Meditations
A voice crying
Jan
Isaiah 40: 1–11
1 ¶ Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
We continue our theme from Isaiah 40. This time, we focus on the voices.
There are several voices in Isaiah 40:1–11. Some of them are identified; others are implied:
- Verses 1–2: it is Yahweh’s voice crying, “Comfort ye, comfort ye, comfort ye my people, says your God.” He speaks unto His servants to “speak comfortably” to His people.
- Verses 3–5: a voice cries out “In the wilderness prepare…”
- Verse 6: there are two voices: 1. A voice that commands, “Cry!”, and 2. A voice that says, “What shall I cry?”. The first voice responds, “All flesh is grass…” and continues to the end of verse 8.
- Verses 9–11: Yahweh, or one of His servants, cries unto Zion to lift up their voices to bring comfort and warning unto others in Judah.
All in all there are probably five specific voices. The first is Yahweh through the angels (His representatives), and, ultimately, all voices represent Him. In Isaiah’s layers of application, the voices can have application to different periods of history, e.g., to the prophets in the Babylonian captivity, to John the Baptist, to the apostles, to Elijah and the saints in the future (see our exposition of Isa. 40:1–11). Yet, no servants are named in the prophecy, and it is written in such a way that the call to speak is to all God’s servants in any age. It applies, therefore, to His servants today. We can see several points for us to think about.
If we count ourselves as the servants of Yahweh, it is important that we not only take up this responsibility, but that we also imbibe the spirit of the one on Whose behalf we make that call. Clearly, God cares for His people and Jerusalem — the ecclesia (Psa. 87:5–7 ; Gal. 4:26 ); He is aware of their need for comfort and wants to provide soothing words that stimulate faith and hope. We can only do this, if we share in Yahweh’s feelings, and that we, too, have experienced that comfort so that we may with genuine appreciation manifest God’s comfort to others. The apostle Paul says:
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-6)
Another thought from the passage is that you can hear the urgency in the voice of God. His call is urgent, impassioned, and focussed. He calls upon us to quit our idle chatter and activities, and take up His call, and focus our attention on assisting others to prepare for our Lord’s return. The call itself requests the hearer to go into the wilderness where they can focus on the things that matter. Again, we must live the message. John the Baptist, the “prototype” of this voice, made his strident cry to come into the wilderness from that wilderness. The exhortation is clear: get rid of the clutter and distractions ourselves that others may see why they should commit to this call. Hypocrisy doesn’t inspire; it either annoys or numbs.
Our last thought is that, when we consider the succession of voices and the interaction between those voices in this passage, there is a responsibility to pass on and assist others to take up the call. The apostle Paul appreciated the seriousness of this charge:
“And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).
Let us think upon these things, and make our voice clear and sincere.