Isaiah 40:21, commentary and pictures

The verse asks pointed questions about what has been known and heard and told from the beginning and understood from the foundations of the earth, to call people to remember what they should already know, that God is the Creator. It belongs to a declaration of the incomparable God seated above the circle of the earth with its inhabitants as grasshoppers, stretching out the heavens as a curtain and spreading them as a tent to dwell in, bringing princes to nothing, counting all nations as nothing before Him, and creating and naming the heavenly host as the everlasting Creator who faints not. Finite human beings cannot fully comprehend His ways and works, for His power and understanding and wisdom are infinite and unsearchable and no one can teach or counsel Him. The foundations of the earth and the heavens testify from the beginning to His power and greatness and care, for He establishes creation and sustains the host of heaven without failing, and even every drop of rain and flake of snow and every spire of grass and every leaf and flower testifies that nothing is beneath His notice. That knowledge gives reason to trust the Lord alone and not to trust in men or make flesh an arm, for He gives strength to the weak and to His own people. The Sabbath is appointed to keep this message of the Creator given in nature in memory, calling for humble faith rather than pride in human wisdom or skeptical doubt.

Words and Setting

The verse presses four pointed questions about knowing and hearing and having been told from the beginning and understanding from the foundations of the earth, to recall what should already be known that God is the Creator. The foundations of the earth themselves stand as testimony to His greatness and to the limits of human understanding. Knowledge of Him as the infinite One has been told from the beginning and from the foundations of the earth, leaving no excuse for likening Him to any idol or trifling with Him, for none can be likened to Him. He is incomparable as Creator and ruler of earth and heavens, with power over the earth and its rulers, while its inhabitants are small before Him and its princes and judges are temporary and powerless.

The questions are not put as if finite men could answer them, but to call attention to the deep mysteries of God and to make men know that their wisdom is limited. They direct attention to His power and wisdom in what He has made and revealed, showing that human understanding cannot solve every mystery and that His judgments and purposes are past finding out and His wisdom unsearchable. Even the greatest intellect cannot grasp the mysteries of Jehovah revealed in nature, for in the common things of daily life there are mysteries past the comprehension of finite minds. What God has made and revealed therefore calls for faith and acknowledgment of Him rather than for full explanation by finite minds.

As part of Isaiah 40 the verse belongs to a declaration confirming God's sure mercies, grace, and glory, given as a word of faith, hope, and assurance. It was written as a declaration from the Lord to comfort true believers amid afflicting providences and judgments coming upon the world near the close of this earth's history. Those judgments include earthquakes and storms on land and sea and heavy calamities on sea and by railroad, coming as Lucifer the fallen angel wars against God and all who exalt the Lord. While many who have greatly sinned against God perish physically, sincere humble righteous followers of Christ also feel the results and are themselves afflicted, and the time reveals the world's disregard of truth and righteousness. The verse stands with precious promises and assurance that the word of the Lord will certainly be fulfilled, so that those who fulfill them in these latter days place themselves where the Lord will surely do all He has promised, even though Lucifer acts as a mighty deceiver to take many from the ranks and unite them to be deceived, which is no cause for surprise or discouragement.

Its surrounding context portrays the incomparable God seated above the circle of the earth with its inhabitants small as grasshoppers before Him. He stretches out the heavens as a curtain and spreads them as a tent to dwell in. He brings princes to nothing and makes the judges of the earth as vanity, while all nations before Him are as nothing and less than nothing. He creates and names the heavenly host and sustains them without failing, and as the everlasting Creator of the ends of the earth He faints not and is weary not. Creation thus reveals His greatness and assures His people that He establishes creation, sees their troubles, and gives strength to the weak.

Creator Beyond Comprehension

The verse proclaims that God is incomparable and sovereign over creation and its rulers, utterly unlike any idol, with His identity and power known from the beginning and evident from the foundations of the earth. He is the Creator who rules earth and heaven, seated above the circle of the earth with its inhabitants small before Him, stretching out the heavens as a curtain and spreading them as a tent to dwell in, bringing princes to nothing and judges to vanity, with all nations as nothing before Him, creating and naming the heavenly host, and as the everlasting Creator of the ends of the earth fainting not and being weary not. Its questions are directed to people now as they were to Israel, calling them to recognize His greatness rather than trust in idols or earthly rulers, who are temporary and powerless. To make any image of a creature to represent Him or to associate in any way with His worship breaks the second commandment, and there is no excuse for such image-making because the truth about God has been told from the beginning and understood from the foundations of the earth.

The foundations of the earth and the heavens testify from the beginning to His power, greatness and care, showing that He establishes creation and makes and sustains the host of heaven without failing. The earth and its inhabitants are small before the Creator who brings earthly rulers to nothing, and this foundational instruction about creation is one human educators cannot surpass. Even every drop of rain or flake of snow, every spire of grass, and every leaf, flower and shrub testifies of Him and teaches that nothing is beneath the notice of the infinite God and nothing too small for His attention.

Finite human beings cannot fully comprehend His ways, works, judgments and purposes, for His power, understanding and wisdom are infinite and unsearchable and no one can teach or counsel Him. The questions are not asked because finite men can answer them but to call attention to the deep mysteries of God in nature and to make men know that their wisdom is limited, showing that human understanding cannot solve every mystery or interpret all that God has made and revealed. When He reveals Himself He shrouds Himself in mystery and conceals more than He makes known, giving incomprehensible mysteries to command faith, since if finite minds could explain what He has done even in the mechanism of the human body He would no longer stand supreme or receive reverence, fear and trust. This knowledge should humble people rather than make them proud of human wisdom, exposing those who refuse to believe because with finite minds they cannot comprehend infinite power and who doubt because human science cannot explain the ways and works of the Creator.

Trust Worship and Hope

The knowledge that the Creator sees the troubles of His people gives reason to trust in the Lord alone, and not to trust in men or to make flesh an arm, for He will not be trifled with. He who made and sustains the heavens and their host without failing power assures His people that He beholds their afflictions and gives strength to the weak and to His own people. That call to trust is joined to a call to diligent, earnest repentance and earnest work of turning to Him.

The Sabbath is appointed to keep this message of the Creator given in nature in memory, holding before the mind what the heavens and the earth declare of His creative power and care. By remembering the Creator through the Sabbath, His people keep alive the assurance that He sees and cares for them.

The verse gives the correct lesson of true higher education, in contrast to the world's so-called higher education and to perverted education, as foundational instruction from God about creation that human educators cannot surpass. Creation bears witness to God and to Christ from the foundations of the earth, and what has been taught from the beginning about Him as Creator stands above all human teaching.

The verse calls for humble faith rather than pride in human wisdom or skeptical doubt, since God's power and understanding are infinite and no one can teach or counsel Him. Its questions are not given for finite minds to solve every mystery, but to show that human understanding is limited and God's wisdom is unsearchable, commanding faith and wholehearted trust in His hands. Light will shine ever brighter on the pathway of those who walk in its divine rays, while there is no darkness so dense and impenetrable as that which follows rejection of heaven's light. Those who fulfill its promises in the latter days place themselves where all that has been promised will surely be fulfilled, so the success of the deceiver in taking many away is no cause for surprise or discouragement.