Someone asked me recently what Isaiah 40:12 meant. Also implied was that there was a hidden message in the text since the question also included the statement that most pastors don't know. I did not give an answer right away. Instead, I stalled and said that I would like to read the passage in context. I'm glad I did, because that gave me time to do some searching. So where to start?
Almighty Google?
A commentary or many different commetaries?
A study Bible or mmay different study Bibles?
Google?
How about putting the letters into a computer program and performing a word seacrch or converting the letters to numbers and looking for special patterns.
How about this... Read it in context. Study, meditate on it, and pray over it?
Like the Bereans in Acts who, according to Acts 17:11, “ ... were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so...”
How would I answer the question regarding Isaiah 40:12 now?
"Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?"
"God IS bigger than the boogie man...." Thanks to Veggie tales for that one.
Here are other verses in this same chapter of Isaiah that seemingly ask the same question as above, but rhetorically:
vs18 “To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?” vs21-22a “Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,...”
v25 “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.”
vs28-31 “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding...".
Kind of sounds like Job38-41. And then comes the grace of God:
vs 29-31 "...He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
I've always liked that verse, but so much more now in context.
Do we get so enamored with finding hidden meanings and secret codes in the bible that we miss the bigger picture of who God is and what he requires from us or miss out on God's word altogether?
Who is God? Creator and Judge.
What does He require from us? Fear Him and give glory to Him and worship Him.
Is that a hidden message? If it helps it could be. Here is the code to find it. "Revelation 14:7" It can also be found in previous blogs.
I like the following quote from William Tyndale...
'If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause that a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the Scriptures than thou dost.' Yes, the plough boy did receive the Word.
People will find hidden messages and secret codes, but it also seems that most are retrospective and based on tragedy. If they result in fearing, glorifying, and worshipping our Creator and Judge, great! But even without secret messages and hidden codes God still speaks to us through His word in the present using past examples to build our hope for the future.
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Heb 11:1
Almighty Google?
A commentary or many different commetaries?
A study Bible or mmay different study Bibles?
Google?
How about putting the letters into a computer program and performing a word seacrch or converting the letters to numbers and looking for special patterns.
How about this... Read it in context. Study, meditate on it, and pray over it?
Like the Bereans in Acts who, according to Acts 17:11, “ ... were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so...”
How would I answer the question regarding Isaiah 40:12 now?
"Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?"
"God IS bigger than the boogie man...." Thanks to Veggie tales for that one.
Here are other verses in this same chapter of Isaiah that seemingly ask the same question as above, but rhetorically:
vs18 “To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?” vs21-22a “Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,...”
v25 “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.”
vs28-31 “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding...".
Kind of sounds like Job38-41. And then comes the grace of God:
vs 29-31 "...He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
I've always liked that verse, but so much more now in context.
Do we get so enamored with finding hidden meanings and secret codes in the bible that we miss the bigger picture of who God is and what he requires from us or miss out on God's word altogether?
Who is God? Creator and Judge.
What does He require from us? Fear Him and give glory to Him and worship Him.
Is that a hidden message? If it helps it could be. Here is the code to find it. "Revelation 14:7" It can also be found in previous blogs.
I like the following quote from William Tyndale...
'If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause that a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the Scriptures than thou dost.' Yes, the plough boy did receive the Word.
People will find hidden messages and secret codes, but it also seems that most are retrospective and based on tragedy. If they result in fearing, glorifying, and worshipping our Creator and Judge, great! But even without secret messages and hidden codes God still speaks to us through His word in the present using past examples to build our hope for the future.
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Heb 11:1
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