And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
Even all the forests for fire and all the animals for sacrifice would not be enough to make an offering worthy of God, for nothing finite men bring can measure or express His greatness and glory. This stands in Isaiah's proclamation of the Creator who holds the waters, spans the heavens, weighs the mountains, needs no counselor, counts the nations as a drop and as nothing, sits above the earth, brings princes to nothing, names the stars by His power, never faints, and renews the strength of those who wait on Him. He is so great that He is not to be trifled with, none can be likened to Him, and all nations and their power are tiny and worthless before Him. All things are already His, so He needs nothing from men, for the gold and silver, the cattle, and the world and its fullness belong to Him. He is infinite and past finding out, yet nothing is too small for His notice, so men are to cease trusting in flesh, reverence His power, repent earnestly, trust themselves wholly in His hands, and wait upon Him for strength and for the unlimited resources by which He provides for His cause.
Meaning in Its Setting
Even all the wood and forests of Lebanon would not furnish enough fire, and even all its beasts and animals would not furnish enough victims for a burnt offering worthy of God. No human offering, gift, resource, or act of worship can adequately express His glory, measure Him, or contain Him, for all finite creation is inadequate beside Him.
The verse belongs to Isaiah 40's portrayal of a greatness men cannot comprehend and can only speculate about as finite beings. He measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, meted out heaven, and weighed the mountains and hills in scales, and He needs no counselor and took counsel with none. Before Him the nations are as a drop of a bucket and small dust of the balance, and as nothing and less than nothing and vanity, and the isles are as a very little thing. No likeness can be compared to Him and none can be made equal to Him, for He is not to be trifled with. He sits upon the circle of the earth with its inhabitants as grasshoppers, stretches out the heavens as a curtain, brings princes to nothing, and blows upon rulers till they wither as stubble. He creates and numbers and names the host of heaven by mighty power, He faints not and is weary not, His understanding cannot be searched, and He gives power to the faint and renews the strength of those who wait upon Him.
Isaiah 40 was written to comfort true believers amid afflicting providence in judgments coming upon the world near the close of this earth's history. Those judgments include earthquakes, storms on land and sea, and heavy calamities on sea and by railroad, in which many who greatly sinned perish while sincere, humble, righteous followers are afflicted by the results upon the rebellious. Even then a fallen, perverted, mighty deceiving angel wars against God and those who exalt Him, causes calamities, and draws many away. It is a declaration to be read with Isaiah 41-43 as precious assurance and promises certainly fulfilled for those who fulfill them in these latter days. It is to be studied with Isaiah 42 and Second Peter to understand the deeply spiritual, thorough, reformatory work required, with prepared hearts to receive God's messages, with Spirit-worked men of clear understanding, and with no haphazard work.
God's Incomparable Greatness
He is so great He is not to be trifled with, and even all the wood of Lebanon would not furnish fire enough to burn nor all its beasts victims enough for a burnt offering worthy of Him. He measured the waters in the hollow of His hand and weighed the mountains in scales, He sits upon the circle of the earth and brings princes to nothing, and no likeness can be compared to Him nor any made equal to Him. Before Him all nations and their power are tiny, insignificant and worthless, as a drop of a bucket and as nothing and less than nothing and vanity. Nothing finite can match His glory or furnish an offering adequate to His immeasurable greatness as Creator.
He is the living, personal Author and Ruler of nature, above all science and acquainted with science that the greatest human minds cannot grasp. He cannot be comprehended by finite men, who can only speculate about His way and works, for human wisdom is limited, human language cannot define Him, and few truly know Him or understand how great and majestic He is. His judgments, purposes, wisdom and ways are past finding out and unsearchable and cannot be traced out, and He needs no counselor and took counsel with none. He meted out heaven and weighed the mountains and hills, the isles are as a very little thing and the nations as small dust of the balance, He stretches the heavens as a curtain with earth's inhabitants as grasshoppers, He blows upon rulers till they wither as stubble, He creates and numbers and names the host of heaven by mighty power, He faints not and is weary not and His understanding cannot be searched, and He gives power to the faint and renews the strength of those who wait upon Him. The saying was given not to be answered by scholars but to call attention to deep mysteries, to make men know their limits, to command reverence for His power and faith in Him, and to lead finite men to trust themselves wholly in His hands and wait upon Him, for though He is infinite and shrouded in mystery and conceals more of Himself than He makes known, nothing is beneath His notice and nothing is too small for His attention.
