The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God abideth for ever.
Read Full Chapter →Commentary for this Verse
Isaiah 40 opens with God comforting His people, and the first thing the voice announces is a verdict: everything human is grass. Verse 8 turns that verdict into hope, because one thing is left standing after the withering.
Comfort That Starts by Cutting Us Down
Writers note the order here. God comforts His people by first telling them their own strength has run out. That is not cruelty. It lays the foundation.
J. N. DarbyIf God will comfort His people, what does the Lord say? "All flesh is grass," and so on. It must begin there... But the word of God will stand forever. That was the foundation of hope... We must stop trying to get good out of the flesh. We must be sure that the word of the Lord lasts forever. Until then, we will always be troubled and weak when the enemy attacks.
What the Grass Picture Says
Verse 7 gives the reason the grass fails, and that reason reaches Israel as well as the nations.
William KellyVerse 7 cuts down all boasting — "The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows on it." God is not pointing to its beauty but to its frailty. The moment God tests its character, even if He only breathes on it, all flesh comes to nothing. This is true in Israel too, not only among the nations: "surely the people are grass."
Why the Promises Are Still Safe
If God's own people are grass, what happens to everything He promised them? The answer is that the promises never rested on the people in the first place.
J. N. DarbyThe people, God's own people according to the flesh, come under this description — "the people are grass." That withers, but it does not stop their full blessing. We only have to know that "God's word abides forever." That is what secures the promises and brings them to pass.
The One Stable Thing in a Shaking World
Commentators apply the verse to the ordinary sense that nothing lasts. W. T. Turpin presses the question on anyone with nothing solid to stand on.
W. T. TurpinWhat are you resting on? Everything is fast breaking up. People in the world know that well. The feeling everywhere today is one of general insecurity. People trust nothing. How blessed then is this truth of God: the word of our God will stand forever. I commend that word to you tonight. That word will show you what your poor heart is looking for. It reveals Christ, salvation, everything your soul needs.
Kelly reads the same verse forward into a future where human achievement and satanic display reach heights never yet seen, and asks the same question:
William KellyEven now the men of the world are making great strides in material things; but they will yet do greater things. And the devil will develop and display his plans as they have never been seen in the world before. What then will be the security of faith? "The word of our God shall stand for ever."
The Word That Comes as Good News
Writers connect that lasting word to the message believers have already received. The link decides how firm a Christian's peace is.
C. H. MackintoshThe word that has reached us as good news is the word of the Lord which lasts forever. So our salvation and our peace are as stable as the word they rest on. If all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass, then what are the arguments of unbelievers worth? They are as worthless as withered grass or a faded flower.
Born of Seed That Cannot Perish
One writer takes the verse into new birth. What a person is born of decides how long they last.
James BoydThe word of God is the instrument used, that is the seed of God, and it is the only thing that lasts forever. This passage comes from Isaiah 40, and everything there is grass... Israel grass, the nations grass, all of us grass; all perishable, none lasting at all. Is there anything on earth that will last? Yes, the word of God will last, that will stand; if you are born of that, you will last forever.
A Book That Outlived Its Attackers
History has tested the claim. Writers point to how often people have tried to destroy the Bible and failed.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinPeople have burned the Bible a thousand times over! ... His word lives on. And now the devil, disguised as an angel of light, under the name of "devout scholarship" and "reverent criticism," tries it again. His word lives on! Emperors and popes, philosophers and unbelievers attacked the Bible. They are gone. The Bible is still with us.
Summary
- Withers first. God's comfort begins by blowing on the grass. Until you admit your own strength is gone, your heart stays troubled and weak.
- Withers everyone. The verdict falls on God's own people as much as on the nations; no family line and no good quality survives the test.
- Stands instead. What withers never carried the promises. God's lasting word secures them and brings them to pass.
- Stands for you. That same lasting word came as good news. A believer's salvation and peace are as stable as the word they rest on.
- Stands in you. Born of seed that cannot perish, a believer lasts as long as the word that gave them life.