Isaiah 38–42

0:00 Anybody ever heard the word hygge? Raise your hand if you know the word hygge. Okay, that's a few of you. It's a Scandinavian word that doesn't exactly have a perfect translation into English, but I promise when I describe what it is here in just a second, you're going to know exactly what I'm talking about, and you'll probably never forget it again because it's such a kind of evocative thing. When you say hygge in Scandinavia, here's what you need to be picturing. Snowy day, log cabin well insulated, fire in the fireplace, fuzzy blanket wrapped around your shoulders, hot cup of coffee snuggling into the couch for the day.

0:41 Maybe even thick fuzzy socks on your feet. That's hookup. It means, it doesn't translate exactly, but it means something like fuzzy comfiness. That's kind of what it means. It's fuzzy comfiness. It just means that you're sort of snuggled in to the day. the world around you is kind of a disaster, the winds are blowing, the ice is piling up against the door, and yet you are snuggled in next to the fire, all warm and cozy. It's an evocative image, isn't it? Because all of us at some level or another like the idea of comfort. We like the idea of fuzzy comfortableness. We just like it. It makes us feel good. It makes us feel warm and snuggly. It makes us feel secure, and that's something that goes all the way back down into our DNA. And those of you who have babies know that one of the main things that a baby needs through, you know, the early years of their life is comfort. And they get it in all kinds of ways, right? When they're really little, comfort comes from being snuggled up against mommy or daddy or somebody else. Maybe it comes from, you know, whatever you guys call it these days, a passy,

1:43 a nook, you know, what did we call them? A nook, a passy, anything, you know, those kinds of things. When they get a little bit older and they're toddlers, it comes from things like, you know, a blankie that they can snuggle up with, right? I mean, my three kids had their blankies, and basically they could sleep anywhere as long as they had their blankie. And, of course, whatever stuffed animal was in favor at the time. I mean, we have a string of stuffed animals in our family history. There was, you know, a lambie. That was a lamb. There was Big Dog, that was a dog that was relatively big compared to the other stuffed animal, which was Little Dog.

2:22 And then there was another dog that was sort of shaggy, and he was Shaggy Dog. Yeah, I mean, my kids were incredibly creative in the way they named their animals. It doesn't even seem to be true of just humans. Comfort is something that other species, it seems, need. Like my little puppy, his name is Riggins for all of you Friday Night Lights fans. He's about two years old now. And sometimes, usually he's a basket case. He runs around the house bouncing off the walls. He's crazy as all get out. But every once in a while, he'll get a hold of a blanket.

2:55 And he'll lay down in the middle of the floor. And he'll use his two front paws and pull the blanket together into a little mound. And then he'll put his mouth on the blanket and just suck on it. And he'll whine. You can just hear the puppy whines as he just sucks on the blanket. And you can see his whole high, strong, doggy body relax as he sucks on his blanket. It's slightly tragic because we looked this behavior up online to find out what it was. And usually what it means is that the little doggy was taken away from his mommy too early.

3:29 And so he's trying to make up for it. So in some ways it's sad, but it's also incredibly cute. So he wants comfort. Maybe he didn't get enough as a little tiny doggie, but now he wants comfort, and so he sucks on his blanket. Now, my guess is, if you're much older than about 10 years old or so, you're probably not sucking on your blanket for comfort, but we all have things we go to for comfort. There are times when life just gets to the point that we just kind of want to snuggle down into the warm bath of something that makes us feel good, and sometimes it's hugga, right?

4:06 You just wrap up in a blanket, get a cup of coffee, and sit next to the fire. Sometimes that's what we want for comfort. But there are other things, too, that we look to for comfort that can become a lot more dangerous. Logging into our bank accounts, for instance, just to stare at the numbers because it makes us feel good. Looking in the mirror and comforting ourselves at how healthy we are or how beautiful we are. Standing out on our deck or in the middle of our living room and looking around at all of our possessions and feeling good and comfortable because of what we have.

4:45 I'm sitting in the front seat of a car and saying, you know what, I did this. With my own money, my own initiative, my own work and effort, this is mine. We take comfort from it. So where do you get comfort? Where do you look? To have that warm, comfortable, easy feeling of security. That's what we want to talk about today as we continue our series through the book of Isaiah. Let me invite you to take a Bible, if you've got one, and turn to Isaiah chapter 38.

