At the end of 2001 and the beginning of 2002, I was gripped with deep anxiety. One main reason is because Lili and I were discussing the idea of having a child. We understood, of course, that it was in the Lord’s hands, as he is the one that opens the womb. But should the Lord see fit to grant us a child, I wasn’t so sure that I was ready to raise that child. After all, my world felt like it was in turmoil. There was turmoil at the national level as just a few months prior terrorists had hijacked four planes, flying three of them into buildings and killing numbers of people. And there was a bit of anxiety in wondering if numerous attacks or battles were about to take place on American soil. But there was also turmoil at a personal level. I had been pastoring for just over two years, but for the last number of months, there had been individuals leaving the church, and there wasn’t a large crowd of us at that time already. I began wondering if eventually the church might want me to leave or even if I should volunteer my resignation. On top of that, Lili and I hoped that she would be able to quit her job upon having a child, but at $21,000 a year, she was actually bringing in more income to our family than I was. Finally, I knew enough to know that parenting could be overwhelming. What did I know about raising a child? I’d only experienced one side of that equation, and my experience wasn’t proving very helpful at the moment.
So, amidst all those fears and unsettledness and all that uncertainty about the future, I wandered into the sanctuary to sit and pray. And in those moments of prayer I found comfort. The comfort wasn’t in some sort of certainty that there wouldn’t be attacks on American soil in the days ahead, that the church might find some stability and even grow, that Lili and I could master how to live on less than half the income level we’d become accustomed to while raising children, or that somehow I’d catch on to parenting much quicker than I thought. I found comfort in considering who God is. I mean, if I’m being honest, I know that the attacks of 9/11 aren’t going to be the last on American soil, that there’ll continue to be trying days in pastoral ministry, that there’ll be plenty of things I don’t have money for, and that on more days than I wish, I have more questions than answers in raising my children. We will never be able to look into the future and know that security, peace, and pleasantness await us. But we can know that we have a God who knows the future because he is sovereign over history, who loves his people, who promises to preserve in grace those of us who trust in him, and who will not allow us to be crushed. Therefore, when my oldest child was born, we named him “Michael,” when means in Hebrew, “Who is like God?”
I think this reality of God comforting his people by reminding them who he is and what he is like so that they will trust and obey him is what we find in Isaiah 40-48. After seeing four chapters of historical narrative in chapters 36-39, chapters 40-48 go back to the style of the majority of this book which is made up of long sections of Isaiah’s prophetic words. That’s why these sections are often difficult to follow, make sense of, and (frankly) preach. It’s a lot easier to tell the story found in historical narrative, even if it is told over many chapters, than to preach from a long section that is simply made up of prophecies, as most of this book is.
However, there is something different about the book of Isaiah from this point (ch. 40) forward. We’re now looking at a time over 100 years after the prophetic ministry of Isaiah. Now, by that I don’t mean that Isaiah wrote these prophecies over 100 years after the prophecies found in 1-39. Still less do I mean that the prophecies found in chapters 40-66 were written by someone else. No, the prophecies found in the second half of the book were indeed Isaiah’s prophecies. And these prophecies were spoken and written during Isaiah’s prophetic ministry, which included much of the 8th century and a bit of the 7th century BC. What I mean is that Isaiah, in chapters 40-66, is prophesying with precision about events that wouldn’t take place for over 100 years later. It would be like someone living in the early 1900s talking with precision about what would happen and what life would be like in the year 2015. That’s what is going on here.
This has led some, of course, to suggest that someone besides Isaiah must have written this portion of the book. In fact, numerous Old Testament commentators have come up with a name of this second author, creatively referring to him as “Second Isaiah.” And some have even suggested there’s a “Third Isaiah.” But the only reason they suggest this is because they have trouble believing that Isaiah could have prophesied so clearly about the events and situations that would arise over 100 years in advance of these things. The irony, however, is that these “scholars” doubt that Isaiah could know such detail about the future while commenting on these chapters where the Lord on numerous occasions declares that he knows the beginning from the end and can declare the things to come because he ordains the future.
Therefore, what we have in chapters 40-48 are Isaiah’s prophecies about what God will do over 100 years into the future, once his people have been taken into Babylonian exile, something the Lord foretold through Isaiah in 39:5-7. And the idea, I think is both that these prophecies will serve as a gracious comfort to Judah once they are taken into exile and know that things are playing out just as the Lord predicted and that these prophecies will comfort the present generation of Judeans, who are being reminded that their God is one who knows the future, cares for his people, and is intent on redeeming them – even from exile. My hope, then, is that we in the present will find comfort in realizing what our God is like and will find comfort in him and develop a great anchored trust in him today. Therefore, this morning, I want to remind us what our God is like as we look at these chapters.
