Isaiah chapter 40

CHAPTER XL.

The Voice in the Wilderness.

ISAIAH having completed the historical details that occupy chapters xxxvi.-xxxix., returns to the comforting of Zion in a prophecy of John the Baptist as the forerunner of Messiah, and as the preparer of His way. This prophecy is intimately related to that of chapter xxxv., where the rejoicing of Zion’s wilderness is spoken of, and the revelation of “ the glory of Yahweh and the excellency of our Elohim.”

The kingdom of God is always the ultimate objective of the prophetic word, and to encourage God’s people to wait for it in faith and obedience, the ultimate aim of their ministry ; but their word having to serve for so many ages and generations, the visions are not restricted and localised. Their leading features are made plain by those who come afterwards and speak “ by the same Spirit.” And the accumulating expositions of these in turn become the basis of the enlightenment of their uninspired brethren who succeed them, so that to this day the sure word of prophecy shines as a light in a dark place, for the guid­ance of those who, by searching the scriptures, let the light into their minds.

“ Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received at the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”

Here, “ my people ” and “ Jerusalem ” are the subjects of the comfort. We must remember who these are. Not Israel after the flesh—not Jerusalem of b.c. 700 or a.d. 30 as concerns her natural population in bulk. All things are for the elect’s sake, and this must be borne in mind when studying the prophets. Isaiah and his brethren were but “ a remnant,” yet God overruled Jerusalem’s affairs for their sakes. Jesus and his brethren were but “ a remnant ” numerically, and apparently of no account in the presence of Jews and Romans; yet “ all things were for their sakes.” And so we must be prepared to recognise a great work underneath a small exterior in the fulfilment of the prophets' words, until, in the crisis of the Judgment, “ the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

The chapter introduces the preaching of John the Baptist, but it is evident that the opening verses look far beyond his day. Jerusalem’s warfare is not yet “ accomplished,” for it is in the hand of the enemy, and we know from Zechariah that the city is yet to be taken in the crisis in which the Lord fights against the assembled nations (ch. xiv.). Not until Jerusalem sees and acknowledges Jesus as he declares she will (proclaiming him the blessed of the Lord—Luke xiii. 35, and mourns over him with great lamentation—Zech. xii.), can it be said that “ her warfare is accomplished and her iniquity pardoned,” or, as the Revised Version more correctly puts it, “ her punishment accepted ” (by her, compare Lev. xxvi. 43). When that great crisis comes, for which the Zionist movement is unconsciously preparing, she will have "received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins,” and will acknowledge the justice of it and be graciously pardoned.

Some have been troubled over the expression " double for all her sins,” as though the Lord had unduly punished Jerusalem and Israel. The difficulty' is purely imaginary. " The wages of sin is death ; and the gift of God is eternal life.” God alone has the prerogative of instituting rewards and punishments for His creatures. He appointed a law in Israel which promised great blessings for obedience and great curses for disobedience, and Israel solemnly accepted His covenant. They broke it, however, flagrantly and perpetually, and God visited upon them the “ full measure,” " counterpart,” or " double,” for all their sins. In like manner he declares He will render " double ” for faithfulness, even eternal life (Isa. lxi. 7 ; Zech. ix. 12). And in like manner also does He declare that He will render " double ” vengeance to Jerusalem’s hated rival, “ Babylon the Great” (Rev. xviii. 6), over which the "holy apostles and prophets will rejoice.” When Jerusalem finally " accepts her punishment,” Rome will be made finally to accept hers ; but the difference between the fates of the two cities will be that Jerusalem shall abide for ever, while Rome shall perish for ever like her prototypes, Babylon, Sodom, and Gomorrah.

