What is the meaning of Isaiah 40:21? Do you not know? “Do you not know?” (Isaiah 40:21a) Isaiah’s first question jolts the reader: you already possess the facts. • God’s reality and greatness have been plainly revealed (Romans 1:19-20). • Israel had centuries of firsthand history—Exodus deliverance, wilderness provision, conquest of Canaan—each event underscoring God’s unlimited power (Psalm 78:4-7). • To “know” here is not mere data accumulation; it is a settled conviction that shapes worship and obedience (Proverbs 9:10). Isaiah is challenging complacency: truth that sits unused soon feels distant. Have you not heard? “Have you not heard?” (Isaiah 40:21b) From childhood, Israelites heard the Torah read aloud (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Isaiah reminds them: • The Shema affirmed the exclusive sovereignty of Yahweh. • Annual feasts rehearsed redemption—Passover, Weeks, Tabernacles—engraving God’s acts on national memory (Leviticus 23). • Prophets continually echoed God’s majesty (1 Samuel 2:2; Psalm 95:3-6). Hearing is meant to lead to faith-inspired action (Romans 10:17; James 1:22). The prophet presses the point: you can’t claim ignorance when your ears have been filled with truth. Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? “Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?” (Isaiah 40:21c) “From the beginning” reaches back to Genesis 1:1, the foundational declaration that “In the beginning, God created.” Isaiah draws a straight line: • Creation itself proclaims God’s eternal power (Psalm 33:6-9). • Patriarchs passed that testimony down—Abraham built altars (Genesis 12:7-8), Jacob erected pillars (Genesis 28:18-22)—public witnesses to the Creator. • God revealed His purpose before Israel was even a nation (Genesis 15:13-16). The message has never changed: the Lord alone rules, sustains, and directs history (Isaiah 46:9-10). Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth? “Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?” (Isaiah 40:21d) Understanding moves beyond hearing to grasping implications. From earth’s foundation, God built lessons into creation: • Order and precision of the cosmos testify to an intelligent Designer (Job 38:4-11; Psalm 19:1-2). • Seasons, seedtime, and harvest reveal His faithfulness (Genesis 8:22). • The vastness of space dwarfs humanity, yet God cares for each person (Psalm 8:3-4; Matthew 6:26). Isaiah’s audience was tempted by idols of surrounding nations (Isaiah 40:18-20). By pointing to the “foundation of the earth,” he strips idols of credibility: no carved image laid the planet’s cornerstone; the Lord did (Isaiah 44:24). summary Isaiah 40:21 piles up four rhetorical questions to shake God’s people awake. Knowledge, hearing, long-standing proclamation, and observable creation all converge on one truth: the Lord is the eternal, unrivaled Creator. Forgetfulness of this truth breeds fear and idolatry; remembering it restores confidence and worship. |
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