When God Reveals Himself • 01.12.25
When God Reveals Himself
Isaiah 40
Rejoicing in the hope of God’s self-revelation
- God is not done with his people or plan
- God is incomparably greater than everyone and everything
- God is trustworthy and able to deliver
Good morning, church family! (Introduce self + welcome guests)
Dismiss 4th + 5th graders
Ushers + Bibles (Isaiah; page 672)
Today is a sweet day in the life of our church – we are picking back up in our study through the book of Isaiah! We first began this study back on January 21st, 2024, and over the course of last year we managed to work through chapters 1-39. If you are newer to our church and missed out on those sermons, I would encourage you to at least go to the very first sermon from 1/21/24 where I did an overview of the entire book of Isaiah. That will help give you the larger context for what we are studying this year. I would recommend everyone refresh themselves on that sermon, even if you were here last year. You’ve slept a lot since then and I am sure there are things that will be helpful for you to hear again!
For today, I’d like to do a quick refresher to get us all caught back up to speed on where we’re at in this book.
Isaiah was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah during the reigns of four different kings. We see this in 1:1.
Isaiah 1:1 (ESV)
The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
These kings reigned from roughly 767-686 BC (Chart). It is believed that Isaiah’s prophetic ministry took place during 740-681 BC, but, as we’ll soon see, the prophecy that God gave him went beyond his lifetime.
As we learned last year through chapters 1-39, both the northern kingdom of Israel and southern kingdom of Judah had forsaken the One, True God to trust in pagan idols and the nations that worshiped them. You may recall that these chapters were full of God’s judgment for the people’s rejection of him. He was holding them accountable for their spiritual adultery and idolatry.
This is why God called Isaiah into ministry. God appointed Isaiah to be his messenger to the rebellious kingdom of Judah. To warn them of the coming judgment and to call them to repentance! Isaiah’s calling as a prophet was an incredibly hard one. He was sent to a people who would not hear or respond obediently. He was warned that they would continue to be spiritually blind, deaf, and dumb. They would continue in their sin until they are judged, and the land is desolate. What a hard calling! And what an ominous foreshadowing of what was coming… God knew that the people would not turn from their wicked ways. So, he was going to do what was necessary to discipline them and point them back to Him as the only source of life and salvation.
Now, this book is not simply about judgment. It is also about salvation! Isaiah’s name means the Lord saves. God also appointed Isaiah to give a fuller picture of God’s grand redemption plan. Throughout the book, Isaiah shares of a promised seed of Jesse, a branch from the line of David, a ruler who would fulfill the calling of God where Israel had fallen short. Isaiah reveals Him to be the Suffering Servant who, though he was righteous, suffers unjustly for his people.
The book of Isaiah holds up for us the contrast between the futility of man who resists and opposes God and the righteous, humble Servant who perfectly obeys and fulfills God’s plan. Throughout the book, we have seen nations who are opposed to God being humbled yet foreshadowing of a future city and kingdom where salvation is found. A city where all the nations enter to find safety and refuge. A city where God is exalted, and the people are righteous.
While Jerusalem rises and falls in Isaiah’s prophecy, the underlying message is all about God’s love for His people, even when they fail to love Him! Above everything else that Isaiah teaches, it holds up a high view of the incomparably great God who loves His people and goes to incredible lengths to purify and save them. God reveals, through Isaiah, His plan to restore His people through the Servant who would be rejected, killed, and then live again! This Servant would bring the people back to God by bearing their sins!
Isaiah’s prophecies extended far beyond his lifetime. The book is divided up into 3 main segments: (Simplified Overview graphic)
- 1-39 – Occurring during Isaiah’s lifetime addressing the current Assyrian threat and telling them that they will be exiled into Babylon
- 40-55 – Written ~150+ years ahead of time explaining that the Babylonian exile will not last forever; God will rescue them more immediately through Cyrus of Persia (predicted way before it happened!) and ultimately through the Suffering Servant (the Messiah)
- 56-66 – Also written way ahead of time, speaking into the far future when the Lord’s Servant would put an end to their oppressors and execute a great work of redemption. Speaks to the New Heavens and New Earth as well.
