The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 40:1-3,
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling:
'In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.'"
Verse 2 above is understood to be a prophecy of the completion of the seventy year Babylonian captivity the Lord will subject Judah to, "her hard service has been completed, that her sin is paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double of all her sins". She is now to be spoken to "tenderly".
Verse 3 from the above, "In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God..." is quoted in Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3 and Luke 3:4-6 (which quotes Isaiah 40:3-5). This is, of course, a prophecy of John the Baptist coming, the last of the Old Testament prophets (at the cusp of the onset of the New) , whose ministry was to prepare the nation for the advent of the Son of God and his earthly ministry.
It seems many really don't have much of an idea why God chose Israel as his own people, why he involved himself so much more in the life of this nation, and the part Israel played in God's purposes. For me, this passage helps to tie those ends together. It is a prophecy that declares the completion of God's treatment of his people and now announces a future step in God's plan for the redemption of mankind.
God, before the creation of the world, knew that when he created mankind and endowed them with freewill, that they would fall into sin. He determined then he would provide for them a path of redemption, to provide at least a portion of all mankind to fulfill his purposes he had in mind when he created them. In order to satisfy his sense of justice, he would send his Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to pay for all mankind's sins. He determined that all who would embrace him in faith would have that payment credited to their account with him. Salvation for all eternity would be based on a person's faith in him (indicating their desire for him), all others would face eternal death.
The kind of faith God would look for was modeled by a man named Abraham (the patriarch of the Jewish nation). God decided to make a nation of Abraham and use this nation as his vehicle to bring Jesus Christ into the world. In that all Israelites are sinful as anyone else, he needed to work with the nation to make her into what he needed/wanted when he presented his Son to the world.
This is the purpose of the Jewish nation. A part of the preparation of the nation for his purposes was not to have perfected people (who would only become perfected through the ministry of Jesus Christ) but a nation suitable for his use. One aspect of that was he needed a nation that didn't reject him, didn't reject his word, and didn't chase after other "gods" - idols. Hence, the harsh treatment of the 70 year Babylonian captivity. Now that the captivity had done its job, Isaiah's prophecy looks ahead to a further step in God's program of redemption - John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus Christ.
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling:
'In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.'"
Verse 2 above is understood to be a prophecy of the completion of the seventy year Babylonian captivity the Lord will subject Judah to, "her hard service has been completed, that her sin is paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double of all her sins". She is now to be spoken to "tenderly".
Verse 3 from the above, "In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God..." is quoted in Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3 and Luke 3:4-6 (which quotes Isaiah 40:3-5). This is, of course, a prophecy of John the Baptist coming, the last of the Old Testament prophets (at the cusp of the onset of the New) , whose ministry was to prepare the nation for the advent of the Son of God and his earthly ministry.
It seems many really don't have much of an idea why God chose Israel as his own people, why he involved himself so much more in the life of this nation, and the part Israel played in God's purposes. For me, this passage helps to tie those ends together. It is a prophecy that declares the completion of God's treatment of his people and now announces a future step in God's plan for the redemption of mankind.
God, before the creation of the world, knew that when he created mankind and endowed them with freewill, that they would fall into sin. He determined then he would provide for them a path of redemption, to provide at least a portion of all mankind to fulfill his purposes he had in mind when he created them. In order to satisfy his sense of justice, he would send his Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to pay for all mankind's sins. He determined that all who would embrace him in faith would have that payment credited to their account with him. Salvation for all eternity would be based on a person's faith in him (indicating their desire for him), all others would face eternal death.
The kind of faith God would look for was modeled by a man named Abraham (the patriarch of the Jewish nation). God decided to make a nation of Abraham and use this nation as his vehicle to bring Jesus Christ into the world. In that all Israelites are sinful as anyone else, he needed to work with the nation to make her into what he needed/wanted when he presented his Son to the world.
This is the purpose of the Jewish nation. A part of the preparation of the nation for his purposes was not to have perfected people (who would only become perfected through the ministry of Jesus Christ) but a nation suitable for his use. One aspect of that was he needed a nation that didn't reject him, didn't reject his word, and didn't chase after other "gods" - idols. Hence, the harsh treatment of the 70 year Babylonian captivity. Now that the captivity had done its job, Isaiah's prophecy looks ahead to a further step in God's program of redemption - John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus Christ.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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