What does it mean that the grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of the Lord endures forever (Isaiah 40:8)?

I have been led to this thought because the end of this chapter recalled to me chapter 40 of Isaiah. I do not speak of the accomplishment of the prophecy which will take place at a later day for the Jews, but of a grand principle. This chapter begins by these words: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." Before God begins, He must cause it to be understood that all flesh is as grass.

200 If God will comfort His people, what saith the Lord? "All flesh is grass," etc. It must begin there. The grass is withered, because the spirit of the Lord hath blown upon it. But the word of God shall stand for ever. Therein was the foundation of hope. Had it been possible for anyone to have obtained anything, it would have been the Jews, who had all; but they were nothing more than the grass of the field, than the grass that withers. When God will comfort man who has failed, in the responsibility which attaches to him, it is thus He begins: "All flesh is grass," etc.; and it is for this reason that there is such a confusion in the heart of the newly converted man, and even of the Christian, if he does not pay attention to it: namely, that the word comes to tell him the grass is withered, the flesh is incapable of producing any good, and that he does not yet rest on this, that the word of the Lord endures for ever, and that the blessing, consequently, cannot fail to His own. Till we cease in our efforts to get good from the flesh, and till we are assured that the word of the Lord endures for ever, we shall be always troubled and weak before the assaults of the enemy.

Isaiah 40 to 48 go together. Isaiah 40:1-8 is, however, introduction. Jerusalem has been sufficiently chastised, and the Lord speaks to her heart. But that is accompanied by this solemn truth - "All flesh is grass." The people, God's own people according to the flesh, come under this designation - "the people are grass." That withers, but this does not hinder their full blessing, only it must be known, "God's word abides for ever," and that is what secures the promises and their accomplishment. This is the introduction. The general statement is then taken up. He that bringeth good tidings to Zion and Jerusalem (for so I am disposed to take it*) is to announce, with energy, God Himself "to the cities of Judah." He "will come with strong hand," with His reward, "shall feed his flock like a shepherd." Then comes the contrast between Jehovah and idols. Princes shall be brought to nothing. He is the Creator of the heavens. Why does Israel distrust Him? The strongest shall faint - "those that wait on Jehovah shall renew their strength." This is the general thesis.

Perfectly true; it is most convicting, most searching, most solemn: "All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field." The best part of it is the most fleeting: "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." (vv. 6-8.) Now, it is in this last sentence that the real comfort lies. How blessed, how consoling, how wonderful, too, coming in exactly where it does! God always works in this way; that is to say, first of all He exposes, reveals, manifests, lets His light in on the condition of things under His holy eye. How would you like those eyes of fire turned upon you? I speak to you earnestly, affectionately, this night, my brother, my sister. Are you prepared to be searched through and through, and discovered as to all the things that are hidden away there in your hearts, and which you think nobody else knows anything about? That is God's way ever. Man's way is to cover up. God's way is to bring out into light. Man's way is to conceal. God's way is to manifest. He must have the thing in open daylight, as it were. He cannot allow you to cover up all that sin and iniquity. He cannot permit you to cling to corruption. He must have corruption known as corruption. He must let His light in upon things, and uncover them to us, and give them their true name. But when He does so there is immense comfort in this assurance, "The word of our God shall stand for ever." In such days as we are passing through, that is an immense comfort. We must feel to-day, if indeed we have hearts to feel, if we are not enveloped in deep insensibility, we must feel the heaving, the rocking, the tottering, of everything down here. Let me tell you affectionately that there is not one solitary stone of stability in any one thing in this whole earthly scene, not a single solid resting-place can faith find here. The whole system is a shifting quicksand.

Next, "A voice says, Cry. And he says, What shall I cry?" Here follows the substance of John the Baptist's testimony, though it may be still more manifest in the end of this age. "All flesh is grass"; it is man morally and universally. "And all the goodliness thereof [is] as the flower of the field" (v. 6). Could a man use this to think well of himself? Verse 7 cuts down all boasting — "The grass withers, the flower fades: because the Spirit (or, breath) of Jehovah blows upon it." Not its beauty but its frailty God refers to. The moment you have God testing its character, if it were only by the breath of His nostrils, all flesh comes to nothing; and this too in Israel, not in Gentiles only: "surely the people is grass." Nor is this all; He utters its sentence again and again. The reason for the first repetition seems to be the emphatic judgement of "the people," that is, the Jews. The second case is particularly connected with the resource for faith. "The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God shall stand for ever" (v. 8).

Thus the reception of the Messiah and His reign over Israel by-and-by are conditioned by their repentance, a work wrought in their souls by the word of God applied by the Holy Spirit, as Nicodemus had to learn from our Lord in John 3. So the Christian proves yet more profoundly under the gospel, and by faith receives eternal life in the Son of God. So must the Jew in due time for the future world-kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. These two truths are of no less importance at the present moment, as we know how Peter used them for the Christian Jews from the first. They will be urgently needed when God begins to work in the Jews once more, when they painfully learn, feel, and prove the utter worthlessness of man as he is in divine things. Even now the men of the world are making no small strides in material things; but they will yet do greater things. And the devil will mature and display his plans as they have never been witnessed in the world before. What then will be the security of faith? "The word of our God shall stand for ever."

