Message summary: The Bible declares we are "like grasshoppers". Let us  keep this perspective before us today and all through our brief lives.

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“Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers” (Isaiah 40:21-22).

We have begun our annual lawn cleanup which includes trimming and pulling out the annuals. Yesterday I was using the hedge trimmer cutting back some perennials when I felt a critter on my hand. I looked down and saw a grasshopper. When Brooksyne takes the dogs for a walk they get a little side tracked by trying to capture the hopping grasshoppers.

The grasshoppers are still busy, hopping to and fro. They “sing” as they scrape their rear legs against their wings. They are getting in their last mating efforts before the cooler days of autumn silence them. Most grasshoppers do not survive the winter in their adult form.

They're mentioned six times in standard Bible translations. In case you're interested they're allowed as food in the dietary rules set forth by Moses (Leviticus 11:22). When the twelve spies checked out the Promised Land the majority report informed Moses and the people of the giants in the land and that "we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers" (Numbers 13:33).

But today let us consider a treasured verse in Isaiah 40, a grand chapter that contains one of the greatest expressions of the glory and majesty of God in the entire Bible. Today’s verse gives us God’s perspective stating that “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth". Indeed God is seated on His throne, for He reigns supreme over heaven and earth. It's interesting to look at the phrase "the circle of the earth" which reveals divine revelation regarding the round earth even though the dominant view up to several hundred years ago was that the earth was flat.

In great contrast to God being enthroned above the circle of the earth the Bible says "its people are like grasshoppers". What candid bluntness regarding the relative temporary and frail condition of humanity! The grasshopper is just a tiny insect compared to me and has a lifespan of only 4-12 months. The ones that we saw as children are long, long gone and are nothing more than a brief memory. And with a longer, let alone, eternal perspective that’s the same for us on our earthly journey!

Nature and history verifies this again and again. Are we any different today? I suspect each living generation believes there is a special significance to its own existence. But the Bible declares, “generations come and generations go” (Ecclesiastes 1:4). And so will ours.

The phrase “but God remains” reflects the biblical truth that everything changes except God: His nature, His promises, and His presence are eternal and unchanging.

Let us  keep this perspective before us today and all through our brief lives. Perhaps you’ll recall this message the next time you see a grasshopper!

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13.

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber