To whom then will ye liken God?— To whom, &c. or what resemblance will ye contrive for him? Isaiah 40:19. The workman casts an image; and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and worketh silver chains: Isaiah 40:20. He who is thrifty in his oblation, chooses wood that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare him an image which will not start. Latter end of Isaiah 40:21. Have ye not considered the foundations of the earth? Isaiah 40:22. Him that sitteth, &c. Isaiah 40:26. Who bringeth out their host by number, calleth them all by name, through the multitude of his virtues, [or abilities,] and the strength of his power: not one faileth. The sum of the preceding period is, that human wisdom ought to yield to divine; that the mutilated Dagon should fall before the ark, and be thrust by from its seat to the threshold of the temple. Yet it might be objected, that idolatry was not only received, but also established among all nations, and that the princes of the world were extremely powerful who supported it. Such was the case; and it might seem impossible, according to human estimates, that such idolatry and superstition, thus supported, should be overthrown by such means as the Gospel professed to apply. The prophet therefore, occurring to these doubts, shews, first, the vanity of idolatry, and what folly there was in it, both from the matter and form of idols, and the manner of making them, compared with the nature, excellence, and greatness of the true Divinity, the Creator of the universe; using nearly the same arguments which the first preachers of the Gospel used: Isaiah 40:18-22. Secondly, the vanity and weakness of the princes supporting idolatry, compared with the most powerful and wise Creator and Ruler of the universe: Isaiah 40:23-26. In demonstrating the vanity of idolatry, he first sets forth the crime which was committed in forming idols, Isaiah 40:18-20. Then follows the reproof of it, Isaiah 40:21-22 which the prophet treats in such a manner, as if he himself was among the apostles of Jesus Christ; of whom indeed he was a true type, if you take the word in its full extent. The same spirit was in them, the same zeal: they were preachers of the same grace, promoters of the same glory of Christ; and they had the same earnest desire to bring the nations to the communion of the kingdom of God. See Vitringa.
Isaiah 40:18-26
18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.