Lumley 4 -- Isaiah 40-55
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is a majestic and beautiful poem, which composes the heart of the book of Isaiah.
is a majestic and beautiful poem, which composes the heart of the book of Isaiah.
I consider this passage essential to the narrative and framework of the Bible, and I want to give it little more today than an introductory and cursory consideration.
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
Perhaps the most quoted chapter in this essential passage in Isaiah and the Bible is found in chapter 53.
Perhaps the most quoted chapter in this essential passage in Isaiah and the Bible is found in chapter 53.
This passage is quoted by Jesus in and served and serves as the central OT passage at the heart of Jesus’ understanding of himself and his calling.
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
In , we find the description of Jesus as Isaiah’s Suffering Servant.
In , we find the description of Jesus as Isaiah’s Suffering Servant.
Actually, this description of the Suffering Servant in is the fourth such description of Isaiah’s suffering servant!
The Servant Songs — the poems within the Poem:
These passages in serve as the heart of the passage as the prophet is conveying who the ONE shall be like who brings to pass the powers and mercies of the “arm of the Lord.”
These passages in serve as the heart of the passage as the prophet is conveying who the ONE shall be like who brings to pass the powers and mercies of the “arm of the Lord.”
Isaiah understands such powers and mercies of the Lord as the COMFORT of God to God’s people.
Isaiah understands such powers and mercies of the Lord as the COMFORT of God to God’s people.
is all about COMFORT, about God, and the way God brings COMFORT to God’s people.
1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 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.
3 A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 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.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
This comfort from God to God’s people is a very specific COMFORT to a very particular situation.
This comfort from God to God’s people is a very specific COMFORT to a very particular situation.
By the end of , Israel — rather the Kingdom of Judah — is going into EXILE.
King Hezekiah has hosted a group from Babylon, and he is so pleased!
He has shown to them all the riches of his house and Kingdom.
And God then conveys to Hezekiah that all he showed the Babylonians would end up belonging to the Babylonians:
isa 39:5
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 7 And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
is placed as a word to a community facing EXILE, that has lost hope, that has forgotten how to hope, and that thinks God has forgotten them.
is placed as a word to a community facing EXILE, that has lost hope, that has forgotten how to hope, and that thinks God has forgotten them.
As in other places in Scripture, Isaiah steps up to convey that God has NOT forgotten God’s people!
As in other places in Scripture, Isaiah steps up to convey that God has NOT forgotten God’s people!
God HAS BEEN FAITHFUL to God’s Covenant!
convey very clearly that when God’s people are faithful, they shall be blessed. When they are unfaithful, they will go into EXILE.
God is faithful to the people and to the Covenant by THE WORD — the word of … the Word of … and it is by THE WORD of the Lord, that Comfort comes to God’s people...
God is faithful to the people and to the Covenant by THE WORD — the word of … the Word of … and it is by THE WORD of the Lord, that Comfort comes to God’s people...
The Word of Comfort goes like this:
The Word of Comfort goes like this:
The Exile has happened as a direct result of your idolatry and sin.
BUT now God has dealt with your sin.
And that dealing with sin means that exile, too, can be dealt with.
Sin and Exile are so closely related in the Scriptures that once God has dealt with sin, then return from Exile can happen.
So in the exile, the sin of God’s people is dealt with; which means God has dealt with their sin… which means the covenant can be renewed and new creation, new beginnings can emerge and bring COMFORT.
So in the exile, the sin of God’s people is dealt with; which means God has dealt with their sin… which means the covenant can be renewed and new creation, new beginnings can emerge and bring COMFORT.
Isa 40.1-
1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 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.
3 A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 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.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 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.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
9 Go on 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!”
10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11 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.
Great power/Great glory along side Great Tenderness
Great power/Great glory along side Great Tenderness
And we see this relationship of power and tenderness through .
We see at the end of this powerful picture of new creation...
We see at the end of this powerful picture of new creation...
In as Adam and Eve are escorted out of the Garden, thorns and thistles emerge from the ground...
12 “For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Isa 55:12-
As you read and study you will see the poem hold together:
As you read and study you will see the poem hold together:
The promise return from exile
The return of the Lord to His people
With the result of New Covenant and New Creation made available through the mighty and tender arm of the Lord within and through His Suffering Servant.
How will that be accomplished: God will speak it, and it will come to pass by His Word that goes out and never empty or void.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
isaiah 40:
10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
isa 55:
AND THAT IS THE COMFORT PROMISED BY GOD THEN AND BY GOD NOW.
Israel made and makes the common mistake all make --
When going into EXILE, it looks like God is smaller than the idols… “God, they are so big and you are so small?! Where are you God?!!!!?”
Isa 42:
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.
11 Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the habitants of Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in the coastlands.
13 The Lord goes out like a mighty man,
like a man of war he stirs up his zeal;
he cries out, he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.
14 For a long time I have held my peace;
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in labor;
I will gasp and pant.
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into islands,
and dry up the pools.
16 And I will lead the blind
in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
and I do not forsake them.
17 They are turned back and utterly put to shame,
who trust in carved idols,
who say to metal images,
“You are our gods.”