Isaiah 40:31 has been one of my favorite verses for as long as I can remember. So, it was only natural that when I decided to map out this verse, looking at it from the promise and the condition for that promise. This was inspired by a message from Johnathan Cahn covering the requirements for God’s promises. I wrote out the verse and then broke out my trusty, dusty highlighters and began to mark the key words in the verse. After looking up each word in the Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon and taking note of the definitions, I began cross-referencing scripture for each key word throughout the Bible.
Pulling from the Complete Jewish Study Bible, it reads a bit differently from the KJV.
But those who hope in Adonai will renew their strength. They will soar aloft as with eagle’s wings. When they are running, they won’t grow weary when they are walking, they won’t get tired. Isaiah 40:31
I have always been a grammar nerd. English was my favorite subject and I loved diagraming sentences, breaking them apart, digging deeper into the vocabulary. Yes, I loved vocab tests as well. It comes as no surprise then that I love digging into the scriptures word by word, gleaning everything I can from them. Taking apart Isaiah 40:31 was a wonder and a treat. It has taken me on a journey where I don’t just look at the surface of the words and simply visualize the imagery from the KJV. Seeing a deeper meaning behind each word has changed the way I see this verse.
Hope (Wait)
Waiting is the one thing that we all dread. There is even a song lyric that says, “The waiting is the hardest part.” But what comes to mind when we hear the word wait isn’t the first thing that reveals itself when going to the lexicon. Right out of the box are the words: twist, stretch, and tension of enduring. Goodbye thoughts of a waiting room and hello being made to grow. As the list continues, we see the word cord, as in a strand of rope. We find strength, endurance, to remain and linger. But the phrase that caught my attention after twist and stretch, was “look eagerly for”. Waiting in hope is not a pointless, boring, fruitless, time period. When we are in that time of hopeful waiting God is able to do some amazing things in our lives. As we eagerly look for Him, He will begin to twist and stretch us, applying tension of enduring. As a cord or rope is strengthened and endures as the strands are twisted together, He will strengthen us so that we too can endure. As we stretch, we grow out of our comfort zone so that we can step into where He needs us to be. And truth be told, what better place to linger than in this type of waiting?
Renew
We all look forward to seasons of renewal and refreshing, but as with hope (wait), the first entry wasn’t what I expected. When I read the words, “pass away or pass through”, it kind of caught me off guard. What came to my mind was, “In order to be renewed, some things will have to pass away from your life, or you will have to pass through some things to enter that renewal.” It made me start taking inventory of my life and looking to see if there are things that need to pass away, or if there is something I need to pass through. When we hear the phrase pass away, we instantly think of death, and Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians makes mention of dying daily. On the flip side of the coin, we then see entries concerning vegetation, of grass (come on anew, sprout again) and of trees (putting forth fresh shoots). Psalm 1:2-3
But his delight is in the Torah of Adonai, and on His torah he meditates day and night. He will be like a planted tree over streams of water, producing its fruit during its season. Its leaf never droops but in all he does, he succeeds. Psalm 1:2-3
As there are no coincidences in God, it shouldn’t be a surprise, although I did shake my head in amazement, that another phrase for renew is “cause to succeed”. These verses from this psalm paint a beautiful picture of renewal that comes from delighting in the Word of God. We also see two more definitions for renewal, and it is almost as if one leads to the other. Change for the better and newness. When we are changed and in Messiah, it’s like Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17, the old things have passed away, all things have become new. We are changed and we are made new, that is what it truly means to be renewed.
Soar (Rise)
This is one of my favorite words in Hebrew. Aliyah. It literally means to ascend or go up. If you hear someone talking about making Aliyah, it usually means “going up to Jerusalem”, but it also means going up to sacred places. This life that we are living is an Aliyah, we are to be constantly going up in Him. Aliyah also means to meet or visit. In our times of hopeful waiting, we are making aliya because we are meeting with Him, we are visiting Him, we are going up after Him or following Him.
One of the interesting things I discovered with this word is that as with renew, there is a definition with plant imagery: to spring up, grow, or shoot forth. I have a couple of sapling fig trees, and it seems that every day when I step outside, they have shot up and grown even taller than the day before. One of them was only about a foot tall at the beginning of spring, today, it is as tall as I am, about 5’2”. I want to grow in God as my fig tree is growing. I want to shoot up in Him.
There were a couple of other entries that at first, I found peculiar until I sat and pondered them for a bit. The first was a single word, incense. The imagery of the incense burnt on the altar is of course what is conjured up and that incense was made up of very specific ingredients that could not be used for common use. It was holy. In the book of Revelation, there is a verse that equates the prayers of the saints with bowls of incense. (Rev 5:8) It is an awe-inspiring thing to think when we pray, we our prayers are lifted up, or Aliyah, to God, they are golden bowls full of incense. What a beautiful image.
Probably the most head shaking entry was the phrase “yoke upon oxen”, but it wasn’t hard to make the leap to the words of Yeshua Himself, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:29-30 With His words we can see the idea of renewal, we can see waiting and learning, and hoping in Him. We can see ourselves taking flight in Him.
Eagle
You may be asking yourself, “Why are we looking at the word eagle? We know what an eagle is.” You would be correct; we know the bird. Majestic, powerful, and beautiful. However, you might not know that the same word for eagle also means vulture, but the bird is not what the takeaway when looking at the meanings. We find yet again connections to words we looked at previously. “Renewing youth by molting.” Insert shocked emoji here! Are you going through a molting period? Are you losing some dead feathers to make way for new growth? Allaboutbirds.org says this about molting, “Molt keeps birds in top flying condition by replacing feathers that have become worn or damaged with completely new feathers.” Just like an eagle, to be able to soar in top condition, we must have our feathers replaced. We have to renew our minds in the Word and remain in the Lord.
Wings
Wings are used in imagery throughout the Word describe the safety and refuge we find in God, so of course we find in the Lexicon that imagery along with the literal wings of the bird, however as we have seen there is always something else that stands out. When looking at the definitions of wings the phrase, “be firm, strong” is included and that got me thinking about the strength of a bird’s wings. We have multiple bird feeders in our yard and love to watch the different types of birds that visit. No matter the size, you can see the strength of each bird as it flits and flies, soars, and glides. We see in the Word that the Lord told His people to be strong and of good courage numerous times. It is the same for us. We are to be strong, to have good courage, and to take refuge in His wings, which is strength beyond compare.
I hope that looking at Isaiah 40:31 from this angle has encouraged and inspired you to dig deeper into the scriptures. I look forward to breaking down more of the promises of God and sharing them with you. May the blessings of God shine down upon you! Shalom!
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