Third Presbyterian Sunday Morning Bible Study - November 8, 2020

Below is the Bible Study written by Jim Rudiger for his Sunday School Class which meets at Third Presbyterian Church, Norfolk, Virginia. It's based on Isaiah 40:1-5,25-26. 29-31.

If it’s too good to be true, then it probably isn’t good.  We have all heard that one.  But, have you ever gotten news that was so good, you really could not believe?  You start your car and the engine light comes on.  Have you ever had the engine light come on?  Panic city.  You look in the car manual and it warns you that the problem has to be identified and corrected immediately or the car might blow up the next time you start it.  Does the engine light tell you what’s wrong?  How do find out what the problem is?  Most of us go to the dealer for him to hook up his star wars machine to your engine, shake his head and look sternly at you.  You expect the worst.  The transmission is shot or the engine has sent up a white flag.  The dealer's technician lets you spend in the wind as he tinkers with the buttons and blinking lights on his machine.  Finally, he calls you over to look at the twenty pages printed by his machine describing the problem.  This couldn’t be good news so your depression deepens.  He stares deep in your tear filled eyes and announces - after a drum roll by drummers hidden behind curtains- that your gas cap wasn’t screwed down tight enough the last time you filled your car. Good news!  After all of that worry and concern, it was only a loose gas cap.  But, if you are a confirmed worry wart, then you’ll dredge up questions like: Can I trust this good news?  Is the machine telling me the whole story?  Is he just saying that because he knows the worst and knows I can’t take it? If you really want to feel sorry for yourself, there are always questions to take down the good news.

I can remember back during the Second World War, there would be rumors that the war was over.  It was 1944 and our army had invaded Italy and I can remember walking down 27th street and hearing the grownups spreading the rumor that the war was finally over - and it spread fast.  The level headed ones weren’t going to believe it until they heard Gabriel Heater tell them on the radio that the war was over.  On that particular day, Gabriel Heater didn’t mention anything about the war being over, so, people on 27th street went back to their rocking chairs on their front porch, watching the street cars rattle down Hampton Boulevard.

That is exactly what the people who heard what the prophet said in our lesson today acted.  Isaiah was giving them really good news, but, could they trust him?  Has he got all of the facts? Is he positive that this good news is coming from God?  That’s what we are going to find out in today’s lesson.  Is the news too good to be true?

First, a little back ground on Isaiah.  Chapters 1-39 take place some time between 740 and 701 BC and involve the prophet Isaiah, while chapters 40 through 66 appear to have occurred about 200 years later which would mean it wasn’t the same prophet as the one in the earlier chapters.  Biblical scholars refer to the prophet of the first 39 chapters as Isaiah 1 and the prophet of the final 27 chapters as Isaiah 2.  For our study, we are going to consider there is just one Isaiah. 

The first 39 chapters deal with warning the people in Judah that there would be consequences for living their lives without any concern for the Lord.  The people needed to trust God and not get involved with pagan gods.  They were going through all of the motions of being religious while at the same time neglecting the widows and orphans by taking advantage of the poor.  Instead of looking for the silver lining, they were looking for the fast buck.  This wasn’t just the ordinary citizens of Judah.  Even the kings and sometimes the Temple  priests were guilty of neglecting the things God wanted them to do.

At that time the promised land was divided into two kingdoms - the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.  The main threat to the middle east countries came from the Assyrian Empire.  To get to Judah, Assyria would first have to conquer the northern kingdom of Israel.  Israel joined with Syria (Aram) to block Assyria and asked Judah to join in the pact, but, King Ahaz of Judah refused.  He didn’t think that Syria, Israel and Judah stood a chance of stopping Assyria.  If Judah remained neutral, then maybe Assyria would spare them.  When Judah refused to join the alliance, Israel and Syria attacked Judah to force them to join.  Isaiah writes about the affect this war had on Ahaz.  God spoke through Isaiah to offer Ahaz a ray of hope.  Basically, God told Ahaz to take a deep breath calm down.  Things would work out because God had his own plans.  Ahaz thought that this good news was too good to be true and didn’t follow Isaiah’s advice. 

Ahaz approached the king of Assyria with a deal.  In return for leaving Judah alone, Ahaz sent the king of Assyria treasures from his own palace.  Thinking that this wasn’t enough to win over Assyria, he looted the Temple and sent the Temple treasures, too.  Assyria invaded Israel anyway and wiped it out as a nation and annexed the territory.  Isaiah kept bringing God’s words to Judah.  During this time is when most of his Messianic prophesies take place.  Things like people walking in darkness will see a bright light.  In these prophesies, Assyria would finally be defeated. 

Assyria had gobbled up the northern kingdom of Israel and was on the borders  of Judah.  Everybody just knew that it was only a matter of time before Assyria invaded Judah.  Isaiah told Judah that  Assyria would be cut down to size just like a forest that was cut down until nothing was left but tree stumps.  But, out of one of those stumps would arise a shoot that will save them and all of the world.  