“ The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Yahweh, make straight in the desert a highway for our Elohim.” What “ voice ” was this that the prophet thus heard “ in spirit ” 700 years before Christ. That of John the Baptist, upon his own testimony, supported by the open attestation of the Father. All four histories of the life and work of Christ—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, agree in telling us this (Matt. iii. ;  Mar. i. ;  Lu. iii. ; John i.). Of all these, the most elaborate account is   that of John the apostle,

though even that is very brief. He tells us that " there was a man sent from God whose name was John,” and that though “      a burning and        a shining   light,”             as Jesus          himself

afterwards styled him, “ he was not that Light of men ” of whom he had been speaking, but was sent to bear witness to Him. “He,” says John, referring to Jesus, “was the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world (.kosmos).”    He was the Word made flesh, full of grace and truth, who dwelt in Israel, revealing the glory of the Father to those who, like John, had eyes to see and ears to hear.

“ The law,” says John, “ was given by Moses, but grace and truth came      by Jesus Christ,” even that word of comfort of which the prophet spoke beforehand, and over the rejection of which by his countrymen Jesus was so deeply grieved.

John further tells that the preaching of John the Baptist “ in the wilderness of Judea,” attracted universal attention. His declaration that “ the kingdom of heaven was at hand,” supported, as it doubtless was, by appeals to the prophecies of Daniel and the times revealed, was sufficient greatly to exercise “ Jerusalem and all Judea,” and multitudes went out to be baptised of him in Jordan, “ confessing their sins,” for John's baptism was for the remission of sins. In obedience to his divine commission, he preached the coming of the Christ, and God having “ sent him to baptize," forgave the sins of those who obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine revealed, and looked for the Coming One. But John was soon imprisoned and beheaded, and when Jesus rose from the dead John’s baptism was altogether superseded, and baptism into the name of Jesus Christ took its place. Hence some twenty-five years after John’s baptism, some of his disciples, being deficient in knowledge concerning Christ, found their way into the congregation of Christians at Ephesus, and were perfected in knowledge by Paul, and “ baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus,” and approved by God by the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Seeing the popular excitement, the Jews sent priests and Levites to John, demanding “ Who art thou ? ” Was he the Christ ? Or Elias ? Or that prophet ” (of whom Moses spoke). No, he was not. What then ? They must return answer to Jerusalem. What sayest thou of thyself ? ” And John answered, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.” Why then, asked the deputation, do you baptise ? And the answer was, “ There standeth One among you, whom ye know not, and I baptize with water that He should be made manifest to Israel.”

And even the details of the “ making manifest ” are related. John the Baptist added : “ He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God.”

Here, then, is “ the voice in the wilderness,” and the then present preparation of “ the way of the Lord.” It was a voice in the wilderness in more ways than one. Literally it was a voice “ in the wilderness of Judea,” and metaphorically it was a voice in the wilderness of Jewry, out of whose “ dry ground ” the “ Plant of Renown ” was springing. The “ way of Yahweh ” then being “ prepared was the Lord Jesus, manifested as the Son of God, and “ the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins ot the world.” “I am the Way,” said he in his doctrine, “ No man cometh unto the Father but by me.” But although in a sense, as both John and Jesus declare, the glory of the Father was then manifested, all flesh did not then see it together, the “ highway for our Elohim ” was not then cleared and levelled ; countless mountains and valleys and rough and crooked places remain “ in the way,” and Jesus is absent personally, although " crowned with glory and honour ” ; while his brethren are almost all covered by the prophetic descriptions, “ dwellers in dust,” the spirit’s “ dead body ” (Isa. xxvi.).

We get a glimpse of the ultimate “ making straight in the desert of a highway for our Elohim,” in the later prophecy of the Lord Jesus himself (Rev. xvi. 12), where the waters of the Great River Euphrates are dried up, “ that the wav of the Kings of the East might be prepared.” These “ Kings of the East ” are members of the body of Christ, as the apostles de­clared, to whom he promised regal honours in those countries (Matt. xix.). They are, therefore, comprehended in the prophetic phrase “ our Elohim,” and related to the universal manifestation of the glory of the Lord of which he spoke. Thus, in the same words is covered a description of the mission of John the Baptist, and the manifestation of the Lord Jesus as a sacrifice ; and the future manifestation of the way of God hereafter in the triumphant establishment of the Kingdom of God in the land of Israel in the hands of Jesus and his brethren.

