For 39 chapters of Isaiah it has been about judgment of Israel and other nations. It’s been tough to read. Even harder if we were one of the nations experiencing those terrible things. But now is the time for change. Israel has been disciplined enough, and it is a new season. One of restoration.
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.
The Lord proclaims her discipline and punishment are over. It’s now time for the tender kindness of God and not his judgment. It’s the kisses after discipline. “Speak tenderly” to her the Lord says as he knows it’s a tender time.
But there’s a new hope coming. One that was for the time that the LORD would be coming, and one that looked to the Messiah coming. This is THE Scripture that was used for the fulfillment of John the Baptist:
A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Prepare the way of the LORD. This is a word for the generations. For those who were seeing the restoration of God in ancient Israel. It was a Word used by John the Baptist for his time as the Messiah was coming. And it’s a Word for us to prepare the way for Christ’s final return.
How do we prepare? We make level paths for him. If there is a mountain we level it. A valley? We fill it in and level it. Where things are rough we smooth it out. Where things are crooked we straighten it out. In essence, we help people to know the Christ by working with them to remove the obstacles so when he comes, they see. They prepare their hearts for him and so do we.
The next section reads almost like the times in Job where God asks him who he is. But the following verses are all about the greatness of God and the utter frailty of mankind. Even the kings and princes of mankind are as nothing to God. He alone sits on the throne and rules from everlasting to everlasting.
21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught
And then there’s this:
27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
In the past when they said, “My way is hidden from the Lord,” it was because they felt like they could sin freely and God (God!) wouldn’t see. But is this the case here? Is it that they want to sin freely and think God doesn’t see? Or is it a prayer of where is God when I’m hurting?
It comes down the word “judgment” or “claim” in v. 27. It’s translated different ways which
my cause
my judgment
my just claim
my right
Some say it is that he is saying ‘I can sin and God can’t see’ and God is answering you can’t escape what I see. That would fit the context of the prior verses. But also saying ‘why don’t you hear me when I cry’ fits the context as well in the verses after.
My guess is that this is a case of the latter. The Israelites have been through a lot of suffering and I’m sure felt and we know asked, “Where are you God?” God is saying that he doesn’t grow tired or weary, but that he is the God of restoration. He will restore what is broken. And that’s when we get the famous verses
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
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