All things are the Lord's and He needs nothing from men, nor needs to be told if He were hungry, for the gold and the silver are His, the cattle upon a thousand hills are His, and the world and its fullness are His. He has not changed and remains the mighty God of Israel. The attempt to change His law by setting up a false sabbath has failed and has not changed Him or His law. He defends His law and is just as jealous for it now as in the days of Ahab and Elijah.
Trust and Provision
The verse warns against putting trust in human beings or making human strength the support, for the Lord alone is to be the trust. It shows that He is not to be trifled with, and it calls His people to diligent work of repentance. That work is to be most earnest, and strength is given to His own people.
Applied to the need for money for missionary work, the verse means that even all the wood of Lebanon would not supply enough fire and all its beasts would not supply enough for a burnt offering worthy of so great a God. The gold and the silver are the Lord's, and the cattle upon a thousand hills and the world and its fullness are His, so that He does not need to be told if He were hungry and needs nothing from men. Therefore He certainly has money somewhere and has unlimited resources somewhere to change straitened conditions and unfit places of worship, to provide houses of worship so that people can be warned, and to advance His cause. He will send help and will honor as laborers together with Him those who act as stewards of His entrusted talents and help by freewill offerings, even if those first asked refuse, while only freewill offerings count with Him.
The greatness described here — He who measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, meted out heaven, weighed the mountains and hills in scales, needs no counselor and took counsel with none, before whom the nations are as a drop of a bucket and small dust of the balance and as nothing and less than nothing and vanity and the isles as a very little thing, who sits upon the circle of the earth with its inhabitants as grasshoppers, stretches the heavens as a curtain, brings princes to nothing, blows upon rulers till they wither as stubble, creates and numbers and names the host of heaven by mighty power, faints not and is weary not and whose understanding cannot be searched, and who gives power to the faint and renews the strength of those who wait upon Him — cannot be comprehended by finite beings who can only speculate about His way and works. Human wisdom is limited, and His judgments, purposes, and wisdom are past finding out and unsearchable. The verse was given not to be answered by scholars but to call attention to deep mysteries, to make men know their limits, to command reverence for His power and faith in Him, and to lead finite men to trust themselves wholly in His hands and to wait upon Him. Even though He is this infinite One, shrouded in mystery and concealing more of Himself than He makes known, nothing is beneath His notice and nothing is too small for His attention.
Even all the forests for fire and all the animals for sacrifice would not be enough to make an offering worthy of God, for nothing finite men bring can measure or express His greatness and glory. This stands in Isaiah's proclamation of the Creator who holds the waters, spans the heavens, weighs the mountains, needs no counselor, counts the nations as a drop and as nothing, sits above the earth, brings princes to nothing, names the stars by His power, never faints, and renews the strength of those who wait on Him. He is so great that He is not to be trifled with, none can be likened to Him, and all nations and their power are tiny and worthless before Him. All things are already His, so He needs nothing from men, for the gold and silver, the cattle, and the world and its fullness belong to Him. He is infinite and past finding out, yet nothing is too small for His notice, so men are to cease trusting in flesh, reverence His power, repent earnestly, trust themselves wholly in His hands, and wait upon Him for strength and for the unlimited resources by which He provides for His cause.
Meaning in Its Setting
Even all the wood and forests of Lebanon would not furnish enough fire, and even all its beasts and animals would not furnish enough victims for a burnt offering worthy of God. No human offering, gift, resource, or act of worship can adequately express His glory, measure Him, or contain Him, for all finite creation is inadequate beside Him.
The verse belongs to Isaiah 40's portrayal of a greatness men cannot comprehend and can only speculate about as finite beings. He measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, meted out heaven, and weighed the mountains and hills in scales, and He needs no counselor and took counsel with none. Before Him the nations are as a drop of a bucket and small dust of the balance, and as nothing and less than nothing and vanity, and the isles are as a very little thing. No likeness can be compared to Him and none can be made equal to Him, for He is not to be trifled with. He sits upon the circle of the earth with its inhabitants as grasshoppers, stretches out the heavens as a curtain, brings princes to nothing, and blows upon rulers till they wither as stubble. He creates and numbers and names the host of heaven by mighty power, He faints not and is weary not, His understanding cannot be searched, and He gives power to the faint and renews the strength of those who wait upon Him.