The Turkish Empire is “ in the way,” being a possession of “ the inheritance ” by the worst of the heathen. Therefore it must go, whether the symbol of its departure be a levelled mountain, or a dried-up river. The Great Antichristian World is similarly “ in the way,” being a nominal dominion of Christ (“ Christendom ”), in which he is symbolically crucified, his truth rejected, and his people persecuted. Therefore, like Babylon of old, it must go. It will become like it, “ a burnt mountain ” (Jer. li. 25).“ Who art thou, O great mountain ? ” asks Zechariah the prophet adding, “ Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain ” (Zech. iv. 7). These sayings illustrate the levelling, clearing, and straightening operations that must be conducted on Earth by Omnipotence before the glory of the Lord is revealed, so that “ all flesh shall see it together.”

“ The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry ? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth ; but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

“ The voice ” is John, and he who responds concerning the evanescence of all flesh is the Bringer of good tidings, or the gospel, unto Zion alluded to in the following verse. The preach­ing of Jesus had much reference to the poor estate of all flesh, and the abiding character of the word. Himself “ the Word made flesh,” he taught that of itself the flesh profited nothing, but that the words of God that he spoke were spirit and life. His doctrine concerning the flesh and the Word is diametrically opposed to what is now taught in his name. It is now, and has been for centuries, taught in the name of Christ that all flesh has life in itself, apart from relation to the word of Christ and of God. This doctrine is the universally received notion of the “ immortality of the soul.” According to this, “ the people ” are not grass. It is only their bodies, their “ mortal coils,” not the “real men,” that can be truthfully so described. “ The people,” according to this view, are “ spirits,” of endless destiny in weal or woe, and the comparison of the prophet incongruous and vain. If it be answered, No, that applies to the body, the answer is that in the prophet’s mind the bodies of “ the people,” or the “ all flesh,” are “ the people,” and not a merely unimportant fraction of them.

Christ’s doctrine of flesh and spirit and life mortal and immortal is this. " The Father hath life in himself.’ “ The Father is spirit.” “ He hath given to the Son to have life in himself, that he may give eternal life to as many as he will.” “ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.” Birth of the spirit includes resur­rection and bodily change, so that the subjects of it become “ spiritual bodies,” “ spirits ” like unto and equal unto the angels, who are so-called. The conditions upon which “ flesh ” may be transformed into this incorruptible bodily existence are that one“ eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood ; ” other­wise, says Jesus, “ ye have no life in you.” What is meant by eating his flesh and drinking his blood is defined by him to be the mental assimilation of his spirit and life words, the affectionate and obedient comprehension of his doctrine. In absolute harmony with Isaiah and all the prophets he declares that “ the flesh profiteth nothing.” His flesh and blood were the true meat and the true drink, not because of any physical superiority in his case, but because he was God’s Holy One who pleased the Father in all things, and “ did no sin.” Flesh and blood innocent of transgression was found in him alone. Therefore his blood is “ precious ” and cleanses from sin those who, believing his word,   put on his name in the appointed

way. All his teaching is an illustration of the prophetic proclamation, “ All flesh is grass,” and a magnifying of the word that shall stand forever. He is himself in his exaltation to eternal life an earnest of the abiding nature of the Word.

" His name is called the word of God ”   (Rev. xix. 13). Once “made flesh,” he is now “ the Lord the Spirit ” hereafter to return to judgment. The Apostle Peter, in his quotation of this part of Isaiah, says that, “ this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you ” (1 Pet. i. 25).

The Bringer of good tidings to Zion is emphatically- encouraged, saying, “ Lift up thy voice with strength ; lift it up, be not afraid ; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God.” “ Behold,” it continues, “ Behold the Lord God (Adonai Yalneeh) will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him ; behold his reward is with him and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd:  he shall gather the lambs with his arm,

and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”

Looking back now on the preaching of Jesus, we see he brought “ good tidings to Zion,” but not those here spoken of. In a sense it was said in his proclamation, “ Behold your God ; ” but the assertion of his divine Sonship was met by rejection, and the time of reward and the rule of a rod of iron was far distant. He truly fed the flock of God as the “ Good Shepherd,” but then was the time for the fulfilment of another prophecy which said, " I will smite the Shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered.” And so it came to pass.

