Isaiah 40A. Chapters present a very different pattern when compared to the first 39 books of the Bible

Transcription

1 Isaiah 40A Tday we begin Secnd Isaiah Chapters present a very different pattern when cmpared t the first 39 bks f the Bible Secnd Isaiah is written abut events in the future frm Isaiah s day But he will ften speak as if they are present day r even histry It will be as if Isaiah has been transprted int the future and writes frm that perspective We said that this divisin is reminiscent f the way the Bible is divided int the Old and New Testaments There are several ways we can describe the differences I will list them tnight and then reflect upn them as we mve thrugh the chapters First Isaiah 1-39 Secnd Isaiah Gdʼs instrument is Assyria Fcuses n judgment Includes histry Messiah is ruling t cnquer sin Isaiahʼs wn life is interwven Gdʼs instrument is Babyln Fcus is deliverance N histry; always frward lking Messiah is a healing servant Isaiahʼs wn life is absent Anther way t divide Secnd Isaiah is int thirds The first third runs frm Chapters It fcuses n the greatness f Gd the Father The secnd third in Chapters Fcuses n the Sn, as the suffering servant t redeem Israel frm Her sins 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 Isaiah 40A! 2 The third sectin is Chapters lks at the Spirit Lking at the remnant f Israel and hw the Spirit prduces the glry f Israel when the Spirit is pured ut n Israel We culd als cntrast First Isaiah and Secnd Isaiah in simple terms First Isaiah fcuses n the judgment sin requires under terms f the Law While Secnd Isaiah emphasizes the grace f Gd made pssible thrugh a Messiah s sacrifice Law vs. Grace Lking at Isaiah 40, we are given yet anther way t utline the secnd half f Isaiah And this utline cmes in the pening verses f chapter 40 Is. 40:1 Cmfrt, O cmfrt My peple, says yur Gd. Is. 40:2 Speak kindly t Jerusalem; And call ut t her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been remved, That she has received f the LORD S hand Duble fr all her sins. The Lrd s pening wrds in verse 1 are spken t the prphets themselves Certainly Isaiah, but prbably his cntemprary Micah as well After 39 chapters f wes and judgments and prphecies f calamity, nw they are tld t present cmfrting wrds The sense f this statement in Hebrew (and the ne that fllws in verse2) suggest a winning ver f the peple Speak t their hearts is the sense f the phrase Give them encuraging wrds t win them back t Gd This is similar t what Gd tells Israel in ther prphets, including Hsea Hs. 2:13 I will punish her fr the days f the Baals When she used t ffer sacrifices t them And adrn herself with her earrings and jewelry, And fllw her lvers, s that she frgt Me, declares the LORD Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 Isaiah 40A! 3 Hs. 2:14 Therefre, behld, I will allure her, Bring her int the wilderness And speak kindly t her. Hs. 2:15 Then I will give her her vineyards frm there, And the valley f Achr as a dr f hpe. And she will sing there as in the days f her yuth, As in the day when she came up frm the land f Egypt. Hs. 2:16 It will cme abut in that day, declares the LORD, That yu will call Me Ishi And will n lnger call Me Baali. Hsea says that at first Gd punishes Israel fr fllwing Baal Acting as a harlt with false gds But then in v.14 Gd will allure her back and speak kindly t her The Hebrew fr speak kindly is the same sense as Isaiah 40:1-2 Win her back And the result f that winning back will be a new day fr Israel In that day they will call Gd Ish r husband And they will n lnger lk t Baal as gd At this pint, I need t intrduce anther f Isaiah s trademark weaving f tw themes tgether In Secnd Isaiah, we will see Babyln at the center f many prphecies And we knw frm histry there was a Babyln that existed abut 120 years after Isaiah This was Nebuchannezar s Babyln But there is als t be a future Babyln during Tribulatin The Antichrist s Babyln Bth Babyln s are imprtant t Israel, and Isaiah weaves tgether references t bth thrughut Secnd Isaiah Just like with Assyria, the Babyln f Isaiah s near future becmes a picture f the Babyln f the Tribulatin 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 Isaiah 40A! 4 The time f captivity due t arrive frm Babyln gives way t a new exdus int the prmised land at the hands f a deliverer And a new better natin emerges In 40:2 we are given an utline fr Secnd Isaiah Isaiah must speak kindly t Israel cncerning three things Her warfare as ended Her iniquity