Scripture reading: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23.

Sermon text: Isaiah 40:21-31.

A few months ago, I finally watched the movie “The Mouse that Roared.” In that movie, a small European nation on the brink of ruin declares war on the United States in the hope that the U.S. will rebuild their nation after the war as we did Germany after World War II. Hilarity ensues when the Duchy of Grand Fenwick actually wins the war, giving new meaning to the phrase, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

We cannot comprehend the anxiety that comes from living in a small nation surrounded by giants. Some nations have lived with that dilemma for duration of their existences. For instance, Israel has always possessed the most hotly contested land on the planet. Every major nation and empire in the Mediterranean region has owned the strip of land between Egypt and Lebanon at some point in their history. Yet, God gave this land to Israel and promised to protect His people as long as they kept the covenant He had given them on Mt. Sinai in the 15th century B.C.

From the Jewish way of things, it seems as if the word “security” always applies to someone else. The Jews of Isaiah’s time witnessed the worst of nations, but they also saw the best of God’s protection as He miraculously spared Jerusalem from the Assyrians in 701 B.C. Only God could defend His people in their precarious position, but even God could not overlook their sin and disobedience.

Israel had always lived in the shadow of empires. The Egyptian Empire had taken Canaan to prevent invasion from Mesopotamia. As a result of Israel’s disobedience, God removed His protection from His people and allowed the nations to conquer them. Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C., during Isaiah’s lifetime. Babylon would later destroy Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah in their conquest of the land. Persia conquered Babylon in turn, on lie to fall to the Greeks 200 years later. Israel won their independence from the Greek kingdoms, but this independence lasted less than 100 years before Rome took the nation into its realm and scattered its people into the nations.

Yet, even as God scattered His people, He preserved them as they spread into practically every nation in history. At times, His preservation took strange forms. In the play “The Fiddler on the Roof,” The character Tevye laments, “I know we are the chosen people. But once in a while, can't you choose someone else?” The sermon text today tells us of a mystery in history: God alone commands the nations, and He alone uses the nations for His purposes in humanity’s redemption. Those who rely on God will find peace and security in His gracious care.

Isaiah open this passage with an intense reminder to Israel of their privileged position as God’s people, those who had received His revelation and knew Him in a way unknown by the other nations. “Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?” With these words, Isaiah took Israel back to the beginning of their sacred books, reminding them of the creation story in Genesis 1. From the “foundations of the earth,” God alone had understood the true nature of creation and the true purpose of His redemptive plan.

Listen to Isaiah’s glorious description of God’s sovereign view of the nations: “It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.” Most of us have watched a football game either in person or on television. As a spectator above the field, we have a better view of the action than the players on the field. We’ve often watched the game and wondered, “Why did the quarterback not throw the ball to that receiver?” I’m certain the quarterback would agree with us if he could enjoy our perspective!

We often wonder how God can predict the future of nations and use them in His plan. Isaiah reminded his readers, and reminds us today, that God exists outside history, outside of creation, and views everything from an eternal perspective. God “brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.” Even the most powerful rulers on earth cannot thwart the purposes of God. “Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.”

History vividly records the truth of Isaiah’s teaching. The Babylonians of Isaiah’s day would build a remarkable empire, only to see it fall in less than 80 years. Alexander the Great would build the world’s greatest empire, but it lasted no longer than his lifetime; he died at age 32, leaving his vast conquests to 4 ambitious generals who assassinated his wife and young son and divided his empire between them. Even those empires that last for centuries seem as nothing in the eternal view of Almighty God.

The Jews needed this beautiful reminder of God’s sovereignty. Israel’s behavior implied they either denied or ignored God’s existence and His insistence on their obedience to His covenant with the nation. “Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God’?” Israel needed to remember that God saw every disobedient act; God never passed over or made light of Israel’s sins. Rather, “The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.” The “everlasting God” and “Creator of the ends of the earth” patiently protected His people, but He also diligently punished their sins. While His understanding may seem “unsearchable,” certain attributes of God — His protection of those who obey Him and His insistence on justice and righteousness, specifically — remain plain to everyone who reads Scripture.