This year we get to enjoy studying chapters 40-66, which are loaded with the themes of salvation, comfort, compassion, and a future hope. You may remember this graphic from our small group curriculum last year. (Isaiah Breakdown) This captures visually what I am trying to explain about the emphases in this half of Isaiah. There is so much sweet content to cover this year!
As we study Isaiah, our pastor team is excited for you to continue to see how beautifully the Old and New Testaments connect with one another. To keep growing in your confidence in the one, unified grand redemption plan of God that the Bible reveals from start to finish. And to recognize the severe danger of trusting in anything other than the One, True God. We need to see the futility of our idols and of putting our trust in anything other than Him.
With that in mind, let’s turn our attention to the study of God’s Word in Isaiah 40. (Page _)
As you turn there, let me remind you that we are entering a new section of Isaiah’s writings where he is writing to his people in exile. In the previous 39 chapters he had addressed the nation of Judah while they were still dwelling in Judah. They had survived the Assyrian siege and foolishly entertained the Babylonian envoys. Let me pick back up in chapter 39 to remind you of how things ended with King Hezekiah, the king of Judah.
Isaiah 39:3–6 (ESV)
3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” 4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord.
Those are foreboding words! King Hezekiah showed them all that was in his house and God promised that the days were coming when they would carry off all that was in his house to Babylon. This prophetic word came to pass roughly 104 years later, when King Jehoiachin reigned in Judah and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem. While we are not going to read about the siege and capture of Jerusalem today, you can write down 2 Kings 24, 2 Chronicles 36, and Daniel 1 to read more about it.
For our sake today, you just need to know that Judah is in exile in Babylon at this point. Isaiah was directed by God to write prophetically to a people whom he would not live to see in person. Isaiah’s writings in chapters 40-66 were looking forward into history that had not yet happened. In fact, as we’ll see in the months ahead, some of it still has not come to pass! Which is incredible and only possible when the One, True God who knows all things is guiding the process. Isaiah’s writings in these chapters are intended to be a comfort and guide to the nation of Judah in exile. It is a beautiful reminder that God is not done with his people or plan! He is not off the throne. The Babylonian “god” or people are not stronger or better than Yahweh! As you will hear, the call is still to trust in Yahweh, the One, True God! These chapters answer the question that the people in exile were inevitably going to be struggling with and the question we still ask today… “Can God really save us?” Yes! And he will!
With that context in mind, let’s read Isaiah 40.
Isaiah 40:1–31 (ESV)
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 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.
3 A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 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.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
9 Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,
or what man shows him his counsel?
14 Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
Who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
18 To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
19 An idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
20 He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.
21 Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not 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 like a tent to dwell in;
23 who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
25 To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
and because he is strong in power,
not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
What an epic portion of Scripture! I love Isaiah 40 because it reveals to us an incomparably great God!
Try to put yourselves in the Judeans shoes… Your homeland was conquered, your capital city broken down, your temple – the heart of your worship – was destroyed, and your people have been hauled away into exile in a foreign land. That would be absolutely devastating! Imagine the sorrow and despair these people faced. The shame they carried with them for having forsaken God. The realization that their lives were forever changed as they grew up far from home and uncertain of what the future held for them.
It would be tempting to wonder – where is God in all of this? Is he really God after all? What about the covenants he made to Abraham, Moses, and David? Perhaps, if you were the least bit humble, you might think – is there any way God will act to save us, given what we and our ancestors have done?
