Isaiah: Behold, Your God!

Isaiah 40:1-14

There is a car stalled in our neighborhood. It is parked half on the road and half in a neighbor’s yard. I have run past it three days this week. Perhaps it has been abandoned. Who knows?

Have you ever felt like a stalled car? Kind of half in, half out of your faith? Maybe it seemed as if God had abandoned you. Here’s some good news—that’s not who you are, and that’s not who God is. C. S. Lewis wrote, “God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man.”[1] God became man to make you a new creation and renew you every day!

An important part of the process of renewal is the acknowledgement of our sins, which we have been reminded of through the first section of our study in Isaiah. In Isaiah 1-39, the focus was on Judah’s disobedience and the future consequences. Today, as we begin the second section of Isaiah, chapters 40-66, the focus shifts. These chapters center on comfort, encouragement, and renewal. Let me set the context.

The prophet Isaiah wrote to the nation of Judah during the reigns of four kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Isa. 1:1). The northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians in 722 BC, but God protected the southern kingdom of Israel (called Judah) from the same threat. However, he forewarned that due to their continued sin, the Babylonians would be the ones conquering Judah. The southern kingdom’s final collapse took place in 586 BC, almost one hundred years after Isaiah’s prophecy. Before that, in 605 BC, the Babylonians were already sending captives back to Babylon (Dan. 1:1-6).

Judah was held captive by the Babylonians for seventy years until the Persians conquered them in 539 BC and sent Judah’s exiles back to their homeland (Ezra 1). So—hang with me here—Isaiah’s prophecy pertains to three audiences: his contemporaries concerning the impending Babylonian captivity, those living in exile who are feeling abandoned by God, and those who are returning to Judah with Ezra, facing the challenging assignment of rebuilding the temple. Isaiah’s message of comfort, encouragement, and renewal breaks down like this:

God will deliver his people (Isa. 40-48).
God will send a Savior (Isa. 49-57).
God will bring about a glorious consummation (Isa. 58-66).

Isaiah 40-66 is deep and rich. There is so much to dig into as we study these chapters.

Isaiah 40:1-11 begins with encouragement that deliverance is coming. The words of comfort[2] are very personal as God addresses the message to “my people” from “your God” (Isa. 40:1). Even though they had sinned and suffered the consequences, God still identified with his people. What a great truth and comfort for us today!

God spoke “tenderly to Jerusalem.” The word “tenderly” is the Hebrew word for “heart” (leb). God wanted Judah to know that he was speaking from the depth of his Person. The captivity (“hard service”) has ended, and “she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins” (Isa. 40:2). This does not mean that Judah has paid twice the amount for her disobedience, but that her sins have been completely paid.

In Isaiah’s day, roads would be smoothed out for traveling dignitaries. Isaiah 40:3-5 uses hyperbole (mountains made low, valleys lifted) to show that from the wilderness of captivity, God was providing the way for Judah to return home. Every gospel writer applies Isaiah 40:3 to John the Baptist, who is coming from the wilderness to speak to a people in the “desert of sin” about the Savior.[3]  He was the last prophet preparing the way for the Messiah.

Judah has been living in the wilderness of oppression under the authority of their captors. They have watched kings and rulers come and go. The Assyrians were conquered by the Babylonians (612 BC). Then the Babylonians fell to the Persians (539 BC). Kings of all these empires lived and died. God reminded Judah (and us today) that all humanity is like grass and flowers that wither and fade “because the breath of the Lord blows on them” (Isa. 40:7). In contrast to humans, the sovereign Lord and his promises will never die. “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (Isa. 40:8) is today’s Anchor Point.  God’s promises to us will never fail!

Now, let’s be honest. If you knew the Babylonians had forced your parents and grandparents to leave their homeland, and you were born during this captivity, you might wonder about the One who was supposed to be your God. Maybe today you are wondering about some things God is doing in your life. That’s fair. So…God reintroduces himself to Judah and would like to reintroduce himself to you.

He says:  Here is “good news.” “Do not be afraid.”  “Here is your God!” (Isa. 40:9). Let’s consider who our God is.

Our God is the God of strength and power (Isa. 40:10).

God “rules with a mighty arm.” God’s arm is a symbol of his strength (see Isa. 51:5, 9; 52:10; 53:1; 59:1, 16; 62:8; 63:5, 12).

Our God is the gentle Shepherd (Isaiah 40:11).

God “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.” This intimate picture of God as our Shepherd is used repeatedly in Scripture (Ps. 23:1; 80:1; John 10:11, 14; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:4).

Our God is sovereign over all (Isa. 40:12-19).

In this section of the chapter, a series of rhetorical questions emphasize that there is no one like our God.

• He is the Maker of heaven and earth (Isa. 40:12). 
  “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand…?” He is such a majestic Creator that it is as if he can hold all the waters present on earth in the palm of his hand. Isaiah continues, “[A]nd marked off the heavens with a span?” This reminds us of God’s question to Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” (Job 38:4).
  
  
• He is omniscient (Isa. 40:13-14).
  “Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?” God is all-knowing!
  
  Those who translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek, creating the Septuagint, understood the Hebrew word “Spirit” (Heb: ruah) to be “mind.” The NIV follows the Septuagint’s translation. However, some commentators believe this is referring to God’s creative power, where Genesis 1:2 gives the Spirit a place in God’s creative work.[4] The ESV follows this interpretation.

We’ll pick up with Isaiah 40:15 tomorrow. Here are some closing thoughts for today.

Remember, as I stated earlier, Isaiah is writing to three groups of people: those of his day who were warned of a forthcoming Babylonian captivity, those who had been in captivity for seventy years and were clinging to the promises of God, and those returning to Judah with Ezra to begin rebuilding the temple.  And there is one more audience. Of course, all of Isaiah applies to you and me today!

Those in captivity were looking around at the impressive polytheistic culture and possibly thinking, “Perhaps there is more than one God. Maybe we should serve other gods. Seems to be working for the Persians….”

We can entertain similar thoughts. Our gods today are not like the Persian gods, made of metal and wood. However, they are gods, nonetheless. The gods of money, self-promotion, self-advancement, power, sex…the list of counterfeit gods is long. And we can begin, if we’re not careful, to live as if there are many gods to pursue.

That’s why our study of Isaiah is so important and our passage today so powerful. God is God alone.

Behold, your God!

He is the all-powerful Sovereign…and…he is the gentle Shepherd. He is the omniscient Creator. There is none like him. The belief that other gods will act on our behalf is a lie from Satan himself.

Renewal comes when, every day, we refuse the lies and embrace the truth.

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Time in the Word: Read and reflect on Isaiah 40:1-14. Read our Anchor Point—Isaiah 40:8. Many people believe that feelings and emotions are their authority. But for the Christian, we know that the only authority that “endures forever” is God’s Word.  Do you truly believe that?

Talking to God:  Review the characteristics of God we are reminded of in today’s passage. Praise him for who he is and how he works. 

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Every day is a day of spiritual renewal as we follow hard after Jesus.