Isaiah 40
Notes
Transcript
Isaiah 40
Isaiah 40
Good evening, thank you for coming tonight. I know it is a busy season for folks right now. Our ladies are preparing for their retreat this weekend and I know that takes ministry planning, but also planning on the home front. I would love it if our mid week gatherings when we are on break from Growth Groups would become a time that we could dig in to the Word deeper together.
I also know it is difficult when we take so much time off in between midweek studies as some of us are challenged to retain the momentum that begins to build in a book.
At our last gathering in Isaiah, I think we left off in the perfect spot. because it is kind of a dividing line that occurs in our text. I think in the very beginning of our study, I mentioned some of the parallels of the book of Isaiah to the entire text of the Bible. The Bible has 66 books, this book has 66 chapters.
John Martin in the Bible Knowledge commentary writes, “Some have suggested that the
book has two themes, one for chapters 1–39 and another for chapters 40–66. Judgment
seems to be the emphasis in the first part (to that I would add warning, judgement and warning, and salvation and comfort are prominent in the
second. Half of the book from chapter 40 onward.
Our Old Testaments do prophecy about the coming Messiah, but true salvation and comfort are not revealed until we find Jesus in the New Testament letters.
Very brief context, of where we left off. King Hezekiah was in rule. Israel as a whole as been beat down, oppressed. If you remember the cruel Assyrians came through the land they conquered and destroyed nearly everyone and nearly whipped out Jerusalem. Low and behold in chapter 39, some representatives from the Kingdom of Babylon come to Hezekiah and he not only thinks it’s a big deal, he starts acting like a big deal and showing them all of his treasures and withheld nothing from them in the grand tour.
Isaiah then comes to him and basically says, that was kinda dumb, the word of the Lord for you is that all of what you’ve shown off will soon belong to Babylon. So you can imagine the discouragement of the people. Assyria was the big threat, and now this prophecy comes that things are going to get worse from an enemy that you don’t even really know yet. Sadly Hezekiah’s response was, man that’s great news Isaiah, sounds like that will be happening after my time, so I’m all good. And just as Isaiah prophesied, it occurred roughly 100 years after the prophecy. Huge transition now in chapter 40, we can see it in the first word as it begins with…Isaiah 40:1-2
1 “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God.
2 “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, 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.”
Notice here that there is not a big long description of what her iniquity was, Isaiah just spent 39 chapters detailing and warning her of her idolatry. It also doesn’t say that God is just looking the other way, because they are His chosen people, sin has to be accounted for. It says it is pardoned, there is no argument that Jerusalem, all of Israel for that matter is guilty.
And then there is this interesting statement that she has received from the Lord’s hand Double for all of her sins. In this context it doesn’t mean a double judgement, or a stricter judgement like for the one that teaches in the New Testament. So, not like Jerusalem deserves 4 spankings, but they are going to get 8 and have to say some Hail Mary’s.
One explanation is that they are not just receiving judgement, but also mercy, so she is receiving double, or both from the Lord’s hand. And the other explanation I saw was similar to if something is folded over. Like with our bulletins. When you take our bulletins and fold them in half, one side perfectly meets and completely covers the other side. The idea being is that iniquity or sin has occurred and the perfect payment must be paid to satisfy that iniquity. It can’t just be forgotten or winked at, it must be covered in the eyes of a just God.
Jesus did that for us in being our perfect propitiation, perfect substitute, completely covering our iniquity. Moving on in verse 3, Isaiah 40:3
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God.
This is such an awesome chapter! I want us to see something here. If you turn to the New Testament book of Luke, Luke chapter 1, you guys are familiar with the story of Zacharias and Elizabeth. Zacharias was a priest, serving in the temple, he was in good standing, he and his wife Elizabeth loved the Lord, but they were without children as Elizabeth was barren.
We read that the lot fell on Zacharias and it was his turn to burn the incense, so he did and as he was doing so, an angel of the Lord appears to him as says, the Lord has heard your prayer.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.
17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Basically Zacharias says, yeah right! I’m and old man married to an old woman, how is God going to do that? The angel says because you doubt what I say, I’m going to give you a sign, you won’t be able to speak until what I said would be so happens. You will be mute until your son is born. You guys know the story.
