Isaiah 40
A Time of Comfort
Stand on the Word vs. 1-8
Follow His Lead vs. 9-14
No Comparison vs. 15-26
Wait on the Lord vs. 27-31
Intro: Isaiah 39
Last week we left off before I could get to Isaiah 39
It is not a big chapter but let me recap it real quick
Hezekiah recovers and Babylon hears about it
Wanting to form an alliance with Judah against Assyria King Merodach sends his son to Jerusalem
While there Hezekiah shows his group everything Israel has, including its treasuries
God alerts Isaiah to it who proceeds to confront Hezekiah on it
Hezekiah is honest about what he did but it still costs Judah
Everything that Hezekiah showed the Babylonians will be taken away by them
On top of that some of his sons will be taken too
Hezekiah’s response to this is very telling
Vs. 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.”
At least it won’t happen during my reign, classic politician, make the next group pay
Unfortunately Hezekiah didn’t finish well
His son, Mannaseh, is considered the worst king in the history of Israel
Judah goes back to sinning worse than it did before
Because of that God doesn’t spare the rod, Judah goes into captivity for 70 years
Because of that God must comfort his people
Isaiah 40-66 is a compilation of messages comforting Israel while in captivity in Babylon
Read Isaiah 40:1-5
Transition:
God is a God is conviction and comfort
Too much of either creates an imbalance within the believer
When there is too much judgment the person can walk around condemned
Paul tells us in Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Condemnation brings with it shame and guilt that can undo our relationship with Christ
At the same time not all conviction is condemnation
God chastens those he loves to bring them closer to Him and remove behaviors that are ungodly
When there is too much comfort it produces soft Christians unable to fight the spiritual battles
Too much comfort brings on spiritual laziness and a sense of entitlement
We expect God to do everything for us like a butler
That is why God uses both conviction and comfort
As we get into chapter 40 God is bringing the comfort to Judah
But there is a gap between chapters 39 and 40
Stand on the Word vs. 1-8
Vs. 1 Comfort, yes, comfort My people!
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!
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
How God’s messengers today must speak to the heart!
Is 51:12 “I, I am he who comforts you, who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass,
Vs. 2 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 reason for comfort.
Vs. 3 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
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
Matt 3:3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare[a] the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”
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!
Vs. 6 What shall I cry?
The voice in the wilderness knew he had an important work, but wanted to know more exactly what his message should be.
The message is the frailty of man:
All flesh is grass that withers and fades
Isaiah thinks of the beautiful green grass covering the hills of Judah after the winter rains, and how quickly the grass dies and the hills are left brown and barren.
This is how frail and weak man is.
Even the beauty of man is fleeting, and passes as quickly as spring wildflowers
Saved by the Bell Reunion on Jimmy Fallon
Vs. 7 Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it:
Man is in this frail state at the pleasure of God.
It is to God’s glory and according to His plan that man is this frail, and the glory of man is so fleeting.
The message is the permanence of God and His word: The word of our God stands forever.
In contrast to the frailty and fleeting glory of man the word of our God endures.
The word of our God certainly has endured.
It has survived centuries of manual transcription, of persecution, of ever changing philosophies, of all kinds of critics, of neglect both in the pulpit and in the pew, of doubt and disbelief - and still, the word of our God stands forever!
Vs. 8 But the Word of the Lord stands forever
When we realize how temporary we are we need to wake up to the fact that God’s word remains
Not just that it keeps getting printed over and over
But through time it stands because it’s truth remains
Follow His Lead vs. 9-14
The second way to receive his comfort is to follow His lead
I love how vs. 9 starts “Go up on a high mountain”
We can do this literally or figuratively
A mountain is a symbol for getting above it all
Is 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
God is telling Isaiah to go up to a high mountain so that his voice can be heard
He is supposed to tell Judah to “Behold Your God!”
Sounds very similar to when John declared “behold the Lamb of God” when Jesus walked by
Behold is a call to recognize the greatness of God
God is telling Isaiah to tell Judah to recognize his power
God comes with might and his Arm rules for him
This phrase “His arm rules for him” is interesting
The arm is a symbol of strength
It powers the sword and bears the shield
Then in vs. 11 we get the contrast of a warrior with a shepherd
First we see His might now we see his care
What a perfect picture of God’s comfort
The shepherd is the one who guides and leads his sheep
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
We are the sheep of his pasture and he will do everything to protect and provide for us
No Comparison vs.15-26
The third way we receive the comfort of the Lord is by comparing His greatness
Vs. 18 asks “to whom will you compare to God?”
God is almost challenging the Jews to do a comparison
Vs. 15-17 The nations are like a drop in the bucket, the coastlands like dust, Lebanon which is known for its cedar couldn’t provide enough fuel, everyone else is nothing
Is 46:5 “To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?
Vs. 21-26 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
Isaiah can’t believe that anyone could doubt the greatness of God when they see the glory of God’s creation.
First, He sits above all creation (It is He who sits above the circle of the earth).
Second, He created it all (Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain).
Isaiah’s amazement is well placed. How can anyone look at the glory and design evident in creation, and fail to understand that there must be a glorious designer behind such a glorious design?
“This is one of the central Old Testament passages on the doctrine of creation.
It teaches that the physical fabric of creation is a direct artifact of the Creator.”
Isaiah uses an interesting phrase when he describes God as the one who sits above the circle of the earth.
How could Isaiah possibly know that the earth’s shape was a circle? He probably didn’t know; but the LORD who spoke through Isaiah did know!
Every once in a while, unlearned critics talk as if Bible believing people are members of the “Flat Earth Society” - people so out of touch with real science that they still insist the earth is flat. In response, we should be reminded that Augustine, perhaps the greatest of the church fathers, who lived about a thousand years before Columbus, professed that the earth was round, not flat.
As well, in the thirteenth century, Thomas Aquinas, the most profound and prolific of medieval theologians, observed that the spherical shape of the earth could be empirically demonstrated. All they did was agree with Isaiah: It is He who sits above the circle of the earth.
Wait on the Lord vs. 27-31
The final way that we receive the comfort of the Lord is to wait on Him
This seems so contrary to reason
Waiting makes thing worse and makes me feel less comforted
Doing something about my situation makes me feel better and more comforted because it keeps my mind busy
But the verse says: “They who wait on the lord shall renew their strength”
There is God’s comfort all over that because God’s comfort is more than peace of mind
God’s comfort is all encompassing AND it renews your strength
You see comfort isn’t just a pat on the back in God’s eyes
Comfort is that inner filling that pushes out all the fear
And it that outer sustaining that keeps us going
When we wait on the Lord and the comfort and strength comes it’s like we have wings
Not the redbull sugar high
Tom Garcia’s grandmother
Ps 27:14 Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
They shall run and not be weary, walk and not faint
Closing:
