“Comfort Ye”
[Isaiah 40:1-11]
April 26, 2020 YouTube
Last
week, as we considered chapter 39 of Isaiah, we saw darkness fall on
Jerusalem. Hezekiah reveals all the secrets
and strengths of the nation to the Babylonians who are moving to conquer the
Assyrians. Isaiah comes to Hezekiah and
tells him that this is the end – the Babylonians will conquer Jerusalem, take
everyone into captivity – even the sons Hezekiah will have – and they will be
made into eunuchs in the king’s palace.
The good news for Hezekiah is that he will live out his reign in
peace. God’s discipline of His people
will actually come about one hundred years later – and it will last seventy
years.
The
change from chapter 39 to chapter 40 has led to some suspect theories about the
writing of the book of Isaiah, but consider this: is it possible that the Almighty God of heaven
and earth Who is bringing all things to pass according to the counsel of His
own will knows what will happen in seventy years?
In
fact, what we see in the rest of the book of Isaiah is God preparing Judah and
Jerusalem for their captivity, return, and beyond. God is giving them some insight into what
will happen so they will have hope and trust God regarding His promises.
The
first thirty-nine chapters of Isaiah tells us how they got to the point of
captivity – as well as how God has provided for them. Beginning in chapter 40, the emphasis is on
God being the God Who keeps His promises.
And
so, let us begin:
First,
God is our comforter.
“Comfort,
comfort my people, says your God.”
God
instructs Isaiah and the prophets after him and all we who are believers to
reach out with the promises of God’s comfort.
The exile will not be forever.
Discipline will not be forever.
This life of suffering will not be forever. Covid will not be forever. God will keep His promises. God will save the remnant. God’s promise – and the history of His having
kept His promises – is our comfort.
“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.”
Again
– Isaiah, all the prophets, and all those who preach the Gospel – speak
tenderly to the people of God – to the remnant – to the elect. Be honest with them about their situation –
give them the warnings and threats of God – but with the tender love and
promises that He also gives. Teach your
children that with God there is always hope in the end. God will bring His people to Himself and
treat them with tenderness in the end – no matter how bad the suffering is in
the meantime – keep focused on the tenderness of God – and that He will
accomplish His will.
The
word “warfare” that is used here refers to a time of militaries service – of
being discharged from the military – here, permanently. No one can earn God’s favor. No one can merit God’s favor. No one can keep the Law fully and be saved.
Paul
writes, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is
written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the
Book of the Law, and do them.’ Now it is evident that no one is justified
before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Galatians
3:10-11, ESV).
We
continue to fight against sin, the flesh, and the devil, but they have been
defeated by Jesus, so we are discharged from our military service. The battle is won – the war is over – we just
haven’t caught up to it in time and space.
So, have hope. We are victorious
in Christ.
Our
iniquity has been pardoned in Christ.
Every sin we have and will ever commit – every sin of every believer
throughout time and space – was paid for by Jesus on the cross.
For
the generations in captivity – trust the promises of God – look forward to the
deliverance promised to our first parents in the Garden. God will accomplish the keeping of the Law
perfectly and the paying of the debt of the sins of the people of God.
Still,
they will suffer double. Those is exile
will suffer twice as much as they had before.
Those in exile will suffer twice what they normally do, but still far
less than they deserve. We will suffer
in this life, but the suffering of the believer will not be forever – there is
a specific date and time when it will end – when we pass on from glory into
glory and stand before the physically risen Christ and then be glorified and made like unto Him.
Be
comforted, beloved remnant of God! All
we who believe will come through our suffering and be restored – and glorified
because God is faithful and keeps His promises – because He sent His Son Jesus
to merit salvation for us and all who ever believe.
As
Paul reminds us, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are
not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18, ESV).
This
section ends with three conversations.
Second,
nothing can stop the Lord’s 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.’”
Who
is the voice? And we must remember that
this text applies to the people who will be in Babylon. The voice is the prophet – actually a number
of prophets.
What
would Isaiah’s listeners have thought of?
Probably Egypt.
After
four hundred years in slavery, God came to them, and the voice of Moses
announced that God would deliver His people.
Pharaoh was not too great to keep God from delivering them. The Red Sea was not too great to keep God
from delivering them. The Sinai
wilderness was not too great to keep God from delivering them. God brought His people out of Egypt, through
the sea, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land. The Glory of the Lord was seen in His works
of deliverance, in the fire and the cloud, in the storms on Sinai, in the
blessings and the curses upon the people.
