True Comfort for God’s People
Notes
Transcript
“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.
“Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the Lord’s hand Double for all her sins.”
Introduction
Introduction
I have an interesting problem now that I have started preaching once a month.
I have decided that it would be good for us to go through the First Testament.
It is important for us to understand the completeness of the Bible as a whole, and the fact that it is a complete story.
That being a major goal of my monthly sermons, going through the 4 sections of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, the historical books, the poetic books, and the prophets, I have tried to show their connections to each other and to the New Testament passages that Philip has preached through for the past 15 years.
That being said, I want you to think about how, as a general rule, the preacher of the Bible that desires to preach the whole counsel of the Bible goes through books.
Philip has been going through Ephesians and John in his preaching.
And when he does that we see how the message of the book builds.
Going through Ephesians 4 makes more sense when you have been systematically going through Ephesians 1-3.
And this is one of the great truths about God’s word, that although it was written over a period of 2000 years, by around 40 different authors, its message builds as you go through it.
This speaks to the reality that God the Holy Spirit superintended its authorship through its human authors.
This is a big deal, and every one who has the opportunity to teach or study the Word of God should bear that in the front of their minds.
No passage should be yanked out of what is called its context and used alone.
So I have the task of making sure that I don’t mishandle the privilege of the people of God’s attention in this time that we have joined together to worship on this Sunday.
That means that I have to constantly and consistently be repeating certain things to make sure that I am showing the connections of the passages I select.
How they are connected in and around themselves, in the Old Testament, and in the Bible as a whole.
So that is why I generally spend so much time in the beginning of these sermons introducing the characters, geography, and history surrounding the passages that I select.
We are looking at Isaiah 40 today, but we haven’t had the groundwork of reading chapters 1-39, or the books leading up to it.
But we have looked at the Abrahamic Covenant, where God promises Abraham that He would create a people through Abraham and give them a land of their own, while reckoning Abraham’s faith as righteousness.
We have looked at Joshua leading that people in conquest of that promised land and renewing that covenant when they were through.
We have seen that people fail over and over again at keeping that covenant in the Book of Judges, to the point of great idolatry and sin much like Sodom and Gomorrah, but we saw how God remained faithful and gracious to keep His promises.
We have seen that God gave them a king with David, a man after God’s own heart, and that God made a covenant with him that the throne would be occupied by his descendants forever, which foresaw that the messiah would be a son of David and have an eternal throne in God’s kingdom.
And we have seen in Hosea that the people had failed to be faithful to God, and had acted like a prostitute, but God was gracious and promised to save them in spite of their great sin and idolatry.
And so my job is to show how Isaiah 40 fits into that continuing story of God’s great plan of redemption, even though we haven’t been through the first 39 chapters, we have seen how connected every passage is and how the First Testament is connected to the Second Testament.
We have seen how the story of the gospel doesn’t begin in the first chapter of Matthew, but all the way back to the first chapter of Genesis.
So with that being said, let’s begin to look at our passage in its context.
Isaiah was a prophet who lived during the time in Israel’s history where the kingdom was divided.
He prophesied to the kingdom of Judah through the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
By the time we get to chapter 40, we are in the reign of Hezekiah, and around 10 years after the Assyrian’s had overthrown the Northern Kingdom.
Assyria had been overthrown by Babylon.
These are important historical events that can be seen from study of world history.
If you have read the Books of Kings and Chronicles, you know the ups and downs of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
Hezekiah had a mostly positive reign, destroying the idols that the Hebrews had set up during previous kings.
He went through a time of mortal sickness in Isaiah 38, which the Lord healed him of.
In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ ”
Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,
and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying,
“Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
“I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.” ’
But there was another contender for world domination, the Babylonian Nation would soon usurp the Assyrian Empire.
Before this would happen, the king of Babylon sent an envoy to Judah under the guise of well-wishes for Hezekiah’s recovery from illness.
In Hezekiah’s pride he showed the envoy the great riches and military power of the kingdom.
Isaiah questions him about this and Hezekiah, in a bragging way, tells him he has shown them everything.
Isaiah prophesies a great and devastating judgement on Judah because of Hezekiah’s pride.
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts,
‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.
‘And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”
Now, I want you to put yourselves into the shoes of the people involved here.
King Hezekiah, being so impressed with himself, just showed off his greatness to another up and coming king.
Can you imagine being a prophet, and having to, over the course of your ministry, have to repeatedly tell these kings that they are screwing up, royally, over and over again!
And now again, with this guy who showed so much promise, and responded so well in the past, you have to again be the foreteller of doom!
If you read the stories of any of these prophets, and what they faced because of what God told them to tell the people, I think you can imagine how difficult a task it would become.
