Christ Church

Dec 7 2003: 6.00pm

Isaiah 40:1-11

We have this evening one of the best-known passages from Isaiah: chapter 40, which begins with the words Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. These words actually mark a turning point in Isaiah's prophecies.

The first 39 chapters were to the inhabitants of Jerusalem who were flouting God's law, mixing it with pagan society, mixing it with pagan worship. They were warned, not only by Isaiah, but by many contemporary prophets that God would not let their idolatry go unpunished. Time and again they were warned to repent: time and again they turned a deaf ear. Until eventually they were taken captive, exiled to Babylon. There they had time to reflect on their ways and Psalm 137, for one, was written: By the waters of Babylon, we sat down and wept...

But now the scene changes. We don't know what happened to Isaiah after the exile. He would be a man in his late sixties, but it seems likely he had perhaps a decade of ministry to the Jews in exile. So, the tone changes- so much so that some would suggest two Isaiahs. That's what I was taught in Reader training, but it's not a thesis which I believe is either necessary or warranted.

Now Isaiah's message is one of hope. We can discern something similar in Jeremiah. Some see a parallel to the 40th-66th chapters of Isaiah with the 40th-66th books of the Bible- the New Testament and call this the 'new Testament' Isaiah. At the outset of the New Testament we have John the Baptist, who was really the last in the line of Old Testament prophets declaring himself to be the the voice of one calling in the wilderness and quoting words of Isaiah 40:3.

Here in verses 1 to 11 we have something of an overture to the rest of Isaiah: its four main themes are presented as in an orchestral overture. Let's then look very briefly at each of these:

1. A message of forgiveness

her sin has been paid for

This, of course, looks forward to the Cross- the only place where sin has been paid for. In a sense, the exile had 'paid for it'. But forgiveness is much more than that. It's release from a debt we could never repay: never, never can we pay for our sin.

The promise of forgiveness was not new. In the earlier 'judgmental' part of Isaiah, right back in the condemnatory words of chapter one we have it:

Come, let us reason together says the Lord, though you sins are as scarlet, yet they shall be white as snow.

But the people were not interested in reasoning. They were hell-bent of destruction. By their wilful rejection of God they had pressed the DESTRUCT button. There are Christians who seem to persist in wilful sin. Detrcution will happen. For the Christian, the final destruction is death. God will remove his child from this world: from the arena where sin tempts.

2. A promise of provision

Isaiah's message is to prepare the Lord's way; to make the rough places plain: to prepare for God to act. God desires to act in our lives, to provide for us, so that we may see his glory.

But the way has to be prepared. Are there obstacles in our lives that hinder God's work and his provision? Then we must prepare the way, remove the obstacles. There must be a level and a straight way for God. Then, even through the wilderness, God can make his highway. Living in a spiritual drought? God can make his path into our lives in any situation. But he requires and asks of us that we co-operate.

3. A message of promise

The promise is that the word of God will stand. It will stand firm amidst all vagaries, all the perils of human existence. Our lives are but a moment against the backdrop of God's eternity. Grass withers. Flowers fall. But never so God's word. It stands gloriously firm and everything in it that God has promised is equally secure.

4. A promise of peace

This is the good news. God's arm prevails; he rules. And to his flock he brings peace. He tends for those who are his. Peace comes through the blood of Christ. Our sin has been paid for.

But what a lovely picture. I've deliberately kept this short because it's cold. But let these words warm our hearts:

He gathers the lambs in his arms

He carries them close to his chest

He gently leads those who have young

Comfort, my people, says your God.

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