isaiah-40:1-8,-luke-1:1-4

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1-2

Divine consolations. "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem." Here, after prophetic revelation of danger and warning against the Nemesis of sin, we come upon the evangel of love. For God delights not in denunciation or death. All his universe testifies that he loves life, that he "has no pleasure in the death of the wicked." I. HERE IS REITERATION . "Comfort ye, comfort ye." It is an inspiration of earnestness in conveying the heavenly... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1-2

Pardon and penalty. Israel is to be comforted by her teachers and pastors, because the time of her exile, which is the period of the Divine sentence, has nearly expired, and the hour of her redemption is consequently nigh. If we ask what ground of comfort we find here for the Christian Church, or for the chastened human soul, we have to reply— I. THAT COMFORT IS NOT TO BE FOUND IN THE SUPPOSED LENIENCY OF GOD . No thought can be more perilously false than the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1-11

The prophet's commission. He is to unfold a theme of consolation, which runs through the whole of the book, introduced by this chapter. He speaks to the prophets: "Ye prophets, prophesy consolation concerning my people" (Targum of Jonathan); or, "O priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem," according to the LXX . The former is probably correct. The prophets were numerous both in Isaiah's time ( Isaiah 3:1 ; Isaiah 29:10 , Isaiah 29:20 ) and during the Babylonian exile ( Jeremiah... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1-31

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:2

Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem ; literally, speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem. Address her inmost feelings, her very spirit and soul. Her warfare is accomplished … is pardoned … hath received . These perfects can only be viewed as "perfects of prophetic certainty." According to every theory of the authorship of Isaiah 40-46, they were written before the close of the Captivity, when Israel's warfare was not yet accomplished, her iniquity not yet fully pardoned. Isaiah, however, sees... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:3

The voice of him that crieth ; rather, the voice of one that crieth. A voice sounds in the prophet's ear, crying to repentance. For God to come down on earth, for his glory to be revealed in any signal way, by the restoration of a nation, or the revelation of himself in Christ, or the final establishment of his kingdom, the "way" must be first "prepared" for him. The hearts of the disobedient must be turned to the wisdom of the just. In the wilderness; either, "the wilderness of this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:3

Needed preparations for Christ. "Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the Lord." The figure used by the prophet is one whose forte could only be fully apprehended in that country to which he belonged. Until recent years there were no roads, at least no roads on which vehicles might be drawn; only such paths, often very rough, and steep, and dangerous, as would be made by the passing to and fro of cattle and of men. But a few years ago, when Ibrahim Pasha proposed to visit certain places... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:3-5

The golden age. " Every valley shall be exalted ," etc. Everything depends upon how we view the future, whether with the horoscope of history or prophecy. History says the old evils return—war, strife, wrong, selfishness. Then the heart sinks, and inspiration to duty is weakened. But when we go with the prophet to the mountain-tops, we see— I. PATHS OF PREPARATION . "Prepare ye the way of the Lord." There are the ruins of the old military roads of the Caesars, but the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:3-6

Human preparation for the Divine advent. We shall find, with very little seeking, a threefold application for these words: I. THE MANIFESTED GLORY OF GOD . This was to be displayed and has been shown in two illustrations which are now historical. 1 . The faithfulness and the power of Jehovah in the accomplishment of his people's redemption from exile. 2 . A more striking instance of Divine faithfulness, wisdom, and power, in the giving of the gospel of his grace, in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:4

Every valley shall be exalted, etc.; rather, let every valley be exalted. The prophets are to see that the poor and lowly are raised up; the proud and self-righteous depressed; the crooked and dishonest induced to change their ways for those of simplicity and integrity; the rude, rough, and harsh rendered courteous and mild. "In general, the meaning is that Israel is to [be made] take care that the God who is coming to deliver it shall find it in such an inward and outward state as befits... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1-2

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1-2

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1-11

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:1-31

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:3-5

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:3-6

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 40:4

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