God Begins Anew (Isaiah 40:1-11)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
“1 'Comfort, yes, comfort My people!' Says your God. 2 'Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the Lord's hand Double for all her sins.' 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare 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 brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; 5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.' 6 The voice said, 'Cry out!' And he said, 'What shall I cry?' 'All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, Because 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 O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!" 10 Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. 11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.”
Introduction
Pastor Charles Spurgeon in 1869 at the age of 35, he experienced deliberating pain due to gout. That was a time period when there were no medications for gout. This pastor was in so much pain and agony that he couldn’t really use his feet. Despite being in his agony and pain, he didn’t lose hold of hope in God. There was a recording of his diary, he wrote, “The moment I feel pain, I make it a time of experience. I have appealed to God.” This was the content of his prayer. He continued, “Father, your son is suffering. When your physical son suffers, the physical parents do anything to fix their pain and agony. Will you let your spiritual son suffer and abandon me? Your Son, whom you love by grace. I believe that you will sustain me and lessen my pain.” At that moment, the pastor was able to experience the healing of God. His earnest prayer became answered by God. What is absolute is that when you pray with faith, then God will answer. The prayer of faith will always be received with an answer from God. Through this sermon, may we receive faith and true answers.
1. A New Beginning
1) Comfort My people
Verse 1 - When you look at the background of this biblical scripture, it is a continuation of this scripture of Isaiah 39:6 “'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the Lord.” - When you look at this, you can see that the start of the destruction of Judah began from the mistake of King Hezekiah. In 586 BC, Judah was conquered under Babylon, and were captives for seven years. But God commanded his people to be comforted and to comfort His people. Until that point, the people of Judah were in so much agony because of their captivity but God said that they will be comforted because their term of captivity and suffering will be over now.
2) Cry out
Verse 2 - God proclaimed that their time of slavery and suffering has been over. What was the reason why they were put in captivity and slavery? When Isaiah looked at it, during King Hezekiah’s time, there was a great miracle that was performed. Because of that miracle, all of the problems and destruction of Judah started. God saved King Hezekiah from the fate of death; that was the miracle. That miracle became the start of destruction for the land of Judah. Not only that but another miracle that occurred was that God turned back time. The problem began because King Hezekiah became proud of his own ego when the king of Babylon came instead of thanking God and glorifying God. Even though Isaiah told King Hezekiah of his mistake, King Hezekiah didn’t repent at all. Not only that but when King Hezekiah heard that his prosperity will suffer because of him, he didn’t repent at all and didn’t pray for his future generations. This was the grave problem that happened through King Hezekiah.
We can see the severity of this problem in 2 Kings 21:1, 6, 23:26-27 “Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 6 Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. 23:26-27 Nevertheless the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27 And the Lord said, 'I will also remove Judah from My sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’ ' ” - King Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh became king at the age of 12. God saved King Hezekiah from death and allowed King Hezekiah to live for another 15 years. This means that Manasseh was born after King Hezekiah experienced this miracle of King Hezekiah escaping death and God pushing back time. Not only did King Hezekiah experience him being saved from death and time pushing back, Manasseh also witnessed this too. If God did this for him, the least that King Hezekiah could’ve done for his children was to relay this but he didn’t. What did King Hezekiah relay to his children instead?
It is seen in 2 Kings 21:6 - Manasseh worshiped the gods of sun and moon. King Hezekiah didn’t relay the word of God or God at all to his children. Instead, Manasseh was busy worshiping the gods of sun and moon. Manasseh even sacrificed his own son to the god of the sun. This is such irony. Manasseh was the one who even killed and martyred Isaiah. God was furious.
We can see how angry God was in 2 Kings 23:26-27 - God was so angry that he destroyed the temple of Jerusalem and destroyed the land as well. God poured His entire wrath onto them. That is why the land of Judah was under captivity and slavery of Babylon for 7 years. They committed a sin that was considered unforgivable. Their term of captivity and wrath ended, and their sins were paid for. God said that He has forgiven their sins. God was telling them to shout and proclaim this. God said that they will start anew and to shout out aloud. God gave them a method. That method was written in verse 3.
2. God's Glory
1) Prepare the way of the Lord
Verses 3-5 - God said that He will forgive them so they need to start anew. What is that method on how they could start anew? The method was to make a way for the Lord. When the king would make a way through a town, then they would clear the streets for the king. This Biblical scripture tells us to make a way for the Lord. This was not just for Judah but God was saying that Jesus will come. Where will Jesus come from? He will come from Babylon. Judah was under captivity and committed sin against God but God went with them when they were in captivity and slavery in Babylon. When God saw them suffering and in agony when they were in Judah, and He was saying that He was with them and were watching them the whole time. God received all of the prayers of Daniel and Daniel’s three friends. That is why God said for them to shout aloud and they will help start anew. That is why God commanded them to prepare a way for the Lord.
