A Look at Isaiah 40 -- 2/14/10

Sunday, February 14, 2007

A LOOK AT ISAIAH 40

I suppose you might say that last week’s sermon would have been appropriate for Valentine’s Day, since the message was entitled “God Is Love.” So if you are big on particular days, call it an early Valentine’s present. The good news is that the good news goes beyond all days and occasions; it is good news for all seasons. If you weren’t here for some reason last week, I would strongly urge you to get a CD and listen. If you are a child of God, it is a message that you can learn to share, because you are a messenger of reconciliation.

Before we get back to Philippians, we are going to take one more week to do something a little bit different. Last year, we had set before us the book of Philippians as a passage for memory. Some of you worked hard on it. I am not going to ask you to raise your hand if you memorized all of it, because I don’t want you to be puffed up with pride. In all reality, I would have to say that it was an individual project. With few exceptions, we didn’t work on it together. Thanks to the insight of brothers and sisters, we are using a different approach this year, as we work to memorize Isaiah 40. We are going to work on it together. This will take some of our time, but we trust it will be valuable use of our time. We got started last week. I praise God that Lee and Michelle are willing and eager to take the lead in encouraging us to hide this passage in our hearts. It was Michelle who made quite a number of helpful suggestions. By the way, most of you know that Lee and Michelle will be leaving us at the end of May. But as long as they are here, they want to be of service. So we are giving them that opportunity!

More than one has commented that perhaps it is a good idea to have some understanding of what we are memorizing. I am in total agreement. For that reason, I want us to spend our time this morning coming to a better understanding of Isaiah 40. I have been working on that this week, and I ask you to join me now. I must confess that I am far more familiar with verses 12-31 than with verses 1-11. Nevertheless, I must say that I have never undertaken the task of memorizing this chapter. I only knew verse 31. Since most of my memorizing consists of passages that I have memorized at some time in the past, I am excited about memorizing a brand new passage. So with that, let’s dive into Isaiah.

I. Seeing the Big Picture

Before we come to chapter 40, it is important that we see the big picture, that we have some idea of where chapter 40 fits into the whole of the book of Isaiah.

So who wrote the book of Isaiah? Exactly right, the prophet Isaiah. We get our best look at the man himself by coming to chapter 6. Let’s read chapter 6 to re-introduce us to Isaiah. Read Isaiah 6 (NKJV)

Isaiah was willing to go and speak for the Lord, but Lord told him at the start that the people would not respond to his message. Nevertheless, he was faithful to the task to which the Lord called him.

So what is the theme of the book of Isaiah? Perhaps there is no better statement of the theme than the very meaning of Isaiah’s name. Do you know what “Isaiah” means? It simply means “the salvation of Jehovah.” That’s what the book is about. It speaks of a more immediate salvation and an ultimate salvation in the Messiah.

You will want to remember that Isaiah is divided into two well-defined parts. There are two things that will make it very easy for you to remember where it is divided. Since we are memorizing chapter 40, it should be very easy for us to remember that the second division of Isaiah begins with chapter 40. Also, notice that there are 66 chapters in Isaiah. What is special about that number 66? Yes, that is the number of books in the Bible. And how many books are there in the Old Testament? That’s right, 39. Well, there are 39 chapters in the first section of Isaiah and 27 in the second section, just as there are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.

The theme of the first 39 chapters is simply the judgment of God. The theme of chapters 40-66 is the comfort of God, or the deliverance of God. That is pretty simple, isn’t it? We can remember that without any trouble.

When I say that the two sections of Isaiah are well-defined, that is probably an understatement. They are so different that beginning about 350 years ago, some students of the Bible began to say that the book of Isaiah was written by two different authors. That line of thinking is followed by many so-called biblical scholars today. They cannot believe that the prophet Isaiah could have written chapters 40-66. Why is that? Two reasons. First of all, because of the difference in tone between the two sections. After all, the theme of one is judgment and the theme of the other is comfort. But that in itself is no reason to suspect that the book was written by two different authors. This dual theme of judgment and deliverance runs through most all of the prophets, though not quite so sharply separated as in Isaiah. The bigger reason is that the last section of Isaiah points to a period of history after the death of Isaiah.