5:20 That's where we're going to be starting today. If you're using one of these Red Pew Bibles in front of you, you can find that on page, chapter 38 starts on page 598. We're going to be looking through really the middle of chapter 42. That's where we're going. A little bit of a running start. Isaiah prophesied in the southern kingdom of Judah in the years 750 to 700 B.C., so roughly 700 years before the birth of Jesus and roughly 2,700 years before we're sitting right now in the chronology of history. I think Isaiah is easily one of the most beautiful books in the entire Bible.

5:53 I might even be willing to go to the mat and say that Isaiah is the most beautiful book in the entire Bible Because from start to finish, it paints this sweeping picture of God's sovereignty over the world. That's the first message. That sitting above the circle of the earth, with the earth as his footstool and the universe as his throne, is God the Almighty. And everything is working together according to his purpose and plan. And what Isaiah wants you to do in the face of that vision of God is just stand in awestruck wonder at his majesty and splendor.

6:29 That's the first message, and it's one that can fill up our minds and almost just blow our minds with the majesty and splendor of this God that we serve and worship. But then there's another message that runs in and under and through that message of God's majesty and splendor, and that is that that God of majesty is also a God of love, and that he will stop at nothing to save his rebellious people from their sins. So I think when you put it all together, Isaiah paints this magnificent picture of a God who rules over all in transcendence and yet who stoops to care for the smallest of us in imminence. It's a beautiful picture that he paints and we're going to study it today. We've said again and again and again in terms of structure that Isaiah's book is made up of three major parts. You've got the book of the king, the book of the servant, the book of the conqueror. Those are the three major parts of the book. Well today we're going to start looking at That second division, the book of the suffering servant.

7:28 We're going to be looking at about four and a half chapters of that. Last week, as we were looking at chapters 36 and 37, we finished up the book of the king. And I think it's worth taking a moment to just remind ourselves of the message of those first 37 chapters of the book. This is the book of the king. Essentially, the message of that whole chapter is that majestic, splendid, transcendent God who rules over everything. It is that God is sovereign master of the world. He's master of empires. He's master of history.

7:59 And he's got a purpose and plan to establish a Messiah king, hence the book of the king, as ruler over all. A king who's going to rule in justice and righteousness and ultimately who's going to save his people from their enemies. That's the message. So if you kind of think back to where we went in 1 through 37, you can remember, I think, pretty quickly the structure of it. You've got this prologue in chapters 1 to 5. You've got two songs about the king in chapters 6 through 12. Then you've got three prophecies that kind of spiral into the future about God's sovereignty over the nations.

8:32 That's 13 to 27. That's 15 chapters long. Then you've got six oracles, all that begin with that Hebrew word, woe. Do you remember that? It's not exactly woe. It's more like, eh, right? But it's six oracles that start with woe, woe, woe, woe, woe, woe. Those run from 28 to 35. And then what we studied last week was this kind of capstone story about this message of God's sovereignty, right? So 36-37 is this capstone story of God's absolute domination of the Assyrian Empire in chapters 36 and 37.

9:03 And so that, at the end of 37, brings you to the end of the book of the king and the beginning of the book of the suffering servant in chapter 38. So now that we're at the beginning of the book of the servant, let me tell you a little bit about it. I want you to kind of understand the structure of it, because I think that will help you. So you might want to write down some of these things. I think at first, the next couple of minutes are going to feel a little bit complicated. You're going to be tempted to kind of check out. But I think if you'll stick with me, it ends up being not nearly as complicated as it sounds at first. So 38 to 55, those chapters, are the book of the servant.

9:38 And that book breaks down neatly into five parts. And each one of those five parts acts like a coin that's got two sides to it. So each part, each of the five parts of 38 to 55, acts like a coin. It's making the same point, right, but in two different ways in each of them. So let me kind of run through those and tell you what they are. You might want to write this down, and I think you'd be able to see what I'm talking about. So in chapters 38 and 39, you've got these two stories of first Hezekiah's illness and then his showing off to the Babylonians.