has been remved She has received duble fr all her sins frm the Lrd Let s lk at each f these in detail s we can begin t fllw Isaiah s pattern First, Isaiah says Israel s warfare has ended The war Isaiah is referring t is the war between Israel and Gd Himself This was the war that began as a result f Israel s sin and disbedience f the cvenant Gd fught His battles thrugh the hands f Israel s adversaries, principally Assyria Remember His wrds t Jerusalem (Ariel) earlier: Is. 29:2 I will bring distress t Ariel, And she will be a city f lamenting and murning; And she will be like an Ariel t me. Is. 29:3 I will camp against yu encircling yu, And I will set siegewrks against yu, And I will raise up battle twers against yu. This warfare is ended (speaking abut a future time) In chapters 40-48, Isaiah describes why the war has ended The sectin fcuses n Gd s superirity ver the idls that prvked the war in the first place Cntrasting Israel with Gentiles wh fllw idls And Gd prmises the end f the gds f Babyln 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 Isaiah 40A! 5 Isaiah gives a prmise f tw deliverances frm these gds: One frm the idls wrship that send Israel int the first Babylnian captivity And the secnd ne frm the gds f the Spiritual Babyln But bth Babylns represent the end f warfare in slightly different ways In Isaiah will describe hw Gd puts an end t His warfare when the natin is restred under Zerubbabel and Ezra and Nehemiah And After this return t the Land, Israel never again pursued idlatry The first Babyln experience then becmes a picture f hw Israel s faithfulness is restred (in the fullest sense) after the secnd Babyln Part 2 will describe hw Israel s iniquity has been remved (r literally made amends) In a sense, part 2 explains part 1 The war ended because Israel has ceased t fllw idls And Gd has remved ungdliness frm Jacb This sectin runs frm chapters and fcuses n the suffering Messiah The suffering is an atnement made by the Messiah t pay the debt f Israel s sins Als in this sectin, the suffering Messiah is cntrasted with the Messiah s glry in His kingdm This cntrast has lng caused truble fr rabbis, wh decided Isaiah must be teaching that there wuld be tw Messiahs A suffering Messiah and a cnquering Messiah Yu see this cnfusin in the questining directed at Jhn the Baptist 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 Isaiah 40A! 6 Jhn 1:19 This is the testimny f Jhn, when the Jews sent t him priests and Levites frm Jerusalem t ask him, Wh are yu? Jhn 1:20 And he cnfessed and did nt deny, but cnfessed, I am nt the Christ. Jhn 1:21 They asked him, What then? Are yu Elijah? And he said, I am nt. Are yu the Prphet? And he answered, N. They ask him if he is the Christ, Elijah r the Prphet The Christ is the cnquering Messiah Elijah is t return befre the establishment f the kingdm The Prphet is the suffering Messiah Finally, the third sectin t Secnd Isaiah is fund in chapters This sectin addresses Israel receiving duble fr her sins Like befre, this third sectin is explained in a sense by the secnd sectin Israel received a pardning thrugh the suffering Messiah nly after she had been made t pay duble fr her sins T explain this, let s remember why Israel fund herself under judgment in the beginning f Isaiah She had brken the cvenant f Mses Israel agreed t keep it s terms and when she didn t she fell under it s curses The requirements f the Law includes the principle that the first brn must receive a duble prtin f the inheritance Frm this principle f a duble prtin, Gd declares that Israel wuld have t suffer duble fr breaking the cvenant But then when Israel is restred, it wuld receive duble in her glry, as the chief natin n the Earth Gd calls Israel His first brn amng the natins in Exdus 4:22 Yu can see Gd eching Isaiah in ther places 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 Isaiah 40A! 7 Jer. 16:18 I will first dubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have plluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses f their detestable idls and with their abminatins. Likewise, they receive a duble restratin Zech. 9:11 As fr yu als, because f the bld f My cvenant with yu, I have set yur prisners free frm the waterless pit. Zech. 9:12 Return t the strnghld, O prisners wh have the hpe; This very day I am declaring that I will restre duble t yu. Finally, Paul repeats this principle in Rmans Rm. 2:9 There will be tribulatin and distress fr every sul f man wh des evil, f the Jew