Elizabeth’s relative Mary is chosen by God to give birth to Jesus. The two of them get together when they are both with child. The bible says the the baby inside Elizabeth leaped in her womb and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth carries John to term and when he is born, Zacharias is able to speak and he gives a prophecy concerning this child. Luke 1:76-77
76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
77 To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins,
This child is John the Baptizer or John the Baptist who grew up to be the last of the Old Testament Prophets. These men of old, spoke of the One to come, and John was the last in that line of pre-Messianic messengers. I won’t spend all night on this, but I want you to understand how big of a deal this was. John grew up in a priestly family. The tradition and expectation for Zacharias’ son would for him to grow up into the priesthood as well. To have the esteem and recognition of the people, the honor of the position, but that was not John.
In a sense he was a rebel. He was in rebellion to the religious system around him by being off doing this thing in obscurity in the wilderness. Little did everyone know that he would be part of the fulfillment of it. So John lives basically in obscurity for roughly 30 years, we don’t know a whole lot about his upbringing. We do know that His father prophesied over him, and at some point God revealed to John that you are going to be the forerunner of the Messiah.
When you see the One whom the Holy Spirit will descend upon and remain on, that’s Him and you’re going to announce Him and baptize Him. When we read about the description of John, he doesn’t sound like he would have fit the mold of a priest very well anyways. How many of you guys have gone to Clark’s Trading Post over in NH. I used to love that place when our kids were growing up and I don’t get to go there anymore.
But for those of you that have taken the train ride there and had the crazy guy, I think they call him the wolf man, jump out of the wood and attack the train, that’s sort of the image I get when I think of John the Baptist wearing his camel hair clothes, living off the land eating locus and honey, stuff stuck in his beard. I couldn’t find a picture of John the Baptist, but here is one of the guy at Clark’s… it’s probably pretty close...
In the Gospel of John, chapter 1 we read about this ministry of John in verse 19, John 1:19-22
19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
Now listen to what John says....John 1:23
23 He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
I want you to get the magnitude of this. When John said this, they weren’t thinking voice of one crying in the wilderness, what is that some kind of new band? Or I think I’ve heard of those guys. These were the priests and the Levites from Jerusalem and they knew the Scriptures.
If I were to say, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of.....
Or Give us this day our daily.....
Those are Scriptures that you guys know and when you hear them, you mind instantly takes you to that place in your Bible and picks up where I leave off. Where we are reading this evening in Isaiah 40 had not happened yet, everyone was waiting for it’s fulfillment. Their whole faith was based on the promised Messiah to come, that would rule and reign and provide forgiveness for their sins, so when John said these words, he is literally saying. Isaiah chapter 40 is being fulfilled right here and right now, and they would have fully understood his claim, let’s go back to Isaiah and see all of what he was saying and what they would have understood him to be professing.
3 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.”
In these ancient times when a great king or dignitary was scheduled to visit great preparations would be made. Those of you that have been in the military or have served in law enforcement generally knew when an inspection was coming and great preparations would be made. Actually, for any of us, if you know you have an evaluation coming up, or the regional boss is visiting the office, you want to be found ready. If you are a student and it’s time for your grades to come, you might do some extra credit to prepare for that.
The roads back then were not what we have today, actually scratch that, they were probably exactly like our roads in Maine with our pot holes and our big frost heaves where moisture gets under the pavement and freezes causing it to expand and make a basketball size speed bump for one of your tires. If the King was coming you wouldn’t want him to break a spoke on his chariot, so you would shave off the high spots and fill in the low spots, like the Maine road grader.
John’s message was the Lord Jesus is coming, prepare yourselves, get your hearts ready, those things that need to be built up should be strengthened and the things that need to be made low, like our pride and our haughty hearts, need to be brought low. Anything crooked needs to be straightened out. And the rough spots smoothed out.
The glory shall, has now been revealed.
6 The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “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.”
9 O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; 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!”
10 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.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance?
13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him?
14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
19 The workman molds an image, The goldsmith overspreads it with gold, And the silversmith casts silver chains.
20 Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution Chooses a tree that will not rot; He seeks for himself a skillful workman To prepare a carved image that will not totter.
21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless.
24 Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.
25 “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 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.
Grace and Peace