All Will See

Celebration

Revelation

Isaiah 40:1-11

Isaiah 40:1-2

Why comfort?

Why “speak tenderly”?

If you look just before this chapter, Isaiah 39 details why.

Hezekiah, king of Israel is shown to be to foolish. You see, The king of Babylon sends over some emissaries with gifts, and Hezekiah, in his pride, decides to show these emissaries all of the riches of Israel

30:4 says there wasn’t a single treasure that he did not show them

Isaiah, like the other prophets of his time, proclaims to the king that Babylon is coming and they are going to take all of the riches and the people into slavery

Hezekiah, as if not even listening says “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good”

What?

Isaiah comments why, “for he thought: there will be peace and security during my lifetime”

Hezekiah was too busy in the pride of the wealth and riches of the nation to understand it was not peace that was coming, it was judgment

And that judgment looked like 70 years of slavery in Babylon

It is after Babylon comes that we have Isaiah 40 written.

You might be wondering, this isn’t really too Christmas-y of a message

Trust me we will get there

So between Isaiah 39 and Isaiah 40 we have the ruin of the nation and they are taken into slavery

So again we look Isaiah 40:1-2

God says to the prophet Isaiah that he is to bring a message of comfort to the people and he is to speak it in such a way that he speaks to their hearts

The word used there in Hebrew, tenderly, is literally referring in this context and sense is to their heart

To there inward most being

The center of a persons thoughts, volitions, or emotions

He tells them to announce to her that her time of slavery is over!

But even this is not the good news.

This is good news but it is not THE good news

Isaiah 40:3

So next we see this one that is to come speaking

But not just speaking he is crying out

His is like, if I can use a little word play, he is like an emissary for a king

One who goes before and makes sure everything is out of the way that should be

And everything that needs to be in place is so that when the king comes he just strolls through

Now the one to which the herald is preparing a way for is not just some random guy or some king but the LORD

This is God

Notice: “prepare the way of THE LORD” “make a straight highway FOR OUR GOD”

Isaiah 30:4

Then what we see next, is this picture of what he means when he says to prepare a way/make a straight highway

We see this lifting of valleys and crushing of mountains and smoothing of the rough places

Now we can know really what this is getting at because of this passage being quoted and applied to a New Testament figure.

This passage in the beginning of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) is applied to the person and ministry of John the Baptist

And obviously John the Baptist wasn’t crushing mountains and raising valleys

But what he did however do was bring the message of a coming king resulting in his confrontation of the prideful religious leaders and the helping of those in need that were neglected under their spiritual care

So much so that John the Baptist’s message got him killed for standing against the leadership or the “mountains”

Isaiah 40:5

Now we see that the “glory of the LORD” will appear

So here is the thing, this is a phrased used in many different ways throughout Scripture but here is a key to this usage

“all humanity together will see it”

When it is saying all humanity it is basically referring to all flesh as in all peoples will see this

Because remember this is to be a message that comforts those in physically slavery wondering when God was going to do something

These were people who were in great physical need, but more than that, what they didn’t realize is they were ALSO in spiritual need in a greater way

They were not mutually exclusive but rather both and

So this isn’t just some fortune cookie saying things will get better

This isn’t just some nice thought

This isn’t some horoscope with some vague promise of prosperity

What we see here is that the way of the LORD is that He would come down!

This is tangible real life, in your face, see Him, touch Him rescue

And this isn’t coming from someone who makes promises they can’t keep

This is spoken from the mouth of the LORD

Isaiah 40:6-8

That is exactly the purpose of these following verses

This promise of God did not find its origination or power in men but in God Himself

As mankind withers and fades like the grass of the field or the flowers of the field,

God’s Word however remains forever

As in this promise was not to be nullified by the frailty of mankind

Isaiah 40:9

You see, the promise of the coming King, is one that the people of God should be talking about!

He calls His people the Herald of the Good news

And tells them to Raise their voices loud and not to be afraid to do so!

And again we see this one that is coming, that John the Baptist would prepare the way for, who the people of God were supposed to herald

That He is not just a man, as they were called to say to the cities “Here is your God!”

Isaiah 40:10

This coming of the LORD is with strength and with power

The question is why and what for?

We also see that accompanying Him are His wages and his reward

I want to argue that the purpose of the coming of Jesus, the purpose which we, His people are to life up our voices and shout aloud,

The purpose which was the comfort of the people, the tender speaking to settle their anxious hearts in a dark time,

the purpose is found in the description and direction listed in Isaiah 40:11

Isaiah 40:11

It is for the purpose of the salvation of His people!

Look at the verbs and objects of the verbs listed in verse 11

He protects His flock

He gathers them

He carries them

He gently leads them!

But why with strength

In order that He might break the chains and the heavy yokes that lay up us because of our sin

And with power that He might free us from the wicked slavery to our sins and would establish us under His rule

The rule of a shepherd who protects whereas sin destroys

The rule of a shepherd who gathers whereas sin separates

The rule of a shepherd who carries whereas sin bears weight and crushes

The rule of a shepherd that gently leads whereas sin dominates and enslaves

Is it any wonder that in the narration of the birth of Jesus in the Gospels the Shepherds are the first to hear of the birth and visit this king born in a manger.

This Jesus, that we celebrate being born, came to save us.

That is why He is accompanied by His wages and His rewards.

Because Paul notes, as a result of our sinful condition, that our wages, all of our religious working and doing in order to get us into heaven

All the good deeds we think that is going to make God loves us

Paul says our good deeds are like dirty rags, tainted as a result of us

And that our wages because of sin is death

And our reward, remaining in our life of sin apart from God is separation eternally from Him

But praise God, on the day that we will celebrate soon this week, Jesus came with His wages, and would soon offer His reward

Because you see Jesus lived a perfect life on this earth, thus fulfilling God’s requirement for mankind

And then He would go to die our death as a result of our disobedience to God’s requirement for mankind

He died our death and rose again. Literally physically rose again and extends His reward - New Life

The greater picture of Israel’s return out of bondage from Babylon is the picture of Jesus rescuing us from the bondage of our sin and giving us His reward, eternal life!

So much as the prophet called the people to, though I am not a prophet

“Here is your God. See, the Lord comes with strength and His power establishes His rule”

Look and see.

Come and see.

Follow this Jesus today.

If you came just thinking you were getting gift cards or whatever or just coming to hear a nice Christmas message that’s fine but if you leave this place

And you do not follow Jesus, you are hearing the message of freedom, only to return back to your Babylon and stay in chains.

This is freedom. Today. Offered by a God who’s Word doesn’t wither and fade but remains forever