Sermon Tone Analysis



Aria: Ev'ry Valley

Isaiah 40: 4

by

Pastor Kevin Hartley

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.

Isaiah 40: 4

Text Explained

Obstacles stood in the way of comfort's path.

The land of Canaan spelled rest for the Israel of God.

Israel would find themselves cast forth, expelled from a land, scattered far in distant lands.

Every known obstacle would fence the road back to Canaan.

Hills, mountains, valleys, cliffs, gullies, would guard the land.

All of the barriers that once forbid Israel's entrance into Canaan would again bar them re-entrance into the Promised Land.

When Isaiah prophesied of the coming captivity of the nation of Israel, he began the message of comfort with a promise of God's desire to clear Israel's path back unto her rest.

As sure as the Lord was needed to clear the obstacles in Israel's way, as she sought entrance into her rest, so would the Lord be needed to make a way again for the people of God.

For the obstacles this time for Israel's entrance were of a different sort than before.

Now the landscape was chiseled with dreadful memories.

For the Hebrew reader of the text of Isaiah 40: 4, the pleasant labreto of Air, the third movement of Handel's Messiah, would not immediately speak comfortably unto God's people.

For the words would ring in their ears most unpleasantly, as though it were set to a lamentable tune.

The opening phrase would pierce through their castaway hearts with lamentable anguish.

Gehy, valley, was a specific type of valley.

"It was a valley elongated with a flat bottom (TWOT)."

It was a long and graven depression.

"Perhaps the most famous (gehy) valley, of this description was, just south of Jerusalem, here Moloch was worshipped with immolations of children.

Josiah abolished this practice and desecrated the valley, it came to be associated with the judgement of sinners (Jer 7: 32; 19: 6).

Later the place was made a garbage dump.

The NT writers transliterated it gay' hinnom (via Aramaic) into Greek and applied the term geenna to the place of eternal punishment (TWOT)."

It is the place Christ would point towards when speaking of the worm dying not and the flame that is not quenched.

These words had clear meaning to Israel, it spoke of hell's own wrath for her foul and detestable practices of old.

Tears, sorrow, and grief would first accompany the listener, as he was reminded of a vile place of sin.

The shrill of unpleasant words though would give way to comfort.

God would raise his people, bringing them forth from the fires of gheena itself.

But not before the next phrase reminded them of their insubordination.

"The OT uses mountains with theological intention in at least four ways.

First, the Lord is greater than the mountains: he establishes them (Ps 65: 6; 90: 2), weights them (Is 40: 12), breaks them in pieces (I Kgs 19: 11; Hab 3: 6), grinds them (Is 41: 15), sets them on fire (Deut 32: 22; Ps 83; 14), melts them (Mic 1: 4) and removes them (Job 9: 5).

Mountains are symbol of power as Babylon is called a destroying mountain (Jer 51: 25); the opposition to Zerrubabel is likened to a mountain that will become a plain (zech 4: 7).

In Isa 14: 12ff and Ezk 28: 11 - 19 the pagan kings of Babylon and Tyre respectively are described as seeking to become gods by ascending the mythological divine mountain (TWOT)."

God, who met Moses upon the mountain, that set Zion upon a high mountain, God that was spoken of as a mountain over and against the nations of the earth, like Babylon, that tried to scale the heights of God's glory, was blasphemed among the nations by his people.

But wherein was that blasphemy contained?

The phrase wegivah yishpalu gave evidence of the great heights of the pride of men that sought to cast down God from heaven.

"Hill lower than a mountain, used 60 times in the OT, it may refer to a natural eminence smaller than a mountain but most often, it becomes a place of illicit worship.

Of the 60 uses, the heaviest clusters are found in the prophets (Is 13, Jer 9, Ezk 8).

Particularly interesting here is the use of the phrase 'on every high hill (gib'a) and under every green tree,' or its variants, as a reference to the location of fertility cult practices in Israel in Judah.

