translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: ISA

label: NET study note

text: The implied answer to the rhetorical questions of v. 12 is “no one but the Lord. The Lord, and no other, created the world. Like a merchant weighing out silver or commodities on a scale, the Lord established the various components of the physical universe in precise proportions.


text: The point is that not even the Lebanon forest could supply enough wood and animals for an adequate sacrifice to the Lord.


text: See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4 .


text: Exiled Israel’s complaint (v. 27 ) implies that God might be limited in some way. Perhaps he, like so many of the pagan gods, has died. Or perhaps his jurisdiction is limited to Judah and does not include Babylon. Maybe he is unable to devise an adequate plan to rescue his people, or is unable to execute it. But v. 28 affirms that he is not limited temporally or spatially nor is his power and wisdom restricted in any way. He can and will deliver his people, if they respond in hopeful faith (v. 31 a).