10:16 Now, that's what we're going to talk about today, so I'm not going to give you any detail about it. But showing off to the Babylonians is not just giving a tour of the kingdom. It's something much, much worse than that, and it gets Hezekiah into deep trouble. It even gets the nation into deep trouble, but we'll talk about that later. But you see the two sides of the coin there? The coin is about Hezekiah, but it's got two different stories that are making sort of two different points. So that's the first coin. Then from chapter 40 through the middle of 42, chapter 40 to mid-42, you've got this second coin, which is about comfort.

10:55 So if you've got to give it a name, the second coin is about comfort. And the two sides of it are comfort to Israel and then comfort to the whole world. So those two coins right there, number one about Hezekiah, number two about comfort, those are the ones we're going to be looking at today. Okay, that's the section of Isaiah that we're looking at today. The third coin runs from mid-42 to mid-44. Now, I wish the chapter divisions were better, but I didn't make them, so we're just going to have to work with them.

11:27 Mid-42 to mid-44 is the third coin. And that one you could title redemption. And it's got two kinds of redemption. There's redemption from earthly trouble. And then there's redemption from sin. See the two sides of the coin there in the third one? Redemption from earthly trouble and redemption from sin. Okay, fourth coin, mid-44 all the way through 53. This is the biggest one. Mid-44 through 53, and the title you could give to this one is not redemption, but redeemers.

12:03 Third one is redemption, fourth one is redeemers, and the two sides of that coin are two redeemers that are talked about. One redeemer is this guy named Cyrus of Persia. He's the king of Persia, and he's going to redeem the nation of Israel from their captivity in Babylon, going to redeem them from earthly trouble, earthly disaster. And then the second redeemer that you get is, of course, the suffering servant himself. Who is going to redeem the people from sin. And then the fifth coin in 54 to 55, you could call that one rejoicing.

12:40 Because it proclaims salvation first to Israel and then to the nations. So you see how this works? I mean, it's like having, it's just 38 to 55. It's just like having five quarters laid out in front of you. You know, right? You've got them laid out in front of you, and each one of them has sort of two equal parts. And once you see that, it makes pretty good sense. So the first coin, you've got Hezekiah's faith and Hezekiah's fall. Then you've got comfort to Israel and comfort to the world. Then you've got redemption from earthly disaster and redemption from sin. Then you've got Cyrus the Redeemer and then Jesus the Redeemer, right, or the suffering servant.

13:14 He doesn't get named, but it's Jesus. Suffering servant. And then you've got proclamation and rejoicing of Israel and proclamation and rejoicing of the world. That's how this whole thing works. And, you know, for all those words, I don't think it's really all that complicated. Well, today, what we're going to be doing is looking at those first two coins. That's what I want to show you. And as always, if you're going to understand what Isaiah is doing, you've got to understand how these two sections are structured. How these two sort of coins are structured. So, as we've done for most of the sermons in this series, you've got a handout in front of you.

13:46 So, take that out. This is going to be kind of your best friend because it will help you know where we are and what we're talking about. And I want to just kind of walk you through it and show you the structure of 38 to 55 before we start talking about some of its details. So you can see there the two major sort of coins that we're looking at, a historical example. So this is about Hezekiah's wavering faith. And you've got Hezekiah healed and his life extended. That's one side of it. So that's Hezekiah's faith. And then his fall, in 39, Hezekiah shows off to Babylon. And he offers basically an alliance to Babylon to get him out of trouble.

14:20 And that's, you know, that's what causes all the difficulty here. Second coin that we're looking at of the five is that big number two there. A promise of comfort to the entire world. And then in bold underneath that, you can see the two major sides of it. Comfort to Israel, comfort to the nations. You see that? Okay, now let's get a little bit more detailed and dive into that one section there. Comfort to Israel. Because that's got a structure to it. And I think if I point it out, you'll be able to see it. So if you look on either side of it, so 41 through 11, and then down at the bottom, 41, 8 through 20, you've got these threes that bracket the whole thing, right?

14:56 So you have three voices of comfort. So three different people who cry out, comfort to my people, for various reasons. That's the first part. Then at the end, you basically get these three visions of comfort, like three different images, a slave, a worm, a needy person, and they're all given comfort in, you know, their own slightly weird ways, but that's what goes on there. And then in the middle of it, you see those two sections right there in the middle? In the middle of that section, you get the one who is the bringer of all of this comfort, and it is God the creator who is God the ruler of the universe.