And into that situation the words of Isaiah 40 come flooding in. “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. Voices crying out, “Prepare the way of the Lord!” and “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever!” and “Behold, the Lord God comes with might!” Wonderful words of reassurance. God has not forgotten you or his plan. He is coming. He is still the source of your hope! Can you imagine the hope these words would give you? God has said he will show up! He will not leave or forsake us forever! He is greater than anyone and anything! He is mighty to save! *pause*
What an incredible revelation! Our aim this morning is…
Rejoicing in the hope of God’s self-revelation
When God makes himself known, there are many reasons to rejoice. Many reasons to have hope. The first comes from verses 1-11; it is the reality that…
- God is not done with his people or plan
It is amazing that immediately following the promise of exile in Babylon that God’s next words in Isaiah 40 are “Comfort, comfort my people.” God is not only the just judge, but he is also the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. Isaiah holds out both aspects of God’s character.
God was faithful to follow through on his promises of destruction and exile when the people turned away from him. No one can fault him for keeping his word from the Mosaic Covenant. He had told them what would happen if they disobeyed and pursued idols.
However, God is also faithful to keep his covenant with Abraham to make a people out of him through whom all the earth would be blessed. He is faithful to his covenant with David to ensure that a king would reign on his throne forever. God will not forsake his covenant promises even though Israel and Judah have forsaken him. Yes, he disciplined her for her rebellion, but this was proof of his love for her, not that he had given up on her.
Now he reveals that he is coming to them! His coming is a sure thing, and no one can stop it. The language in verses 3-4 about the straight highway and level ground indicates that nothing will get in the way of God returning for his people. But it is verse 5 where things really get exciting. “And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
God’s future coming is so certain that the entire earth will witness his glory. It won’t be hidden or kept a secret. They can take this promise to the bank and place their hope securely in it. God is coming and all will know!
You may have noticed there are three calls to cry out in this section. Once in verse 3, once in verse 6, and again in verse 9. The first voice cried out about the certainty of God’s return. The second voice cried out about the finite power and duration of creation in comparison to the all-powerful, eternal God and his word. The third voice cries out to behold their God and promises that he comes in might with rewards or gifts to give his people. The promise is that he will care for his people as a gentle shepherd, one who can be trusted to deliver. Verse 11 had a four-fold promise of how God will treat his people – tending them like a shepherd, gathering them in his arms, carrying them in his bosom, and gently leading those with young.
This language is even more incredible given to whom it is spoken! Think about this… These people had willfully chosen to go astray. They had rejected Him as their God. Instead of crying out to Him for help, they did what was right in their own eyes. They went to Pharaoh of Egypt for help rather than God. They tried making political alliances with Assyria to protect them. They worshiped at pagan altars spread throughout their land.
If you were to go back to chapters 1-6 of Isaiah, you would hear God’s indictment against the people. They knowingly did wrong to one another. They were unrepentant for their sin. They abandoned justice and exchanged it for murder. Their leaders were wicked, their judges accepted bribes. They allowed the orphan and widow to languish. They have turned their backs on the Holy One and gone their own way.
And yet, God does not write them off. He comes for his people. He will rescue and redeem them. He will gather his lambs into his arms. It’s an incredible testimony to God’s steadfast love and faithfulness! For a people who are downtrodden and despairing in exile, these words would have been a breath of life to them. A sweet balm to the soul. God has not forgotten us! He is coming for us. He is not done with his people or plan!
These words can have the same significance for us today. Recognizing that God is true to his promises and unwavering in his plans gives great hope to people in any age. If you feel like you have sinned too much for God to forgive and restore you, that is simply not true. God was patient and longsuffering with Israel/Judah, and so he is with you. Do not stay stuck in your sin or rebellion. Turn to God and trust in Him and his plan of redemption! There is hope for the penitent sinner who submits to God’s tender shepherding of their soul.
This is also especially sweet when you are going through seasons of great difficulty or trial. You may not be in exile for disobeying God, but there is still great brokenness and suffering in our world today. How sweet in the midst of dark seasons of the soul to know that God’s Word stands forever and can sustain you in your suffering. How comforting to know that your God comes with might and cares for his people like a good shepherd.