This brings us to one of the most familiar and comforting passages of Scripture you’ll find in any book of the Bible:

“He gives power to the faint,

        and to him who has no might he increases strength.

         Even youths shall faint and be weary,

        and young men shall fall exhausted;

        but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;

        they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

     they shall run and not be weary;

        they shall walk and not faint.”

While this passage means much to us today, it meant even more to the Jews over their history.

Most scholars see a major division of Isaiah between chapters 39 and 40. It appears that Isaiah prophesied to different groups of people, and chapters 40 to 66 relate more to those who would return from captivity in 539 B.C. than to those who heard his prophecies 150 years before. This passage especially applied to the people who would return from Babylon after the Persian king Cyrus the Great decreed all exiled people could return to their ancestral homes. This passage reminds us of God’s gracious care of His people.

Given Near Eastern history, it shouldn’t surprise us that many Jews viewed Cyrus’ decree with suspicion. Many of the Jews probably packed quickly for the trip back home and left before Cyrus could change his mind; they would have mounted “with wings like eagles” and tried to leave as quickly as possible. Then, when they tired, they would have settled into something like a “run,” finally realizing that they could “walk” back home as they realized Cyrus never intended to renege on his decree. Isaiah would later prophesy God’s placing of Cyrus the Great in power for the purpose of returning His people to their land (Isaiah 45).

Does this passage mean anything to us today? Can we see anything here that applies to us?

Most Americans cannot view this passage in a national context because, frankly (and thankfully), our nation lacks the historical perspective to understand it. Fortunately, this passage provides security to us in other ways.

I believe we need to understand Isaiah’s proclamation of God’s sovereignty over the nations. I know many Americans today believe God has chosen our nation for special favor. Many Americans have also unfortunately decided God has chosen particular political parties as His own. We need to remember that God raises nations and lowers nations according to His own mysterious ways. God did not establish the gospel of Jesus to raise America; He has raised America to further the gospel of Christ.

We have no guarantee that God will protect our nation for centuries to come. We have only this comfort: God cares about humanity.

As we view God’s work in history, we see how He guided events to bring about the “appointed time” for His Son’s birth in Bethlehem. The Gospels record events of Jesus’ ministry under the authorities of Jewish custom and Roman rule. The Gospels tell us that Jesus’ every action occurred according to the plan of God, even down to His crucifixion according to Roman law.

At this point, God’s sovereign plan took a major twist that transcended any human experience: Jesus rose again from the dead, conquering sin and death. The Gospels record the disciples’ disbelief in the Resurrection, but they also record the disciples’ overwhelming joy as they came to believe in Jesus as Lord and God (John 20:27).

The book of Acts tells us how Jesus ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to empower the Church to carry the gospel of His resurrection. The book of Acts also records the spread of the gospel beyond the land of Judah throughout the Roman Empire.

Throughout the history of the Church, Christians have realized God’s persistent protection of His people. God’s has worked through the centuries to enable the Church to carry the gospel into new areas and give untold numbers of people the opportunity to confess Jesus as Lord, believing in His resurrection (Romans 10:9-10).

Everyone who believes in Jesus receives adoption into the Church, the family of God (Romans 8:16-17). Then, as we go through life, we find encouragement as we watch God work in our lives. God gives us strength as we face situations in life. God gives us encouragement through His Church, our family of faith. As we worship, we often find ourselves lifted “on eagle’s wings.” As we live our lives, we see ourselves constantly strengthened as we run the race set before us (2 Timothy 4:7); we see God helping us as we walk confidently in the will of God.

Regardless of how God will work in the future, know this: God has planned a glorious future for all who believe in Jesus, His only-begotten Son. The time will come when we will see the complete unfolding of God’s plan from eternity ourselves, in a new heaven and new earth. We will enjoy the greatest revelation of all as we see how God has redeemed us for the Creation to come.