15:33 So that's what stands at the center of that section. Three voices at the beginning, three images of comfort at the end, and then right in the center, you've got the one who brings that comfort, and it's God the creator and ruler. Down in the second part, comfort to the nations, you don't have that kind of X-shaped or V-shaped structure. This one's more like a story. Because at the beginning, what you get is a courtroom scene of basically God versus the idols. So God steps up in front of the nations and all of their gods and all of their rulers and says, basically, I challenge you to prove yourselves.

16:09 You say you're gods. You say you're deities. you say you have power, people worship you, well just prove it. Do something. And of course they can't because they're false gods. And then God himself steps up and says, well look what I have done. And the reason I've done it and been able to do it and you can't do it is because I am in fact the one true God. Well after that, at the end of that little, you know, subsection or whatever, the end of the court case, you're left with this kind of thundering judgment that the gods of the nations are worthless like they are less than empty they are nothing they're less than nothing and therefore the question is will do the nations then with all their false gods have any hope at all or are they just consigned to condemnation in hell is that just the end of it for the nations and that second section in there comes back with a thunderous yes there is hope for them and that hope comes in the form of God's suffering servant and then finally in the last section once once the

17:09 nations realize that they have hope in the servant of God, well, then you get this, you know, thunderous song of praise that runs for the last eight verses of the section, okay? So that's how it works. That's a lot of information, but I think if you stare at it a little bit, you know, with a little bit of help like that, and remember, you know, how I just described it, I think you'll get it. It's not that difficult. Well, today what we're going to be looking at is really everything in this handout. We're going to be looking at some of the details. And the main idea of this whole section, these first two coins of the book of the Suffering Servant, the main idea that Isaiah is trying to get across to us is this. True and lasting comfort comes only from the hand of the one who rules history. True and lasting comfort can come only from the hand of the one who rules history.

18:05 Which, if you think about it, makes perfect sense, right? I mean, if that's the message that Isaiah is trying to get across to us, that, look, you're only going to find real, true, lasting, reliable comfort from the hand of the one who's actually in charge of history. It makes perfect sense. Let me think about it. Sometimes we try to reassure each other and give each other comfort about what's going on in the world or what's going on in the circumstances of our lives, and we'll say things like, you know what, brother, it's going to be okay. Sister, it's all going to work out. It's all going to be all right.

18:37 But when it comes right down to it, we don't know if it's going to be okay or not. We don't know if it's all going to work out. We don't know if it's going to be all right. So when we say that, it's all going to be okay. More or less, that's just a wish or at best a prayer for that person. But there's no power that we've got in ourselves to actually do anything about that. And usually by the time they reach about nine years old or so, kids figure that out pretty quickly, right? Your daughter, your son at eight or nine years old, you know, four or five years old, they can be laying in their bed troubled about something.

19:12 You can say, son, daughter, it's going to be okay. And they'll believe you and they'll snuggle down into the bed and go to sleep. But by about eight or nine years old, if you tell a kid, honey, it's going to be okay, they'll follow it up with something like, how do you know that? And then you know that you're into a whole new theological world at that point. But it's true. How do you know that? How do you know that it's going to be okay? You don't have any power to affect much of anything when it comes to the big movements of the world.

19:47 But the point that Isaiah is wanting to make is that there is one person in all the universe who can actually say, it's going to be okay, and you can take it to the bank. And that's God. Because he's the ruler and the creator of it all. And in these chapters, what God, through Isaiah, is saying to his people who are under all this historical pressure, and now they've just gotten word that they're about to be carried off into exile in Babylon pretty soon, he's saying to them, settle down. Don't let your hearts be troubled.

20:19 I am actually driving history to where I want it to go. So don't be afraid. And if his people then ask back, "How do you know that?" He says, "Because I made it and I rule it." See, if you and I as God's people, as Christians, will take that truth and press it down into our hearts, if we'll really let Isaiah's message get down deep, it is enormously comforting.

20:53 It's steadying, like ballast in the bottom of a ship. We as Christians don't have to be knocked around by the waves of circumstance in our lives or knocked around by the waves of history because we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our God, the God who loves us, the God who gave himself for us and who's promised us that it's all going to be okay, really is the master of it all and really can do something about it. So that's what I want you to learn today.

