BIBLE BULLETS – 25

Isaiah 55:8-9

Isaiah’s treasure-trove of memorable material includes this Divine declaration: “ ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.’ This is the Lord’s declaration. ‘For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts’ ” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

God’s wisdom and ways infinitely exceed human intelligence, intuition and imagination. The incomparable Creator is far above His finite creatures and beyond their ability to describe Him or comprehend Him fully. If the finite mind of man could fully understand God, then He wouldn’t be much of a God.

Other passages bear this out.

“The Lord is great and is highly praised; his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).

“Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? And who has ever given to God, that he should be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen!” (Romans 11:33–36)

To properly understand Isaiah, we must read the previous verse for context, where the prophet pleads with his reader: “Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will freely forgive” (Isaiah 55:7).

Because God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and God’s ways are not our ways, we should drop to our knees, abandon our sinful ways, and seek the God of Grace.

“ ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.’ This is the Lord’s declaration. ‘For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts’ ” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).