Just read the book of Lamentations on how Jeremiah felt about preaching doom to this stiff-necked and hard-headed people.
And now, Isaiah is again prophesying God’s judgement on His people for their pride and sinfulness.
That brings us to our passage today.
Isaiah tells of just judgement, but then immediately tells of a just comfort that is even greater than the judgement.
“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.
“Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the Lord’s hand Double for all her sins.”
I know that there is a division here. We have marked the scripture with chapters and verses to make things easier for us to find, but I don’t want you to miss this.
If you would look at the originals here, there would be no separation.
The foretelling of great judgement is followed by a foretelling of great comfort.
The ultimate plan for God’s people is not judgement, but peace.
When we zoom out over the whole of history, we will see an overall story of grace and redemption.
Every man and woman must rest in the true comfort of a loving God
Every man and woman must rest in the true comfort of a loving God
By trusting in His word. v. 1
By trusting in His word. v. 1
“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.
For 39 chapters, God has told His prophet Isaiah to speak out in judgement and expose the wickedness of Israel and Judah.
At the very beginning in chapter 1, this judgement was made clear.
Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the Lord speaks, “Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me.
“An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.”
Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the Lord, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.
Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint.
From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, Only bruises, welts and raw wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil.
Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers.
The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.
Unless the Lord of hosts Had left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom, We would be like Gomorrah.
Over and over again, Isaiah is commanded to tell them of their actions and the coming judgement for them, until chapter 39 where God tells Isaiah, as we have seen to tell of a future judgement on the whole nation.
But when that is over, just like he told of a future judgement, he tells of a future comfort.
Both of these are in the future when Isaiah writes this, the judgement and the comfort.
If you would imagine yourself in the valley of a range of mountains, this prophecy is like looking down the range at an upcoming mountain, and just beyond that mountain is another greater mountain behind it.
Let’s take a closer look at what God is saying.
“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.
Comfort is used here as a verb.
God commands to bring his listeners to bring comfort to his people.
Isaiah is looking forward to God’s people being exiled in Babylon, under the weight of His just judgement, but wants them to know that He won’t leave them there.
They will be tempted to think that God has abandoned them, to think He has forsaken them as slaves in a foreign land, but Isaiah is to make sure they know that He hasn’t.
Just as the coming judgement is sure, the coming rescue is sure.
This of course is written as an example of God’s working His plan throughout history.
We have the benefit of looking over time and seeing how God’s great plan of redemption has worked out.
We see exactly the comfort that God has in mind.
In the history of His people as they return from exile, and in the great history of redemption as God promises rescue from judgement through His son.
Peter writes about this fact when he speaks that not even Isaiah could grasp the fullness of God’s comfort to His people.
As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries,
seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.
Brothers and sisters, we are living on the other side of the coming of God’s consolation, or comfort, of Israel.
We do not have a message that ends in judgement, although it may start there, we have been commanded to speak of ultimate comfort.
He didn’t leave them in the pain of judgement, he gave them true hope to live through the times of judgement looking forward to the time of promised peace.
The end of this chapter explains this
Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
God knows what He is doing, and all who trust in Him will eventually see.
Like Simeon in the gospel of Luke.
Luke said of him in
And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
That phrase “looking for the consolation of Israel” is taken from Isaiah 40:1.
He was waiting for this prophecy to come true.
Joseph and Mary had brought baby Jesus to the temple for His circumcision and to give the offering required for the first born son.
Simeon was told by the Holy Spirit that the messiah would be born before he was to pass away.
When he saw Joseph and Mary come out of the temple with baby Jesus, he said this in
“Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation,
Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
A Light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”
This was the comfort that would come to God’s people that Isaiah prophesied about.
This is the same comfort we look to today.
We find true comfort by trusting in God’s word, just like Isaiah, and just like Simeon.
We also find true comfort in God
By trusting in what He has done. v. 2
By trusting in what He has done. v. 2
“Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the Lord’s hand Double for all her sins.”
When Isaiah, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote these words down, it seems like he had used the wrong tense.
Look at the verbs with me again.
“Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the Lord’s hand Double for all her sins.”
This is a little nugget of grammar that you will notice a lot of times in the prophetic books.
It’s called the prophetic perfect tense.
When Isaiah was writing this, Jersualem had not ended their warfare, Jerusalem’s iniquity had not been removed, Jerusalem had not received the Lord’s hand double for her sins…
But God had spoken through His prophet, and it was as sure as if the warfare had ended.
God has promised their iniquity would be removed, so they could with confidence know that it would be.
His word is sure, His promises are good forever.
He has told us through Isaiah to speak of His comfort, even through the times of His judgement, and now He is telling us how to speak.
