Isaiah 40, 41: Comfort in the Wilderness: Chapter 4: All Flesh is Grass

Isaiah 40:6 says,

⁶ A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.”

The prophetic voice agrees and later seems to muse upon this great truth in Isaiah 50:7, 8,

⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord flows upon it; surely the people are grass. ⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”

The Old Covenant offers a plan of salvation by the power of the flesh—that is, by man’s will and man’s word or vow. However, salvation was not promised to the flesh, that is, the natural (soulish) man that we received from our earthly parents and forefathers. God is not saving the “old man” from His original sentence of death but is instead saving us by transferring our identity to a new creation man that has been begotten by the Spirit.

Hence, one’s physical genealogy is of no benefit as far as the plan of salvation is concerned. The greatest benefit of genealogy (or nationality) is that Israel was entrusted with the oracles of God. This gave them the opportunity to hear the gospel in their lifetime, whereas most of humanity had to wait until the Great White Throne to receive the revelation of God. In spite of the advantage of being Israelites, few of them actually became His people. Most were as fleshly as “grass.”

The best intentions of fleshly men wither and fade like grass and flowers as soon as “the breath of the Lord flows upon it.” As soon as man’s word (vow) is tested, it fails. The prophet is pessimistic when it comes to the ability of the flesh to keep its vows to God.

However, “the word of our God stands forever.” The New Covenant, which is God’s vow to all mankind, is always successful, even if it takes thousands of years to accomplish. Though it may seem to fail, it will always win in the end. No flesh can stop it, because success does not depend upon the will of man but of God.

So John 1:13, 14 tells us,

¹³ who were born, not of blood[line] nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴ And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory…

The “grass” in Isaiah is “the will of the flesh” in the Gospel of John. But when “the Word became flesh,” Christ came as a new type of “grass,” for though He died, He rose again in power and immortality. This was the first step toward the new creation, for it established the foundation and the pattern for all of the sons of God.

As we reckon ourselves dead to the flesh, we too are raised in newness of life. The first fruits learn this great truth in their lifetime; the rest will receive this revelation at the Great White Throne judgment, causing every tongue to swear allegiance to Christ.

1 Peter 1:23, 24, 25 quotes Isaiah, telling us,

²³ for you have been born again [gennao, “begotten from above”] not of seed which is perishable but imperishable [immortal], that is, through the living and enduring word of God, ²⁴ for, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, ²⁵ but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.

Mortal seed from our fathers begat mortal children, fleshly children with a temporary glory that “withers” and “falls off” in the end. But the immortal seed of the word begets immortal sons of God, the “new creatures” in 2 Cor. 5:17. Our “old man” (KJV) or “old self” (NASB) is that which our earthly fathers begat. Our “new man” or “new self” is what God has begotten through the enduring word of the Lord.

This is what Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 40:6-8. It is the foundational truth of the New Covenant, showing the path of salvation. God does not intend to save the old man but to crucify it with Christ. God intends to save all mankind by begetting in them a new creation man that is immortal and incorruptible.

By Abrahamic faith we are begotten by the seed of the word. We are then admonished to transfer our conscious identity from the old man that our fathers begot to the new man that God has begotten. This is the basis of the Sonship message presented to us in Isaiah and then clarified in the New Testament.

Hence, when we read Isaiah’s prophecies, we must interpret the word in light of the New Covenant, even as John, Paul, and Peter did. That word of salvation is not limited to Israel or Judah but traces back to the beginning of the problem in the time of Adam—and perhaps earlier. Hence, Paul says that the problem is universal, and so also is the solution universal. Nonetheless, God typically trains the few to bless the many afterward. Hence, not all are blessed at the same time.