When did Isaiah live? Can we know that? Yes, we certainly can. Go to the very first chapter of Isaiah. Let’s read Is. 1:1 (NKJV), “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” His prophetic ministry spanned the life of four kings in Judah -- Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. If you know anything about the kings of Judah, you know that these kings were part of the line of David. That means that these kings were in a father/son order. Jotham was the son of Uzziah; Ahaz was the son of Jotham; and Hezekiah was the son of Ahaz. From chapter 6 we gather that Isaiah’s ministry began toward the very end of Uzziah’s reign. It extended into the reign of Hezekiah. Isaiah prophesied for some 40 or 50 years. Tradition holds that Hezekiah’s son Manasseh killed Isaiah, some even believing that the reference of some being sawn asunder in Heb. 11:37 is a reference to Isaiah. We can’t know that, but we do know that he had a very long ministry in the nation of Judah.

The first 39 chapters contain the prophecies of Isaiah, who had much to say about coming judgment upon the nation because of their failure to glorify their God. Unlike the northern nation of Israel, which never had a good king, Judah had some good kings and some bad kings. But generally speaking, the overall spiritual condition of the nation continued to decline until it would finally be captured by a foreign nation.

Hezekiah was one of the best kings (along with Josiah) of the nation of Judah. God used him in a mighty way. There came a time when God told Hezekiah that it was time for him to get his house in order, because he was going to die. Hezekiah begged the Lord to spare his life, and the Lord answered his prayer, giving him a 15-year extension to his life on this earth. Two significant things happened during those last 15 years. First of all, he had a son named Manasseh, who would be the most wicked king Judah had ever had (rivaled only by his son Amon). The other significant event is detailed in chapter 39. Let’s read Isaiah 39 (NKJV)…

¹ At that time Merodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. ² And Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?” So Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a far country, from Babylon.” ⁴ And he said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.” ⁵ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: ⁶ ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD. ⁷ ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” ⁸ So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “At least there will be peace and truth in my days.”

Through Isaiah, the Lord rebuked Hezekiah for showing his treasures to the Babylonians and assured him that the day would come when those Babylonians would come and take his treasure, along with some of his own offspring. So what is so interesting about that? The Babylonians were not a world power at that time. It was the Assyrians who were threatening Judah, as we can see all through the first 38 chapters of the book. The Babylonians would not overtake the Assyrians until almost a century later. Nevertheless, the Lord revealed the future to Isaiah and he laid it out for Hezekiah. So the first section of Isaiah ends with this prediction that the Babylonians would conquer Judah.

So did it happen as Isaiah predicted? Indeed it did. And that brings us to the second section of Isaiah, chapters 40-66, where the theme is God’s comfort. What is the historical setting of this section? This is what is amazing about the book of Isaiah. In this second section, Isaiah “looks through and beyond the Babylonian captivity, which was announced…at the close of chapter 39” (Isaiah: The Salvation Jehovah, Alfred Martin, p. 67. Martin’s little introduction to Isaiah is very helpful with background material.) Now he sees the Babylonian captivity as already past, although it didn’t begin until about a hundred years after the close of Isaiah’s ministry.

So some people who study the Bible have a real problem with the idea that Isaiah could have written from the viewpoint that went beyond the Babylonian captivity. Add to that the fact that this second division of Isaiah makes some very specific predictions that have come true. Perhaps the most amazing of these specific predictions is found in Is. 44:24-45:6 (NKJV)…

²⁴ Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: “ I am the LORD, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; ²⁵ Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, And drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, And makes their knowledge foolishness; ²⁶ Who confirms the word of His servant, And performs the counsel of His messengers; Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’ To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’
And I will raise up her waste places; ²⁷ Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers’; ²⁸ Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”’ ¹ “Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: ² ‘ I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of

bronze And cut the bars of iron. ³ I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel. ⁴ For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. ⁵ I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, ⁶ That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Isaiah devotes seven verses to this man Cyrus, calling him the Lord’s anointed and predicting that he will be used of God. So who was this Cyrus? He was the Persian king who would graciously send the dispersed Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple. And when was that? It was more than 150 years after the close of Isaiah’s ministry. How could Isaiah call the very name of this future king and accurately predict what he would do? That is the chief reason why many believe that the prophet Isaiah could not have written this second section of Isaiah. They even refer to chapters 40-66 as Deutero-Isaiah (or the second Isaiah).

So what about it? Was the whole book written by the same prophet Isaiah? Yes, it was. How can we say that? First of all, there is nothing in the book of Isaiah itself that would even suggest that it was written by more than one author. Furthermore, the New Testament writers quote from all parts of this book and attribute them to Isaiah (see John 12:38-41, where in this brief space John quotes from chapter 53 and chapter 6, assigning them both to “Esaias”). Finally, there is no problem believing that Isaiah made these specific predictions, if we believe in the God of the Bible, who is the God of miracles. Just wait until we get to the latter part of Isaiah 40. If we believe in that God, then we will have no trouble believing that He could enlighten and enable Isaiah to speak accurately of the future.

