Translation: ESV
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
God's ultimate message is not judgment but comfort, and this is the tone of the entire second half of Isaiah.
▸This is the great turning point of Isaiah.
This is the great turning point of Isaiah. After the judgment of chapters 1-39, chapters 40-66 open with comfort. 'Comfort, comfort'—the Hebrew imperative is doubled (nakhamenu nakhamenu) for emphasis. This is the text of Handel's Messiah 'Comfort Ye My People.'
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.
God's comfort begins with the declaration of forgiveness of sins.
▸The content of the comfort is declared specifically: the hard service is ended and sin is pardoned.
A voice cries: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'
Before the Messiah comes there is a mission to prepare the way, and this was the mission of John the Baptist.
▸This verse is cited in the New Testament as prophesying the ministry of John the Baptist (Matt.
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.
The preparation of the kingdom of God includes the removal of all obstacles and a social reversal.
▸The preparation of the road for the royal procession is described.
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
The glory of God will ultimately be seen by all people, and this is the purpose of salvation.
▸The purpose of the preparation: the glory of the LORD shall be revealed and 'all flesh' shall see it together.
A voice says, 'Cry!' And I said, 'What shall I cry?' All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
Everything human is as fleeting as grass, but the word of God is eternal.
▸The prophet receives a command to cry and asks 'What shall I cry?' The content of the cry: all flesh is grass and all its beauty is like the flower of the field—the transience of humanity.
The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass.
All human glory withers like grass before the power of God.
▸When the breath (spirit) of the LORD blows on grass, it withers.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
Only the word of God is eternal; faith must be built on this word.
▸The conclusion of the contrast: the grass (humanity) withers and the flower (human glory) fades, but the word of God stands forever.
Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!'
'Behold your God!'—this is the heart of the gospel and the good news that Isaiah proclaims.
▸'Herald of good news' calls to mind the gospel (euangelion).
Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
God comes with mighty power, bringing both justice and grace.
▸God comes with might.
He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
God is a mighty king and at the same time a gentle shepherd who carries the lambs in his bosom.
▸The mighty God is simultaneously a shepherd.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
The greatness of God the Creator cannot be measured by human reckoning.
▸The greatness of God the Creator is expressed through rhetorical questions.
To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?
God is one who cannot be compared to anything.
▸A rhetorical question: what can God be compared to? This is a challenge to Israel's idolatry and declares the uniqueness and incomparability of God.
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in.
The contrast between the cosmic God and small humanity emphasizes God's transcendence.
▸God 'sits above the circle of the earth'—the entire universe is his throne.
Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.
The God who knows hundreds of billions of stars by name also knows each of us by name.
▸God who calls the stars by name—each star was created by God and he knows its name.
Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, 'My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God'?
To the fear that God has forgotten us, God himself responds directly.
▸Israel's complaint: 'God has forgotten us.
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
The everlasting God does not grow weary and can give new strength to the weary.
▸God's answer: 'Have you not known?' The everlasting God does not faint or grow weary.
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
God gives power and strength to the faint and the weak. This is grace.
▸He gives power to the faint and increases strength to him who has no might.
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted.
Even the strongest humans eventually grow weary. This is the essential limitation of humanity.
▸Even the strongest youths and young men faint and 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.
Those who wait for the LORD (waiting and hoping in him) receive new strength like eagles.
▸This is the climax of Isaiah 40.