Sharper Iron — The Fifth Evangelist – Isaiah 40:1-11: Comfort, Comfort, Ye My People

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To the Babylonian exiles, the LORD has a word of double comfort. Their warfare is over; their sins are forgiven. A voice crying in the wilderness first announces this good news, preparing the way for the LORD to come to His repentant people. This good news is ultimately for all flesh, so that they would see the LORD’s glory revealed. Although people are here today and gone tomorrow, the LORD’s Word endures forever. That Word is proclaimed by Zion and Jerusalem, so that they would see their God as the One who defeats all their enemies and who tenderly leads His people as their Shepherd.

Rev. Martin Dressler, pastor at Salem Lutheran Church in Black Jack, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Isaiah 40:1-11.

“The Fifth Evangelist” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through Isaiah 40-66. Though Isaiah lived one hundred years beforehand, he writes to the people of God in exile in Babylon to assure them that their God reigns and will rescue them through the work of His servant. These promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, whose work Isaiah proclaims vividly seven hundred years beforehand.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.

Isaiah 40:1-11

Comfort for God’s People

40 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare[a] 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:[b]
“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,[c] “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty[d] 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.

The Greatness of God

9 Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;[e]
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[f]
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.

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Footnotes

Isaiah 40:2 Or hardship

Isaiah 40:3 Or A voice of one crying

Isaiah 40:6 Revocalization based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic Text And someone says

Isaiah 40:6 Or all its constancy

Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Zion

Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Jerusalem

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org