Isaiah 40:1-26
“Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye
comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double
for all her sins.” (Isaiah 40:1-2)
Time after time Isaiah has warned Judah and Israel of God’s
impending judgment for their sin. Here
he encourages them not to give up when they have sinned. Though they will be and were punished for
their sins, even double what they had done, they will still be pardoned when
they turn back and do what is right. God
has not and will not forget them.
“The voice of him that
crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the
desert a highway for our God. Every
valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the
crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of
the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth
of the LORD hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 40:3-5)
God’s prophets have been crying out for Judah and Israel to
turn back to God and plan for Messiah’s coming.
If they will turn to God, he will work miracles in their land, so that
the valleys are fruitful and the hills and mountains no longer stand in the
way. The obstacles and causes of doubt
and confusion will be removed. The
entire earth will see the power and glory of God revealed.
When Jesus came and walked on the earth, Israel saw a little
of the glory of God and his power in the miracles he did, and got a sampling of
what they could have received had they turned fully to him. Because Israel as a whole rejected the
opportunity, refusing to turn completely to God, they never got to see this
prophecy completely fulfilled. It will
be finally fulfilled during Christ’s millennial reign at the end of time.
“The voice said, Cry.
And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness
thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:
because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is
grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8)
Commanded to warn the people, Isaiah asked what he needed to
tell them. He was told to remind them of
the weakness and frailty of humanity. Humans dry up and die just the same as the
weeds and flowers in the field, and little remains to show they were even
there. God’s word, on the other hand, is
eternal and will never change.
“O Zion, that bringest
good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest
good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say
unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong
hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his
work before him. He shall feed his flock
like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his
bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” (Isaiah 40:9-11)
The very existence of the temple and of Jerusalem itself was
and is a testimony of God’s love for mankind, and willingness to forgive
them. He specifically provided a plan
for receiving that forgiveness in the law.
Almost fifteen hundred years after God had promised Abraham the land,
they were there to prove his word could be depended on. Isaiah needed to encourage Judah to put their
trust in the Lord, because he would keep his promise, rewarding those who trust
him and caring for his people like a shepherd caring for his sheep.
“Who hath measured the
waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and
comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in
scales, and the hills in a balance? Who
hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed
him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and
showed to him the way of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:12-14)
Who besides God could measure out how much water there would
be on earth or decide exactly how to space the planets to keep them from
crashing into each other? Who else knows
exactly how much dust there is on earth or what each mountain and hill weighs? Who else could decide what was right or after
man sinned, implant a conscience in them to make them aware of their guilt,
then teach them how to correct their wrong doing?
“Behold, the nations
are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance:
behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the
beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as nothing; and
they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness
will ye compare unto him?” (Isaiah 40:15-18)
Compared to God, even the powers of empires like the Assyrians
or Egypt or Babylon are only a drop in the bucket. Their impact is like the dust that settles on
a scale overnight, when weighing out a hundred pounds of flour. The difference they make is negligible. God can pick up all the islands of the earth
like they were just a small piece of gravel.
To God the most powerful nations are of little more value than a penny
is to most Americans, hardly worth even picking up. A country
like Lebanon would be like a toothpick when one is seeking firewood, and all
the animals in it wouldn’t make a single sacrifice. Knowing how powerful God is, what can we
compare him to or what can we make to portray him? Unfortunately, people still try.
“The workman melteth a
graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver
chains. He that is so impoverished that
he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a
cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.” (Isaiah
40:19-20)
A metal worker may cast a metal statue which a goldsmith
then overlays with gold and puts silver chains around it for decoration. A person who can’t even afford to give a
small donation and barely has enough to eat will look for a tree that doesn’t
rot and hires somebody to carve it into a statue which he places it in a shrine
where it is protected.
“Have ye not known?
have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not
understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the
earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the
heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: That
bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they
shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he
shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take
them away as stubble. To whom then will
ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.” (Isaiah 40:21-25)
Obviously people don’t really understand who God is who make
such idols. He controls the earth’s
orbit and the people on earth are no more significant than some grasshopper out
in the middle of a field. He placed the
atmosphere so that life could exist on earth and controls the light. He overthrows kingdoms and makes the rulers
look foolish. Keeping some groups from ever becoming a major power, so that
little trace is left of them in history.
How can we compare him to some earthly person or animal?
“Lift up your eyes on
high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by
number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he
is strong in power; not one faileth.” (Isaiah 40:26)
Just look around at what is there. As Romans 1:19-20 says, “…that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath
showed it unto them. For the invisible
things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they
are without excuse.” Failure to see
God’s power can only be the result of a refusal to look at the evidence.
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