Fast forward one hundred and sixty years and Assyria had been defeated and a new threat arose - Babylon.  In that one hundred and sixty years, the people forgot about being saved from Assyria.  It was back to their same old ways.  This time when another empire was knocking at their door, God didn’t protect them. The entire city of Jerusalem was leveled.  Solomon’s Temple was destroyed.  Most of the people of Judah were forced to walk a 1,000 miles over rough and dangerous ground into exile in Babylon.  Only a small group of poor Jewish farmers and shepherds remained in Judah. When the people got to Babylon they found themselves for the first time truly separated from God.  Remember the people felt that God lived in the Temple and now the temple was gone, so God must be gone too.  They felt alone and abandoned by God. Have you ever been away from home, maybe for the first time?  How did you feel?  Lost.  Insecure.  Nothing is familiar.  Nobody to help you out.  The input from your parents that made you gag, now you want more than anything to get that that input again.  

Forty five years of the exile in Babylon have passed as we open our lesson for today.

Isaiah 40:1 Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.  2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

Picture yourself with those Jews in Babylon.  You are depressed.  Worried about the future.  Have no control over your lives.  There was nothing to look forward to.  You’re too weak to rebel against Babylon.  When everything seems stacked against you and there appears to be no way out, what is the only thing left for you?  Sounds like the virus doesn't it?  You're left with only hope.  Assurance that things will get better.  That is what these opening words are all about.  For a people who are lost and alone, who hasn’t forgotten them? God.  These people thought that God was gone because Jerusalem and the Temple were gone.  Now there is the promise that God is still with them.  They haven’t been abandoned.  

Who is to be treated tenderly?  Jerusalem, but Jerusalem is a city in shambles, so it doesn’t make sense that God is talking about a ruined city.  Who is God really talking to? The people forced to march from the city of Jerusalem.  It is a people and not a place that Isaiah is talking about.  You see.  Jerusalem represents the Jews in exile.

What does he mean when he says that they have served their term?  They had sinned and for those sins they have been punished and the punishment was severe.  What was their punishment?  They were taken from their homes.  To make matters worse,  their city and their Temple were torn down. What if you were sent away to a horrible place that you didn't want to go - like Pungo - and found out that your home town was destroyed and the home where you were raised - the place you loved and felt comfortable in - was gone?  How would that make you feel? There was no place to go back to, so you'll be stuck there in Pungo forever. That's what the people in exile faced and feared.  That was their penalty for turning their back on God and the penalty was tough to take, but based on their sins, they hadn't given God any choice.  Now, the prophet tells them that their time of punishment was over.  They had paid their debt and God has redeemed them.  Better yet, they have been reconciled with God.  They not only will be paroled, but pardoned. 

Did the people listen to Isaiah?  More importantly, did they believe Isaiah?  Things have been pretty rough for forty-five years there in Babylon.  There were still people who remembered Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple. They had thought that it would be like this forever.  It all ended and it appeared that they were cut off from that life forever.  Rumors had circulated every now and then about things were going to change and they would be able to go back home.  But, those things never panned out.  After so many false rumors, all hope for ever getting back home had slowly faded.  Could they trust this new word and promise from a God who has been absent from their lives for over two generations?

Isaiah 40: 3 A voice cries out: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.  5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

The prophet wasn’t through.  Whose voice is crying out?  God and he’s giving clues about what he has been up to.  This is a familiar prophesy, but for Christians there may be some confusion.  This prophesy appears to be about something being done in the wilderness - something to prepare in the wilderness.  The Gospels talk about a voice in the wilderness not a voice about the wilderness.  In the Gospels, whose voice is in the wilderness? John the Baptist.  In the Gospels the wilderness is a location where the voice comes from.  In Isaiah it appears that the voice is describing changes to be made in the wilderness. 

What is going to happen in the wilderness?  (1) Make straight in the desert a highway; (2) valleys will be lifted up; (3) mountains and hills made leveled; (4) uneven ground shall become level; and (5) rough places smooth.  What do you think the people remember about their walk to Babylon? They walked from Jerusalem to Babylon on bumpy dusty cow paths.  They had to climb up hills and mountains and slide down into the valleys full of rocks and thorny bushes.  The walk to Babylon had been a tough road to travel.  But, on their way back to Judah, what will the pathway be?  Not a worn, rocky and crooked footpath, but, a perfectly level eight lane interstate highway with no speed limits.  God has a lot of road work projects to take care of.  It’s like God saying, “I know you had a rough time going into exile and I appreciate that fact.  But, going home, will be smooth sailing.”  This new straight level roadway will make going home a pleasure and arriving home a joy.  Contrasted to the solemn head hanging down, the way they trudged to Babylon.  Now the crowd will be singing and dancing down that yellow brick road.