First, we see from this text that . .
I’ve mentioned as we’ve gone through this book that it’s hard to preach multiple chapters that are made up of a collection of prophecies. You kind of just look for threads that hold the chapters together. But I think that this is an obvious thread that comes up again and again. In fact, some of the pieces of this first point are reiterated in almost every chapter. Let me take this piece by piece.
First, the Lord declares through the prophet Isaiah again and again that he alone is God.
Let me give you a sampling of this:
40:18 – “To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?”
40:25 – “To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.”
42:8 – “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”
43:11 – “I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior.”
44:6b – “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”
44:8b – “Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.”
45:5-6 – “I am the LORD, and there is no other besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.”
45:18b – I am the LORD, and there is no other.”
45:21b-22 – “And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none besides me. . . . For I am god and there is no other.”
46:9b – “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.”
48:11b-12 – “My glory I will not give to another. . . . I am he; I am the first, and I am the last.”
It is clear, then, that we do not live in a world where there are many real gods. We live in a world where there is one real and true God. There is one who created the heavens and earth. There is one who reigns over all. Now, it is true that people all over the world worship idols and false gods that they call “gods,” and we can refer to them as “gods” for the sake of communicating, but they are not true gods. There is one God.
Second, because he is God, he has all power.
By definition, if he is truly God, then he is all-powerful. But we need not come to that conclusion simply through theological logic. We see it explicitly in the text. You heard in the reading of chapter 40 the declarations the Lord made about being all-powerful as he mentioned that he needs no counselor, measures the waters on earth in the hollow of his hand, and marks off the heavens with the span of his hand. And though we could add many more references, let me simply note 43:13, as the Lord declares, “Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?”
The answer of course is that there is none who can deliver from his hand and none who can undo his work. Certainly no idols can do this, and the Lord even mocks all false gods for they can do nothing. In fact, these false gods themselves often need human support. So, the Lord declares in 46:1-2, “Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity.” Again, the Lord alone is the all-powerful God.
And because he has all power, this has one other huge implication for us . . .
Third, because he is the all-powerful God, he knows and controls the future.
Now, this is pretty amazing to consider in this text. Keep in mind that at the time Isaiah makes this prophecies, it is more than 100 years prior to Judah being conquered by Babylon and taken into captivity. And the Lord had already declared that at the end of Isaiah 39, which we saw earlier.
So, already, when we read chapters 40-48 it is pretty amazing that these chapters are already address a people in Babylonian captivity 100 years before it actually happens. But it gets better. The Lord actually declares that they are going to be delivered from Babylonian captivity. We see, for example, that the Lord proclaims in 48:20, “Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, ‘The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!’”
Now, this is getting more impressive. Not only does the Lord declare that Judah will go into Babylonian captivity but that he’ll bring them out of Babylonian captivity one day.
But let’s play the skeptic for a second. I mean, sure, it is being said 100 years before Babylonian captivity, but perhaps you could see Babylon on the rise a bit, so it makes sense that Judah would be conquered by Babylon. And every empire eventually falls, so it also makes sense that the Lord could have predicted their eventual release.
But our skeptical charges soon have to yield because the Lord doesn’t merely foretell that Babylon itself will be conquered and therefore Judah freed from captivity. He names the individual world leader who will lead the Persians in conquering Babylon. His name is Cyrus. Listen to these words in Isaiah 45:1-4, “Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: ‘I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by name, I name you, though you do not know me.”
Now, consider that for a second. Before Babylon even rises to power, the Lord declares that they will conquer Judah and take them into captivity, and then that they themselves will be conquered by the Persians, and he names the Persian leader who will lead the conquering. That’s a little beyond being a good discerner of the way the world systems are turning. I mean, even if you were able to predict the rise of Babylon and then the rise of Persia, over 100 years in advance, it’s pretty impressive to call the Persian leader by name.
You can see why some scholars say that this must be written by someone other than Isaiah who died decades before Cyrus was even born and his parents chose to name him “Cyrus.” But that’s not the answer. Here’s the answer: Isaiah 46:8-11, “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.”