If your hope and faith is in God, then you are not alone. You can and should rejoice that God has made himself known – that he is a God who keeps his promises to his people. Perhaps a helpful exercise for you this week is to study the Scriptures for the many promises of God. Or to take a big picture approach and consider the grand plan of redemption that God is working out. Studying and rehearsing these truths to yourself daily can have incredible benefits – as you learn to trust in your great God and find your hope in Him.
After all, as we see in verses 12-26…
- God is incomparably greater than everyone and everything
This section of Isaiah 40 is phenomenal. It begins with these piercing questions in verses 12-14 that are intended to drive home the point that God alone has measured the waters in his hand and marked off the heaven with a span. He alone has enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. God is VASTLY greater than creation. Everything that seems so powerful and majestic to us is actually SMALL and INSIGNIFICANT in comparison to our great God.
God has no equal or counselor. He is self-sufficient. He requires no help or instruction. Were you to take all the nations in our world and bring their power together as one, they are nothing in comparison to him. Like a “drop from a bucket” or “dust on the scales” …
Then we arrive at the piercing question of verse 18:
Isaiah 40:18 (ESV)
18 To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
When you have a God like this, who or what could possibly compare to him?! Unfortunately, the Israelites and the pagan nations around them were guilty of turning to all kinds of false idols. That’s what had gotten them into this mess to begin with… instead of trusting in the One, True God who made all things, they turned aside to manmade idols. Idols who had to be crafted from wood, overlaid with precious metal, and then secured so they might not topple over!
How can these compare to the God who made man and who upholds the entire Universe by the word of his power!? *pause*
They cannot compare and it is folly to do so! God, speaking through Isaiah, lays out the truth about Himself.
Isaiah 40:21–26 (ESV)
21 Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not 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 like a tent to dwell in;
23 who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
25 To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
and because he is strong in power,
not one is missing.
God reigns above it all and mankind are like grasshoppers to him. The incredible breadth of the universe is like a curtain that he stretches out. You know how when you are cleaning your bathroom, you grab both ends of the shower curtain and take it to the ends of the pole? That’s what God does with the entire universe! Yea, we are clearly operating on vastly different scales here! Our rulers are brought to nothing by a word from his mouth; he blows on them and they are gone.
Again, we have the piercing question in verse 25 – “To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? Says the Holy One.” What should be our answer? NO ONE!
It is a timeless lesson to recognize the utter folly of idolatry! No other so-called gods can satisfy. In Isaiah’s day, they were tempted to trust in nations/man rather than God… this is what led to their destruction. They copied the pagan nations around them and carved out handmade idols to bow down and pray to… Idols that could not hear or answer them…
All the while they had the God of Heaven and Earth making Himself known to them! They had the opportunity to trust in Him and enjoy His provision and protection. But they exchanged His glory for the futility of idols! *pause*
Before you look down your noses at the Israelites, please realize that idolatry is still going strong in our day. Our modern-day idols may not be carved out of wood and overlaid with precious metals… (At least in Western culture) but they are just as present and just as offensive to God. Our idols can look like the approval of others, the demands of personal autonomy (I can do whatever I want, and no one has the right to tell me otherwise), the pursuit of sexual liberation, the indulgence of whatever selfish passions suit your fancy. Modern man/woman trusts in all sorts of things… puts their hopes in all sorts of things… Seeks to drink from many different cups that never satisfy the soul.
The longer you’ve lived the more likely you know this to be true. Many of us have spent enough of our days pursuing such passions and pleasures. We have sought to fulfill ourselves in whatever we thought might be the answer in that season of life. A relationship. A new hobby. A career. Making money and buying nice things. Pleasure. Insert whatever it has been for you here…
But, at the end of the day… the outcome was the same. A vast emptiness of soul. A realization that despite all the energy and effort expended we were still searching for purpose and hope. Because idols never satisfy. They are not worthy of your trust and hope.