II. Looking at Chapter 40

Notice how the chapter begins. Let’s quote that first verse: “‘Comfort, yes, comfort My people!’ says your God.” This is a fitting introduction for chapters 40-66, because it summarizes the entire theme -- Comfort my people. The Lord is calling out to his prophet Isaiah and telling him, “Isaiah, comfort my people; yes, give comfort to my people.” We find the same thing at the beginning of verse 2, “Speak comfort to Jerusalem.” Jerusalem, of course, was the capital of the nation of Jerusalem. More than that, it was the place where the temple stood (“had stood,” after the captivity). So when he tells Isaiah to speak comfort to Jerusalem, He is instructing him to give comfort to God’s people, to those who claimed Jerusalem as the dwelling place of their God.

At the end of verse 2, we see the reason why God’s people can be comforted. Let’s read verse 2 again, “Speak comfort to Jeusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” Tell them that their warfare has ended. The term “warfare” is used rather loosely. It isn’t speaking strictly of going to war with another nation. Judah was certainly at war with Babylon, but the warfare spills over into the affliction she endured under the Babylonians. The entire captivity is a part of this warfare. As one writer puts it, “Her affliction is accomplished” (S. Lewis Johnson, sermon: “The Comfort of Israel’s Incomparable God”).

So why did God’s people in the nation of Judah have to endure such hard affliction? The Word of God leaves no question about it. It was because of their rebellion against their God, because of their rejection of the message He sent through His prophets. The Lord called them again and again to return, as we see in the first chapter of Isaiah. After pointing out their sins in the first part of the chapter, the Lord then says in Is. 1:16-20…

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17. Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 18. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

But they refused to heed the Lord’s warnings and invitation to return to Him. As a result, they were indeed devoured by the sword of the Babylonians. The 70-year Babylonian captivity was a direct result of their sin against God and their refusal to repent and return. But now listen to these words of comfort, “that her iniquity is pardoned.” They had sinned greatly, but now looking beyond the captivity, Isaiah announces that their iniquity has been pardoned. They didn’t deserve God’s forgiveness, but He gave it anyway.

And then comes the last clause of verse 2, “For she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” Again, remember that the viewpoint is from the other side of the captivity. Isaiah is to speak to these captives who have endured 70 years of life in Babylon as a result of their sin. Now he announces that they have received from God double for all their sins. That can be taken in two different ways. We might take it to mean that God has punished them doubly for their sins. If that is the case, the message seems to be that they have been punished enough. The punishment is complete and it’s done. Perhaps the idea of receiving double is an attempt to point out how the Lord has felt it so personally. In other words, to inflict this punishment on His people has been so hard on Him that it seems to Him that He has given them double for their sins. On the other hand, it might be taken to mean that the blessings God is now going to give them are twice as abundant as the punishment He inflicted on them. For their part, they gave God their sins; for God’s part, He is going to pour out a double portion of His blessings. It may have some of the ring of Rom. 5:20, “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”

Are you getting the picture? Chapters 1-39 focus on the coming judgment. But now in chapter 40, God speaks into the future and has His prophet give comfort to a future generation that has experienced the predicted judgment. What hope this gives to God’s people of all ages. Even in the midst of the sternest judgment, we find a message of hope.

Now as we come to verse 3, we might ask the question: What form will this comfort take? If the affliction has ended and the iniquity of Judah has been pardoned, if the punishment has lasted long enough, then what will come next? If there are anticipated blessings, then what are these blessings? We begin to find the answer to that question in verses 3-5… (NKJV)

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “ Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. ⁴ Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; ⁵ The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Arising in the wilderness is the voice of one crying out. What is the message of this voice? “Prepare the way of the Lord… The glory of the Lord shall be revealed.” What are we to make out of this? First of all, we can’t miss the fact that this was a common picture in ancient nations. When a king was to arrive, a herald, a special messenger, would go in front of him. That messenger would say, “Prepare the way for the king. He is on his way; make sure everything is ready for him.” Roads would be smoothed and leveled. We might say that the officials of the city would knock themselves out to roll out the red carpet. Do you remember when President George W. Bush came to Alamogordo? What elaborate preparations were made. He was only here for a couple of hours, but no effort was spared. Why? Because it was our President. So it was in the ancient nations when the king would come.

But what does that have to do with Judah? They didn’t even have a king. Their last king had been deposed when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem and hauled away its citizens. The people to whom comfort is to be given were just a bunch of refugees in Babylonian. Not quite. They had a king, and that king was the Lord Himself. They had rejected Him, but He was still their king. Believe it or not, though they had rejected Him, he hadn’t rejected them. He punished them, but now it is time to prepare the way of the Lord. These people would go back to the land of Judah to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. King Cyrus of Persia, who took over from the Babylonians, would give the order. The glory of the Lord would be seen in their return and the subsequent rebuilding of the temple.