For the fulfilment of the word we look forward. The cities of Judah will yet behold him and his as their God. The day of resurrection and judgment is the day of recompense or reward as he taught. The notion that the reward is not " coming ” “ with him,” but is to be reached by going to him is sub­versive of his own express teaching. And his work before him is the re-establishment of the throne and kingdom of David in the earth and the subduing of all things on earth to the Father in the Kingdom of God.

And then the word changes, and Israel is challenged con­cerning the majesty and counsel of God, before whom all nations are as nothing. Their rejection of the divine counsel is thus rebuked, and their idolatry, copied from the heathen, notwith­standing the great deliverances that God had wrought in Israel. These things had an obvious bearing on Isaiah’s own day ; and when John the Baptist and Jesus ministered in Judea the rebuke still applied ; also afterwards when Paul quoted some cf the words with reference to Israel’s unbelief and God’s providence in calling the Gentiles. Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, shows abundantly how it was foreseen by God that He would be rejected by Israel, and what provision He made for the time of their stumbling, when " blindness in part happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles should come in.” He contemplated with great marvel and admiration the unsearchable judgments of God, quoting from Isaiah : “ For who hath known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath been his counsellor ” (Rom. xi. 34). He again quotes the same passage in 1 Cor. ii. 16, in illustration of the hopelessness of a merely natural man discerning and receiving “ the things of the spirit of God.” The word must be allowed to subdue the natural man, and then the mind’s eyes are opened to behold wondrous things out of God’s laws.

The days of John and Jesus illustrate how even the chosen nation, with the exception of a remnant, failed to discern. “ The Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptised of John.”  And when Jesus himself was rejected of them, and an angry demand was made for his “ authority ” for cleansing the temple, he put them in a dilemma by propounding the question, “ Was the baptism of John from heaven or of men ? ” And though they had sent a special deputation to enquire of John, they were reduced to the discreditable position of having to say, “ We cannot tell.” So God manifested their ignorance and malice in those days. The principle illustrated holds good to this day—namely, that it is only in a whole-hearted “ turning to God from idols and waiting for His Son from heaven,” that a reasonable course of human action is to be found. Anything else is madness, the folly of which will sooner or later be manifested. And idolatry is not necessarily of the gross material kind illustrated in Asia, Africa, and other countries nearer home. An apostle says, “ Beware of covetousness, which is idolatry.” Anything set up in opposition to God and His claims on the heart and affections is an idol.

There was much pathos and depth of reason in the divine expostulation with Israel on this head : “ Have ye not known ? Have ye not heard ? Hath it not been told you from the beginning ? Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God. Hast thou not known ? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary ? There is no searching of His understanding.” What could be done more than God had done in Israel ? This is His own enquiry in the song of the vineyard (Isa. v. 4). And although miracle be absent, we may apply the matter to ourselves. If the Gospel of the Kingdom, attested as it is, is not enough to keep us in God’s way, what hope is there ?

Not only is the history of the nation and God’s dealings with it thus appealed to, but the works of God in the starry universe : “ Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number, he calletb them all by names by the greatness of his power ; not one faileth.” Abraham had lifted up his eyes on high, and believed the promise, “ So shall thy seed be.” David had lifted up his eyes on high, and marvelled that the Creator of these worlds should take any account of man at all. But the bulk of Israel was not of that way of thinking, and the appeal was in their case vain. Tennyson has a trenchant line in a poem called “ Despair,” which runs  Doubt is the Lord of this dunghill, and crows at the Sun and the Moon !

And that is only too truly illustrative of the way in which many lift up their eyes on high nowadays. It is a passing scene. It will not always be so. The withering grass that is gone almost as soon as it is sprouted, is not the final type of human life on earth. The ministry of John the Baptist and of Jesus, of which Isaiah here speaks, is proof of that, and of the reliability of the beautiful promise with which the chapter concludes :—11 They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run and not be weary ; they shall walk and not faint.”