first and als f the Greek, Rm. 2:10 but glry and hnr and peace t everyne wh des gd, t the Jew first and als t the Greek. The Jews are always first, bth in judgment and in restratin And they receive a duble prtin fr their sins Ultimately, the duble prtin that Israel receives fr her sins is paid ut in Tribulatin While the duble prtin f glry is realized in Israel s psitin in the Kingdm as chief natin One last bservatin Each f these sectins is divided frm the next with an interesting statement A statement abut the wicked 48:22, 57:21, and 66:24 D yu remember hw in the gspel f Matthew Jesus wuld ften teach parables abut Israel r the church Which He then ended with a single qute abut the wicked? This is a classic Biblical pattern 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 Isaiah 40A! 8 Befre we get int the first sectin cncerning the end f warfare begin, Isaiah shws a series f calls that take place in respnse t Gd s directin frm vs. 1-2 The first call is fund in verses 3-5 Is. 40:3 A vice is calling, Clear the way fr the LORD in the wilderness; Make smth in the desert a highway fr ur Gd. Is. 40:4 Let every valley be lifted up, And every muntain and hill be made lw; And let the rugh grund becme a plain, And the rugged terrain a brad valley; Is. 40:5 Then the glry f the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it tgether; Fr the muth f the LORD has spken. A vice calls t prepare a way fr a special arrival The descriptin f preparatins here is based n the culture f Isaiah s day As a king might enter int a new regin as a visitr r t take up residence in a new part f his land, the peple wuld prepare by cutting a new rad r cleaning up the ld ne They made a smth rad fr the visiting king They made his entry easier That s the sense f hw ne vice says t prepare fr the arrival f Christ, the King Only this King will see valleys and muntains changed As we ve seen ver and ver again, there are tw events mixing tgether here We knw frm all fur gspel writers that Jhn the Baptist was related t this verse, But it s clear frm the text in Isaiah that Jhn wasn t the cmplete fulfillment f this prphecy The glry f the King wasn t revealed And nt all flesh saw that glry And muntains and valleys weren t recnstructed at that time 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 Isaiah 40A! 9 But cnsider this passage frm Matt Matt. 17:9 As they were cming dwn frm the muntain, Jesus cmmanded them, saying, Tell the visin t n ne until the Sn f Man has risen frm the dead. Matt. 17:10 And His disciples asked Him, Why then d the scribes say that Elijah must cme first? Matt. 17:11 And He answered and said, Elijah is cming and will restre all things; Matt. 17:12 but I say t yu that Elijah already came, and they did nt recgnize him, but did t him whatever they wished. S als the Sn f Man is ging t suffer at their hands. Matt. 17:13 Then the disciples understd that He had spken t them abut Jhn the Baptist. When the disciples see Jesus glry, they begin t remember that Elijah was suppsed t return befre Christ s return It cmes frm Malachi 4, the last chapter f the OT Mal. 4:5 Behld, I am ging t send yu Elijah the prphet befre the cming f the great and terrible day f the LORD. The great and terrible day f the Lrd is a reference t Tribulatin S this is a prphecy regarding Christ s secnd cming Furthermre, Jhn the Baptist himself said he wasn t Elijah We read thse verses earlier S the disciples ask Jesus abut that teaching...where was Elijah? In v.11 Jesus says that Elijah is in fact ging t cme When Jesus spke thse wrds, Jhn the Baptist was already dead S bviusly He meant the true Elijah wuld cme in a future day Prir t Jesus secnd cming But Jesus als said that Isaiah s wrds were spken abut Jhn We must understand then that Jhn was a type f Elijah A lessr example in a sense 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 Isaiah 40A! 10 Just as Jesus first cming is a lessr arrival than His eventual secnd cming which is a greater glry That s what Isaiah 40:5 is describing The glry f the Lrd seen by everyne is the glry f His secnd cming Matt. 24:29 But immediately after the tribulatin f thse days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL frm the sky, and the pwers f the heavens will be shaken. Matt. 24:30 And then the sign f the Sn f Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes f the earth will murn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with pwer and great glry. S the first part f chapter 40 shws hw ne aspect f