000 Allen FMT (i-xxii) - The Presbyterian Leader

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany/Year B 135
Today’s reading is an argument in which Isaiah debates with the people,
responding to their reservations and fears. They wanted to know
whether YHWH could deliver on Isaiah’s promise, whether YHWH’s
providential care for the people Israel could be evident in a world ruled
by warlords. Such questions are seldom far beneath the surface of the
minds of most parishioners. We pastors should take them seriously and
respond in ways appropriate to the good news of God’s grace and credible
in the uncertainties of history.
Verses 21–26 discuss YHWH’s competitors—the princes (national
kings) and “rulers of the earth” (their national idols), and the stars in the
sky that were claimed to be the celestial powers represented by the gods
and princes (see vv. 18–20 for an argument against the idols). The aim of
the debate is to reassure the people that their original trust in God could
be restored in a new if no longer naïve way. Isaiah appeals to God’s splendor
in creation and God’s redeeming efficacy in history, which never are
separated in the Scriptures.
“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked
off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure,
and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?” (v. 12).
“It is he who sits above the circle of the earth . . . who stretches out the
heavens like a curtain” (v. 22). YHWH “brings princes to naught, and
makes the rulers of the earth as nothing” (v. 23). The Israelites have nothing
to fear from these blowhards. Like the grass, “they wither, and the
tempest carries them off like stubble” (v. 24). When we look “on high and
see” the stars, “who created these?” (v. 26). The mighty and ruthless are
nothing but stubble and not to be feared.
Verses 27–31 turn from debate to testimony. Isaiah addresses two matters.
The people fear that the Lord does not know their plight and does
not care about justice for them (v. 27). And, perhaps because of long exposure
to idolatry, they forget that “the LORD is the everlasting God, the
Creator of the ends of the earth” (v. 28). Perhaps they are looking for the
kind of god who promises a quick fix to their deep problems. But that is
not what Isaiah offers. Instead, he speaks of a God who “gives power to
the faint, and strengthens the powerless” (v. 29). “Those who wait for the
LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like
eagles” (v. 31).
Isaiah does not promise that God will do everything for the people;
God will empower them to cooperate with God as God’s covenant people
in bringing life and well-being to light. God is not a tool that we may
use to meet whatever needs we have. God is the One whom we are to love