None Like Him!

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is unsearchable.  Isaiah 40:28

When Isaiah wrote these words, the Assyrians had conquered Israel. God used Assyria as the “rod of His anger” (Isaiah 10:5-19), and He used them to bring judgment on His people. Assyria’s conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel began approximately 740 BC. First Chronicles 5:26 notes, “So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, even the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser, king of Assyria, and he took them away into exile, namely the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah,  Habor, Hara, and to the river of Gozan, to this day.”

Nearly 20 years later, about 722 BC, the capital city, Samaria, was overtaken by the Assyrians under  Shalmaneser V. After first forcing tribute payments, Shalmaneser later laid siege to the city when it refused to pay. Following a three-year siege, 2 Kings 17:5-6 informs us, “Then the king of Assyria went up against  the whole land, and he went up to Samaria and  besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea,  the king of Assyria captured Samaria, took Israel  away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah  and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of  the Medes.”

You can imagine how God’s people felt after they were conquered. God uses Isaiah to remind His people that He will never forsake them. He writes,

He gives power to the weary, And to him who lacks vigor He increases might. Though youths grow weary and tired, And choice young men stumble badly, Yet those who hope in Yahweh Will  gain new power; They will mount up with wings like eagles; They will run and not get tired; They will walk and not become weary ( Isaiah 40:29-31).

How does this promise to God’s people apply to us today? We can start by trusting in the sovereignty of God. We know that “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose ( Romans 8:28)”. As believers, we should have no fear of what the world may do to us. Paul reminds us of this fact: “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man  is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day ( 2 Cor. 4:16)”.

God will cause us to mount up on eagles’ wings, to give us the strength to live this life for Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. On the day our faith will see sight, all the troubles of this life will be forgotten, and we will be in the presence of the Lamb of God forever. Until that day, God gives power to the weary, and strength to the weak, to all who seek His will in their lives.

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark