Isaiah 40:1-9

Passage: Isaiah 40:1-9

Comfort for God’s People.
1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 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.
3 A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 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.
5 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 Word of God Stands Forever.
6 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.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the LORD blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
9 Get you 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!"

Journal: Who is this "voice?" It is mentioned sequentially, in verses 3, 6 and 9 of Isaiah 40. Each time it seems to point back to verse 1, where God is providing a "comfort" for His people.

The "voice" of verse 3 is identified, centuries later, as John the Baptist - one who is "in the wilderness prepar[ing] the way of the LORD." [Matt. 3:3 -- "For this is he {speaking of John the Baptist} who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'"]

The "voice" of verses 6 and 9 appears to be that of Isaiah, the "herald of good news." The voice is to Isaiah as John the Baptist is to Christ - it is the trumpeting of the good news of salvation in the midst of wrath. These two men [Isaiah and John the Baptist] are preparing the way for Christ, by humbly functioning as the "voice" of God. The imagery of verse 4 is beautiful and paints a picture of what the cross means to the children of God - "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."

This is salvation. For our walk to God from our state of rebellion is not only treacherous, but impassable and impossible. Can you see what Christ has done? Our valleys are lifted up. Our mountains are brought down. The way is level now. The jagged edges have been rubbed smooth. This is Christ. This is Christ hanging on a tree. [". . . say to the cities of Judah,
"Behold your God!"] This is a journey into eternity that is otherwise impossible, that cannot be made without our Lord. It is the journey into forever. ["The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."]