But God is worthy. He is the Holy One who defies comparison! All you need to do is look up to the night skies and behold the evidence of his power. He created everything you see. The stars answer to God alone! He knows and upholds them all. He is nothing like the blind, deaf, and dumb idols that we make and bow down to… HE IS THE LIVING GOD!
In this magnificent chapter of Scripture God reveals that he is not done with his people or plan and that he is incomparably greater than everyone and everything! He is providing tremendous reasons to rejoice in the hope of the incomparable God! And as the chapter closes out in verses 27-31, we find yet another reason to rejoice in hope:
- God is trustworthy and able to deliver
You see, in verse 27 the people are found grumbling amongst themselves. They believe that God does not see them and has forgotten them. They have bought the lie that it is of no use to bring their concerns before God because he will not care for them. This is in direct contradiction to all we’ve heard in the rest of the chapter!
What a blessing from God that he lovingly addresses their doubts with truth! He is the everlasting God and Creator of all things. He has no limitations to his understanding or power. Of course, he hasn’t forgotten them. Of course, they are not somehow beyond his power to help or save. This is foolish talk!
God never grows weary and faint like we do. In fact, he graciously gives power to help in our weakness. Even our strongest young men and women faint and grow weary, but God stands ready to provide help in time of need. This is good news for weary people.
It is not hard to imagine that we have some weary people here today. I know I have grown tired of the constant battle with temptation and sin. I’m positive I’m not alone… I also know there are others here who have faced very hard circumstances this past week or months, some of you have been going through hard things for years. Where do you turn for hope and help in your time of need? Do you believe God is trustworthy and able to deliver? Or are you like the Judeans grumbling that God does not see or understand your situation? *pause*
Think about the incredible truths we’ve read today in the Scriptures. The God of Heaven and Earth, the incomparably great God, is willingly drawing near to help those who have previously rejected Him. The Holy One, the One worthy of all praise and worship (which they have not given him, by the way), is demonstrating his gentle shepherding care for his people. He delights in using his unlimited might for their benefit. *pause*
Your benefit too, if you turn to God and trust in Him! Notice it is “those who wait for the LORD” who have renewed strength to face their daily life and respond in a manner that glorifies God. These gracious blessings from God come to those who seek Him and follow Him. There is an expectation of humble submission and worship of the One, True God.
Isaiah continues to graciously call people back to the One, True God. Even when he is writing to the nation in exile a hundred years in the future, he still holds out the hope of reconciliation and help from God. Turn back to Him and trust in Him! This is still the same call to people in our day. But we have even more revelation from God at our disposal. We have the entirety of Scripture (both Old and New Testaments) that reveal God’s grand redemption plan.
The things that Isaiah foreshadows and foretells about the coming Messiah are known plainly to us in Jesus Christ of Nazareth. God has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is trustworthy and able to deliver in Jesus. If you want help and rescue, then turn to God and trust in Him through faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus himself said:
John 14:1–6 (ESV)
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
God’s grand plan of redemption is to rescue us from our bondage to sin through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. The way out of idolatry and the weariness that comes from living in this broken world is through trusting in God’s promised deliverer. Respond to Jesus’ invitation:
Matthew 11:28–30 (ESV)
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
To take Jesus’ yoke upon you is to walk in his will and way. To seek to know and do what pleases God. As you study His Word and put it into action, you will find your strength renewed, your soul at rest, and your cup full of joy. Even if your circumstances do not change. I hope you will respond to the incomparably great God in faith and repentance this year!
Before we close out with prayer today, I want to point out one more time the resources we’ve made available to help you with spiritual growth this year. This is the last Sunday they’ll be on display in the back of the room. (Bible Reading Plan; Prayer Journal; FighterVerses; 5-3-1 cards; even more on our resources page online)
Let’s pray.
Prayer – that we would respond to our great God in a manner worthy of him. To forsake idols and vain pursuits in order to live for him through faith in Jesus.
Sing – Who is like the Lord
Dismiss
- Sanctity of Life Sunday (1/19) – Supply drive for Agape Pregnancy Resource Center