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“I can’t wait for Christmas. This is a universal statement that we may hear at this of the year. There are many things that people today forward for in December: great meals, family time, reunions, worship, decorating, and the coming of Christmas morning. Why is that? It is a joyous time of the year, and the season promotes HOPE. We all need hope. We all experience hurt in some areas of our lives. Sometimes mistakes happen and we feel shame or regret over things in our past. We have tried to fix these things in our lives, and maybe we have failed. That causes us to lose hope. The problem is we are looking in the wrong direction. There is sure hope for all of us. And that hope comes from God. At this time of year, we are reminded of Jesus’ birth. We must never forget that our God is with us and our Savior is here. It is good news of great joy to all people. So, celebrate this season for the hope it brings.
READ ISAIAH 40:1-2
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.
This chapter treats of the comforts of God’s people; of the forerunner and coming of the Messiah; of his work, and the dignity of his person; of the folly of making idols, and of the groundless complaints of the church of God. The message of Isaiah 40 was meant to encourage them during the coming captivity, during their time of waiting. Isaiah reminded them that this was a time of “waiting on the Lord.” This was not the idling away of time that marks the summer breaks for schoolchildren. It was to be a time of active anticipation, of looking for what will happen next. It has been defined as “strong enough to hold out. Solid endurance as a stiff piece of oak that never bends under pressure.” Waiting on the Lord is never wasted time. It is when we cultivate our faith through the reading and study of God’s Word, when we learn the lessons of how we ought to pray, when we employ our gifts and efforts in the service of God and others.
Why is waiting even necessary? Because God’s timing is not our timing. Our wanting something so badly we cannot wait has no bearing on God’s decision on when and how He will move. There is no better time to learn about God’s sovereignty than when we are waiting on Him. Over our interests are the interests of the Kingdom and God’s desire to conform us to His own image. Waiting is part of that. When finally, the waiting is over God promises renewed strength. To illustrate this, Isaiah gives us pictures of an eagle, a runner and pedestrian travel. In chapter 40, the word “faint” or a related term is used five times. He knows that the reader may feel exhausted under the burden of Babylonian exile and during this prolonged period of waiting. But the promise is given that they will “renew their strength” by mounting up with “with wings as eagles.” The term “mount up” literally means to rise to another level. As the eagle is able to soar to spectacular heights on wind currents, the child of God will gain new heights by being uplifted by the Spirit of God.
The previous 39 chapters of Isaiah certainly had passages of comfort and hope, but there was a strong tone of judgment and warning throughout the section. Now, beginning with Isaiah 40, the tone shifts to being predominantly full of comfort and blessing, full of the glory of God.
Remember where Isaiah 39 just ended: announcing the coming Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, and the exile of the nation. “The announcement that the Babylonians would someday capture Jerusalem and take the people into exile was a bitter blow. How could Judah celebrate the downfall of Assyria when everyone knew that a more powerful invader was on the way?” Isaiah knew what it was to warn and instruct God’s people, but the LORD also wanted His people to receive His comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3 speaks of our Lord as the God of all comfort; God wants His messengers to speak comfort to His people.
In any group waiting to hear God’s word, there are any number of hidden hurting hearts. It is important for those hurting hearts to hear a word of comfort from God’s messenger. As one preacher put it, “Preach to broken hearts and you will never lack an audience. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem: This means that Jerusalem needed a word of comfort. This means that God had comfort to give them. God’s comfort is not a hollow, positive-thinking, “There’s-a-silver-lining-behind-every-cloud” kind of message. God always gives His people reasons for comfort. The comfort comes with tender words, spoken to the heart. Speak comfort is literally, “‘speak to the heart’, like a young man wooing his girl (Genesis 34:3).”It is important for God’s messengers today to speak to the heart.
It is in this same sense that God speaks to us and tells us we can be more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37). The battle still looms, but as far as it concerns the believer in Jesus Christ, her warfare is ended, because You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). That her iniquity is pardoned: At the moment Isaiah spoke this, Jerusalem was well aware of her sin – Isaiah had made them aware of it! Yet, the prophet speaks of a day when comfort can be offered because her iniquity is pardoned. This is real comfort; to be recognized as a sinner – as one having iniquity – yet knowing just as much that our iniquity is pardoned. This was a reason for comfort.
For she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins: This declares the basis for the pardon of iniquity – the sin has been completely paid for. Isaiah, speaking in Old Covenant terminology, speaks of Jerusalem bearing the curse for disobedience described in passages like Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. But the same principle applies to the believer under the New Covenant; our iniquity is pardoned because our sin has been paid for. This is a reason for comfort.
Does it seem unfair that God would have a double payment for sin? “Double means ‘to fold over, fold in half’ (Exodus 26:9)…. When something is folded over, each half corresponds exactly with the other half, and this would yield the thought of exact correspondence between sin and payment.” A payment has been made, and it was exactly the payment that was needed. Our iniquity (sin) is never pardoned because God has simply decided to “let us off the hook.” That would make God an unrighteous, wicked judge, something He could never be. But under the New Covenant, it is not we who have received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins; it is our sin-bearing Savior Jesus Christ, who received the cup of wrath from the LORD’s hand double for all our sins.