But
it is for more, isn’t it?
About
one hundred and seventy years after Isaiah speaks these words, God would
deliver His people out of Babylon. And
the Persian Kingdom and Cyrus would not be too great for God. Bringing the people across the world would
not be too hard for God. Having all the
supplies they needed to rebuild donated would not be too hard for God. And the Glory of the Lord would return to the
Holy of Holies in the Temple.
But
it is for more, isn’t it?
As
we read in 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”’” (Matthew 3:1-3, ESV).
We
are specifically told that John the Baptist is the voice, and he is crying out
for the revealing of Jesus as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the
world, as God the Father sends the Holy Spirit to indwell Jesus at His baptism,
saying that He is the Beloved Son of the Father.
And
we read that the Glory of Jesus was revealed:
“For
we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power
and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was
borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am
well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we
were with him on the holy mountain” (II Peter 1:16-18, ESV).
But,
one more: Isaiah says that all flesh
shall see the Glory of God.
Jesus
says this will happen when He returns to bring His people into their final rest:
“And
then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:27-28, ESV).
“Therefore
God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every
name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on
earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11, ESV).
And
so, the words of Paul are true from the Creation and forevermore:
“Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For
your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be
slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him
who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers,
nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35-39, ESV).
Nothing
can stop the Lord’s salvation of His people.
Third, the Word of God is eternal.
“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.”
God then tells Isaiah to cry out to
the people – and we do well to do the same – to cry out to the people that
humans lie and die, humans tell the truth and lie and live and die – but the
Word of God is sure and true and eternal.
What God says is and will always be.
God never has to correct what He says, and He always keeps His Word.
Peter tells us:
“Having
purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly
love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born
again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and
abiding word of God; for ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the
flower of 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 1:22-25, ESV).
The
message of the Gospel – Who Jesus is and what He did to secure the salvation of
His people is sure and true and will never change. You and I can be comforted and strong in our
faith and obedience because Jesus has saved us and that can never change, because
we have been saved by the Word of God.
As
people rise and fall, as they tell the truth and lie and just make mistakes, we
are secure in the Word of God because it is the Word of God Who cannot lie or
be wrong or die. He is living and our
ever-Savior.
Finally, the Lord is our Shepherd.
“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.”
God now commands Zion – Jerusalem –
that is, the Church – all those who believe throughout time and space. And God tells believers that we are heralds
of the Good News – we are the heralds of the victory of God.
The Good News we are to proclaim is
“Behold your God!” Look at Who God
is. Look at what God has done. Look at God’s character. Look at God’s Promises. Look, He is the Almighty God Who led the
people of Israel out of Egypt with His mighty right hand and leads everyone who
will believe out of slavery to the devil into the glorious light of salvation. And look, He has His reward – He has His
recompense – every single person God intends to be saved through the Savior is
being saved. Not one will be lost. Everyone will be saved. God is victorious in every respect forever and
ever.
And:
“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
is not an absentee God. We are the sheep
of God’s pasture and He is our Shepherd.
“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” (Psalm 23:1-3, ESV).
Jesus
says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a
shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep
and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is
a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 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” (John 10:11-15, ESV).
The
God of all those who will believe – our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, is our Shepherd. He leads us.
He cares for us. He carries us
and comforts us as we have need. He gives us all we need and accomplishes
salvation for us. He carries the staff
to keep us from going astray and He carries the rod to fight with predators and
thieves – and He is always victorious for our sake. Even as Jesus lay His life down for us – He
is physically raised victorious and the greatest happiness the world can ever
know is ours in Him.
Jesus has delivered us from sin and death and
hell, so John Calvin comments on this verse that the sum of our happiness is
being in the presence of God.
As
we go from day to day until the sky cracks and Jesus returns, let us remember
this message to the people of Jerusalem, and the exiles in Babylon, and all we
who believe: God is our comforter, and
nothing can stop the Lord’s salvation of His people. Let us trust that the Word of the Lord is
eternal, and the Lord is our Shepherd.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, You care for Your
people like a good shepherd. Thank You for
showing us that in war or exile or Covid, You are the Sovereign of
History. We have comfort and salvation
and protection and life eternal in You.
So, let us cry out from the mountains, “Behold your God!” He is coming.
Let us find our rest in Him as the world around us rages. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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