The Good News

Isaiah’s contrast between “grass” and “the word of God” was grasped by the New Testament apostles as the basis of their teaching on Sonship. Sonship, in turn, is the heart of the gospel, for Christ’s death, resurrection, and presentation to the Father as the firstborn Son of God showed the path whereby all will become sons of God. Even as Jesus was begotten by the Father and was therefore called the Son of God, so also are we begotten by the same Father by the seed of the word. By this path we may change identity and become new creatures.

This is the good news of the gospel. So Isaiah 40:9 says,

⁹ Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news [basar, “gospel, flesh”], lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, hearer of good news [basar]; lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is [“Behold”] your God!”

The good news of Sonship was proclaimed on the “high mountain” where Jesus took three of His disciples. There He was transfigured before them, and there the voice from heaven proclaimed the good news of the gospel: “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him” (Matt. 17:5).

Jesus Himself, then, was the One who was to go to Mount Hermon (Sion, Deuteronomy 4:48) above Caesarea Philippi and shout the good news of the transfigured sons of God. We read in Heb. 12:18-23,

¹⁸ For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched [i.e., Sinai, representing the earthly Jerusalem, Gal. 4:25] and to a blazing fire; and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, ¹⁹ and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them…. ²² But you have come to Mount Zion [Sion, KJV, or Mount Hermon] and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, ²³ to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.

Note the contrast between the two mountains. Mount Sinai was a place of “darkness and gloom,” while Mount Hermon was the place of the “church of the firstborn,” where the spirits of the righteous are perfected. Mount Sinai frightened “the church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38, KJV), making them incapable of hearing more than just the Ten Commandments; but Mount Sion was the place where the gospel of Sonship was revealed, which was afterward preached without fear.

The Old Covenant breeds fear, because men know that they cannot be saved by the power of their own will. Neither can anyone fulfill his own vows, no matter how sincere he is. Those who think they are saved by the Old Covenant can never fully enter into God’s rest, for they are plagued by the fear of failure that comes through Mount Sinai. Only by the revelation of the New Covenant, knowing that God is responsible to save and perfect us, can we find that place of rest.

Zion and Sion

Most Christians confuse Zion with Sion. The “Z” was a tsade (ts or z), while the “S” in Sion was a shin. The Hebrew name Zion was translated into Greek as Sion. In the New Testament, instead of using the zeta to make it read Zion, the word was always spelled with a sigma (s) to read Sion. Thus, the mount of “the heavenly Jerusalem” was Sion—Mount Hermon—not the hill of Zion in the earthly Jerusalem.

The KJV spelled it correctly as “Sion,” while the NASB got it wrong (“Zion”). Obviously, the NASB translators did not understand that Zion and Sion were two different mountains. This has caused confusion in the church and has helped to hide the truth about Sonship.

Yet when we study this distinction, the gospel becomes clearer. We are able to see that Mount Zion is essentially the place of the Old Covenant that ruled the earthly city of Jerusalem, while Mount Sion is the place of the New Covenant that rules the heavenly city, New Jerusalem.

By understanding the difference between these two covenants and the two mountains, we are able to comprehend the revelation of the gospel and to see that it is truly “good news.”

The word translated “gospel” is basar, which is translated “flesh” in Gen. 2:21-24 and in many other passages. In my studies of John 6:53-56, I have shown how Jesus taught that men must “eat” His flesh. This means that men must hear, digest, and assimilate the gospel that He preached. One must know the double meaning of basar in order to catch the significance of His teachings in John 6.

Isaiah 40:8 also said, “Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news” [the gospel]. As with all the other prophets, Isaiah does not clearly distinguish between the heavenly city and the earthly city. That revelation is left to the New Covenant writers.

But once we see how this verse was actually fulfilled in Christ, it is not difficult to see that the prophet was referring to the heavenly Jerusalem and Mount Sion, for that is where the gospel of Christ was proclaimed.

The earthly Jerusalem and its rulers (Zion) rejected that good news. Those of the earthly Jerusalem were repulsed by the thought of eating Jesus’ flesh (basar); but those who believed in Him began to partake of His body every time they ate at the Lord’s Table.