READ ISAIAH 40:3-5
A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Here, Isaiah speaks for the LORD’s messenger, who cries out to the barren places.
b. Prepare the way of the LORD: The idea is that the LORD is coming to His people as a triumphant King, who has the road prepared before Him so He can travel in glory and ease. Every obstacle in the way must be removed: every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth. Whatever was wrong in the road must be corrected. The problems were not the same everywhere. Sometimes, the road in the valley needed to be lifted up; other times a road had to be cut through a passage in the mountains. The idea of preparing the way of the LORD is a word picture because the real preparation must take place in our hearts. Building a road is very much like the preparation God must do in our hearts. They are both expensive, they both must deal with many different problems and environments, and they both take an expert engineer.
The glory of the LORD shall be revealed: His glory is revealed to the prepared hearts described in the previous verses. And it is revealed without regard to nationality; all flesh shall see it together. This glory of the LORD is not revealed only to Jerusalem or Judah, but to every prepared heart. The certainty of this word is assured because the mouth of the LORD has spoken. Prepare the way of the LORD: This passage of Isaiah 40:3-5 has a direct fulfillment in the New Testament, in the person and ministry of John the Baptist. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, knew this at the birth of his son (Luke 1:76). And three gospels directly relate this passage to the ministry of John (Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, and Luke 3:3-6). Jesus was the coming Messiah and King, and John the Baptist’s ministry was to be one crying in the wilderness, and through his message of repentance, to prepare the way of the LORD. We often fail to appreciate how important the preparing work of the LORD is. Any great work of God begins with great preparation. John wonderfully fulfilled this important ministry.
Isaiah 40:3-5 is a passage in the Bible where God speaks through the prophet Isaiah. It calls for comfort for His people, indicating that their hard service has been completed and their sins have been paid for. The passage also foretells the coming of the Lord and the need to prepare the way for Him1. Additionally, it speaks of receiving double for the cure of sins and separating from idolatry2 This is also a passage that describes John the Baptist as the harbinger of Christ, and the effects of his work, which will result in the humiliation of some and the exaltation of others, and in the revelation of the glory of Christ12. The passage also encourages the audience that the time of Yahweh’s long absence from Jerusalem has come to an end, and that Yahweh will return to his holy city and again be accessible2.
Every valley shall be exalted, verse 4 – That is, every valley, or low piece of ground, shall be filled up so as to make a level highway, as was done in order to facilitate the march of armies. This verse is evidently designed to explain what is intended in Isaiah 40:3, by preparing the way for Yahweh. Applied to the return of the Jews from Babylon, it means simply that the impassable valleys were to be filled up so as to make a level road for their journey. If applied to the work of John, the forerunner of the Messiah, it means that the nation was to be called on to put itself in a state of preparation for his coming, and for the success of his labors among them. Vitringa, and others, have endeavored to specify what particular moral qualities in the nation are meant by the ‘valley,’ by the ‘mountain and hill,’ and by the ‘crooked’ and ‘rough places.’ But the illustrations are such as cannot be demonstrated to be referred to by the prophet. The general sense is plain. The language, as we have seen, is taken from the march of a monarch at the head of his army. The general idea is, that all obstructions were to be removed, so that the march would be without embarrassment. As applicable to the work of John also, the language means in general, that whatever there was in the opinions, habits, conduct, in the pride, self-confidence, and irreligion of the nation that would prevent his cordial reception, was to be removed.
And the glory of the Lord – The phrase here means evidently the majesty, power, or honor of Yahweh. He would display his power and show himself to be a covenant-keeping God, by delivering his people from their bondage, and reconducting them to their own land. This glory and faithfulness would be shown in his delivering them from their captivity in Babylon; and it would be still more illustriously shown in his sending the Messiah to accomplish the deliverance of his people in later days. And all flesh – All human beings. The word ‘flesh’ is often used to denote human nature, or mankind in general Genesis 6:12; Psalm 65:3; Psalm 145:21. The idea is, that the deliverance of his people would be such a display of the divine interposition, so that all nations would discern the evidences of his power and glory. But there is a fullness and a richness in the language which allows that it is not to be confined to that event. It is more strikingly applicable to the advent of the Messiah – and to the fact that through him the glory of Yahweh would be manifest to all nations. This probably should be translated: And all flesh shall see together That the mouth of Yahweh hath spoken it.
READ ISAIAH 40:9-11
Go up on a high mountain Zion, messenger of good news, Raise your voice forcefully, Jerusalem, messenger of good news; Raise it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10 Behold, the Lord [a]GOD will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His compensation is with Him, And His reward before Him. 11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in the fold of His robe; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
You who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain: Isaiah speaks of a message so great – tidings so good – that they must be spread as widely as possible. From on top of the high mountain, the messenger can proclaim this great message to as many people as possible. It is a message that should be shouted out, so the messenger is told, Lift up your voice with strength. Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God”: What is the great message, that should be shouted so loud? It is an invitation to behold your God. There is nothing greater for a believer to do than to study and to know their God. The message isn’t to give God a passing glance. No; we are invited to behold your God. It speaks of a study, of a long-term mission to know thereatness and the character of our God. It also shows how important it is for the message of God’s preacher to focus on God. After every sermon, a preacher should ask, “Did I help the people to behold your God?”
