Wisdom Wednesday: Wisdom in Isaiah Part 7
Wisdom that Stands Forever
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
A voice says, “Call out.”
Then he answered, “What shall I call out?”
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.
(Is 40:6-8) NASB 95
As a child, I was introduced to death as older relatives died. My aunt Doris died of cancer at 48 years of age when I was only 6. Then my grandfather (after whom I am named) died when I was 12, and I clearly remember sitting through his funeral and pondering the wonderful times that he took me fishing. Then 4 years later my grandmother, who fixed wonderful chicken meals and always had a small gift for my sister and me, died when I was 16. By this time, I fully felt the inevitability of old age and death. And it was painful in the following years to sit through funerals and say goodbye to my beloved relatives. So, by 16 years old, I emotionally felt the depth of pain of death and rationally understood the certainty of it. Today, we look at a direct reminder from the Lord, through Isaiah, of the temporal nature of our lives.
Last week, we examined Isaiah 40: 12–26, where Isaiah described the incomparable greatness of God in three aspects:
- The Greatness of God’s Physical Creation (verse 12)
- The Greatness of God’s Personhood (verse13)
- The Greatness of God’s Wisdom (Verse 14)
But this declaration of greatness was preceded by verses 6-8, where God told Isaiah to warn people of the temporal nature of their lives – “Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades…” This is what I realized by the time of my 16th birthday. Our lives bloom and produce the “flowers” of accomplishments, but then we fade and die. This concept is reiterated by Job and in the Psalms, and by James:
- Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain. Job 14:2.
- Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb. Psalm 37:1-2.
- As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer. Psalm 103:15-16.
- But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. James 1:9-11.
Peter quotes this very passage from Isaiah to encourage the scattered believers that their faith in Christ,
Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off. But the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:22-25)
Here is wisdom –the warning is clear, we need to recognize our temporal nature, but in contrast God and His Word is eternal:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:1-5).