Isaiah 40
Imagine someone’s attacked your home city. After a brutal battle, you’ve been carried off into captivity. That’s what lay in Israel’s future. Exile. Refugees.
Some of us don’t need to imagine – we remember. Many of us have had to flee from our countries because of war and other evils. Some of us have moved countries for other reasons – but we still don’t fully belong – we are foreigners in a foreign land.
And as Christians, we all can feel that exile, that not quite fitting in. We are all foreigners in a foreign land because Norway is only our temporary home, a shadow of our real home: heaven, the new creation. We belong with the Lord. Our heart longs to be with him, to see him face to face.
We are foreigners in a foreign land. All around us are temptations to forget the Lord, to forget our real home. Idols clamour for our attention, and it is so easy to give in, to settle, to be like everyone else. But who is like the Lord? There is no comparison! So why abandon Him, the Living God, to follow the idols of the world, which fall over if they’re not held up? What does God say to us? How should we live? How should we feel about Norway, the country we now live in?
These are the questions Israel faced as they were carried off into exile in Babylon. They were no longer in Israel, no longer in Jerusalem. They were no longer home. The temptation was strong to just go with the flow, forget Jerusalem, forget God, and be a Babylonian.
But God had not forgotten his people. He was with his people in exile, and he would bring them home. That’s our first point. And the second is this: Everything fades into shadow, but God endures forever.
1. God is with his people in exile – and will bring them home
40:1 “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. 2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins.”
Something has obviously gone very wrong for Israel since Jerusalem was miraculously saved by the Lord from the HUGE Assyrian army. Remember last week: Jerusalem was surrounded. Assyria had moved through country after country, taking them by force – including the Northern Kingdom of Israel and their capital, Samaria. They had been taken captive, and carried off into Assyria. And now that same army surrounded Jerusalem. But King Hezekiah fell before the Lord, laid out the problem before Him, and asked for the Lord to have mercy. Hezekiah knew that the Lord was King, and that only He could save Jerusalem.
And He did. 185000 Assyrian soldiers died in one night. When the King of Assyria, Sennacherib, awoke the next morning – he was surrounded by corpses – and he ran home. What a great rescue!
So why does chapter 40 begin with the words “Comfort” and talk about punishment having been served?
Well, look back at chapter 39: The Babylonians are coming. After Assyria, the Babylonians arrived on the scene as the big superpower. 3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did those men want? Where were they from?” Hezekiah replied, “They came from the distant land of Babylon.” 4 “What did they see in your palace?” asked Isaiah. “They saw everything,” Hezekiah replied. “I showed them everything I own—all my royal treasuries.” 5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to this message from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: 6 ‘The time is coming when everything in your palace—all the treasures stored up by your ancestors until now—will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 7 ‘Some of your very own sons will be taken away into exile. They will become eunuchs who will serve in the palace of Babylon’s king.’ ”
And exactly that happened. Less than 80 years after Isaiah spoke those words, in 626 BC, Babylon rose in power under King Nabopolassar. They smashed Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, in 612BC, and became the world superpower. Babylon was the biggest city in the world at that stage with over 200 000 people.
In 605BC Nebuchadnezzar became king. And in 597BC Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, and its capital Jerusalem, became part of the Babylonian empire. A few years later King Zedekiah of Jerusalem decided to trust in Egypt – remember Isaiah’s warnings against that! – and he rebelled against Babylon’s rule.
That didn’t go well. Babylon’s armies surrounded Jerusalem in 588BC for a year and half, and Jerusalem fell in 587. The city was destroyed, the Temple torn down and all its treasures carried off, and all the people were carried off to Babylon. Israel was no more. Jerusalem was but a memory. There was no palace, no city walls, and no Temple. God had abandoned them. They were alone. Refugees, prisoners of war, in a foreign land.
That is what Isaiah sees, and so, about 80 years before it happens, the Lord has already given Isaiah this word: “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. 2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins.”
You may be in exile now, but the time will come when the Lord will call you home. And don’t worry, I am with you, says the Lord. I have dealt with your sins. And I am coming to get you.
3 Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! 4 Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. 5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!”
There will come a time – soon, very soon – when the Lord will reveal his glory, and the people will come home on a highway through the wasteland. The impossible journey back to Jerusalem – will be a paved highway, easy. God has done this – filled the valleys, levelled the hills – no more obstacles are in the way. We’re coming home!
But this isn’t the first time we’ve read about this highway. And it won’t just be Israel coming home – the vision is wider, bigger, greater than this. Is 19:23–25 In that day Egypt and Assyria will be connected by a highway. The Egyptians and Assyrians will move freely between their lands, and they will both worship God. 24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth. 25 For the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will say, “Blessed be Egypt, my people. Blessed be Assyria, the land I have made. Blessed be Israel, my special possession!”
Egypt and Assyria, the great enemies of God’s people – will be blessed, will worship God? Blessed be Egypt, my people? Yes! This is the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham – that all the world will be blessed through him and his descendant. It’s a call to anyone, everyone, who wants to know the Lord to come. Come, for the way is open.
You know, when times are difficult, it’s much easier to keep going if you know there is an end in sight. If you can see the finish line, you can press on. This was the finish line for the Israelites in exile in Babylon. Press on. Keep the faith. Don’t lose heart. For a time is coming when the Lord will bring you back. The exile will soon be over.
For us, the message is the same. Our exile will soon be over. We will soon be home. For the words in v3 should be familiar to all of us who’ve ever had a Christmas service. These are the words describing John the Baptist. He was a voice calling in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord.
