Join for our live streamed Sunday School (9:30am) and Worship Service (10:30am). You can view them HERE.

Comfort Ye My People

Isaiah 'Twas Foretold It

Dec 9, 2018


by: Jack Lash Series: Isaiah 'Twas Foretold It | Category: Advent | Scripture: Isaiah 40:1–5
I. Introduction
 A. Isaiah 40:1–5 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.”
 B. Luke 2:25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.
  1. Simeon was one of a number of faithful Jews who were “waiting for the consolation of Israel.”
  2. Where did they get this promise of comfort to cling to?
  3. From Isaiah 40. The word in Luke 2:25 for consolation is the same Greek word in the Septuagint to translate comfort in Isaiah 40:1.
  4. In the story of Simeon, the old prophet who was waiting for the consolation of Israel takes the baby Jesus and says, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29–32), God is pointing to Jesus and saying, “This is it! This is the comfort long promised to God’s people!”
 C. Isaiah 40 – One of the greatest chapters in the OT
 D. Handel’s Messiah: the first three songs
  1. Comfort Ye: from Is.40:1-3
  2. Every Valley Shall Be Exalted: from Is.40:4
  3. And the Glory of the Lord: from Is.40:5
II. Isaiah 40:1–5
 A. 3-5 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.”
  1. Quoted in Luke 3:4-6 (See also Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 1:76; John 1:23.)
 B. 1-2 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.
  1. 1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2a Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
   a. God’s word uses many different words to describe His people’s promised state of blessedness (like rest, glory, deliverance, redemption). Here it is the word comfort which is used.
   b. The Bible has many, many hard things to say to mankind — all very much deserved, and therefore all very much understandable.
   c. What is remarkable is that in the midst of the words of accusation, correction and condemnation, there are many words of mercy, grace and compassion.
   d. Sometimes God speaks tenderly. Sometimes God speaks words of comfort.
   e. This shows us that God knows this is hard. And that He has the power to initiate comfort whenever He deems fit.
  2. 2b and cry to her that her warfare is ended, 2c that her iniquity is pardoned, 2d that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.
   a. 2b and cry to her that her warfare is ended,
    (1) This is a momentous announcement. Isaiah prophecies about a time of transition. A time when trouble and conflict — but also alienation from God — would come to an end, and an era of comfort and forgiveness — and reconciliation — would begin.
   b. 2c that her iniquity is pardoned,
    (1) There is nothing worse in the world than hearing God say, “I am against you!” (E.g. Jer.50:31; Ezek.5:8; Nahum 3:5).
    (2) Mankind has lived under the holy & just disapproval of God. God has something against man.
    (3) But there comes a moment when God lets it go, when He lays it down, when He announces that He has forgiven. That moment, of course, is the cross. 
   c. 2d that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.
    (1) Double? = Plenty (especially from our perspective)
    (2) You see, there are two ways God responds to human sin:
     (a) death (including eternal death) – justice
     (b) the curse (by which God imposed pain and difficulty into human life) – discipline
    (3) Here Isaiah is referring to the latter: God’s people have received plenty of pain & trouble, plenty of discipline from their heavenly Father for their sin. Now it’s finally going to be over.
  3. What Isaiah is talking about here is God’s curse and its undoing. 
   a. When Adam & Eve sinned, God’s curse imposed pain (Gen.3:14-19).
    (1) Cultivating the earth
    (2) Bearing children
    (3) The marriage relationship
   b. So, now human life is painful.
   c. But Isaiah says there’s a day coming when the curse is rolled back. This is something Christ does:
    (1) “No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make His blessings known, far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found.”
   d. The One who created pain also created comfort. But He didn’t create man for pain; He created him for comfort.
III. Exquisite promises of God’s comfort in Isaiah
 A. There are many visions of God’s comfort in Christ throughout the Bible. I would like to point out a few little-known but priceless examples in the book of Isaiah.
 B. Isaiah 66:10–13 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; 11 that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.” 12 For thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
  1. The hungry baby
   a. Hungry adults,
   b. Airline waitress
   c. From unconsolable to drunken happiness
  2. Intimacy and delight
 C. Three kinds of comfort:
  1. comfort while still in pain (e.g. mother holding her child)
   a. This kind of comfort seems to be in mind in Is.66:13.
  2. the comfort of understanding the pain and experiencing its good fruit
  3. the comfort of having the pain removed (e.g. removing the thorn from the foot)
   a. This kind of comfort seems to be in mind in...
 D. Is.65:17-25 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. 19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. 20 No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. 21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them. 24 Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.
  1. I don’t think this means we won’t remember what happened on earth. I think it means that we won’t feel the pain of it any more.
  2. When God forgets our sins.
  3. When we experience pain, even after that pain is over, we often carry wounds or hurt with us.
