Isaiah 40

IV. ISRAEL’S CALLING IN THE WORLD CHS. 40-55

This part of Isaiah picks up a theme from chapters 1-39 and develops it further. That theme is God’s faithfulness to His promises to give His people a glorious future after He disciplined them for their unfaithfulness. The Lord did not have to make these promises, but He did so in grace. Israel would have a glorious future, not because of, but in spite of, herself.

"The second half of the Book of Isaiah, consisting of the last twenty-seven chapters, is the sublimest and richest portion of Old Testament revelation. It forms a single continuous prophecy which occupies the same position in the prophetic Scriptures as the Book of Deuteronomy in the Pentateuch, and the Gospel of John in relation to the Synoptic Gospels." [Note: Baron, p. 5.]

"Isaiah’s rhetorical approach in chapters 40-66 may be compared to an aging grandfather who writes a letter to his baby granddaughter and seals it with the words, ’To be opened on your wedding day.’ The grandfather knows he may not live to see his granddaughter’s wedding, but he understands the challenges she will face as a wife and mother. He projects himself into the future and speaks to his granddaughter as if he were actually present on her wedding day. One can imagine the profound rhetorical impact such a letter would have on the granddaughter as she recognizes the foresight and wisdom contained within it and realizes just how much her grandfather cared for her. When God’s exiled people, living more than 150 years after Isaiah’s time, heard his message to them, they should have realized that God had foreseen their circumstances and that he cared enough about them to encourage them with a message of renewed hope." [Note: Chisholm, Handbook on . . ., p. 14.]

Isaiah’s audience was not in Babylonian captivity when he wrote these chapters. He was prophesying about the people of God in that captivity. Chapters 40-66 presuppose the Exile.

"When one turns from the thirty-ninth to the fortieth chapter it is as though he steps out of the darkness of judgment into the light of salvation." [Note: Young, 3:17.]

"Whereas the first portion of the book (chaps. 1-39) is filled with messages of judgment, this portion emphasizes restoration and deliverance." [Note: J. Martin, p. 1091.]

Some students of Isaiah have seen an emphasis on each of the members of the Trinity in the three sections of this part of the book: the Father in chapters 40-48, the Son in 49-57, and the Spirit in 58-66. [Note: E.g., Kaiser, pp. 213-19; and Wiersbe, p. 12.]

A. God’s grace to Israel chs. 40-48

These chapters particularly address the questions, raised in the minds of Isaiah’s contemporaries, about the coming exile: Could God deliver-and would God deliver the Israelites?

"We emerge in Isaiah 40:1 in a different world from Hezekiah’s, immersed in the situation foretold in Isaiah 39:5-8, which he was so thankful to escape. Nothing is said of the intervening century and a half; we wake, so to speak, on the far side of the disaster, impatient for the end of captivity. In chs. 40-48 liberation is in the air; there is the persistent promise of a new exodus, with God at its head; there is the approach of a conqueror, eventually disclosed as Cyrus, to break Babylon open; there is also a new theme unfolding, to reveal the glory of the call to be a servant and a light to the nations." [Note: F. Derek Kidner, "Isaiah," in The New Bible Commentary Revised, p. 611.]

"In these chapters the prophet reminded the people of their coming deliverance because of the Lord’s greatness and their unique relationship with Him. He is majestic (chap. 40), and He protects Israel and not the world’s pagan nations (chap. 41). Though Israel had been unworthy (chap. 42) the Lord had promised to regather her (Isaiah 43:1 to Isaiah 44:5). Because He, the only God (Isaiah 44:6 to Isaiah 45:25), was superior to Babylon He would make Babylon fall (chaps. 46-47). Therefore Isaiah exhorted the Israelites to live righteously and to flee away from Babylon (chap. 48)." [Note: J. Martin, p. 1091.]

1. The Lord of the servant ch. 40

Would the coming Babylonian exile prove that God could not deliver His people or that He would not because they had been so sinful? Isaiah’s answer was a resounding no! The new historical situation did not signal a change in God or His plans. Rather it would show even more clearly than ever that God is sovereign and that people can trust in Him to deliver.

This chapter is an introduction to the remainder of the book, in that it deals with the basic issues and sets the stage for what follows. It also serves as a bridge carrying over such themes as comfort (ch. 12), the highway (chs. 11; 19; 33; 35), and hope (ch. 6). Also, the revealed Word of God is prominent again as the source of hope for God’s people. Chapter 40 also contains an expansion of Isaiah’s call (ch. 6; cf. Isaiah 40:1-11 and Isaiah 6:1-13; Isaiah 40:3 and Isaiah 6:3; Isaiah 40:5 and Isaiah 6:3; Isaiah 40:6 and Isaiah 6:4; Isaiah 40:9 and Isaiah 6:11).

"The occasion of God’s renewing comfort is our failure. It’s as if Isaiah had fallen asleep at the end of chapter 39. While he slept, Judah was taken into exile. And it’s as if, in a prophetic dream, Isaiah was lifted into God’s heavenly court to hear Judah’s predicament being discussed (cf. 1 Kings 22:19-23). But now in chapter 40, Rip Van Winkle-like, Isaiah wakes up in (to him) a new historical situation. He reveals to the Jews what he heard in the heavenly throne room. God has summoned his prophets to take a message of hope to his demoralized people." [Note: Ortlund, p. 235.]