21:24 That's what I want you to feel today. That even in the midst of whatever's going on in your heart, whatever's going on in your mind that's taking away your comfort, whether it's tragedy or heartache or pain or suffering or doubt, you can trust the God who made it all and rules it all. That's the message that I want you to hear today. We're going to look at this section, these first two coins, so to speak, of the book of the servant in three points. So we're going to look at the first coin, that's point one. And then we're going to look at the two sides of the second one. That's points two and three.

21:55 So number one, looking at chapters 38 and 39, that is a king's wishy-washy faith. A king's wishy-washy faith. Number two, the reasons for comfort. And if you're looking at the handout, that's going to be that first big section there, comfort to Israel. That's what we're looking at in point two, the reasons for comfort. And then looking at that last section, comfort to the nations, point number three, the bringer. of comfort. So number one, a king's wishy-washy faith. Number two, the reasons for comfort. And then number three, the bringer of comfort. Okay, a little bit more teaching here. We got to do some teaching. So, you know, this will be interesting, I hope. But even if it's not, it's important. So please try not to let your eyes glaze over as I'm talking about how this thing is working, because it'll be important to you. Right here in the middle of Isaiah, We've been looking for, you know, one sermon and, you know, some of this one already at this section that runs from 36 to 39, right?

22:56 Chapter 36 to 39. And the thing about 36 to 39, if you compare it to the rest of the book, is that it's mostly prose, right? It's paragraphs. It's not poetry. It's not set off, indented, and all the rest like the rest of the book. It's mostly prose. So you get basically this whole section. It's telling stories, and it's telling stories, three of them, about the life of King Hezekiah of Judah. So you are probably familiar with this by now, but eventually the kingdom of Israel had a civil war, broke into two parts.

23:28 There was the northern kingdom that retained the name Israel, and then there was the southern kingdom that got the name Judah. And Hezekiah is down in the south. He's the king of Judah where Jerusalem sits. He's the main claimant to the throne of David. The northern people were rebels and all the rest. But that's who Hezekiah is. He's in the south. He's king of Judah. And we get three stories here about his life. Now, last week, if you were with us, we looked at the first of those stories. It's very detailed. It's very long. And it runs through two really long chapters, 36 and 37. And it tells the story of the Lord's absolutely going postal on the armies of the empire of Assyria.

24:05 Do you remember the characters there, right? King Sennacherib. And he's got his, you know, the mouth of Sauron. The Rav Shaka who goes out and speaks to him. And he's very arrogant. And the Lord hears him being arrogant and basically throwing God into the dustbin of history with all the other false gods. And so God roars off his throne and destroys 185,000 of Sennacherib's soldiers in a night. It's an incredible story. Today, we're going to be looking at those two other stories that happened in 38 and 39. Two different stories. They're connected together, but they're two stories, 38 and 39.

24:36 But here's a question we've got to talk about a little bit. Why do we say, why have we decided, right, not just we as like me or we the church, but it's basically scholars, people who study the book of Isaiah. Why have we decided that the book of the king ends after chapter 37 and the book of the servant begins at chapter 38? Because what's, I mean, why break it right there in the middle of that obvious narrative section? Why do we do that?

25:08 Well, there are two things to lead us that that's the breaking point. Right there at 37, 38, that's where it breaks between Book of the King and Book of the Servant. What are those two things? Well, the first one is that the stories that are told in 38 and 39 actually happened chronologically before the story of the destruction of the Assyrian Empire. Right? So chronologically, it looks like this. Right? You get, you know, Hezekiah and his illness and the envoys from Babylon.

25:41 Then, later, you have the destruction of the Assyrian armies. Isaiah reverses them. So that's one reason that we think there's a break right there, because Isaiah breaks it there and changes it chronologically. Now, how do we know that? How do we even know that chronologically they're backwards? Because I think sometimes I say things like that, and you probably just think, well, he's studied it for a long time, It must be way down into the scholarly weeds that Greg can see that those things are different. So I'm not even going to ask the question. But it's usually not like that at all.

26:12 It's usually something much simpler. So the way we know that 38-39 happened chronologically before 36-37 actually shows up in chapter 38, verse 6. Just look at it. Chapter 38, verse 6. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. And we'll defend this city. I mean, it's just as plain as day there that this story happened before the king of Assyria was destroyed. Otherwise, it just doesn't make any sense.