Verse 4 - What does this mean? When they returned back from the captivity from Babylon, were they cutting down mountains to pave the road back to their land? God was saying that God will heal all of their scars and suffering. God said that all of their pride and ego, God will level them. God will heal all of their unbelief. For all of this, God was telling them to prepare. How could they prepare? You can come before God and live a diligent life before Him. But how can you prepare the road for God?
We can see the answer in Luke 3:8 “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” - This was the answer that John the Baptist received. Before Jesus almighty came to the world, God raised up John the Baptist to prepare the way for the Lord. That was through repentance. We prepare the way through repentance. The way to receive healing and restoration, that way is through repentance. This was what John the Baptist was saying. Do you have a problem? Entrust it to God and repent, then God will give you answers.
When you do that, then you will receive the answer and blessing of verse 5 - The Lord God said that He will show Himself. He will show Himself with great joy and glory. When was this manifested?
It was completed in John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” - This is speaking about Jesus Christ’s incarnation. When Jesus came to the world, He solved all problems. This is Jesus Christ coming to the world in human flesh.
2) Cry out!
Verses 6-8 - What were they shouting out? Before Jesus came, what were they shouting and prophesying? That the land of Babylon will face destruction. Even though the flowers of the field and the grass may look tall and beautiful but when the wind blows, they will all be cut down. This is talking about Babylon.
Verse 7 - The breath of God is speaking about the Spirit of God. Through the power and work of God, in just one night, God destroyed 185,000 soldiers with one angel. This is also talking about how flowers and grass will fall and wither away.
Verse 8 - We must hold onto this. God’s word will absolutely be fulfilled. You may think that God’s word has no correlation with your life but God’s word will absolutely be fulfilled no matter what. This is because God’s word is eternal. We must hold onto the fact that God’s word is eternal. God promised that the head of the serpent will be destroyed in Genesis 3:15. In one instant, the entire army of Assyria were destroyed with just one angel of God. This means that our problems and suffering can be all over with just one command from God. We have to hold onto that the offspring of the woman, God, will stand forever and is eternal.
3. Christ's Work
1) Get up into the high mountain
Verse 9-11 - God was telling them to go up to the highest mountain and see that God is coming. This is talking about how God’s throne and temple will be established. This means for them to restore worship. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, meet God once again. What does this mean? Hold onto Jesus Christ who died on the cross and shed His blood. It is for them to look towards the cross and look towards Jesus Christ who died on the cross. The sins that we couldn’t solve at all, Jesus Christ solved all of this on the cross. Always look towards this Christ.
Verse 10 - That Lord, is the God of power who is the one who will destroy Babylon and will restore Babylon. He is the True King of all kings. This is talking about Jesus Christ. This means that Jesus will come to this world as the True King will destroy the power of Satan who is making mankind suffer and experience great problems. Those who believe, there will be a great reward. The great power of authority will come upon God’s children. We can receive and experience God’s power.
Verse 11 - Who will come? It is our shepherd. Jesus is our shepherd. He will give us an endless amount of grace and love. He will come as our shepherd and this is what He will do. Imagine how much God loves His children, He will carry us in His bosom. The young lamb is talking about how God will give life to His children. The young lamb are having a hard time and they are so weak, they can’t even run around. The weak children of God, God is saying that He will protect and carry them in His bosom. God will gently guide us. God will carefully and always watch and protect us. This is what Jesus Christ represents. This is the image of Jesus. Then, we must enjoy the true throne of God.
2) True throne we must enjoy
1 Thessalonians 1:3, 5, 5:16-18 “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, 5 For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. 5:16-18 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” - Just like King Hezekiah, we must not fail and make the same mistake. We must always remember faith, love, and patience of hope.
1 Thessalonians 1:5 - We must not believe in God’s word as just words. If we truly believe then God promised us that great power, Holy Spirit, and assurance will come upon us. May we experience and enjoy all of this in faith.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - What must we always do as children of God? Always rejoice, pray without ceasing, and in all things, give thanks. This is God’s will for us. We are in an environment and position where we can do all of this. Why is that? A problem is not a problem for us at all. This is because God is our shepherd. We just have to rejoice, pray in the midst of problems, and give thanks.
Conclusion
Hold onto Psalm 23:1-2 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.” - Always remember this. The Israelites were in captivity but God was with them the whole time. Even now, God is with us, and protecting and watching us. If we remain in Jesus Christ, then we will receive answers of works.
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