Comfort

Comfort My People. Except for a brief, historical interlude regarding the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrian army under the command of King Sennacherib in chapters 36-39, the book of Isaiah divides into two halves. Chapters 1-35 (sometimes categorized as chapters 1-39) in Isaiah are filled with woe for everyone in the ancient Middle East, except a faithful remnant who, though they will suffer alongside the rest of the people in the Fertile Crescent, retain the promises of return and restoration. Chapters 40-66 in Isaiah are filled with the glory of a future Deliverer, unexpectedly named the Suffering Servant of Yahweh. His deliverance will come through his vicarious suffering for the sins of the people. He will absorb God’s wrath on their behalf and extend grace to them through the New Covenant (Isa. 54:13).

The two halves of Isaiah are so striking and distinct that many theologians, especially in the 19^th and 20^th Centuries, suppose that there must be two separate authors—the “two Isaiahs,” or the Deutero-Isaiah Theory. Of course, that theory is moot since Jesus quotes from both “halves” of the book of Isaiah yet while naming only one Isaiah. But the 40^th chapter of Isaiah nevertheless shines against the dark gloom of impending doom with the remarkable brilliance of hope. Hope is not a military or political solution; it will be spiritual in nature.

The prophetic tone in the first half of Isaiah was typified by Isaiah 34:2, “For the Lord is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter.” Against that approaching drumbeat for war, Isaiah 40:1 is shockingly tender: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” For even with the bare arm of God’s judgment there is yet a hand of kindness extended. “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” (Isa. 40:2). God does not promise to cure our governments of their corruption, but to displace them with his glory.

The solution to rampant injustice, ruthless invasion, and religious idolatry is divine visitation. “A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground will become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken’” (Isa. 40:3-4). Before he judges all, he offers salvation to all. One day, all will be well.