Isaiah 40 (Part 18) - Isa 40:25-27 - We Can't Hide Our Sin From God

Watch the video of this Bible study on YouTube: Isaiah 40 (Part 18) - Isa 40:25-27 - We Can't Hide Our Sin From God For a master copy of the outline and the other sermons in the series, click here: Isaiah 40. To listen to the previous sermon in the series, click here: Part 17 To listen to the next sermon in the series, click here: Part 19 XXV. Isa 40:25 1. "To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One." 2. God first asked this question in Isa 40:18. 3. He then made His case for His uniqueness in the following verses. A. Men foolishly try to make an idol to represent God, which is ridiculous (Isa 40:19-20). B. God then asks rhetorically if men had not been told about His nature from the beginning (Isa 40:21). C. The LORD then proclaims that He sits in authority over all the earth and the pitiful inhabitants of it which are as grasshoppers, and that He created the heavens and stretched them out (Isa 40:22). D. Lastly, the LORD declares that He has authority over the kings and judges of the earth and removes them from power when it pleases Him (Isa 40:23-24). 4. After establishing His case, the LORD then asks again rhetorically, "To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal?" (Isa 40:25) 5. The answer is still the same: nobody. XXVI. Isa 40:26 1. "Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things,..." A. God already stated that His existence and nature had been made known to Israel by the creation (Isa 40:21 c/w Psa 19:1 c/w Rom 1:20). (see section on Isa 40:21) B. The Lord once more reminds them of the proof of His existence by telling them to look up at the stars (Isa 40:26). C. God's people need reminded of Him from time to time (2Pe 1:12-13; 2Pe 3:1; Jud 1:5; 2Th 2:5; Php 3:1). 2. "...that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power;..." A. Now the Lord moves from what they can know by looking up at the heavens and gives them some additional information that will demonstrate His power and glory. B. God declares that He brings out the host of the stars by number. i. Their host refers back to the heavens in Isa 40:22. ii. The stars are called the heavenly host (Gen 2:1 c/w Gen 1:14-19; Deu 4:19; Deu 17:3). iii. Host n. - 3. In Biblical and derived uses: a. host or hosts of heaven is applied to (a) the multitude of angels that attend upon God, and (b) the sun, moon, and stars. iv. There are a lot of stars. a. God challenged Abraham to tell (number) the stars if he could number them (Gen 15:5). b. There are so many stars that the Bible says the host of heaven cannot be numbered (Jer 33:22). c. There are estimated to be 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1 septillion) stars in the universe (www.space.com). d. If you counted one star per second, it would take 31,710,000,000,000,000 (31.7 quadrillion) years to count them all. v. Though the stars cannot be numbered by man, God can and does number them (Psa 147:4 c/w Isa 40:26). a. Tell v. - 1. To mention or name (a series of things) one after another in order; to recount, enumerate; to give a list of. b. God lists the stars off in order, one after the other. c. Only an infinite being could count that many stars. C. Not only does God number the stars, God has named them all (Psa 147:4 c/w Isa 40:26). i. We are given a few examples of God's names for constellations of stars, such as: ii. Orion (Amo 5:8). iii. Orion - Name of a large and brilliant constellation south of the zodiac, figured as a hunter with belt and sword. Orion's hound, the dog-star, Sirius (S.E. of Orion). iv. Arcturus and Pleiades (Job 9:9). v. Arcturus - The brightest star in the constellation Bootes; formerly, also, the whole constellation, and sometimes the Great Bear itself. vi. Mazzaroth (Job 38:32). vii. Mazaroth - The 12 constellations of the Zodiac. (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) D. Imagine the greatness, might, strength, and power it would take to number and name all the stars. E. Only God who has infinite understanding could do such a thing (Psa 147:4-5). 3. "...not one faileth." A. Fail v. - 1. a. intr. To be absent or wanting. Now only of something necessary or desirable (coinciding with sense 5); often in pr. pple. with n. or pron., as failing this = ‘in default of this’ (see failing prep.). In early use, †To be wanting to complete a specified quantity; also impers. B. God doesn't miss even one star when he counts them up. C. God does "all things well" (Mar 7:37). XXVII. Isa 40:27 1. "Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?" 2. God can count and name 1 septillion (24 zeros) stars in order without missing one. (see previous section on Isa 40:26) 3. If God can do that, why would Israel think that God didn't know what they were doing and would not judge them for it? 4. Foolish sinners think that they can hid their sin from God (Psa 94:7; Job 22:13; Isa 29:15; Eze 8:12). A. They fail to realize that God sees everything (Pro 15:3). B. God not only sees everything we do, God also is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb 4:12-13). C. God will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the heart (1Co 4:5). D. The Lord will judge stupid sinners who think they have their sin hidden from Him (Psa 94:8-10).