COMFORT, COMFORT MY PEOPLE!
Introduction: Last week, we embarked on a
four-week Journey to the Manger. On our first Advent reflection, we have looked
at how our Times of Darkness and Despair Will Not Go on Forever. That is the
message of Hope in times of trouble and sorrow. On this second Sunday of Advent,
we will reflect on how God’s people prepared themselves for the first Advent
and how to prepare ourselves to look forward to the Second Advent of Jesus
Christ, our Lord.
Our preparation includes many things: We
remember Israel’s Hope for the coming of God’s Messiah to save, to forgive, and
to restore. We remember our need for a Savior to save us from our sins. We
remember our Hope for the second coming of Jesus. We prepare to welcome Christ
at Christmas into our world and our hearts. Any preparation involves a period
of waiting. From the time it was prophesied about the Messiah’s coming
in 722 BC, it took nearly 730 years until Christ’s birth in 6 B.C. That
includes the 400 years of silence during the intertestamental period. It was a
long period of expectations and preparation. What was it like as they waited
out? We will reflect on that message during that waiting period. Isaiah 40:1-5
Isaiah
is one of the longest and most important books of the O.T. The Prophet begins
his prophetic career during a time of relative peace and prosperity under Judah’s
kings Uzziah and Jotham. But before long, conditions deteriorated, especially
on the International scene. It is like COVID-19, starting in one place and
quickly becoming a global problem.
Chapters
1-39 of Isaiah deals primarily with events during the prophet’s lifetime, but
the latter part of the book is concerned with the future. Isaiah 40 begins a
significant section that looks ahead to Judah’s return from Babylonian exile in
the sixth century B.C. In the N.T., we find many prophecies concerning the
Messiah and their fulfillment. All the four gospel writers mention the passage Isaiah
40:1-5 in their writings. That’s what makes Isaiah very significant.
I. GRIEF SOAKED
WORLD
Isaiah
40:1-2 comfort, comfort my people, “says your God. “Speak
tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone, and her sins are
pardoned. Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins.” The word
comfort mentioned two times; why?
“The
Torah is always cautious to use words sparingly and not to repeat even a single
word unnecessarily. The prophecy considers the future destructions of both the
first and the second temple. The loss of both Temples would constitute a double
calamity and grief for the Jewish people, and consequently, God promises that
His consolation will also be double.”[1]
Let
me share a few thoughts about grief. In our connect group, from Richard Winter’s
Book When Life Goes Dark, we learned that sorrow and sadness invade our lives
when we lose people or things precious and essential. We usually think of grief
in response to death, but we can experience all sorts of losses, relationships,
jobs, homes, countries, dreams, innocence, reputation, pets, essential people,
health, youthfulness, and vitality.
The
pain of some of these losses above may not be as deep as the grief experienced
after the death of a person, but they are legitimate and should not be ignored
or repressed that comes with various losses. The most significant loss,
however, is the loss of a loved one.
Sadly,
a staggering number of over 282,000 in our country and over 1 million worldwide
have died since the Pandemic. Can you imagine the amount of grief that is
unleashed upon us all at once? Individuals, families, communities, and nations
are grieving the loss of their loved ones.
Coming
back to our passage, thousands of years ago, not only was the Judean society
wreaked by injustices and immorality, but their very existence as a nation was
threatened by exile. Many felt God did not care for them. Into that context,
Isaiah spoke these prophetic words.
II COMFORT,
COMFORT MY PEOPLE
Isaiah
40:1-2 “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly to
Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone, and her sins are pardoned. Yes,
the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins.” We see God’s tender
mercies. His heart to forgive His people’s sins and comfort those afflicted in
these verses. “Comfort, Comfort My People,”
Those
words must have sounded refreshing and assuring to the captives that God would
not punish them any longer for their sins. He was not going to cast them away
forever but would restore them to their home city. Let’s expound on the word comfort.
In English, it means “the easing or alleviation of a person’s feelings of grief
or distress.”
