December 6, 2020 (Sunday)
Day 8 of 26 days of Advent.
Isaiah prophesied during a time a peace, prosperity, and privilege.
King Hezekiah had created a golden age. Religion seems to be on track and
working well, yet Isaiah warned this time would not last. The system was rotten,
loyalties mixed, and would soon collapse. After many chapters of doom and despair,
Isaiah flips the script.
Isaiah 40:1 states, “Comfort, comfort my people, says
your God.” What
comfort is there to be found in the promise that all your wealth would be
carried off to Babylon and your sons will be made eunuchs (see Isaiah 39:6 –7)?
Seriously, how do we find comfort in a world saturated with bad stuff?
God tells Isaiah, “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.” [Isaiah 40:2 ESV] Wait,
what is this, “double for all her sins?” Yikes, if God were to judge America
for just its sin of abortion we would owe at least 90 million lives… or about a
third of our population. Be glad we are not Israel.
The sign that God’s wrath is finished is the prophecy
concerning a New Testament figure, “A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord.” [Isaiah 40:3 ESV]
Mark applies this prophecy to John the Baptist in Mark 1:3, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the
Lord, make his paths straight,’” [ESV] Who would have thought a strange man,
dressed in odd clothing, shouting something about repentance and the coming of the
Lamb of God would fulfill a prophecy from 700+ years before Jesus.
Isaiah then uses a picture to help us understand God’s
tenderness and love, “He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the
lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the
mother sheep with their young.” [Isaiah 40:11 NLT] Lambs are very vulnerable to
predators. Satan seems to like to pick off the weakest, such as children. Here
is a promise of close protection. Also, a lamb, being carried is a definite relationship
builder. The Lamb of God knows what we, His lambs, need.
I guess the hard part is waiting in expectation. Israel waited
through 400 years of silence before the Messiah arrived. The church has waited
through approximately 2000 years of struggle. We may yet wait another 2000
years. The reason for the current wait is, “The Lord isn’t slow to keep his
promise, as some think of slowness, but he is patient toward you, not wanting
anyone to perish but all to change their hearts and lives.” [2 Peter
3:9 CEB] So while we wait we offer hope, forgiveness, and love.
In a covid Christmas world, we desperately need hope. We
desperately need peace. We desperately need love. What the world needs is found
in only one person. His name is Jesus. Those who claim to follow Jesus are
getting a crash course on focusing on Jesus, not the storm.
Brace yourself, this might only be practice for the real
event. Learn to rest in the arms of the Shepherd. Learn it now.
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