear physics, tornados, etc.), but he forms certain fundamental beliefs from what evidence he does have and functions toward a purpose on that basis.

Isaiah 40:29-31 PARTICIPATION BY FAITH: God is the source of all strength, physical and spiritual. But it is the spiritual, moral strength that is most important. God is able to fashion any kind of physical body He wishes (1 Corinthians 15:35-58). But the glorified, immortal body will house only a demon if the spiritual is not reborn, renewed. That renewal, though supplied by God, is participated in only by faith on the part of man.

The promise of renewal here then looks forward to the coming of the Messiah (the consolation of Israel) (cf. Luke 1:51-55; Luke 2:25-32, etc.). The Hebrew word kivvah is translated wait but also means trust, hope. It seems paradoxical but the one who depends upon the Lord is the one who is strong (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10; Ephesians 3:16; Colossians 1:11; Philippians 4:13; 2 Timothy 4:17; 1 Peter 5:10, etc.). The most perfect specimen of human strength sooner or later exhausts his human resources. But the man who waits upon the Lord is strong and unmovable even when the physical body begins to deteriorate. Of course, the Lord is calling upon the people of Judah to trust Him presently in the midst of the circumstances which have caused them to doubt. They must believe now that He will fulfill what He has promised. Although they cannot understand His ways He is cognizant of their way and will supply spiritual and moral strength to them if they will participate by faith. He will not take away their circumstances, necessarily, but will supply them the spiritual strength to conquer their difficulties.

QUIZ

1.

Why did the people think Jehovah was unconcerned with their problems?

2.

Did they have a right to such an attitude?

3.

What was really their problem?

4.

When was the promise of renewed strength to be ultimately fulfilled?

5.

What is another meaning of wait for Jehovah?