Greatness of God vs the Foolishness of Man - Isaiah 40-44

Isaiah 40:24-26 (ESV)
… 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.
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.

The above section of Isaiah’s prophecy is taken completely out of the middle the prophet’s utterance about worshipping false gods.   He has, up to this paragraph, condemned the people of God for their wanting to worship wooden idols, or even idols made out of gold.  This is somewhat the theme of chapters 40-44.   The people that God redeemed out of Egypt, to be a witness for Him have, instead, lowered their beliefs to hold onto wooden idols that with one-half of the wood, they warm themselves and heat their food, and the other half, worship the wood as though it would save them from their perils.   

In the above words, Isaiah is speaking about the rulers and the kings of the earth and how they are planted by God one day and then, by the breath of God, blown away.  In Isaiah’s day, God’s people either worshipped gods of wood and gold, or men with crowns and swords.   Isaiah is telling them that those nations that they trusted in are nothing before God.  In fact, if you really want to see power, Isaiah states, look up and see the stars of the heavens.   God didn’t just cast the stars into the heavens,. He identified and knows each by name.   It is by His greatness that the star (and the universe) has this glory, power and might.  Notice what the writer of Hebrews said about this in his opening lines about Jesus Christ:

Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

This writer tells us the Jesus Christ “upholds the universe by the word of his power.”   That means not only does God put the stars in place, know them by name, but also sustains their existence by the sheer “word of His power.”  We might want to focus on our lives and all our little wooden and gold idols.   But, in reality, our focus ought to be on the power, majesty, might and greatness of God.   That will solve the majority, if not all, our problems.  That is Isaiah’s message to God’s people.