   a. It doesn’t always rise to the level of PTSD. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.
  4. No more pain, and no more painful wounds.
  5. You can see this even more clearly in...
 E. Isaiah 33:17–24 Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches afar. 18 Your heart will muse on the terror: “Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute? Where is he who counted the towers?” 19 You will see no more the insolent people, the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend, stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand. 20 Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken. 21 But there the LORD in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass. 22 For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us. 23 Your cords hang loose; they cannot hold the mast firm in its place or keep the sail spread out. Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided; even the lame will take the prey. 24 And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.
  1. Terror is a strong word. Of all the worst things we experience here in this life, it can’t get much worse than terror.
  2. This prophecy was telling the people before the Sennacherib incident that one day they would muse over the terror they were going to experience.
  3. He was saying, Soon you will experience unthinkable terror. But you will survive it and one day you will look back on it without being troubled by the memory. You will say, “Where are those mighty men who came and threatened us? Where are those guys who were going to take down our city? Where are those thugs who forced us to pay tribute?”
  4. And someday God’s people will say the same kind of thing. They will look back at the enemies who terrorized them and smile. They will ask, Where are they now? Where is all their boastful arrogance now?
  5. But it gets better than this. See v.14-15.
 F. Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD. 7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall come up with acceptance on my altar, and I will beautify my beautiful house. 8 Who are these that fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows? 9 For the coastlands shall hope for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your children from afar, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the LORD your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has made you beautiful. 10 Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you; for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you. 11 Your gates shall be open continually; day and night they shall not be shut, that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession. 12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste. 13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the plane, and the pine, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious. 14 The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the LORD, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age. 16 You shall suck the milk of nations; you shall nurse at the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. 19 The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. 20 Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. 21 Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified. 22 The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation; I am the LORD; in its time I will hasten it.
  1. Now look at v.4-5.
  2. Here we have the scene painted a number of times in Isaiah of His chosen ones being gathered to the holy city on the last day, and the great joy which God’s people will share on that day as we see the peoples gathering.
  3. "From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast, through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Alleluia! Alleluia!" (William Walsham How) 
  4. “Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult.”
IV. God’s great comfort in the NT
 A. On the night before His departure, the disciples of Jesus were terrified about the idea of His departure. And so He comforted them with these words:
  1. “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” (John 14:16-20)
  2. A form of the same Greek word as ‘comfort’ Isaiah 40 and ‘consolation’ in the story of Simeon.
V. Conclusion
 A. What’s the when of this?
  1. When Christ came? When He comes again?
   a. The answer to all these questions is usually the same: the fullness of the promise doesn’t come till Christ returns, but it is has already begun in some measure.
  2. 2Cor.1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
  3. We share abundantly in Christ’s comfort now, but we also groan for the day when we will experience it fully.
  4. In the meantime, we must not faint but wait patiently. “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” -Is.40:29–31 — That’s how Isaiah 40 ends! Strength comes to those who wait in confidence.
  5. Little kids: waiting for Christmas — 16 days seems like forever!
  6. Well, our Father repeatedly tells us to wait. And yet for us in our immaturity it also seems like it goes on and on and never comes.
VI. The One who created pain also created comfort. And He didn’t create man for pain but for comfort.
 A. 1-2 I can't wait to hear these spoken tenderly by the Lord on the day of my death. “Comfort, comfort my child. Your warfare is ended, your iniquity is pardoned, you have received from the LORD’s hand enough discipline for all your sins.”
 B. I think a lot of people feel the weight of the difficulty of life more and more as they age.
 C. “So ye, beneath life’s crushing load, whose forms are bending low, who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow, look now! for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing; O rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing.” (Edmund Sears)