From this chapter onwards, Isaiah’s message is of the good news of the divine deliverance that is to come. In verse 2 Isaiah is given three reasons why he is to speak kindly to Jerusalem. Each one of these reasons is mentioned throughout the rest of the book of Isaiah.

• In chapters 40-48 we have the termination of the Babylonian affliction.
• In chapters 49-57 we have the expiration of the guilt of Jehovah.
• In chapters 58-66 we have the exaltation of Israel and the inauguration of the Kingdom of God.

Isaiah dies in 640 BC and Hezekiah in 686 BC. The captivity began in 605 BC. Isaiah is writing about 100 years before the captivity begins. With the restoration in the background he looks to the future. The restoration happened 70 years later and Isaiah sees this as a type of example of what is to come in the future.

1. Comfort for the afflicted people of God (vs. 1-2)

See Isaiah 39. Isaiah announced the coming Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, and the exile of the nation. The announcement that the Babylonians would someday capture Jerusalem and take the people into exile was a bitter blow. In any group waiting to hear God’s word, there is any number of hidden hurting hearts. It is important for those hurting hearts to hear a word of comfort from God’s messenger. The comfort comes with tender words, spoken to the heart. How God’s messengers today must speak to the heart! It is like a young man wooing his girl (Genesis 34:3).

2. A voice in the wilderness prepares the way of the Lord (vs. 3-5)

The idea is that the Lord is coming to His people as a triumphant King, who has the road prepared before Him so He can travel in glory and ease. Every obstacle in the way must be removed. Whatever was wrong in the road must be corrected. The problems were not the same everywhere. Sometimes the road in the valley needed to be lifted up. Other times a road had to be cut through a passage in the mountains. The idea of preparing the way of the Lord is a word picture as the real preparation must take place in our hearts. Building a road is very much like the preparation God must do in our hearts. They both must deal with many different problems and environments and they both require an expert engineer.

This glory of the Lord is not revealed only to Jerusalem or Judah, but to every prepared heart. The certainty of this word is assured, because the mouth of the Lord has spoken. This passage of Isaiah 40:3-5 has a direct fulfilment in the New Testament, in the person and ministry of John the Baptist. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, knew this at the birth of his son (Luke 1:76). And three gospels directly relate this passage to the ministry of John (Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3 and Luke 3:3-6). Jesus was the coming Messiah and King, and John the Baptist’s ministry was to be one crying in the wilderness, and through his message of repentance, to prepare the way of the Lord. We often fail to appreciate how important the preparing work of the Lord is. Any great work of God begins with great preparation. John wonderfully fulfilled this important ministry.

3. The message of the voice in the wilderness (vs. 6-8)

Isaiah thinks of the beautiful green grass covering the hills of Judah after the winter rains and how quickly the grass dies and the hills are left brown and barren. This is how frail and weak man is. Even the beauty of man is fleeting, and passes as quickly as spring wilderness. In contrast to the frailty and fleeting glory of man the word of our God endures. The word of our God certainly has endured. It has survived centuries of manual transcription, of persecution, of ever changing philosophies, of all kinds of critics, of neglect both in the pulpit and in the pew, of doubt and disbelief – and still, the word of our God stands forever!

• In 303 AD, the Roman Emperor Diocletian demanded that every copy of the Scriptures in the Roman Empire be burned. He failed. It was 25 years later that the Roman Emperor Constantine commissioned a scholar named Eusebius to prepare 50 copies of the Bible at government cost.
• Voltaire, the French sceptic and infidel who died in 1778, said that 100 years from his time, Christianity would be swept from existence and passed into history, and that the Bible would be a forgotten book. Only 50 years after his death, the Geneva Bible Society used his press and his house to produce stacks of Bibles.
• “A thousand times over, the death knell of the Bible has been sounded, the funeral procession formed, the inscription cut on the tombstone, and committal read. But somehow the corpse never stays put.” (Bernard Ramm, Protestant Christian Evidences).

Peter makes a wonderful reference and application to this passage in 1 Peter 1:22-25, showing that the enduring word Isaiah spoke of is the same word of the gospel that is preached and believed, bringing salvation. Peter also makes a beautiful application. Since this eternal, always potentially fruit-bearing seed is in us, we have both the obligation and the ability to have a sincere love of the brethren. Perhaps we could say that if we need more love to others, it begins with having more of the incorruptible seed set in our hearts and allowed to grow.