A great philosopher named Alexander Pope once wrote, “Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; the proper study of mankind is man.” In one sermon, Spurgeon replied to that famous statement: “It has been said by someone that ‘the proper study of mankind is man.’ I will not oppose the idea, but I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God’s elect is God; the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father.
” Behold your God! –The words have, in one sense, only an ideal fulfilment; but the prophet contemplates the return of the exiles and the restoration of the Temple worship, as involving the renewed presence of Jehovah in the sanctuary which He had apparently abandoned. He would come back with His people and abide with them. Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand: One aspect of our God we should behold is the fact of His return. Our God will return to this earth, and He will come with power (a strong hand…His arm shall rule). The Lord GOD shall come: When the LORD comes back, He comes to reward His people (His reward is with Him). He comes to inspect His work (and His work before Him). This is something important for us to know about our God.
With invincible strength, to deliver his people from their most powerful enemies; and his arm shall rule for him — His own power shall be sufficient, without any other help, to overcome all opposition. His reward is with him — He comes furnished with recompenses, as well of mercy and blessings for his friends and followers, as of justice and vengeance for his enemies: or, “the reward and the recompense which he bestows, and which he will pay to his faithful servants, he has ready at hand with him, and holds out before him to encourage those who trust in him, and wait for him; and his work before him — He is ready to execute what he hath undertaken; or, he carries on his work effectually; for that is said in Scripture to be before a man which is in his power. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, &c. — He shall perform all the offices of a tender and faithful shepherd toward his people, conducting himself with great wisdom, condescension, and compassion to every one of them, according to their several capacities and infirmities. And shall gently lead those that are with young — Or, those that give suck, as the word עלות, may be rendered. The nursing ewes shall he gently lead; observing, that “it is a beautiful image, expressing, with the utmost propriety, as well as elegance, the tender attention of the shepherd to his flock.
He will feed His flock like a shepherd: Another aspect of our God to behold is His loving care as a shepherd. The first thing a shepherd must do for his sheep is feed them, and the LORD feeds us like a shepherd feeds his flock. Sheep must be directed to the good pasture and must be moved on to new pasture when they have stripped the grass bare. We need as much carefully directed feeding as sheep! “No creature has less power to take care of itself than the sheep; even the tiny ant with its foresight can provide for the evil day, but this poor creature must be tended by man or else perish.” God loves to identify Himself with a shepherd. Many of the greatest men of the Bible were shepherds, and their character as shepherds’ points to Jesus Christ.
·Abel is a picture of Jesus, the sacrificed shepherd.
·Jacob is a picture of Jesus, the working shepherd.
·Joseph is a picture of Jesus, the persecuted and exalted shepherd.
·Moses is a picture of Jesus, the calling-out-from-Egypt shepherd.
·David is a picture of Jesus, the shepherd king.
He will gather the lambs with His arm: Our LORD shows special care for the lambs. The youngest, the weakest, are not despised – they are given special care by the LORD who first actively gathers them and will carry them in His bosom. He doesn’t cast the weak lambs over His shoulder, as a shepherd might carry a sheep. Instead, He lovingly cradles them in His bosom, close to His heart. That is both a safe place and a tender place.” To carry is kindness, but to carry in the bosom is loving-kindness. The shoulders are for power, and the back for force, but the bosom is the seat of love.” “I see the Lord of angels condescending to personal labor. Jesus Christ himself gathers with his own arm and carries in his own bosom the lambs of his flock. He doth not commit this work to an angel, nor does he even leave it to his ministers; but he himself, by his Spirit, still undertakes it.” And gently lead those who are with young: The shepherd carries a rod and a staff and knows how to use them, but He also knows how to gently lead those who are with young. He knows exactly when to be gentle, and when more severe guidance should be used.
Like a shepherd: Jesus is given three great titles regarding His work as a shepherd.
i. Jesus the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-15). He is good in His care and sacrifice for the flock.
ii. Jesus the Great Shepherd (Hebrews 13:20). He is great in His glorious triumph over every enemy.
iii. Jesus the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4). He is the Chief over all His people in His return. At His return, Jesus also exercises another aspect of His role as Shepherd: He divides the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-33). “Did you ever notice that the same Shepherd who saves the lost, will curse the finally impenitent? He shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats, and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, ‘Depart ye cursed.’ What lips are those which pronounce those dreadful words? The Shepherd’s lips.” This is the hope we all should look forward to as we are His sheep and He will be there for us – always.
ROMANS 8:24-25 4 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Paul expands on the situation of the believer. He declares that “in hope we were saved.” This is the only time Paul speaks in his letters of being saved as a past event. But it is possible for him to do so, for God’s saving action in Christ has taken place already.