"Here Is Your God" Sermon: Isaiah 40:1-11

“Here Is Your God”
[Isaiah 40:1-11]
December 7, 2008 Second Reformed Church

On this Second Sunday of Advent, we are turning again to the prophet Isaiah, and we may remember that Isaiah was preaching during the Assyrian conquest of the Kingdom – about eight hundred years before Jesus. He preached before the Babylonian captivity and before the Persian captivity.

In our text, we find four promises from God. For promises to the people of Israel and to all those who believe in Jesus Alone as their Savior.

After prophesying to Hezekiah that the kingdom would be taken into captivity by Babylon, Isaiah spoke God’s very words to the king, telling him that the people should take comfort (and this is actually in the future tense in the Hebrew). Isaiah says that Israel should take comfort because, in the future, God will comfort her, God will speak tenderly to her, her warfare will come to an end, her sins will be pardoned, after she receives a double punishment from the Lord.

God tells Israel through the prophet, that they should not be distressed by the war and the captivity that will follow in the generations to come, because God loves His people. Rather, they ought to understand that those who humble themselves before God – before the cross – will experience comfort, despite the extent of the distress they would go through. God promised that after the captivity, after they had suffered for their sins, they would receive God’s comfort.

Now, we might wonder what Isaiah and God meant by saying, in verse two, “[Israel] has received from the Lord’s hand double for her sins.” There are two ways we can interpret this: we could understand this to mean that God punished them twice as much as their sin deserved. But that cannot be the right understanding, or else that would leave God sinning. The other possibility is that this means that God punished them twice as much as usual, but still not necessarily as much as they deserved. This is the interpretation that makes sense, since God is Holy and Just – God punished them twice as much as usual, but still less that what they deserved.

So, God’s Promise is that after a period of time, God will comfort His people.

And that promise is for us, as we look forward in hope and remember this familiar Scripture: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold the dwelling place of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:1-7, ESV).

In verses three through five we hear the second promise in our text, as we hear this very familiar text of a voice crying in the wilderness. Luke records its fulfillment this way: “And [John] went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:3-6, ESV).

God promised to send a prophet to prepare the way and to prepare the people for God’s Savior.

But we need to remember something: when the prophets gave their prophecies, it was like they were looking at a series of mountains before them. And if you’ve ever looked at a bunch of mountains, they can look like they’re very close – or even right on top of each other – when they are very far apart. The same is true with biblical prophecy: often, a single prophecy deals with more than one issue and/or time period. That is the case here.

It’s clear from the rest of Isaiah’s prophecies, that Isaiah is the prophet “crying in the wilderness”, and the savior that Isaiah is talking about in this section of the text, is Cyrus, King of Persia, who will set the people of Israel free from captivity over one hundred and fifty years after Isaiah. So, Cyrus is the first mountain, if you will.

Then, we have the confirmation in the Gospels that John the Baptist is also the prophet “crying the wilderness” who prepares the way for Jesus, as the Greatest and Final Savior of God’s people. Whereas Cyrus freed Israel from slavery to other nations, Jesus frees us from our slavery to sin. So, Jesus is the second mountain.

And at this point, we may wonder about the mountains and valleys: There are still mountains and valleys. They haven’t all been flattened and filled up. So what is going on with Isaiah’s prophecy? John Calvin, in his commentary, explains that the mountains and valleys in this prophecy are part of a metaphor. What Isaiah is prophesying is that God will remove all obstructions from His accomplishing the salvation He intends to bring. Isaiah is not saying that the earth will be as flat as a pancake one day; he is saying that nothing can stop God from saving His people.

Yet there is a third mountain to consider, because Jesus’ Work was not finished (in history) in His First Coming to earth: the prophecy says that all flesh – all people – all nations – shall see the glory of God – or the salvation of God. That has not occurred yet. Not everyone on the planet has seen the glory of God – not everyone God intends to save has received His Salvation. That will happen at Jesus’ Second Coming: “For as the lightening comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the heavens, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:27-31, ESV).

The third promise is found in verses six through eight, where we find God telling the prophet Isaiah to make the pronouncement that all flesh is like grass and like flowers – we have a finite life – we will, one day, unless the Lord tarries, die and return to the dust.

Peter quotes this text in his first letter: “‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever”’ And this word is the good news that was preached to you” (I Peter 1:24-25, ESV). And James uses the same theme in his letter: “Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because, like the flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits” (James 1:9-11, ESV).

The fading, failing human flesh is the contrast to the promise: the Word of the Lord will stand forever. No matter what you and I face in this world, no matter how many people and teachers and ministers and friends and family members fail us, the Word of God never fails. It is always authoritative. It is always true. We can always go to it to find out what God has done and promised and will surely do. We can always go to it to find out how we are to live and how we can be right with God.

Then God tells Isaiah to go up to the highest peak, to Mount Zion, to the highest point in Jerusalem, as the herald of Good News and to cry out to Israel, with strength and not fear: “Here is your God.”

Israel was being ravaged by the Assyrians. She would be taken into captivity by the Babylonians, and then ruled over by the Persians, until Cyrus came to power. And in the midst of this, surely the people were crying out, “Where is our God?” And the answer from God through the prophet Isaiah is, “Here is your God.” “Your God is allowing the Assyrians and the Babylonians and the Persians to punish you for your sin, but the day will come when I will comfort you. The day will come when I will send a prophet and a savior to you. But for now, you have My Word, which shall never fail. My Word, in which every word is Truth and I commit myself to keep.”

And, as the fourth promise, God promises to return for His people with might, as their Ruler. He will come to receive the people that belong to Him; salvation shall be the reward to all those who believe in Him Alone for their salvation. He will be a shepherd to them. He will protect them and care for them and love them as his own.

Jesus said, “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that never went astray” (Matthew 18:12-13, ESV). And “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I received from my Father” (John 10:14-18, ESV).

And remember what the author of Hebrews wrote, “And without faith it is impossible to please [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:8, ESV). We often hear the first part of this verse – that it is impossible to please God without faith. But notice what it says in the second part: in order to draw near to God, we must believe that He is Who He says He is in His Word, and that He will reward those who seek Him in faith. And Who is that reward? Isaiah tells us that the Savior is the reward of all those who seek the God of the Bible in faith.

As we continue through this Advent season and remember the first coming of our God and Savior Jesus, let us remember that our God is here, and He has made promises to His people. After we have suffered on this earth, He will comfort us. God has sent a Savior to all who will believe, and He is coming again. God stands behind the everlasting authority and truth of His Word. And God promises security for His people in His Love and Care.

We might add a fifth promise as we prepare to receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper: Jesus has promised to be with us here spiritually, and as we receive the bread and the cup, He ministers to us by giving us His Grace, strengthening us to be able to do all that He has called us to do and giving us understanding. Amen.

Let us pray:
Almighty God, we continue to celebrate the Advent of Your Birth in human flesh. We ask that You would renew our hope and trust in Your Promises as we look forward to Your Second Coming. And we ask that we would receive the grace we need to be Your people as we receive the elements of the sacrament. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.