The Lord knows the future because he controls the future. He declares from ancient times things not yet done because he will accomplish his purposes. He will bring to pass what he has spoken and what he has purposed. He will do it. This is our God.1
But it gets better. We also see in these chapters that:
Isaiah 40-48 is a section in Isaiah’s gospel where the Lord speaks of Israel in Babylonian captivity 100 years before they go into captivity, and you know the point the Lord emphasizes throughout these chapters? It is that he will save them from captivity because he loves them, has chosen them, and delights in them. They are precious to the Lord.
The Lord not only declares that he’ll raise up Cyrus, whom he calls his anointed one in 45:1 (because Cyrus is an instrument of salvation for his people), but he says that when he brings them out, he’ll care for them, providing for them at every step, even into old age. In 40:31 we are told that as they wait on the Lord, they will be given strength to not faint or grow weary. But that is just the beginning. Listen to this sampling of verses:
41:10, 13 - “Fear not, for I am with you; be no dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. . . . For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
41:17 - “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I the god of Israel will not forsake them.”
42:16 – “And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.
We sang Isaiah 43:1-7 earlier, so I won’t read it here, but it is rich.
44:2 – “Thus says the LORD who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you; Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.”
46:3-4 – “Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you, I have made, and I will bear, I will carry and I will save.”
In 48:20-21 the Lord even speaks of his salvation of his people and preservation of them in terms of the Exodus, as we read, “God out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, ‘The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!’ They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and the water gushed out.”
The point is obvious that the Lord is intent on saving his people, and because he is all-powerful and controls the future, nothing will thwart his plan. He will even preserve them along the way so that no obstacle will stand in the way of his people experience the full blessing of salvation that he intends for them.
But it’s hard to miss that this isn’t some kind of sterile promise, is it? These words are tender. He speaks of them as his chosen, as his people whom he will care for even in old age. God loves his people, and he is intent on saving them.
And before we too quickly say, “Well, that’s good for Israel to know, and I am thankful the Lord raised up Cyrus to bring about their deliverance, but this doesn’t so much effect me,” we should take note that there is one other deliverer the Lord speaks of in this text.
To this point, he’s referred to Israel as his servant, he even refers to them in 42:18-19 as his blind and deaf servant who wound up in captivity because they disregarded the Lord’s commands. But the Lord speaks of another. In the context of saying in Isaiah 40 that a voice is crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord because God is coming to save his people (40:3), we read in 42:1-7 that the Lord is going to raise up a servant who will be righteous, exercise justice, be gentle with a bruised reed, open the eyes of the blind, free prisoners, and bring salvation.
“So, which is it?” we may ask, “Is the Lord going to come to us himself and bring salvation or raise up this servant to save us?” The answer, of course, is yes. When God the Son took on flesh and Jesus lived as the God-man, John the Baptist was presented as the voice crying in the wilderness because as he introduced Jesus, he was introducing one who is himself God the Son. But he is also the God-man. He is the one who lived as a man, died as a man for our sins, was raised from the dead as a man, and now reigns as a man over the earth at the right hand of God. And the New Testament sees that work of Christ for our salvation as flowing from God’s love for his people so that Paul can say in Romans 5:8 that God demonstrated his love for us in that Christ died for us and in Galatians 2:20 that Christ loved him and gave himself for him.
In Isaiah 40-48, we get a picture of our God. He is the one, true God who has all power and controls the future. And he is the God who loves us, is intent on saving us, and has proven it by sending his Son to live, die, and be raised for us. This is what God wanted his people at that time, his people who would be in captivity 100 years later, and us to know as well.
This section begins “Comfort, comfort my people, says the Lord,” (40:1) and then it speaks of the nature of our God. That is the very reality that I experienced over fourteen years ago as I sat amidst seeming turmoil all around and prayed about having a son. And it may be where you are today. Maybe your life feels like it’s being lived in the midst of chaos and turmoil. Maybe things haven’t turned out as you thought. Maybe the future is even scarier to you then the things of the past. Well, I hold out to you as comfort today no promises that the chaos and turmoil of your life will subside, no promises that your future will be pain free, and no promises that the things you wish you had but don’t will somehow come into your life soon. But what I say to you as a word of comfort, in the words of Isaiah 40:9, “Behold your God.” He knows your future because he is in control of history, he loves you, and he will save you if you trust in him. He’s shown that through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Therefore, let us trust and obey him, and even declare that now as we come to the table. Amen.