This phrase occurs 16 times, each reference condemns Canaanite practice which has been adopted by the Hebrews.

The Israelites had adopted immoral cultic rites, popular among groups who worshipped Baal and Asherah (TWOT)."

Idolatry, apostasy, and unbelief, this phrase would bring the limbs of the Hebrew listener of our oratorio to tremble at the hearing of this air.

The comforted soul is raised from gheena's fires and the height of idolatry and pride is abased in the coming of God to Israel's rescue.

In the second stanza of our Air comes forth further evidence of Israel's crimes, further shame as the chorus repeats.

For the opening words, wehayah heaqov lemiyshor, literally spoken, Jacob shall be made straight.

Heaqov, from the root of the word Jacob, supplanter, heel-grabber, comes forth this adjective meaning crooked.

As a topography its speaks of a crag or hilly cliffs, that which is jagged.

Figuratively it speaks of injustice.

For the next word, lemiyshor, means straight and just.

"Level country, table-land, plain: antith.; specifically of the elevated plateau or table-land between the Arnon and Heshbon.

A level place (free from obstacles), fig.

for place of safety, comfort, and prosperity.

Uprightness (cf.

rv;yme ), in government.

Uprightness, straightness in justice; lawfully.

It is the Lord who declares "justice" (Is 4: 19) (TWOT)."

Habakkuk cried out, "O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!

even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!

Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance?

for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.

Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth (Hab 1: 2- 4)."

A people of law, a people of justice, a people of equity, like unto the righteous Lord, they had again brought anything but honor to the name of God.

The comforted soul is assured of equity and righteousness.

Finally, the words, (weharcasim leviqah), are sung.

Weharcasim, "roughness or bound up, impeded, the impassable or mountain chain, rough place, meaning dubious," and "leviqah, another word for valley (TWOT)."

Though similar, the phrase is not identical to the first of our verse.

This words literally means "binding knot."

It gives the feeling of being surrounded by a vast mountain chain without hope of passing.

Often in film, you will see pictures of an explorer standing amidst a great and high mountain chain, distraught that there is no pass through the chain.

Such hopeless is brought from this word.

North of Canaan are very high mountains, passable only through two valleys.

Surely this would be brought to their memory.

For God said he would make a valley through it.

The binding chains of sin, idolatry, and hell itself would be torn asunder, as God would make a comfortable way for his people.

Doctrine.

The text today lends forth the proposition that the path to comfort is through sin's landscape, but the Lord through the Messiah has made a way.

Though we understand the actual fulfillment of this passage was realized in the days of Cyrus, as a forlorn people of exile would enter the land, a land destroyed by sin, evil, great violence, and God's wrath, still God made a way of restoration.

Undoubtably the verse speaks of greater comfort to the days of Jesus.

For we have noted that verse 3 was quoted of the evangelists of the last of the prophets, John the Baptist, and verse 4 is but a commentary upon that verse.

But where do we see such pathways made?

In the heart; yes, in the heart of a people, in the coming of the kingdom of God.

Thus, when we declare that God has made a path through sin's landscape, and that way is through the Messiah, we understand that this verse speaks comfort unto the church.

In order to further illustrate this truth, from our text we shall note the following:

1.

The comforted soul has had all of hell's fire's raised

2. The comforted soul has seen the Lord's name exalted as High

3. The comforted soul has had all idols abolished

4. The comforted soul has had righteousness restored

5.

The comforted soul has had the impasse of bonds removed

Doctrines

1.

The Comforted Soul has had All of Hell's Fire's Raised

The coming of Messiah meant an end to the promised journey of the soul through gheena's valley.

Isaiah wrote, "And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound (Is 30: 25 - 26)."

Such was the day when the earth shook upon Calvary's hill.

Fear of hell fire does not remain for the ransomed captives of Babylon, to whom Jesus has healed the stroke of our wound.

Jesus said unto Peter, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt 16: 18)."