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.
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.”
Isaiah 40:1-5
I think the impact of these verses can be somewhat diminished in our minds because it is still difficult to realize that they preceded the Baptist's prenatal leaping in the womb (Luke 1:41) at greeting of Mary carrying the incarnate “Glory of the Lord” (John 1:14) by 700 years. I have a tendency to read these words of Isaiah as if they are New Testament Scripture and of course some are New Testament by quotation.
God used John to prepare the way for Christ. He preached down the mountains calling the Pharisees snakes and lifted up those who were repentant (the valleys). John the Baptist was certainly a great man of God and perhaps the greatest. I'm simply agreeing with Scripture when I say that (Matthew 11:11).
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.
Isaiah 40:6-8
The older I get the more sense this verse makes. When I think of my relatives, the generation that raised me is nearly all gone and certainly their flower is faded and so is mine. I was sitting with a collection of my uncles one day when a lady came to attend our family reunion. She spoke to them and when she had left to hit the buffet table one of them mentioned that in her day she was one good looking woman. They all agreed and cast back their memories to that day when she was a “flower of the field”. I was in my 30s at the time and it was pretty entertaining to see all of these guys remembering what a knock out this woman used to be. If you only listen to one Bruce Springsteen Song then you should make it “Glory Days”. Part of the chorus says, “Glory days well they'll pass you by, Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye”.
We have a difficult time coming to grips with our mortality but here God calls us to keep it in view and realize that down through the generations His Word is sure. It will stand forever. In context, this is a word to the many generations that would come and go before John the Baptist and Christ would be born. The prophecy of the Babylonian captivity was a hard word for those who were disciples of Isaiah and faithful to God. Only those like Simeon and Anna who stood on the foundation of the Word would have their eyes open and ready at His coming (Luke 2:22-38). Simeon and Anna were waiting in the temple for the incarnate temple of God. They saw the Salvation of God. Simeon even quoted a bit of Isaiah in his “nunc dimittis” when he held Christ and told God he was now ready to die.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel (Isaiah 40:1), and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
Luke 2:25-32
There are a number of pieces of Isaiah's verses in Simeon's inspired prayer. Not only is this prayer inspired but it is also inspiring. Hymns are written using Simeon's words are known as “Nunc dimittis” because in Latin he begins his song "Nunc dimittis servum tuum" ("Now let your servant depart"). The blessing and inspiration I find is in the lives of Simeon and Anna. They didn't let the long years between the prophecy dim their faith. They learned from Isaiah 40:6-8 that men come and go but God's Word will stand forever. It isn't a complicated lesson to learn but it is a hard lesson to learn. We are too much like Hezekiah in last weeks lesson in which he was satisfied because the Babylonian captivity would come after he was gone. We sell eternity for the present moment and our birthright for a bowl of beans.
Get you 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.Just after John the Baptist and Christ we move on to the Gospel or “good news” and the way in which Christ builds His Church with His might. He has taken each of us who are believers from the Kingdom of Darkness and placed us in the Kingdom of Light. In taking us away from the kingdom of the enemy He has shown His strength.
Isaiah 40:9-11
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:12-14
It can seem like a sudden change to move from the Sovereign Lord coming in might to the Shepherd of the lambs but in the light of our salvation it makes perfect sense. Christ came in power to establish the Kingdom but He cares for us and keeps us as the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd and His promises to us are the reasons we can have confidence in our salvation. He keeps us as a Good Shepherd.
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. 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 10:11-18
Notice that He owns the sheep. We are possessed by Him and He will not leave us to the wolves. He laid down His life for us. There is no selling of sheep. We are His flock. In passing note that the “other sheep” are those who are not ethnic Israel but rather, like most of us, are ethnically gentiles who then become one flock.
But God wants you to remember both sides of this story. Your Lord is a gentle shepherd but that isn't all He is. He is the Sovereign God as He reminded us just before He told us He was shepherd.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured (or directed) the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
Isaiah 40:12-17
God's work is precise. We understand that to be exquisitely true in the natural world. The view of measuring and weighing creation reminds us of how precise His work is. God's work of creation was accomplished without assistance or direction. This is in direct contrast with the creation god of the Babylonians who had to consult with others and overcome opposition to create. God did not consult on creation and He created out of His abundance and no one could interfere with creation. Nothing exists that could interfere and His understanding and knowledge have been complete from all time. He never became more understanding or more knowledgeable because from all eternity He was perfect and complete. He has always known all things and had all understanding.
There are not enough trees and animals on the planet for an appropriate sacrifice to God. However, that isn't our worry is it? That would be the easy sacrifice to give. What does Scripture say? It says:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:1-2
That is the harder thing because it involves our hearts and not just our actions.
We don't want to forget who we belong to. It doesn't glorify God if we do and we lose our peace of mind. He measured the sea in the palm of His hand the breadth of the heavens with the span of his hand. He is infinite and all these comparisons are means of stretching our minds to get a small taste of that and to build up our trust of Him.
Reward and recompense are almost synonyms in the Hebrew. Here is seems that, as Motyer suggests, we can think of it as “in His presence is His flock that is the result of His victory”. We continually see God's work and victory here with Him receiving all the glory. God promises forgiveness. Scripture speaks to us by calling us the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16) and we are brought out of a Babylonian captivity we see our iniquity pardoned. The pardon is viewed as double or two sided. It comes from a word that means to fold double (Job 11:6 is the only other use for God's manifold wisdom). I'm not sure how much we are supposed to make of the phrase. The pardon clearly means that our atonement is satisfactory. The sin has been paid for. One thing that is notably double in our atonement is the concept of double imputation that we have discussed before. It is a crucial concept in our salvation. Our sins are imputed to Christ and His righteousness is imputed to us. Given the context it seems a natural interpretation but keep in mind that although these concepts were present in the Old Testament it was not until the revelation of the New Testament and teaching of Christ that these things were understood clearly.
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