26:42 So that basically, 38.6, is how we know that. So that's one reason. There's that break chronologically at 37.38, and Isaiah switches it. But then there's another question, and it's instructive too. Why does he do that in the first place? Why does he do that in the first place? Like, why not just tell the stories in order, right? Why not just do it in chronological order? Why does he break them and switch them? Well, the reason he breaks them and switches them is stylistic. It's thematic because Isaiah is not interested in just telling historical stories for your entertainment.

27:16 He's making theological points. And it turns out that the story of the destruction of the Assyrian Empire makes for an amazing capstone to the book of the king, right? Because that whole book is about God's sovereignty, God's sovereignty, God's sovereignty. And then, bam, you get this historical instance of God destroying an empire. It makes an amazing capstone to the book of the king. Well, in the same way, the story of Hezekiah's illness and then his visitors from Babylon and his wishy-washy faith sets up brilliantly what's going to be happening in the book of the servants, which is basically a call to the people of Israel to believe in God because they are sick and on the doorstep of death.

28:03 You see why Isaiah does it now? He switches it for thematic reasons because one makes a brilliant capstone, the other makes a brilliant introduction to the next book. Well, starting in 38, let's look at these first two chapters of the book of the servants. Starting in 38, you've got two stories about King Hezekiah. And the point of those stories is basically what I just said. It's, look, Hezekiah, you're in trouble. You're sick. You're on the door of death. And are you, in that circumstance, going to trust in God? Or are you going to put your faith in other things?

28:37 And so we've got these two stories that give an answer, at least as Hezekiah gave it, to that question. So first you've got the story of Hezekiah's illness. Look with me at chapter 38, verse 1. Here's what happened. In those days, Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amos, came to him and said to him, Thus says the Lord, Set your house in order, for you shall die. You shall not recover. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord and said, Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart and have done what is good in your sight.

29:12 And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah. Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add 15 years to your life. I will deliver you in this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city. This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised. Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.

29:44 So the sun turned back on the dial, The ten steps by which it had declined. Now, on that miracle, we don't know exactly what happened. But in one sense, it's not all that important what happened. We have a God who splits the sea. We have a God who spoke the universe into existence. And so, if God wanted to cause the earth to turn the opposite direction for a few minutes and then set it spinning again, it's totally within his power to do that. There's nothing that says God can't do something even that spectacular.

30:17 I mean, he's going to melt the whole thing in the end anyway, so why couldn't he set that little marble spinning in the opposite direction? There's nothing that means that God cannot do that, but we don't exactly know what happened. There have been a lot of guesses. Maybe it was that the sun changed position. I don't see why that helps any. Maybe it was a meteor that cast a brighter light than the sun, which would be really, that would be a very big meteor, and if it got that close, the earth probably wouldn't survive it, so that doesn't help a whole lot. Some people say that the dial of Ahaz, you know, which would have been this, like, it probably would have been a tower so that when the sun shines on the tower, you know, the shadow lengthens and goes down the steps, right?

30:52 And when God reversed it, that shadow came back up the steps. So some people just said that the tower must have just fallen over backwards so that the shadow went whoop, right? Maybe, but if God can knock over a tower, it will. Why can't he set the marble spinning the other door? I mean, it's just, like, none of these things really help, and the Bible doesn't give us any detail about it. The point is that it's a miraculous healing. And here, at least in this story of his healing, Hezekiah trusted God, kind of.

31:25 And I say kind of, because even here, in this story that's supposed to be good about Hezekiah, his faith is not perfect. Did you notice that? I mean, when Isaiah prayed, or when Hezekiah prayed, when we read his prayer just a few seconds ago, did it strike you as strange? I mean, look at that prayer in verse 3. Hezekiah bases his entire plea to God on his own righteousness.

31:58 You see that? Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart. And I have done what is good in your sight. And the unspoken part is, therefore, don't let me die. He bases his entire prayer for God to intervene in this situation on his own righteousness. It's a bad prayer. And yet God answers it anyway. But here's what's fascinating about it. Look at, look at Verse 5, what does God say is the basis of his answering Hezekiah's prayer?