The
Hebrew word Nacham here means to comfort or to be comforted. This word
appears about 65 times in various contexts. The Greek word Parakaleo means
“called to one’s side” for help.” Comfort’s basic concept is encouragement,
whether by words, by simple presence or actions in times of need and
challenges. The following scriptures highlight the people who comforted those
who were grieving due to losing their loved ones.
Just
hearing the made-up death story of his beloved son, Jacob tore his clothes, put
on sackcloth, and mourned for Joseph for a long time. His whole family tried to
comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. Gen 37:35. The Egyptians mourned
seventy days over Jacob’s death. Gen 50:3. Isaac was comforted by his wife,
Rebekah, after his mother’s death. Gen 24:67. David comforted Bathsheba over
the loss of their infant child.” II Samuel 12:24.
In
all these incidents, we see people becoming “comforters” as they came alongside
grieving people. That was how God intended people to comfort one another in
times of grief and other challenges. Whenever we exhibit such tenderness and
care, we reflect a part of God’s tender heart with which He comforts the broken
and the hurting. Our God is a God of Comfort.
III. GOD OF TENDER
MERCY
When it
comes to God, at times, we have a perception problem. We see him as angry,
harsh, mean, and quick to punish us when we do something wrong. That was how I
perceived God during my earlier years as a Christian because I saw him through
the eyes of my earthly Father. As I studied more of God’s nature now, I see the
tender mercies of God.
No
doubt He disciplines his children when they rebel and go astray. But at the
same time, with cords of love and compassion, He seeks to draw them back to
Himself. Our God is anything but loving, tender, merciful, and compassionate.
That is hope-giving and comforting.
Consider
the following scriptures: Psalm 71:20-21, “You have allowed me to suffer much
hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths
of the earth. You will restore me to even greater honor and comfort me once
again.”
When
we rebel and go on our way because of God’s love, He refuses to give up on us.
We see the tender father heart of God in how he dealt with Israel’s nation. Hosea
11:1-8, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of
Egypt. But the more I called to him, the farther he moved from me; I myself
taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand. But he doesn’t know
or even care that it was I who took care of him.
I
led Israel along with my ropes of kindness and love. I lifted the yoke from his
neck, and I myself stooped to feed him. “But since my people refuse to return
to me, they will return to Egypt and will be forced to serve Assyria. They call
me the Most High, but they don’t truly honor me. “Oh, how can I give you up,
Israel? How can I let you go?
My
heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows.” The tender mercy of God
remains the same until today over all those who are unwilling to accept Him as
their loving heavenly Father. Yet God is ready to comfort them in their
trouble.
IV. A PROPHETIC
EXHORTATION
Isaiah
40:3-5, “Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the
wilderness for the Lord. Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our
God! Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the
curves, and smooth out the rough places. Then the glory of the Lord will be
revealed, and all people will see it together.”
In
verses one and two, we see the promise of God’s Comfort to his people. In
verses three to five, we read about a prophetic exhortation to the nation of
Israel and people of all times. This exhortation reflects some eastern
monarch’s custom to send heralds before them to clear away obstacles, make
causeways, straighten crooked roads and valleys, and level hills.
Israel’s
remnant was told to prepare for the Messiah’s arrival by removing the obstacles
from His path through their repentance. As they worked towards it, they had to
wait over 700 years to see a partial fulfillment of this prophecy at John the
Baptist’s birth.
This
is what Zechariah prophesied over the birth of his miracle son John. Luke
1:78-79, “Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about
to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow
of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.” During this Advent season, how
do these ancient scriptures speak to our situations?
Perhaps
some of us are grieving over various losses, including the loss of a loved one.
One of my close friends recently lost his mother in February and his Father
this week. A double tragedy of that sort needs double comfort. Listen to the comforting words of the Apostle
Paul, In 2 Cor 1:3-5, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in
all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will
be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. May we receive God’s
comfort so that we can comfort others who might be hurting. Amen!