Isaiah 40 was written to comfort true believers amid afflicting providence in judgments coming upon the world near the close of this earth's history. Those judgments include earthquakes, storms on land and sea, and heavy calamities on sea and by railroad, in which many who greatly sinned perish while sincere, humble, righteous followers are afflicted by the results upon the rebellious. Even then a fallen, perverted, mighty deceiving angel wars against God and those who exalt Him, causes calamities, and draws many away. It is a declaration to be read with Isaiah 41-43 as precious assurance and promises certainly fulfilled for those who fulfill them in these latter days. It is to be studied with Isaiah 42 and Second Peter to understand the deeply spiritual, thorough, reformatory work required, with prepared hearts to receive God's messages, with Spirit-worked men of clear understanding, and with no haphazard work.
God's Incomparable Greatness
He is so great He is not to be trifled with, and even all the wood of Lebanon would not furnish fire enough to burn nor all its beasts victims enough for a burnt offering worthy of Him. He measured the waters in the hollow of His hand and weighed the mountains in scales, He sits upon the circle of the earth and brings princes to nothing, and no likeness can be compared to Him nor any made equal to Him. Before Him all nations and their power are tiny, insignificant and worthless, as a drop of a bucket and as nothing and less than nothing and vanity. Nothing finite can match His glory or furnish an offering adequate to His immeasurable greatness as Creator.
He is the living, personal Author and Ruler of nature, above all science and acquainted with science that the greatest human minds cannot grasp. He cannot be comprehended by finite men, who can only speculate about His way and works, for human wisdom is limited, human language cannot define Him, and few truly know Him or understand how great and majestic He is. His judgments, purposes, wisdom and ways are past finding out and unsearchable and cannot be traced out, and He needs no counselor and took counsel with none. He meted out heaven and weighed the mountains and hills, the isles are as a very little thing and the nations as small dust of the balance, He stretches the heavens as a curtain with earth's inhabitants as grasshoppers, He blows upon rulers till they wither as stubble, He creates and numbers and names the host of heaven by mighty power, He faints not and is weary not and His understanding cannot be searched, and He gives power to the faint and renews the strength of those who wait upon Him. The saying was given not to be answered by scholars but to call attention to deep mysteries, to make men know their limits, to command reverence for His power and faith in Him, and to lead finite men to trust themselves wholly in His hands and wait upon Him, for though He is infinite and shrouded in mystery and conceals more of Himself than He makes known, nothing is beneath His notice and nothing is too small for His attention.
All things are the Lord's and He needs nothing from men, nor needs to be told if He were hungry, for the gold and the silver are His, the cattle upon a thousand hills are His, and the world and its fullness are His. He has not changed and remains the mighty God of Israel. The attempt to change His law by setting up a false sabbath has failed and has not changed Him or His law. He defends His law and is just as jealous for it now as in the days of Ahab and Elijah.
Trust and Provision
The verse warns against putting trust in human beings or making human strength the support, for the Lord alone is to be the trust. It shows that He is not to be trifled with, and it calls His people to diligent work of repentance. That work is to be most earnest, and strength is given to His own people.
Applied to the need for money for missionary work, the verse means that even all the wood of Lebanon would not supply enough fire and all its beasts would not supply enough for a burnt offering worthy of so great a God. The gold and the silver are the Lord's, and the cattle upon a thousand hills and the world and its fullness are His, so that He does not need to be told if He were hungry and needs nothing from men. Therefore He certainly has money somewhere and has unlimited resources somewhere to change straitened conditions and unfit places of worship, to provide houses of worship so that people can be warned, and to advance His cause. He will send help and will honor as laborers together with Him those who act as stewards of His entrusted talents and help by freewill offerings, even if those first asked refuse, while only freewill offerings count with Him.
The greatness described here — He who measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, meted out heaven, weighed the mountains and hills in scales, needs no counselor and took counsel with none, before whom the nations are as a drop of a bucket and small dust of the balance and as nothing and less than nothing and vanity and the isles as a very little thing, who sits upon the circle of the earth with its inhabitants as grasshoppers, stretches the heavens as a curtain, brings princes to nothing, blows upon rulers till they wither as stubble, creates and numbers and names the host of heaven by mighty power, faints not and is weary not and whose understanding cannot be searched, and who gives power to the faint and renews the strength of those who wait upon Him — cannot be comprehended by finite beings who can only speculate about His way and works. Human wisdom is limited, and His judgments, purposes, and wisdom are past finding out and unsearchable. The verse was given not to be answered by scholars but to call attention to deep mysteries, to make men know their limits, to command reverence for His power and faith in Him, and to lead finite men to trust themselves wholly in His hands and to wait upon Him. Even though He is this infinite One, shrouded in mystery and concealing more of Himself than He makes known, nothing is beneath His notice and nothing is too small for His attention.