Comfort – Isaiah 40:1-5

“I would like to thank your organization for helping me get my emotional support animal registered properly and introducing me to the mental health professional that completed my evaluation and letter. It was a much smoother process than I ever imagined it being!”  So said Tawnya Colinsky, her testimonial on the Emotional Support Animal Registration site.  The animal you need to bring you comfort must be registered as such in order for your pet to fly with you.  It is interesting that during this covid-19 crisis, the animal shelters have been looking like the toilet paper shelf at the grocery store.  Empty.  People are looking for comfort.

God is offering comfort to His people, Israel, and to us, too.

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.  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.

A voice cries:

“In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall 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.”  (Isaiah 40:1-5 ESV)

Isaiah had predicted to Hezekiah that the people of the southern kingdom Judah would end up in exile in Babylon.  Speaking now as if they have already experienced this, he speaks God’s words of comfort to them.  God tells Isaiah to speak tenderly and to assure Jerusalem that her warfare is over.  The exile in Babylon has been a double punishment for her sins and she is now pardoned.

Now, back in the land of Judah, she needs to make ready for a visit from the King, King Yahweh.  He is coming across the desert and they must prepare the road so that He is rightly honored.  They must prepare their hearts, demonstrating repentance, because the glory of Yahweh is going to be revealed to everyone.

There is a partial fulfillment of this when Israel was restored to the land in 500 B.C.  They were able to rebuild the temple and the walls around Jerusalem.  There was an addition to the fulfillment when John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus’ ministry.  Jesus is Yahweh, but his people did not smooth the road of their hearts for him.  The complete fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy will be when Jesus returns in the future to set up his kingdom in Jerusalem.

The principle remains that when God disciplines us He also, like a good father, comforts us afterward.  Of course, we should repent and smooth the way for Him by confessing our sin and no more making provision for the flesh.

Discussion Questions

1. Who is the source of comfort in your life?
2. When have you needed comfort in recent days?
3. Has any of your discomfort been a result of bad decisions, and if so, how have you “paved the way” for God’s comfort by correcting those decisions?
4. Have you experienced receiving “double for all your sins,” receiving more than was taken away?
5. How do you suspect we should prepare the way for Yahweh Jesus for his second coming?