"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand; And has meted out the heavens by His span; And has comprehended the dust of the earth in a tierce; (Tierce: an old English unit of measure (volume); a cask of that size--about 42 gallons) And has weighed in the scales the mountains and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of Jehovah; And, as one of His council, has informed Him? Whom has He consulted, that he should instruct Him, And teach Him the path of judgment; That he should impart to Him science, And inform Him in the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop from the bucket; As the small dust of the balance shall they be accounted; Behold, the islands He takes up as an atom. And Lebanon is not sufficient for the fire; Nor his beasts sufficient for the burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before Him; They are esteemed by Him as less than nought, and vanity. To whom therefore will you liken God? And what is the model of resemblance that you will prepare for Him? The workman casts an image: And the smith overlays it with plates of gold; And forges for it chains of silver. He that cannot afford a costly oblation, chooses a piece of wood that will not rot; He procures a skillful artist, To erect an image, which shall not be moved. Will you not know? will you not hear? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He, that sits on the circle of the earth; And the inhabitants are to Him as grasshoppers: That extends the heavens as a thin veil; And spreads them out, as a tent to dwell in: That reduces princes to nothing; That makes the judges of the earth a mere inanity. Yea they shall not leave a plant behind them, they shall not be sown, Their trunk shall not spread its root in the ground: If He but blow upon them, they instantly wither; And the whirlwind shall bear them away like stubble." (Isaiah 40:12-24,Lowth)
The All-Sufficiency of God
The psalmist sang, "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth." (Psalm 124:8)
In contrast with the gods of the heathen, that cannot see nor hear nor smell nor talk nor walk, and must needs be borne, is our God, who is in the heavens, who "has done whatsoever He has pleased." (Psalm 115:3)
King Jehoshaphat said, when he sought help from the Lord in a time of great danger, "Are not You God in heaven? and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in your hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand You?" (2 Chronicles 20:6)
This was his comfort. God is in the heavens, above all, the Creator and upholder of all. It is this fact that gives us strong confidence in coming to Him for help in time of need. In this lesson we have the utter nothingness and helplessness of man, and the infinite greatness and power of God emphasized. This is the special message for the last days. Man is nothing; God is everything. "[He] has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand." (Isaiah 40:12)
Think of all the waters on the face of the earth, and under the earth, as well as the oceans of waters in the sky,--all held in the hollow of God's hand. In reading this verse we almost always think only of the oceans and seas on this earth. Well, it is a great thing that God holds them in His hand; but when we think of the expanse of waters in the heavens, we shall get a still more comprehensive idea of His power. A rain cloud capable of sending a shower of water to the depth of an inch over the surface of London, would weigh about one million tons. What an inconceivable mass and weight of water is therefore constantly floating about overhead, waiting God's command to fall upon the earth! "He binds up the waters in His thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them." (Job 26:8)
All these are gathered in the hollow of His hand. With this in mind, what comfort there is in reading the words of Christ, who comes as a shepherd, gathering the lambs with His arm, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, which has given them unto me, is greater than all; and no one shall snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and my Father are One." (John 10:27-30)
With what confidence God's people may rest in that mighty hand!
That hand which bears creation up,
Shall guard His children well.
--Philip Doddridge, Hymn: How Gentle God's Commands, 1755.
He has also "meted out the heavens with His span." (Isaiah 40:12)
Take this in connection with His holding the waters in the hollow of His hand. Were you ever on the ocean in a storm, when the great steamship, the mightiest creation of man's skill and power, is but the plaything of the waves? If you are ever in such a place, and feel any sensation of fear, then comfort yourself by gathering up all the water you can hold in the hollow of your hand, and seeing what an insignificant little drop it is. You can move your hand, and thus agitate the surface of the water, but the movement is but trifling. Well, that represents the size of the ocean, and the extent of the storm in the sight of God.
No, it does not represent the size of the ocean, either, for you are on only a small part of the waters which He measures in the hollow of His hand. That thought will give you comfort and peace. And then, even if He should allow the ship with all on board to go to the bottom, you would still be in the hollow of His hand. Nothing can snatch you out of that secure hiding place. "Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counsellor has taught Him? With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and showed to Him the way of understanding?" (Isaiah 40:13-14)
What striking questions are asked in verses 13 and 14. Who is there who could act as counselor to the Lord? With whom could He consult in making the earth and heavens? When we consider the heavens of God, the moon and stars which His fingers have made, we can only say, "What is man, that You are mindful of him? and the son of man, that You visit him?" (Psalm 8:4)
They are not large enough to make any account of, in comparison with the great works of God's hands, much less to be consulted in the making of them. Surely, it would be very becoming in man to be still before the Lord, and listen when He speaks.
The Folly of Man
But proud man is not willing to do this. On the contrary, he wishes to be heard, and that on the very things of which God has spoken. How many there are who presume to teach God science. "The Bible," say they, "is not an authority in science; its sphere is religion."
