Comparing God

Isaiah 40:18-26

To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains. He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move…
 To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.

Idolatry is nothing new for since the Beginning, mankind has sought to create gods in our image. Our first effort was to make ourselves ‘like’ God by trying to attain His wisdom and understanding without His involvement, taking what we thought promised the knowledge of good and evil albeit without wisdom. Then we tried hiding the shame rather than receive God’s covering of guilt through forgiveness. Lastly, when we couldn’t have God’s acceptance through agreeing with Him, we chose to kill those who did. We are creative in our ways to substitute our ways for God’s Way.

To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? 1
To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. 2

When life does not match your expectations, how likely are you to create your own means of fitting yourself to these expectations? And how do you fashion gods into your own image of how the Lᴏʀᴅ should be to serve your purposes? The text of Isaiah 40 says that we become craftsmen working with various materials to make god according to our vision of what god should be be match our expectations. Isaiah 44:9-20 is an expanded version of this ‘creating’ our own gods. It becomes ludicrous in the haphazard processes of crafting gods while serving our appetites,

The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 3

Just how subservient do we expect the Lᴏʀᴅ to be to our desires, just how strong is our desire for Him to fulfill our appetites for comfort above relationship with the true God?

The underlying truth is that the Lᴏʀᴅ is not comparable to any creation. The Creator is not ‘like’ anything lesser than Himself. Stuff is stuff and stuff does not become gods no matter how much we invest into it. Only the Lᴏʀᴅ is God. Making a god out of nature or anything we create to be used or enjoyed in place of God is idolatry and will not serve His purposes. “To whom then will you compare Me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One” is a rhetorical question with the implicit answer of “No One.”

FOOTNOTES:
1 Isaiah 40:18 (ESV) – https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/isa/40/18/s_719018
2 Isaiah 40:25 (ESV) – https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/isa/40/25/s_719025
3 Isaiah 44:13-17 (ESV) – https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/isa/44/13-17/s_723013
Isaiah 40:18-26 (ESV) - https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/isa/40/18-26/s_719018
All Scripture references from the Blue Letter Bible, ESV
at https://www.blueletterbible.org
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2025 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.
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