And Jesus came. He is the Lord, coming to visit his people. He rescued his people from exile, from slavery to sin, through his death on the cross and his resurrection.
And so the Lord says to us this morning: Comfort, comfort my people. Your sins are pardoned. There is a highway to heaven. The way is clear, and we have seen the glory of God: our Lord upon the Cross, saying “it is finished”. Whatever we have done, the evil things we have done, the good things we haven’t done... Forgiven.
I mean Israel was a complete mess. They sinned so badly, even sacrificing their own children to false gods – and yet God forgives them, speaks tenderly to them. Not because their sin does not matter – no their sin has been punished, the price has been paid, by God himself.
And so too for us. If we believe in Jesus, trust him with our lives, obey Him as our Master – then our sins are dealt with, washed away, gone. And instead of anger at our sin, we hear the words “comfort”.
We too are in exile this morning, living in a sinful world, amongst sinful people, struggling with our own sin. It is a battle, a fight each day to follow the Lord. But the way is clear, the highway is open: Jesus has opened the way to heaven, to the New Creation, the City of our God. And one day, soon, we will be with him. The finish line is ahead of us. Let us not lose heart. Don’t give up. Keep going, press on.
Because this life is gone in an instant, we are like grass – here today, gone tomorrow. But the Lord! He endures, he is forever, his word is powerful.
2. Everything fades into shadow, but God endures forever
6 A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD. And so it is with people. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”
Chapter 40 is a reality check for those in exile. They were probably in awe of the might of Babylon. Babylon was the biggest city in the world, the head of a mighty empire. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the wonders of the Ancient World, is said to have been built there by Nebuchadnezzar. You can imagine how weak and unimpressive Jerusalem seemed. It must have seemed pathetic, weak, small.
Isn’t that how we sometimes feel? I mean, look at us here. Are we really going to change the world? We’re pathetic, small, unimpressive. And the rest of the world seems so big, so powerful. Shouldn’t we just go with the flow? Live like everyone else. What’s the point of following God? Nebuchadnezzar beat him. What’s the point of following Jesus, a dead guy on a cross? A suffering servant. It seems so… weak.
But this is the reality. All that seems so strong and so powerful – is weak. Temporary. Gone in an instant. The Lord just needs to breathe on it, and it withers, fades. All that we see around us – the might and wealth of Norway. All our money from ouil. All the pride that we have in our welfare system, in how good we are, in our role in the world bringing peace and supporting good causes. Haaaa – God breathes, and it withers, fades, to nothing.
Every great Empire has fallen. Babylon, Babylon the great, the mighty, the magnificent – fell in 538. It lasted less than 100 years. How long will our oil last? We’ve seen the past few months how insecure it really is as the oil price has gone off a cliff. Seems so impressive, so secure – and is as shaky as a plate of jelly!
Putting our trust in the state. Being fooled by its seeming power and permance is dumb. It is idolatry – worshipping something other than God.
15 No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand. 16 All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God. 17 The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth.
Emptiness and froth. All our suits with power ties, all our pomp and ceremony. All our successes we trumpet to the nations. All our great buildings. All our glory. Emptiness and froth.
But the Lord’s word stands forever. He is powerful to save. His arm is strong.
12 Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? 13 Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? 14 Has the LORD ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice?
Who else has his power? Just because he comes in tenderness, in mercy. Just because he limited himself, became our suffering servant and took his place on the cross – that does not mean he has no power. He comes like a shepherd, gentle. 10 Yes, the Sovereign LORD is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes. 11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young. But his gentleness is not because he has no power. No! He uses his power to save. But 22 God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. 23 He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing. 24 They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither. The wind carries them off like chaff.
The point is: who will we serve? Many of our brothers and sisters before us have understood this. They have faced the “powers” of the day unafraid, even to the point of death, because they could see with eyes of faith the Reality. The powers are like chaff, blown away on the wind, but the Lord sits enthroned above the earth.
I’m reading through Acts with my children and we’ve got to chapter 4, where Peter and John have been dragged before the high council and been told to shut up about Jesus – or else.
Their answer? Ac 4:19–20 But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”
They knew what was real and what was only temporary. They knew that God’s word will stand while the council and all its power was like grass, like chaff. Worthless, meaningless.
Across the world our Christian brothers and sisters are standing tall, risking their lives, refusing to obey man, refusing to bow down to idols, refusing to keep quiet about Jesus. May we be like them, a band of brothers who will not quit, will not fall, as we follow our Leader, our Captain, our King, Jesus.
Otherwise we are fools. Ignorant. 21 Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand? Are you deaf to the words of God— the words he gave before the world began? Are you so ignorant?
Let us follow Christ, no matter the cost. He is no idol, a created thing. We did not make him up. We did not cut down a piece of wood and shape it and decorate it and say here is Christ! No, he is the living God, who came down from heaven to show us God Almighty, and to seek and to save the lost. That is the God we serve.
So no matter the cost, we follow him. Bloodied and battered, we follow him. Standing tall, we follow him. And when we fall, he is there to pick us up. On your feet solider! Follow me!
27 O Jacob, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? 28 Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. 30 Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. 31 But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
God is with us even in our exile, even when we feel so foreign, so other, so out of place – he is with us. And his strength, his power, his word is enough to bring us home. He is secure. He is worth following. Everything else will fade away, but God endures forever.
Exiles, foreigners – stand tall, follow God, for he is with us! Amen!
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