We come now to a change of context for the oracles of Isaiah. Much of what follows from chapter 40 explicitly addresses the Jewish exiles who went to Babylonia around 600 BC (see also 63:18 which looks back at the destruction of the temple). Many scholars believe that a ‘second Isaiah’ is writing here (Isaiah ministered between 740 BC – 681 BC). Whatever the case it is ultimately God who is speaking. He speaks tenderly to his people who suffered so much for their rebellion. Sometimes the worst thing that God can do is to give us what we ask for. Judah wanted to be like the other nations and so God gave her up to those nations. The people wanted to stray from God and so God let them go. They ended up languishing in captivity in a foreign land. The people recognised why this happened and they started to cry out to God for mercy. The question on their minds, however, was: Had they gone too far? Would God come to his people again and save them? The answer is wonderful. In fact, it comprises one of the most wonderful expressions of the love and zeal of God for his people. “I’m coming to you,” says God here. He assures them that he is sovereign over all things and that he is coming to lift them up again. In these oracles we hear the heart of God delighting in the fact that his people are turning back to him. May this chapter compel you to turn to God, to trust in his zeal for you and to be consoled by his love.
Ask God to lift you up.
Read Isaiah 40