He says to speak kindly to Jerusalem.
This literally means to speak to the heart.
Like Boaz spoke to Ruth in
Then she said, “I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.”
Or when Hosea spoke to Gomer after she had wandered from him in
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Bring her into the wilderness And speak kindly to her.
Before Christ, when the weight of the truth of His holiness and how we completely lack that holiness comes to our understanding, our Lord speaks tenderly to us, He speaks to our hearts.
He speaks to us like those who felt the weight of His judgement to the un-repenting cities in Matthew 11, but had His glory revealed to them.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
How do you see our Lord Jesus Christ?
He doesn’t just give empty words of cheap love songs as many have portrayed Him today, but with great power and great strength, takes are burdens on Himself and speaks tenderly to those that are His.
These tender words call us to trust in Him for our greatest need.
Look at the verse again and see what He has done that brings us comfort.
“Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the Lord’s hand Double for all her sins.”
…her warfare has ended.
If you have a NASB you will notice a little number 2 superscripted by the word warfare.
The annotation says, “Or hard service.”
This is another way the word warfare could be translated.
Before Christ life could be described as hard service or warfare, maybe you remember.
Job used the same word to describe the pain of life on earth in
“Is not man forced to labor on earth, And are not his days like the days of a hired man?
Don’t you feel that way sometimes?
This is exactly how Paul describes life BC
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
But in the prophetic future tense, Isaiah has declared through the Spirit, the warfare has ended, the hard service is over!
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Then he tells Isaiah to tell them that her iniquity has been removed.
Alec Motyer writes this about this part of the verse
Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary (i. The Message of Comfort (40:1–11))
here is the element of justice that lies behind the word of comfort. How can the God of judgment (39:5ff.) become the God of pardon? Not just by saying so—for that would be to treat his holiness as negotiable and sin as negligible. The verb paid for (√raza, ‘to be favourable’) is used of the Lord’s ‘pleasure’ (1 Chr. 28:4) and particularly of the acceptance the Lord accords to atoning sacrifices (Lev. 1:4; 22:27). It stresses, therefore, not so much that the sacrifice offered is sufficient to cover the sin committed (though that has to be true also), but that it satisfies the requirements of the holy God.
This describes what is called the great dilemma.
How can a holy God be considered holy and just, and let sinners like us into His presence?
Paul explains how this works in
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Our iniquity has been removed through faith in the righteous sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Hinted very strongly here in the Old Testament and made abundantly clear the New testament, God remains just and is also the justifier of sinners like you and me!
Hallelujah! What a savior!
The last part says that we have received of the Lord’s hand Double for all our sins.
This is so good, church.
Let’s start from the end, with double for all her sins.
When we hear double, at least when I first read it, we think twice as much.
And this may seem a little confusing, what could we get double of?
But when I studied this more, I found that it is from a word that means folded over, like we would say “doubled over with laughter.”
It is used in
And show you the secrets of wisdom! For sound wisdom has two sides. Know then that God forgets a part of your iniquity.
For sound wisdom is doubled over says Jobs accusers.
There are different ways this could be interpreted, but I think what Isaiah was describing here was the cancelation of a debt owed.
If a debt was paid, the lender would take the agreement, double it or fold it in half, and nail it to the door of the borrower, showing it was paid.
A beautiful picture of the coming messiah that would be described in the rest of chapter 40.
Described by Paul in
When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
This all received of the Lord’s hand.
Not by our works, but by His grace and the Son’s work.
So we find true comfort in trusting in what God has done, because our warfare has ended, our iniquity has been removed, and we have received from the Lord’s hand our debt doubled over and cancelled.
Conclusion
Conclusion
What I want you to see in this passage is that there is true comfort to be found in God.
There is not this mean God in the Old Testament, and a nice, loving God in the New, as can be portrayed by some false teachers.
There is a story of redemption that goes from the first verse in Genesis to the last verse of the Revelation of John.
Isaiah was speaking to a people who would go through just judgement for their sin against God, but even before the judgement began, and as sure as it would come, God also provided comfort in the prophesied rescue of His people from exile.
And even in the historical events of their exile and rescue, we see the bigger picture of our exile in sin, and the rescue of our savior Jesus Christ.
Today, if you are a believer, know that He has spoken kindly to you and He is your one and only true comfort in this life and the next.
If you aren’t a believer, if you have not fully rested in the person and work of Christ, know that there is a judgement that is promised, but no other true comfort and rescue than what God has provided in His Son.
Like Paul said in
“Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,
because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
Come to Christ and find consolation and true rest by believing in His word and trusting in what He has done.
May we all learn to take comfort finally in Christ alone.
Romans 15:13 (NASB95)
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 (NASB95)
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
