“Immanuel”
[Isaiah 40:1-11]
December 10, 2017, Second Reformed
Church
Have you ever had the chance to warn
a child and warn a child and warn a child, only to have the child go ahead and
do exactly what you warned him or her against?
Have you ever seen what your child –
or if you don’t have a child – think about your pet – have you ever seen what
your child was up to and said, “You better not do that or I will discipline you
– I will spank you – I will take away a toy you love – I will make you stay
home for a week – something like that.
(I suspect many of us were disciplined by our parents!)
Much of the first thirty-nine
chapters of the book of Isaiah is God warning Judah not to do the things that
Israel did. God warns Judah not to
follow in the ways of their pagan neighbors, not to break the Law of God, not
to do the things that Israel did – because they knew that God sent the
Assyrians to punish – to discipline – Israel – and they were taken away into
captivity. “You don’t want that now, do
you?”
But King Hezekiah of Judah met with a
delegation from Babylon – the great conquerors from the north – and he
foolishly and pridefully showed the Babylonians all around. He showed them all their military
hardware. He showed them all the riches
in the King’s vault. He showed them all
the riches in the Temple. He gave them
all the information they wanted about Jerusalem – the capital of Israel.
And Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and
told him that due to his sin, the Babylonians would come and conquer Judah and
take them into captivity. And the nation
was taken into captivity for seventy years.
The tone of the book of Isaiah
changes with chapter 40. And we can
understand why.
The author of Hebrew writes:
“And have you forgotten the exhortation
that addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of
the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one
he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’
“It is for discipline that you have
to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father
does not discipline? If you are left
without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate
children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined
us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of
spirits and live? For they disciplined
us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our
good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems
painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of
righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrew 12:5-11, ESV).
We are disciplined – not to destroy
us – but for our good. Discipline is
given so we will change and be godly people – that we would grow in
righteousness and holiness.
We don’t tell our children not to
put their hand on the hot stove because we want to ruin their lives and deny
them something wonderful, but so that they will be safe and grow to understand
that the hot stove is dangerous to play with.
OK?
At chapter 40, God turns from
discipline to restoration and tells Judah what will happen after the seventy
years in captivity.
Chapter 40 opens with Isaiah telling
his readers:
God disciplines His people for their
good.
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your
God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that
her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for
all her sins.”
God explains that He is not cutting Judah
off in sending her in to captivity, He is sending her there for her good – that
she might learn and turn from her sin and be reconciled to God.
God comforts His people after they have
endured their discipline and learned from it.
She has come around and repented and come back to God, and He opens his
arms to her and receives her back – comforting her, assuring her that her warfare
has ended, and her sins have been pardoned.
She suffered twice as much she had before for her sin, and God forgives
her.
The same is true for God’s people today,
is it not?
Jesus tells the parable of the ungrateful
older brother – we remember the story of the younger brother – how he went to
his father and asked for his share of the inheritance and ran off for a life of
sin – until his money ran out, and his “friends” left him, and he found himself
eating with the pigs. Then he came to
himself and returned to his father’s house with a plan, but his father was
waiting with open arms – with love and forgiveness – hoping, waiting, for his
son to return to him.
We are all sinners, and our Father knows
it. When we repent, He is already
waiting to welcome us and comfort us and call us His again. The point of our discipline – our suffering –
for our sin is that we would remember that we have a Loving Father who is
working all things together for our good.
Our Father calls out every day, “If you
are suffering under the results of your sin, return, and find comfort and
forgiveness for your sin through the merits of Jesus Christ.”
Second, God sent a messenger to announce
salvation.
“A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare
the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every
valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven
ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the
LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of
the LORD has spoken’”
And we know this text – we know who
it is about – this is one of our Advent texts that we have heard over and over
again. We have heard it’s fulfillment in
the Gospel of Matthew:
“In those days John the Baptist came
preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘The
voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make his
paths straight.”’
“Now John wore a garment of camel's
hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild
honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were
going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing
their sins” (Matthew 3:1-6, ESV).
