40 “Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.
2 “Speak [a]kindly to Jerusalem;
And call out to her, that her [b]warfare has ended,
That her [c]iniquity has been removed,
That she has received of the Lord’s hand
Double for all her sins.”3 A voice [d]is calling,
“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
4 “Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
5 [e]Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
And all flesh will see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Call out.”
Then [f]he answered, “What shall I call out?”
All flesh is grass, and all its [g]loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades,
[h]When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.9 Get yourself up on a high mountain,
O Zion, bearer of good news,
Lift up your voice mightily,
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;
Lift it up, do not fear.
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord [i]God will come with might,
With His arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him
And His recompense before Him.
11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
As this chapter begins, the message God gives to Isaiah shifts pretty dramatically. In previous chapters, we’ve seen judgment declared on Israel, Judah, and the surrounding nations. We’ve seen prophecies related to Hezekiah’s rule, and the coming doom of his sons/descendants. Yet this passage jumps far into the future, though perhaps the Israelites didn’t know that.
They may have thought, “Oh good, God is coming, and He’ll vanquish all our enemies, hurrah!” And that wasn’t far off from what they expected centuries later when Jesus arrived on the scene. The people in that time were familiar with the prophecies of Isaiah, and they were ready and waiting. It had been over 600 years, and it was about time God showed up and did something.
He did, and it wasn’t what any of them expected, which shows up in these verses also. In v. 5 we have the glory of the Lord revealed, and all the world will see it. In vv. 9-10, God comes ruling with might, doling out reward or recompense (judgment). And then in v. 11, He is a shepherd tending His flock? What in the world just happened?
See, we like to put God in nice tidy boxes. We learn and strive for knowledge of Him (as well we should), but I think sometimes are priorities are off base. Do we try to know God so we can predict what He will do? Sorry, but God doesn’t fit, nor stay in our boxes. As Solomon rightly stated, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!”
Think back to the story of Joshua leading the Israelites into the Promised Land for the first time. What does God ask them to do first? He tells them to go up against the one of the most fortified cities in all the land: Jericho. It had a wall so big two chariots could ride side by side, and they feared no man.
Maybe they should have waited, found a nice small town with a rickety fence around it. That would be a good start. No? Though it didn’t fit in any nice boxes, God told them to walk around the city to conquer it. Walk around it? That’s nuts! No, that’s God, doing what He does, fulfilling His plan in ways that we absolutely cannot claim any other explanation, except to say, “God did it… and it was awesome!”
In our own lives, we face the same temptation, to try and figure God out. We don’t like unpredictable, we like being comfortable. Guess what? God isn’t comfortable. And yet, He is?? God promised the people comfort, but it wasn’t the kind they expected, and His peace isn’t a peace like we understand or expect.
Instead of trying to predict God, let Him be Lord (ruler, master, and everything else that He is) in your life, and follow His nudges, and His voice. Whatever way God speaks to you, don’t be so wrapped up in your own plans that you can’t hear it. God told Isaiah to “call out”, but was anyone listening? Are you listening? Am I?