The first 39 chapters of the book of
Isaiah are largely characterized by prophesies of judgment and
condemnation. Israel and Judah received
far worse news than a mere month of poking and prodding. They had turned their back on God. They had broken their covenant with God by
their disobedience and idolatry, and they continually refused to turn back to
Him (not for lack of opportunity).
Isaiah prophesied of the warfare and captivity that were to come as a
result if they did not choose to repent.
Though the times were already trying, they were going to get much darker
and far more difficult.
God is just and holy, true to His
word, and firm in His discipline. He is
also the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3). He warned His people of the fiery trials that
were to come and almost in the same breath offered them undeserved
comfort. The final 27 chapters of Isaiah,
beginning with chapter 40, are filled with the promise, comfort, and hope of
future deliverance and restoration.
Judah still had over 100 years of difficulty and 70 years of Babylonian
captivity ahead of her before she would see that deliverance and restoration
(Martin, 1091), but God gave her what she needed to find strength
and comfort in the midst of the suffering as she waited for Him to come through
on His promises. As you probably already
know from the prologue, I want to focus primarily on chapter 40 in this series.
In the first two verses of Isaiah
40, I see three reminders that help bring comfort and strength while waiting on
God. First, these verses remind us of
the compassionate heart of our God. Verse
one doesn’t use the word “comfort” just once, but twice. This repetition emphasizes that God does not
delight in the suffering and distress of His people. He desires to comfort them even in the times
when their suffering is a direct result of their sin and disobedience (I want
to clarify here that not all hardship is a direct result of sin – see John9:1-3 for one example. However, the fact
that God wants to comfort His people even when they are sitting in a mess of
their own making is a testament to the depths and the great expanse of His
mercy and compassion). In verse two, God
tells Isaiah to “speak kindly to Jerusalem.”
God wanted Isaiah to speak to the hearts of His people with all the
gentle tenderness of a mother toward her child.
While we all will experience seasons of hardship, we can take comfort in
knowing that God cares about our pain and that He will be gentle with us even
on the days when we mess up. Even though
He doesn’t always take the painful circumstance away when we think He should,
He feels for us, and He will never abandon us.
Jesus wept when Lazarus died even though He knew that He would bring him
back to life; He weeps with us too.
The second reminder that I see in
this passage is that suffering is only for a time. Verse two continues on: “And call out to her
[Jerusalem], that her warfare has ended.”
My hormone panel that stirred up so much fear and dread inside was two
years ago now. I have no desire to
repeat the experience, but it truly was “over before I knew it.” It rarely even crosses my mind anymore; when
it does, I now see it as evidence that in Christ I have access to the strength
and resolve I need to get through whatever God places in my path. I need this reminder for the days that my
wait seems endless – when the days have stretched into months and years of
aching and longing. It may not be 40
years of wandering in the wilderness or 70 years of Babylonian captivity, but I
still sometimes lose sight of the fact that someday I will be on the other side
(though I do not know exactly what the other side will look like). There will be healing, and there will be an
end to this season. I had to drive to
another town this morning to run some errands, and another country song came on
the radio that fit perfectly with this point.
The chorus of Gary Allan’s “Every Storm” says:
“Every storm runs, runs out of rain
Just like every dark night turns into day
Every heartache will fade away
Just like every storm runs, runs out of rain.”
Verse two closes out with our third
reminder: our sin debt has been paid. No
matter how devastating our circumstances are, we can rest in the fact that our biggest
and most dangerous problem has been solved if we have trusted in Jesus for
salvation. This particular verse refers
to the fact that Israel’s time of warfare and captivity would satisfy the terms
of Israel’s covenant with God so that they could start fresh as a nation. Their discipline would be complete. We have even more reason to find comfort
since we are on the other side of the cross.
When we trust in Jesus and His death and resurrection, all of our sins
(past, present, and future) are put onto His account, and He transfers His
righteousness to our account. It’s a
done deal. God already came through for
us in the matter of our greatest need.
He already demonstrated his perfect, unconditional love by sending His
Son to die for us even while we still stood opposed to Him. He already showed us His goodness, His power,
His wisdom, and His grace, and He is worthy of our trust and complete
devotion. How comforting it is to know
that the Son of God who conquered death itself and saved me from eternal separation
from God is the same One who holds my days in His hands.
God is for you. He sees you. He cares deeply about your heartaches, your
anxieties, and your fears, and He offers you what no one else can. He offers Himself:
- the compassionate Father who longs to wrap you up in the security and peace of His strong arms.
- the all-knowing and wise God who sees the end from the beginning as clearly as if it has already happened.
- the suffering Savior who knows our weaknesses and our pain and who gave His own life to save ours.
He longs to give you His comfort and His strength in overwhelming abundance, and we’ve just barely scratched the surface.
Martin, John A. "Isaiah," The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Old Testament),
ed., John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck. Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries, 2004.
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