Isaiah Chapter 40
1 "Comfort, comfort my people," says your God.
2 "Speak comfortably to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins."
3 The voice of one who calls out, "Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.
5 The LORD's glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it."
6 The voice of one saying, "Cry!" One said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades, because the LORD's breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever."
9 You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Don't be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold, your God!"
10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has directed the LORD's Spirit, or has taught him as his counsellor?
14 Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.
16 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
19 A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.
20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skilful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved.
21 Haven't you known? Haven't you heard? Haven't you been told from the beginning? Haven't you understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,
23 who brings princes to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
24 They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
25 "To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is lacking.
27 Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?"
28 Haven't you known? Haven't you heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't faint. He isn't weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.
30 Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;
31 but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
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Isaiah Chapter 40 Guide
We now commence the prophecies of peace, which also fall into three divisions, dealing in turn with the purpose of peace (40-48), the Prince of Peace (49-57), the program of peace (58-66).
The fist eleven verses of chapter forty constitute a prologue to the whole Book. This prologue opens with a declaration which indicates the burden of all that is to follow. "Comfort ye, comfort ye My people." It then describes the making of a highway for God along which He will move toward the ultimate accomplishment, and closes with a commission to announce the good tidings to Jerusalem that Jehovah will act as a mighty One, and yet with the tenderness of a Shepherd.
In the remainder of the chapter we have the prophet setting forth the majesty of Jehovah, which forms a fitting introduction to all that follows. This majesty is described essentially in its might, in its wisdom, and in the ease of its government of the nations. It is then described by comparison. The impossibility of making anything that will represent God is declared, and a graphic illustration is given in the case of the graven image or of the idol of wood. It is finally declared to be demonstrated in creation by actual government on earth, and in the heavens, and finally in its method of grace with Israel.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
Isaiah Chapter 40 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- The preaching of the gospel, and glad tidings of the coming of Christ. -- (1-11)
- The almighty power of God. -- (12-17)
- The folly of idolatry. -- (18-26)
- Against unbelief. -- (27-31)
Verses 1-11
All human life is a warfare; the Christian life is the most so; but the struggle will not last always. Troubles are removed in love, when sin is pardoned. In the great atonement of the death of Christ, the mercy of God is exercised to the glory of his justice. In Christ, and his sufferings, true penitents receive of the Lord's hand double for all their sins; for the satisfaction Christ made by his death was of infinite value. The prophet had some reference to the return of the Jews from Babylon. But this is a small event, compared with that pointed out by the Holy Ghost in the New Testament, when John the Baptist proclaimed the approach of Christ. When eastern princes marched through desert countries, ways were prepared for them, and hinderances removed. And may the Lord prepare our hearts by the teaching of his word and the convictions of his Spirit, that high and proud thoughts may be brought down, good desires planted, crooked and rugged tempers made straight and softened, and every hinderance removed, that we may be ready for his will on earth, and prepared for his heavenly kingdom. What are all that belongs to fallen man, or all that he does, but as the grass and the flower thereof! And what will all the titles and possessions of a dying sinner avail, when they leave him under condemnation! The word of the Lord can do that for us, which all flesh cannot. The glad tidings of the coming of Christ were to be sent forth to the ends of the earth. Satan is the strong man armed; but our Lord Jesus is stronger; and he shall proceed, and do all that he purposes. Christ is the good Shepherd; he shows tender care for young converts, weak believers, and those of a sorrowful spirit. By his word he requires no more service, and by his providence he inflicts no more trouble, than he will strengthen them for. May we know our Shepherd's voice, and follow him, proving ourselves his sheep.
Verses 12-17
All created beings shrink to nothing in comparison with the Creator. When the Lord, by his Spirit, made the world, none directed his Spirit, or gave advice what to do, or how to do it. The nations, in comparison of him, are as a drop which remains in the bucket, compared with the vast ocean; or as the small dust in the balance, which does not turn it, compared with all the earth. This magnifies God's love to the world, that, though it is of such small account and value with him, yet, for the redemption of it, he gave his only-begotten Son, John 3:16. The services of the church can make no addition to him. Our souls must have perished for ever, if the only Son of the Father had not given himself for us.
Verses 18-26
Whatever we esteem or love, fear or hope in, more than God, that creature we make equal with God, though we do not make images or worship them. He that is so poor, that he has scarcely a sacrifice to offer, yet will not be without a god of his own. They spared no cost upon their idols; we grudge what is spent in the service of our God. To prove the greatness of God, the prophet appeals to all ages and nations. Those who are ignorant of this, are willingly ignorant. God has the command of all creatures, and of all created things. The prophet directs us to use our reason as well as our senses; to consider who created the hosts of heaven, and to pay our homage to Him. Not one fails to fulfil his will. And let us not forget, that He spake all the promises, and engaged to perform them.
Verses 27-31
The people of God are reproved for their unbelief and distrust of God. Let them remember they took the names Jacob and Israel, from one who found God faithful to him in all his straits. And they bore these names as a people in covenant with Him. Many foolish frets, and foolish fears, would vanish before inquiry into the causes. It is bad to have evil thoughts rise in our minds, but worse to turn them into evil words. What they had known, and had heard, was sufficient to silence all these fears and distrusts. Where God had begun the work of grace, he will perfect it. He will help those who, in humble dependence on him, help themselves. As the day, so shall the strength be. In the strength of Divine grace their souls shall ascend above the world. They shall run the way of God's commandments cheerfully. Let us watch against unbelief, pride, and self-confidence. If we go forth in our own strength, we shall faint, and utterly fall; but having our hearts and our hopes in heaven, we shall be carried above all difficulties, and be enabled to lay hold of the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.