And, yes, the Scripture tells us
that this passage of Isaiah is fulfilled in John’s announcing repentance for
the forgiveness of sins and the coming of the Lord Jesus – saying that no one
should put an impediment in Jesus’ way.
That is the ultimate fulfillment of
this text, but is there anything specifically for the people of Hezekiah’s day
and the captives of Babylon?
We remember that there were times
when the prophets gave a forthtelling – that they would see what will happen in
the future, and when they did, there was often an answer for the people of the
prophet’s day and the future. You have it
think it through. It’s like looking at a
mountain range and all the mountains seem close to each other – even right on
top of one another, but then you find they are actually very far apart.
The ultimate announcement is that
God sent John to be the forerunner and announce the coming of the promised
Savior. But the immediate answer that
God gave to the captives in Babylon, is that God was sending King Cyrus of the
Medo-Persian Empire to conquer Babylon and send the captives back to their own
lands – and for Judah – supplies to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
God made a highway from Babylon to
Judah and oversaw the delivery of supplies and the return of the Jews.
God sent Judah into captivity in Babylon
for their sin, but when the time of discipline was finished, it was nothing for
God to overcome the Babylonians, much less the topography back to Judah. God’s Glory is seen in their return and the
rebuilding of the Temple.
After Adam and Eve plunged humanity
into sin, God promised that He would send a Savior – He even promised to send a
prophet ahead of Him to announce that He had arrived. And God’s Glory is seen in His Son and in the
salvation of the people the Father gave to Him.
God has eternally delivered us through
Jesus alone – and He continues to deliver His Church – His Church will not be
prevailed against by the gates of Hell.
Third, the Word of God stands
forever.
“A voice says, ‘Cry!’ And I said, ‘What
shall I cry?’ All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the
field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on
it; surely the people are grass. The
grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”
The captives needed to be
assured: the Babylonians will not last
forever, other enemies will fall, humans die, but the Word of God – everything
that God has said and promised – cannot and will not fail. “Just watch – see what God is going to do –
God is going to overthrow the Babylonian empire because your time of discipline
is over – it is time for you to return.”
We ought to be assured in this: President Trump will not last forever, the
North Koreans will not last forever, the Chinese and the Russians – all our nations
and friends and enemies – as nations come and go and leaders rise up and fall
and we live and die – know this is all the plan of God – as He breathes in and
out and brings history to pass. The only
thing that stands is the Word of God.
The only thing that stands is the Word of God. Nations come and go, kings come and go,
suffering and pleasure come and go. Trust
in what God has said – what He has done – what He has promised.
If we base our hopes and belief on
what God has said, we will never be disappointed.
Finally, God shepherds His people.
“Go on up to a high mountain, O
Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem,
herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold
your God!’ Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold,
his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock
like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in
his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.”
God tells His herald to go up on the
high mountain and announce, “Behold your God!”
On that first Christmas, Immanuel
was born – “God with us.” The joy of Immanuel burst onto the scene in a
little baby – “Behold your God!”
Captives of Babylon, behold your God
as He delivers you from Babylon.
People of Judah, behold your God as
He delivers you through the gift of His Son, born of a virgin…
This Son is the Good Shepherd, the
Son of David.
“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 have
received from my Father” (John 10:14-18, ESV).
This is the Good Shepherd David sang
about:
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not
want.
“He makes me lie down in green pastures.
“He leads me beside still waters.
“He restores my soul.
“He leads me in paths of righteousness for
his name's sake.
“Even though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and
your staff, they comfort me.
“You prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm
23:1-6, ESV).
The Good Shepherd disciplines us with the
rod when we need it, and we are called to repent and return to Him.
The Good Shepherd was announced by the
prophets, and the announcement stands as evidence and a reminder to us today.
The Word of God, which is always true and
endures forever, tells us about Immanuel, the Son of God, our Deliverer, our
Good Shepherd.
He is God, our Savior, our Immanuel.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, You sent Immanuel to be with
us and to save us. Help us to know that
God is with us, and may we hold on to the certainty of Your Word. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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