Isaiah 40 may very well be one of the most beautiful chapters of the Bible. From the first words—“Comfort, comfort my people”—to the last words of mounting up with wings like an eagle, this chapter is sheer poetry. If I were British, I would simply say, “Brilliant.”
Isaiah chapter 40 begins the “Book of Comfort,” the section of the book that runs from chapter 40 on through to the end at chapter 66. This section looks past the judgments, past Israel’s exile. It looks to the time when Israel will be restored. That restoration will come in miniature, as it were, under Cyrus. Cyrus is prophesied of a full century before he even comes on the scene of human history. That restoration will come again when Christ comes the first time. And it will come again when Christ returns and leads us into the new heavens and the new earth.
But to a nation in exile, under the control of mighty Babylon and then Persia, such a vision of restoration would be nothing more than a wish-dream. They would not see the prospect of God’s promise. They would only see the barriers and the impediments. A vast dessert separated Israel in exile from her homeland. And who would imagine that a tyrant like Cyrus would issue a decree to let Israel go?
So we have Israel in exile being told they will be restored. Keep reading
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