But religion is the sum of all science. The Gospel includes all the sciences, and only in it can we learn the exact truth of science. Thus: To know God is the sum of all wisdom.
"Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, ... But only in that he understands and knows God." (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
If he does not know God, he has nothing in which to glory, for:
"The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." (1 Corinthians 3:20)
Now eternal life, salvation, is but the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent.
"And this is life eternal, that they might know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent." (John 17:3)
So we see that all science is in eternal life. The Bible is pre-eminently a book of science. To be sure it does not deal in all the unpronounceable names and endless classifications with which so called scientists delight to puzzle the uninitiated; but it gives the reason and the origin of all things. It takes man into a realm of fact concerning things of which the boasted man of science can only fancy. It gives positive knowledge where books of human science give only theory. Let it be set down as a fact that God's Word is true from the beginning. He has not mingled eternal truths with errors which puny man is to rectify.
In one of our previous lessons (See chapter 8, God Alone is Great) we read, "Cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?" (Isaiah 2:22)
To get a proper idea of the littleness of a man, go to the well or stream and let down a bucket for water. Fill it full, and then draw it up as carefully as you can. Do not spill any. You will notice, however, with all your care, that some drops fall from the bucket as it rises. But what of them? The bucket is full, and no one takes any account of the few drops that dripped from the sides as it came up. Now only one of those unconsidered drops represents, not one man merely, but "the nations"! "All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are esteemed by Him as less than nought, and vanity." (Isaiah 40:17,Lowth)
What presumption it is for one of these men to think to correct his Maker on a matter of science! Does not the very fact that man can be so presumptuous, show that he is very deficient in true science? that he has no adequate sense of the greatness of the creation of God, and consequently of the greatness of God's wisdom? And how can a man pose as a scientific man if he does not know anything about creation?
Men are wont to speak lightly of the learning of the ancients, especially as regards what is known as "science," although the word "science," really embraces all learning, since it means knowledge. The reason why the learning of the ancients is so lightly esteemed, is that many of their theories concerning nature are now known to have been but nonsense. But men forget that the same thing may be said concerning the theories which scientists held but a few years ago.
The theories which men hold today, are only theories, and none know better than the men themselves that in a few years these theories will give place to others. Therefore in that respect the men of old were as well off as are the men of today.
But in all matters of practical science, the ancients were the equals, if not the superiors, of the men of the present generation. They were masters in the art of building. In the "fine arts" and in literature, their works serve as models for students today. Thus we see that in keenness of perception, and in range of intellect they were the equals of any.
Yet these same men made idols of wood and metal. They well knew that these things were not God, but they were made as likenesses of God. "To whom therefore will you liken God? And what is the model of resemblance that you will prepare for Him? The workman casts an image: and the smith overlays it with plates of gold; and forges for it chains of silver. He that cannot afford a costly oblation, chooses a piece of wood that will not rot; he procures a skillful artist, to erect an image, which shall not be moved." (Isaiah 40:18-20,Lowth)
Think of the folly of making an image of wood as a likeness of the God who is so great that the forests of Lebanon and all the beasts are not sufficient to make a burnt offering to Him. "And Lebanon is not sufficient for the fire; nor his beasts sufficient for the burnt-offering. All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are esteemed by Him as less than nought, and vanity. ... [He] reduces princes to nothing; [and] makes the judges of the earth a mere inanity." (Isaiah 40:16-17,23,Lowth)
The princes of the earth are as nothing to Him, and all the wisdom of the judges of earth is but the mutterings of an idiot, compared with the wisdom of God. "If He but blow upon them, they instantly wither; and the whirlwind shall bear them away like stubble." (Isaiah 40:24,Lowth)
If He but blows upon them they instantly wither, and the wind will bear them away as the chaff of the summer threshing floor, so that no place is found for them. "Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them." (Daniel 2:35)
For Our Encouragement
Why does the Lord tell us all these things? Is it to humiliate us, to taunt us with our own littleness in comparison with Him? Not by any means. He does not wish us to become despondent. But these are facts, and cannot be other than they are.
Remember that God is not like a man who is puffed up with an undue sense of his own importance, and who looks with contempt on those whom he imagines to be inferior to himself. Far from it. The Lord is great, and cannot be any other than what He is. The relation which is here set forth as existing between God and man is that which actually is, and it cannot be different. He is infinitely greater than man, yet He does not despise man on that account. "Though the Lord be high, yet has He respect unto the lowly." (Psalm 138:6)
So much does He regard man, that He gave himself to redeem him. He gave himself for us, not for what we are, but for what He is able to make of us. Suppose we are but nothing; God is able to make that which is not bring to nought that which is. "For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, has God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in His presence." (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)
He tells us these things that we may know how easily He can do what He will with us. And this is for our comfort. Who is a God like unto our God?--Present Truth, September 21, 1899--Isaiah 40:12-24.