The Good Shepherd

Isaiah 40:10 says,

¹⁰ Behold, the Lord God will come with might, with His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him and His recompense before Him.

In Revelation 22:12, we read,

¹² “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.”

This is essentially a paraphrase of Isaiah 40:10. There are two types of “reward” that men will receive in that day. The word reward was used to signify wages or payment for work that had created value and wealth. Those who have done good will receive a good reward. Those who have done evil will be recompensed accordingly. Isaiah 40:11 continues,

¹¹ Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

In John 10:11, 14, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd.” Heb. 13:20 calls Jesus “the great shepherd.” He has always been the Shepherd, saying, “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm 100:3). This is rooted in the prophecy of Christ in Num. 27:16-19,

¹⁶ “May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, ¹⁷ who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be like sheep which have no shepherd.” ¹⁸ So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; ¹⁹ and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and commission him in their sight.”

Joshua, or Yeshua, was a type of Christ, who was called to shepherd the congregation into the Promised Land. What Joshua did was appropriate in his day, but it was only a type and shadow of what the New Testament Yeshua was to do as the “Great Shepherd.”

Even then, the first coming of Christ only partially fulfilled His shepherding role. Christ second coming will reward the overcomers with immortality at the first resurrection (Rev. 20:5, 6). John further says that a thousand years later, He will reward or recompense everyone for their deeds at the Great White Throne judgment (Rev. 20:12).

Ruling All Nations

Isaiah 40:12-14 says this about the Great Shepherd,

¹² Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales? ¹³ Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has informed Him? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him of the way of understanding?

These rhetorical questions have obvious answers. God did not need anyone to teach Him how to create the heavens and the earth. No one needed to inform Him or to teach Him the principles of justice. The Apostle Paul understood this clearly and applied it to the divine plan, which He established by the power of His own will. The plan was first to lock up everyone in disobedience, which then made Him responsible to save everyone.

Rom. 11:32-36 says,

³² For God has shut up all in disobedience, so that He may show mercy to all. ³³ Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! ³⁴ For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? ³⁵ Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? ³⁶ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory for ever. Amen.

God’s plan may be difficult for men to grasp. God’s plan may seem unjust to those who do not understand His sovereignty. Those who do not know “the mind of the Lord” inevitably feel compelled to make man sovereign through the doctrine of “free will,” hoping to remove God from any responsibility of shutting up all in disobedience.

Such people do not understand that God took that responsibility upon Himself in order that we might know that He obligated Himself by His own laws of liability to save all mankind. Paul teaches this in Rom. 5:17, 18 and in many other places.

For this reason, theologians ought not to give God counsel about the divine plan, for their knowledge is but a dust particle on the scales of justice. Isaiah and Paul thus celebrate the magnitude of God and the astounding wisdom of His plan. Isaiah 40:15 says,

¹⁵ Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

No Sacrifice is Sufficient

Isaiah 40:16, 17 says,

¹⁶ Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering. ¹⁷ All the nations are as nothing before Him. They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.

By “Lebanon,” the prophet was referring to the great cedars, which were insufficient, along with all of its “beasts,” to offer an adequate sacrifice to the great Creator of all things. No flesh, no “grass,” can suffice to atone for sin. Nothing earthly can save us. The nations are earthly and are no better than “grass” that cannot be compared with the Creator Himself.

The point is that men should not presume to try to counsel God on how to rule the universe. Their understanding is very limited. Their wisdom is “meaningless.”

I have often pointed out this very thing by saying humorously, “If I were God, I would not do it this way!” Such a statement is actually a confession that my ways are not His ways. I have learned that when I would do things differently, it is because my wisdom is but a speck of dust on the divine scales of justice. My flesh would do things differently, if given the opportunity.

But I have learned to have no confidence in the flesh. My faith is in God, whose ways, I know, are higher than mine.