But what is the message in the Word? “The voice said, Cry. And be said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth.” That is not an exhilarating message. No one would desire to carry that message to men if that were all the Word contained. Thank God it is not all; but it is necessary that it should be told to make way for what follows. “THE WORD OF OUR GOD SHALL STAND FOR EVER” (Isa. 40). And this Word is good news: it warms the hearts and energizes the souls of those who receive it. It has been said of it, “The essence and glory of the gospel is that it is for all, and he who truly receives it receives it as a salvation for all, and feels himself impelled to communicate it to others. With it comes the power at once to consider and to care for others.” Thus do we become the happy channels by which God communicates His Word to the world.

The assaults of infidels cannot touch the throne of God neither can they touch His word; and blessed be His name, neither can they touch the peace that flows through the heart that rests on that imperishable foundation. "Great peace have they that love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." "The word of our God shall stand for ever." "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower thereof fades away: but the word of the Lord endures for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached to you." (1 Peter 1:24-25.)

Here we have the same precious golden link again. The word which has reached us in the form of glad tidings is the word of the Lord which endures for ever: and hence our salvation and our peace are as stable as the word on which they are founded. If all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass, then what are the arguments of infidels worth? They are as worthless as withered grass or a faded flower; and the men who put them forth and those who are moved by them will find them to be so sooner or later. Oh! the sinful folly of arguing against the word of God — arguing against the only thing in all this world that can give rest and consolation to the poor, weary human heart — arguing against that which brings the glad tidings of salvation to poor lost sinners — brings them fresh from the heart of God!

It is very blessed to trace, in the Old Testament Scriptures, the gracious way in which God has ever been ready to meet man as a sinner, and to contemplate that way which has always been through the sacrificial work of His beloved Son. When our first parents had garments presented to them to cover their nakedness, they were formed of coats of skins, to show us that blessing could only flow from God to man through sacrifice. When Abel obtained witness that he was righteous, it was because of the excellency of the sacrifice which he offered. The whole ritual of the last dispensation teaches us that God can only be approached by man through the sacrifice of a life. Hence it is that there is so much in the ancient Scriptures about dealing with God through the death of the sacrifice; all intended to show forth that in due time God would provide an all-sufficient sacrifice for man as a sinner. But it is here that people so mistake; and Christ crucified is to many still a stumbling-stone and rock of offence. Man's thought in general, if he think of God at all, is about his sacrificing for God; thus vainly hoping to appease God, and procure rest for his conscience by some works of self-denial; but God meets such a false thought at once by saying, "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." This entails the most perfect self-sacrifice, because it lays on man the absolute necessity of setting self aside entirely, to confess the utter unworthiness of all self-righteousness, as well as of self altogether, and to rest only in Divine mercy, and on that sacrifice which God has so graciously provided. This has always been the teaching of God; and the same prophet, whose experience in the Lord's presence we are about to contemplate, afterwards published the solemn declaration, that "all flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand for ever." Thus we find that the Spirit of God in olden time taught men that they were sinners, and that their most goodly things were perishing and passing away; and gave them the unalterable word of the Lord, as an immoveable rock for their souls to stay upon. And so it is now.

Verse 23, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” It is really the bringing into existence of a new being. When you were born into this world, a being was born into it that had not existed before. If you are born again, you are born a second time; born of God, you are a child of God now, which you were not before. The Word of God is the instrument used, that is the seed of God, and it is the only thing that abideth for ever. The passage here is from the 40th of Isaiah, and everything there is grass. The forerunner of Christ is told in the 40th of Isaiah to cry, “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Israel grass, the Gentiles grass, all of us grass; all perishable, none abiding at all, is there anything on the earth that shall abide? Yes, the Word of God shall abide, that shall stand; if you are born of that, you will abide for ever; if not, you will perish away from the presence of God altogether.

As to the means used to bring about this wonderful work we are left in no doubt. James tells us: “Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth” (1:18); and Peter tells us it is by “The word of God, which lives and abides for ever” (1 Peter 1:23). In this latter case the reference is to Isaiah 40, where the forerunner of the Messiah is told to cry: “All flesh is grass, and all the godliness thereof is as the flower of the field.” The Jew was grass, the Gentile was grass—all flesh was grass; and “the grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Nothing on earth abides but the word of God: it is living and abiding; and this, Peter says, is “the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.” And of this living and abiding word we are born again. I am aware it is not quite the same word in Peter, which is translated “born again,” as in John, but it is the same thing which is referred to. How establishing and comforting to know that we are the children of that which is living, incorruptible, and abiding!

This new birth is produced by the Word of God, which is incorruptible, living and abiding. On earth everything perishes but the Word of God. The Jew is grass, the Gentile is grass — all flesh is grass, and the glory of man the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower of it passes away. What, then, remains? "The Word of our God shall stand for ever" (Isa. 40). This Word has been brought to us in the gospel (1 Peter 1:25), and by it the believer is born again. His life and nature are divine.