Wisdom Wednesday: Wisdom in Isaiah Part 6
The Greatness of God’s Wisdom
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge,
And informed Him of the way of understanding?
(Isaiah 40:14) NASB 95
This morning in our men’s Bible study, one fellow said, “I have a problem with the fear of the Lord. I have reverence for the Lord, but I wouldn’t call it fear.” We had been looking at passages about fearing the Lord, for example:
Instruction in the Proverbs: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. Proverbs 9:10 (ESV)
Praise in the Psalms: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! Psalm 111:10 (ESV)
Description of the Messiah: And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear Isaiah 11:3 (ESV)
His comment caused us all to think about what “fear” really means in the context of the Scripture’s admonition to have “the fear of the Lord”. The Hebrew word here is yirah (from a root word meaning, fear); it is mostly translated as “fear,” but sometimes it is rendered “awesome,” “extremely,” and “reverence.”
As we think about fear, what is the emotion it evokes? Of course, we might think of terror, panic and dread, but this is because we associate this with a person, object or event with some power to harm us. At the core, this use of the word fear is an awareness of power that is capable of harm or even death.
But power may also be capable of blessing or even life. This is the reverent recognition of God. And this is the theme of Isaiah’s message in chapter 40 – the awesome power of “The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth” as Isaiah calls Him in 40:28.
Isaiah describes the incomparable greatness of God in verses 12–26. He begins by asking three categories of rhetorical questions:
- The Greatness of God’s Physical Creation (verse 12): Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales? Appealing to the awe of God’s creation, Isaiah challenges, who but God can measure the dimensions and magnitude of the Creation? The answer, of course is only God.
- The Greatness of God’s Personhood: (verse13): Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as His counselor has informed Him? Appealing to the Person of God (v.13), Isaiah asks, who has taught the omniscient God? Of course, the answer is no one. This verse is quoted by Paul in both Romans 11:34 and 1 Corinthians 2:16. In both cases, Paul uses the passage to extoll the Greatness of God’s wisdom of God displayed in His means of redemption through Jesus Christ.
- The Greatness of God’s Wisdom (Verse 14): With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge, and informed Him of the way of understanding? Even as God challenged Job (Job 38:4; see also Job 21:22), Isaiah asks where does God’s wisdom originate to enable Him to create, know, and by wisdom guide His creation to achieve His purpose?
Here is the fear of the Lord – to recognize the awesome greatness of God and humbly acknowledge the evidence of His awesome power in creation, to acknowledge Him as a Spirit Person with whom we may have a personal relationship, and to yield to His wisdom to provide redemption for sin and to show us His way to live.
This fear is the humble acknowledgment of the greatness of God’s creation, His person, and His wisdom.