There is another important statement from God.  This will be so powerful a moment that in it they will see the glory of God.  Who shall see it together?  All people.  Not just the people of Judah, who had gone into exile, but everybody - everybody in the whole world - will see what God is doing and will be bowled over by it.  And what is the glory of God?  A tremendously glorious light.  No dark corners.  No shadows.  That glory of God will fill everybody.

Isaiah 40:25  To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal?  says the Holy One. 26  Lift up your eyes on high and see:  Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name: because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.

God is speaking again.  What point is God making?  “There isn’t a god anywhere who can do what I do.  I am the top gun and rule over everything.” God directs their attention to "these."  Who or what are the “these” God is talking about?   The universe, sun, moon, stars, land, water, animals and people. He says, “He who brings out their host and numbers them.”  What host is he talking about?  Could be the heavenly hosts.  Could be all of the people of Judah or all of the people of the world.  Maybe everything that God created.  Whatever it is, it is a staggeringly large number.  The important thing is what can God do about the host?  He can name them.  Remember in those days to know somebody’s name gives you power and authority over them.  God knows everybody’s and everything’s name.  From the Emperor down to the ant.  The bottom line is that everything and everybody belongs to God and he is on a first name basis with them all.  And, folks, that means that he knows your name and my name too.  Like it or not, everything and everybody belongs to God.

Isaiah 40:29  He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.  30 Even youths will  faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted  31 but those 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.

Did the people need reassurance?  After all, big promises are being made. For forty five years the promises seemed empty.  What is God offering the people?  Hope.  Isaiah says that God is speaking to the doubts the people in exile may have that this is all too good to be true. After all, how can this hope be realized when the people are defeated and weak?  What can God do to get them out of their funk?  Give power to the faint.  Strengthen the powerless.  If the people are saying that this was all too good to be true because look at how powerless we are, then God has given them the answer.  He says, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” God is going to act.  Get ready.

What about the young folks?  The prophet says even the youths will faint and be weary and the young will fall exhausted.  Why talk about the young whipper-snappers?  It’s the adults who are listening to God. There is one thing about being young - you think you can do anything and know everything.  Ever meet a young person who doesn’t think that they will never change?  I can barely remember back to when I was that young, but, I do recall that being old was to far away to worry about it.  There were too many cute girls to meet at the BTU to worry about having to work hard like my father.  After all, in the movies, growing old wasn't so bad.  It only meant your hair will be grey at the temples and you will need reading glasses.  Maybe you will grow a white mustache, but nothing else really changed. Young people are cocky.  They think that they will be able to take care of everything by themselves. What the prophet is getting at is that even those who feel they will be young forever will see the day come when their body betrays them.  That is when they will discover that the only source of power and strength, the only source of hope, doesn’t lay within themselves, but with God.

In Chapter 41 it is almost like the prophet saw that the people needed more encouragement.  The doubters, the pessimists, the doom and gloom crowd will always be there to take the wind out of your sails.  When you see a glass with water half way up, some will see the glass as half empty, while others will see a glass half full.  The pessimist and the optimist view the same glass differently.  Hidden deep in some people hearing the prophet’s words, there was still doubt about God’s good news.  To doubt that the miracles the prophet is talking about can really happen, God answers those nay sayers.

Nothing is more precious in the Middle East than water.  And there wasn’t a lot of water in Judah.  To have all the water you wanted was to be rich beyond words.  They remembered as they marched to Babylon through the desert, the times when their lips cracked and there wasn’t enough water in their mouth to swallow.  They would be thankful just to lay a wet cloth on their lips.  God says that those days are over.  There will not only be cups of waters, but, barrels of water.  Cool clear water.   The water will be running not in muddy little streams but in great rivers, deep and wide - full of sparkling clean water.  This would be like telling you and I that we will be laying on a hill of gold.

God isn’t through yet.  Along with these rivers of sparkling clean water, there will be trees.  Trees of every kind.  What do you think about when you think about a tree?  Shade.  A place to get out of the burning sun.  Fruit.  Also, when you see a tree, you can bet that there is water close by because trees need water.  In those movies about a guy having to cross a  dessert, the guy looks up and he sees trees and he knows - what?  There is an oasis and a spring offering cool water.  When you really think about it, trees are a true symbol of hope and promise.  That is what God offered the exiled in Babylon.  Hope and a promise.

Before we end our study, what about these verses being the Isaiah’s prophesy about John the Baptist?  Do these verses speak about John or not?  Do they speak to renovating the wilderness and how does that fit into the John prophesy?  The wilderness may be a metaphor for sin.  The hills, mountains and rough spots are our individual sins - our obstacles to having faith - hope.  John introduces the one who will remove those obstacles - those sins - and make a smooth highway to the New Jerusalem and our salvation.  That is the good news.  The best part is that the news is not too good to be true, because our faith in Jesus says, I know that it is true.  

Prayer: Father, teach us to live on your promises and not hoard them but share them with all the people of the world.  Amen.