Today begins our resumption of our study of Isaiah begun 11 December 2006. You can find an introduction to the book there.
Context for Isaiah 40
Isaiah 40 begins the section of Isaiah that some scholars call the ‘Book of Comfort’. Some scholars content that Isaiah 40-66 represents the work of a different, post-exile author, however a careful reading of the text shows harmony with Isaiah 1-39 that reveals God’s intention to comfort His faithful through Isaiah that the evil times they experienced would come to an end and that they would be gathered again back to God.
Isaiah 1-39 promised the people of Israel and Judah that they would be punished for their great sin of turning their backs on their God. Israel and Judah were overrun and destroyed by their worst enemies, and the people would be carried off to a foreign land. It was in that land that they would learn to call upon God again and be restored to their land and His grace.
As Christians, our time on earth is much the same as the exile suffered by the Jews. Because of faith through God’s grace, we are promised a place in His eternal kingdom, but before we can reach that Kingdom, we must endure our time on earth as best as we can.
And God promises to even help us with that task by providing us with His word and the Sacraments, which are for our benefit and the strengthening of our faith. By keeping in the Word, we can rest assured of God’s promises to us, and by keeping in the Sacraments we can be constantly strengthened in that assurance.
Then, when the time comes, we can rise to our God through death or the Second Coming, on the eagle’s wings of salvation, to our new home in Heaven.
DLH