But that doesn’t tell the whole story. No doubt, many of you are familiar with these words in verses 3-5. Would you young ones listen to those words again? (Read verses 3-5). Where have you heard those words? Do you know? We find them in the New Testament. We can find it in Mark 1, Matthew 3, and Luke 3. (Furthermore, in John 1:23, John the Baptist says that he himself is “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias”). The fullest account of it is in Luke 3:1-6 (NKJV)

¹ Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilder-ness. ³ And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying “ The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘ Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.
⁵ Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; ⁶ And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

So who was the voice crying in the wilderness? It was John the Baptist? And who was the Lord for whom He was preparing the way? Yes, it was the Lord Jesus Himself. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all quoted these words from Isaiah to describe the ministry of John the Baptist and how he was preparing the way for Jesus. Isn’t that amazing!

It is here that we begin to see the double fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah. On the one hand, there was an immediate fulfillment in the return of God’s people to Judah and the rebuilding of the temple. And make no mistake about it, that brought great comfort to God’s people. On the other hand, there was a far greater fulfillment coming. The ultimate comfort would be found in the Messiah.

But even that doesn’t tell the whole story. John did prepare the way of the Lord through his preaching of a baptism of repentance. No one can deny that. However, look more closely here at Is. 40:3-5. “Every valley shall be exalted and every mointain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.” Notice especially the words of verse 5, “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” Was the glory of the Lord revealed when Jesus came to this earth? To some extent, yes. John 1:14, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." But as we discussed not long ago, the glory of Jesus was veiled, when He emptied Himself and came into this world (Phil. 2:7). Praise God there is a time coming when that glory will not be veiled in the least. Jesus will be seen in all His splendor. At that time, every eye shall see Him (Rev. 1:7). At the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10-11). When Jesus came the first time, there was glory, but that is only a taste of the glory that will be revealed when He comes the second time!

In the writings of Isaiah and many of the other prophets, these two comings of the Messiah are blended so that it is often hard to distinguish them. I like to compare it to looking at the San Andres to the west. I saw it most clearly on those early evenings when we used to drive out for “The Lord’s Barn” on Fridays. Most of the time, you look at those mountains, and it just seems to be a narrow mountain range. There is no depth to those mountains. But when the lighting is just right, like it was on some of those evenings, you can see that there is great depth to that mountain range. One time I had the privilege of driving through those mountains. The sense of depth is amazing. So it is with the two comings of the Messiah. They are like two great peaks. When seen from a great distance, they appear to be together, but as the observer gets closer and closer, he can see that they are separated by a great distance. Isaiah and the prophets saw from a great distance. We are between the peaks and can differentiate them clearly.

Isaiah was speaking first of all of the great comfort that would come to the people who had endured 70 years of Babylonian captivity, but his message goes far beyond that. He was also speaking to those Jews of later years who were eagerly anticipating the coming of their Messiah. Then through that Messiah, He was speaking a message of hope to all those who will trust in Him. Now living in our present times, our hope is not restricted to looking back to the first coming of Jesus, but we have great hope in the truth that He is coming again. We can rest assured that the way is being prepared for the coming of the Lord. Yes, the time is coming when all the crooked places shall be made straight and all the rough places smooth. Everyone will see the glory of our King.

Then in verse 6 encounter another voice, “The voice said, ‘Cry out!’ And he said, “What shall I cry?” The answer to the question is in verses 6b-8… (NKJV)…

“All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. ⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. ⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

Again, remember that Isaiah is looking far into the future. When he wrote these words of chapter 40 and the chapters that follow, there was no hope in sight. At that point, there was only impending judgment. After all, that is what he had been telling them for years. Who could believe such a naïve prediction of comfort and blessing? If it were the prediction of man, it could not be trusted. For what is man? All of us are like grass and the best of our beauty is as transitory as the flower of the field. The grass will wither and the flower will fade. Why? Because the breath of the Lord blows on it. Life on this earth is short. Ps. 90:10, "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." Yes, surely all people are like grass. But though the grass will wither and the flower will fade, the Word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah wasn’t speaking on his own. He was one of those holy prophets of whom Peter would speak in 2 Pet. 1:21, "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." These words of comfort were spoken by a man, but in reality they are the words of God Himself. The God of all comfort was speaking words of comfort down through the corridors of time and the truth of those words will never be compromised! Praise God!