4. Behold your God (vs. 9-14)

The messenger can proclaim this great message to as many people as possible. It is a message that should be shouted out. It is an invitation to behold your God. There is nothing greater for a believer to do than to study and to know their God. It is not a glance. It speaks of a study. It is a long-term mission to know the greatness and the character of our God. It also shows how important it is for the message of God’s preacher to focus on God. The message of the messenger should focus on:-

• The fact of His return – Our God will return to this earth, and He will come with power. When the Lord comes back, He comes to reward His people (His reward is with Him). He comes to inspect His work. This is something important for us to know about our God!
• His loving care as a shepherd – The first thing a shepherd must do for his sheep is feed them. The Lord feeds us like a shepherd feeds his flock. Sheep must be directed to the good pasture, and must be moved on to new pasture when they have stripped the grass bare. Many of the greatest men of the Bible were shepherds and their character as shepherd’s points to Jesus Christ. The shepherd carries a rod and a staff and knows how to use them; but He also knows how to gently lead those who are with young. He knows exactly when to be gentle, and when more severe guidance should be used.
• His authority over all creation – God is so great and so dominant over all creation, that He has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and has measured heaven with a span. We should stand in awe of His power and glory. God is so great in His wisdom and intelligence that He calculated the dust of the earth in a measure. God knows how heavy the mountains are and the hills also for that matter!
• His great wisdom – God has the wisdom to use that knowledge. God is so wise, that no one has directed the Spirit of the Lord. No one as His counsellor has taught Him. God needs no counsel, no instruction, no teacher, and no one to show Him the way of understanding.

5. God’s greatness is measured in comparison to others (vs. 15-26)

The greatest glory of the greatest nation is as a drop in a bucket compared to the greatness and glory of the Lord God. If man were to take all the wood in the mighty forests of Lebanon, and use it to make a burnt offering of all the animals of the land, it would not be enough to satisfy God. Man’s best efforts can not satisfy the honour and glory of God. But rather the nations have arrogance, a pride against God that puts them lower than creation itself.

There are many likenesses that represent the gods of the nations. How do they compare to God? They don’t compare at all, because they are only the work of men’s hands. The empty images that are the idols of the nations are so insignificant that they must be made so that they will not totter. They can’t even stand up on their own! God has no rivals.

Isaiah can’t believe that anyone could doubt the greatness of God when they see the glory of God’s creation. He sits above all creation. He created it all (Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain). Isaiah’s amazement is well placed. How can anyone look at the glory and design evident in creation, and fail to understand that there must be a glorious designer behind such a glorious design? This is one of the central Old Testament passages on the doctrine of creation. God’s mastery over all creation is shown by the fact that He can bring out all the stars by number, and then He calls them all by name. With the billions and billions of stars in the universe, it is staggering to know that God can number and name them all! The astronomers are still busily engaged in counting and classifying the stars.

6. Applying the knowledge of God’s greatness (vs. 27-31)

• Having confidence in God’s power and wisdom (vs. 27-28). Understanding the greatness and glory of God persuades us that there is nothing in our life hidden from God, and there is nothing neglected by God. Practical atheists need to hear what they already know: that the Lord God is the Creator of the ends of the earth. Then they need to hear about the Creator. That He neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. Those who really believe these truths about God should live as if God is really there.
• Receiving the strength of the Lord (vs. 29-31). God gives power to the weak and to those who have no might He increases strength. Those who are proud and confident in their own wisdom and strength will receive no strength from God. Those who thought themselves strong find themselves weak. God’s strength is reserved for those who know they are weak and know they have no might. How do we receive this strength from the Lord? We receive it as we wait on the Lord. The idea behind waiting on the Lord is not a passive sitting around until the Lord does something. He brings it to us as we seek Him, and rely on Him, instead of our own strength. If we are weak, it is because we do not wait on the Lord! This is the measure of strength the Lord gives us. It is strength to soar above everything else. This is the purpose of the strength the Lord gives us – strength to move forward and progress for Him. It is not strength to show off, but strength to go forward in. Notice the order, because it seems strange. First we mount up with wings like eagles. Then we run. Finally we walk. Does it seem out of order? We recognize that we soar up into heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6). Then we set ourselves on the course to run the race (Hebrews 12:1). Then we are in the good place to walk the walk (Colossians 2:6).

Categories: Isaiah