the call Gd requires in verse2 takes place Gd says in v.2 t call ut t Israel S in vs.3-5 the first call is explained A call f encuragement will be made t Israel by Jhn the Baptist prir t Jesus first cming But this call is merely a picture, because it desn t result in Israel hearing A secnd, effectual call will be made by Elijah t Israel befre Jesus secnd cming Elijah s call will be made befre the judgments f Tribulatin And will lead t Israel s restratin in the end Then a secnd call ges ut with a pessimistic perspective Is. 40:6 A vice says, Call ut. Then he answered, What shall I call ut? All flesh is grass, and all its lveliness is like the flwer f the field. Is. 40:7 The grass withers, the flwer fades, When the breath f the LORD blws upn it; Surely the peple are grass. Is. 40:8 The grass withers, the flwer fades, But the wrd f ur Gd stands frever Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 Isaiah 40A! 11 Gd s cmmand t call ut is repeated in verse 6, but then anther vice answers What shuld I call ut? The call is t declare that the flesh is temprary and passing When Gd s Spirit (r breath) blws, the grass withers T fully understand hw this fits, we need t lk at 1Peter where this verse is quted 1Pet. 1:22 Since yu have in bedience t the truth purified yur suls fr a sincere lve f the brethren, fervently lve ne anther frm the heart, 1Pet. 1:23 fr yu have been brn again nt f seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, thrugh the living and enduring wrd f Gd. 1Pet. 1:24 Fr, ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, 1Pet. 1:25 BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER. And this is the wrd which was preached t yu. Peter says that ur bedience t the truth came frm being brn again frm a new seed This new seed is nt like the perishable seed we were brn frm the first time The fleshly seed which is like grass and withers and dies eventually We were brn f an immrtal seed Gd s wrd, which is Christ living in us Wh was the wrd preached t us as the Gspel S the first call t Israel was frm the vices f Jhn the Baptist and Elijah calling upn Israel t repent and receive the Messiah The secnd call is frm the Wrd f Gd, Christ Himself wh prclaimed Himself t the natin upn His first cming Nw the third call is described Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 Isaiah 40A! 12 Is. 40:9 Get yurself up n a high muntain, O Zin, bearer f gd news, Lift up yur vice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer f gd news; Lift it up, d nt fear. Say t the cities f Judah, Here is yur Gd! Is. 40:10 Behld, the Lrd GOD will cme with might, With His arm ruling fr Him. Behld, His reward is with Him And His recmpense befre Him. Is. 40:11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flck, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bsm; He will gently lead the nursing ewes. The final call is t be ne f gd news The wrd fr gd news is the Hebrew wrd fr gspel This vice cmes frm Zin, frm Jerusalem And it declares t the cities f Judah, Here is yur Gd! This call describes the Lrd as ne cming with might t rule And His reward is with Him and His recmpense befre Him The reward with Him is His Bride The recmpense is His wrk r wages are befre Him The Kingdm is befre Him, His payment frm the Father V.10 describes Jesus relatinship t the Gentiles Ruling ver these natins, with His Gentile Bride Then in verse 11 Jesus is described as the Shepherd fr Israel, His flck He gathers His lambs and gently leads them All Jews are regenerated, s He desn t rule ver them The final call then is the call int faith that cmes t the Jews in Jerusalem as the Spirit is pured ut This three part call als mirrrs the three part divisin f Secnd Isaiah 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

13 Isaiah 40A! 13 The first call is fcused n Gd the Father Annuncing His Sn by preparing men fr His arrival Annuncing that Israel was ging t see an end t warfare They were ging t leave the wilderness And see the path made smth fr an arriving King The secnd call is fcused n the Sn Himself The gd news f the Gspel will g ut frm Israel The Wrd will be declared, Jesus the wrd f Gd It will be a declaratin that sins are frgiven by the wrk f the Messiah Finally, the last call is ne that annunces t Israel that Jesus is their Gd This is the call f the Hly Spirit upn the hearts f the Jews in Jerusalem It is the call that leads them t their Messiah and ushers in the Kingdm 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.