By the way, some of you have read these same words, but they didn’t come out of Isaiah. Where did you find them? Yes, in I Pet. 1. In verse 23, Peter speaks of us being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, even by the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. In order to give a basis for such a bold statement, he quotes from Isaiah 40 in 1 Pet. 1:24-25, "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever…”

And now we come to verse 9. “O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jeru-salem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’” Now there is another voice. This passage is full of voices, isn’t it? In verses 1-2, we heard the voice of redemption, or the voice of comfort (Comfort my people). In verse 3, we heard the voice of the preparation, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Then in verse 6, it is the voice of permanence, the permanence of the Word of God. (The idea of these voices is taken largely from Lewis S. Johnson’s sermon). And now we have a fourth voice. It is the message that will be shouted from the mountaintops by Zion, by Jerusalem, by the city of our God. So far it seems that the voice has been that of the prophet, but now the prophet Isaiah calls on the people of God to shout.

Zion was a hill which was originally a military fortress. David captured it and called it “The City of David.” Later, the name pretty well became synonymous with Jerusalem, the larger city of which it was a part. So when the Lord speaks to Zion and then to Jerusalem, it is a case of Hebrew parallelism. He is simply speaking to His people dwelling in the holy city. What does He tell them to do? He instructs them to lift up their voice and bring the good tidings to all the cities of Judah. And what is the message they are to proclaim? “Behold your God!” What a comforting message this is. Jerusalem would be inhabited again. It would become the center of life among God’s people, just as it had been in the past.

But again, there is far more than just the immediate future for the Babylonian exiles. I want us to compare these verses in Isaiah 40 with what we find in Mark 1. Please turn to Mark 1, as you keep your place in Isaiah 40. In verse 3, we have Mark’s quotation from Is. 40:3 concerning the voice of one crying in the wilderness. In verses 4-8 of Mark 1 we have a brief description of John’s ministry. Then in verse 9 Jesus, the one whose way John was preparing, steps into the picture. John baptized Jesus and then Jesus went to the desert to be tempted of Satan. Then in verse 14 we see Jesus coming back into Galilee and preaching the kingdom of God. Now listen to Jesus’ message in Mark 1:15, "…The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." When Jesus says, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand,” He is basically saying, “Behold your God!” In the final analysis, Jesus, who perfectly reveals the Father, is the kingdom. And what are they supposed to do with His message? He tells them to repent and believe the good news. “O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’” (Is. 40:9). What a message for all the inhabitants of Jerusalem to proclaim to the nation when Jesus arrives on the scene: “Behold your God!” Until they were able to do so, Jesus Himself would do it: “The time is fulfilled and kingdom of God is at hand. Behold your God!”

The rest of chapter 40 is a description of their God. While we might think it begins in verse 12, there is a sense in which that description begins in verse 10. Let’s read verses 10-11, ^“Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. ¹¹ He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.” Verse 10 is no surprise. When we behold our God, we expect to see Him with a strong hand. Yes, His mighty arm will rule. Like a greatly-respected judge, He will undertake His work and properly reward all those who stand before Him. But verse 11 is a bit of a surprise, because now He is pictured as a shepherd taking care of His flock. Yes, He will even carry the lambs in His arms, hugging them to Himself. Though He is Almighty God, He will lead gently.

Here is another ambiguity in Isaiah. Often we aren’t sure whether he is talking about God the Father or the Messiah. David said, “The LORD is my shepherd.” Nevertheless, Jesus is pictured in the New Testament as the Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Shepherd of the sheep. Perhaps it is accurate to say that God the Father shepherds through His Shepherd Son.

Listen to me this morning. Behold your God! He is the gentle shepherd! But in light of this wicked world in which we live and the great judgment to come, can I rest in the arms of a gentle shepherd? What if He isn’t strong enough to withstand the coming turmoil? Verses 12-31 tell us about this gentle shepherd. He is the Almighty. This morning we are going to close by reading verses 12-31. I won’t say anything about them. There are things we could say, but our purpose this morning is to gain an understanding of this chapter. Verses 12-31 present few problems to our understanding. They leave us in awe. As we are reading, remember that this is the Shepherd who carries His own in His arms and gently cares for them. See if you think He has the power and wisdom to protect us and guide us for an eternity.

Read Isaiah 40:12-31

Conclusion

“But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” No wonder we can renew our strength in Him and mount up with wings like eagles. No wonder we can run and not be weary, walk and not faint. As we wait on Him, as we dwell in His secret place, we are under the shadow of the Almighty (Ps. 91:1). We are not our own; we belong to the Almighty God who is described in this passage.