Isaiah 40 THE COMFORT OF GOD Judah had received a whole series of warnings from the Lord through His servant, the prophet Isaiah. And there was still trouble ahead for them for the next one hundred years and the seventy years of exile after that. In grace, God told Isaiah to comfort His people by telling them again who He is and what He allows to happen is for their restoration to Him. Up until this time in the book of Isaiah, the prophetic warnings were to change the outward practices and conduct of the Lord’s people. Now the prophecy is an appeal to the inward response of God’s people. It is given so they will look ahead in faith in spite of all that had happened and would yet happen to them.
Even though there are consequences to sin that have to be faced and endured, the Lord never fails in His desire to comfort His own. This chapter begins with a call to Isaiah to go and comfort the people of Judah with a view of encouraging and strengthening them. The “voices” in the first eleven verses are the voice of comfort that the warfare will not continue forever, and that “pardon,” generous forgiveness has been granted. “Double” indicates that complete payment for sin has been assured. Judah’s punishment will be complete. The temporal punishment for the sin of the nation during the seventy years of captivity would settle that debt.
Of far greater value is the fact that eternal punishment has been laid on the Sin-Bearer on the cross of Calvary. Before God gives the comfort of knowing our sins are forgiven and we have been saved by God’s grace; the lost condition of the sinner, the helplessness of not being able to save ourselves, and our own terrible sinfulness before a holy God must be acknowledged and honestly faced. A sense of guilt places us where repentance is real, confession is not half-hearted, and acknowledgement of guilt is genuine. That is when the voice of confidence opens our understanding to know that the promise of the Messiah has been given and there is every reason for us to be comforted. Babylon and the world are no match for God. He has promised to deliver His people. Then the voice of conquest assures us that our God will come with “a strong hand,” and deliver His own.
The Trinity of Divine Persons minister comfort to God’s people who are redeemed. The Father is “the God of all comfort;” the Holy Spirit is the “Comforter,” and our Lord Jesus is the One who came to “comfort those that mourn,” and is our “Advocate (Comforter) with the Father.” Surely the “glory of the Lord” has been revealed. The prophecy regarding John the Baptist was to those who live in the dry wilderness of unbelievers where the hills of pride had to be flattened, and the valleys of hopelessness and self-pity had to be filled up to make a highway for us to go to our God. The unsaved had to hear a message from God, and that meant there was a work to be done by John. Obstacles had to be removed in order to bring down that which is high and lift up that which is low. We have to do that today in the presentation of the Gospel as we seek to lead people to the Lord Jesus. Such trials and suffering in life has the purpose of preparing the way of the Lord for when He returns.
So, what is the message a prophet/preacher is to “Cry aloud?” It is plain and simple. There is nothing in us for which we can take glory. We are just frail mortal men who are no more than dying grass in ourselves. We are utterly helpless in ourselves to survive the just judgment that our sin deserves. It is when we face that as our honest condition, that we become willing to turn to God for salvation. At first that does not seem to be a comforting message because by nature we are not honest, nor do we want to admit to and face the consequences of sin.
But then the infallible word of God changes all that to be a message of hope and joy. The Gospel news is good news and full of hope and optimism. The Good Shepherd has come and brought life, care and guidance to His people. He is tender and will deliver His own. He is powerful and gentle at the same time. He is mighty in Himself as Sovereign Lord, and at the same time is the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd and the Chief Shepherd of His people.
Following the voices that give comfort is the vision that gives strength and the challenge of the rebuilding of the broken nation. There is no question: God is beyond compare. He made everything according to His sovereign will. He needs no advice from anyone. The powerful nation of Israel that will remain in the future, will rely on divine strength and power to survive, not on military might. He alone has the power and wisdom to sustain and maintain all that He has done, does now and will yet do in the future. In itself, a nation is only like a drop of water in a bucket of water to the Lord. It is the people who have been made in His image that places value on all that God does. Nations are insignificant to the Almighty Creator of the heavens and the earth. They come and go. All the trees and all the animals put together could not make a sacrifice worthy of God. It is people who have been made in the image of God that last forever.
The insignificance of nations; of humanity as a whole with their idols; human skills and plans; and the religious idols and sacrifices they make to meet their own criteria as to who God is and what he wants from people, is all worthless. No skilled craftsman can portray God who is too great to be described. If He could be described, He wouldn’t be the One to worship. He would just be compared to something or someone. The foolishness and ignorance of those who form idols from the absurdity of their own imagination, raises a series of questions in this prophetic sermon. God describes Himself to those who have ignored the testimony of creation and history. Adam and Noah knew the Creator-God before the Jews were even identified as a tribe of people. Those early believers knew of the “circle” (sphere) of the earth and of the canopy that covers and protects the earth. The “temporariness” of world leaders and much of what we can know about God was nothing new to those who lived long before our day and age. All the great leaders – past, present and future who deny God, are vanity (worthless) like uprooted seeds that are blown away and forgotten.
So, who is God? To whom can He be compared? How can he be defined or described? It is impossible to explain Him with our finite minds, because God is infinite in every way! He is beyond description and comparison! No one can be compared to God who created all things, including the billions of stars to which He has given each a name from His infinite vocabulary of expressive words. Everything God does functions under the power of His orderly plans so there is obvious order in the universe under the guidance of One who has infinite power and wisdom. There is no chaos in any of His work unless he chooses to allow it for His own reasons. Pagans worshipped stars because of the consistency of their path and position in the stellar heavens. They guided their journeys on land and sea by the orderliness seen in the heavens. They planted crops and harvested by the orderliness of the seasons, and yet they worshipped that which was created rather than the Creator.
In this chapter of comfort, we are reminded again that God is faithful to us. He can be counted on. His promise to deliver His people will happen. He longs to deliver His people and is able to deliver His people. But He waits in longsuffering for them to return to Him. Therefore, we must wait on Him and not trust in self or any other man or thing to bring the final blessing of the kingdom of righteousness and peace. The limitless power of God is never drained away by use or tiredness. We cannot experience that limitlessness because of our frail humanity. Even strong young men get tired, and older people feel frustrated at their physical limitations. But when we wait on the Lord, we become like Him in the way we think, believe, love, hope and find our joy. So, whether young, middle-aged or old, we can “run” in our spirit to areas unreachable in our flesh. We can “walk” in faith and joy and peace without the weakness of trusting in ourselves.