32:35 He says, Isaiah, go and say to Hezekiah, thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears, and therefore, behold, I'm going to save your life. So what does he base his answer on? He bases it on the fact that Hezekiah prayed to him, and the fact of his tears, his helplessness before God, and the promises that he made to David. You see that? He bases it on prayer, he bases it on contrition, and he bases it on promises. He doesn't mention Hezekiah's righteousness at all.

33:09 It's not the basis on which God acted. That's the basis on which Hezekiah wanted God to act, but it is not the basis on which God acts. I mean, that's a really wonderful thing if you start to think about it for just a second. I mean, yeah, it flags us again to the fact that it is a really stupid argument to make to God, to stand in front of him and say, I'm great, therefore treat me great. It's just a really dumb argument. And what God does with that, with Hezekiah, is by ignoring it, he flags us to the fact that it's a really dumb argument.

33:42 But deeper than that, think a little bit deeper than that. Because it's wonderful when you start to think about it. Have you ever wondered or have you ever been worried about what God does with it when you say a stupid or wrong thing in your prayers? When you pray for the wrong thing, when you make the wrong argument to him, when you say the wrong stuff, when you get something theologically wrong, when you mix up Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? You ever wonder what God does with bad prayers?

34:20 I mean, does that invalidate the prayer? Does it tick God off? Does it mean he's not going to hear you or not going to answer you? No, no, look what he does with Hezekiah. He takes that bad argument and he just brushes it aside. He takes no notice of it. Friend, in its own way, that's a wonderful, comforting thing. Don't be afraid to pray. Don't refrain from praying to God because you're afraid you're going to say the wrong thing. I mean, the thing is, you are going to say the wrong thing sometimes.

34:54 You're going to ask for the wrong stuff. You're going to mix up Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You've probably heard me do that. When I get into a really complex sentence, I forget who the subject was. And mess it up. You're going to mess things up. But that's the beauty of this. And Romans in the New Testament tells us that the Holy Spirit is about the work of translating our prayers anyway. So even if you say something silly like, hear me because I'm so good, God heard Hezekiah in spite of that nonsense. And he will hear you too.

35:25 So pray to him. So he gets healed. In the next part of the chapter, you get this song that he sang about his experience of first being ill and then being made well. The song, if you've read it, is just deeply true to life. And if you have ever struggled with sickness, especially if God has sort of miraculously saved you from some kind of an illness, then you're going to recognize this in your life. Look at verse 9. A writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, after he'd been sick and had recovered from his sickness.

35:59 I said, in the middle of my days I must depart. I'm consigned to the gates of Sheol, the realm of the dead. In other words, I'm done. I said, I shall not see the Lord, the Lord, in the land of the living. He's not talking about after death. He's just saying, I'm not going to see him in the land of the living anymore. I shall look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world. I'm done for. I'm going to the grave, he means. And then this beautiful image in 12. My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd's tent. It's a tent that's been rolled up. It's finished. Like a weaver, I've rolled up my life, and he has cut me off of the loom.

36:31 He's cut me off from life. From day to night, you bring me to an end. I calmed myself until morning like a lion. God breaks all my bones. From day to night, you bring me to it. You can just feel the despair, right? He's despairing of life. Look at 14. Like a swallow or a crane, I chirp. I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. Oh, Lord, I am oppressed. Be my pledge of safety. That sound that's coming from him, like chirping like a dove, chirping like a swallow, it's supposed to be weak. That's what it means, the chirping of a dove.

37:02 Peep, peep, peep, peep, right? It's weak. It's not a thunderous prayer to God. He's saying, this is all I can muster up. It's just the chirping of a dove. It's all I've got. And then look at 15. This is when it changes. What shall I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done it. He's talking about his healing there. But then he says, I will walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul. In other words, even in the healing, there's a newfound humility in him. Because he came right to the edge of death, and the Lord plucked him back from it. But now he knows he's going to walk with a limp for the rest of his life because he's looked into death.

37:35 There's a new humility there. Oh, Lord, by these things men live. And then he goes on for the rest of the song and just celebrates. Like his mind has just changed. His heart has changed from despair now to rejoicing in what the Lord has done for him. And he says, I'm rededicating my life because I'm not going to go to Sheol where nobody praises you. I'm going to rededicate my life to praising you in the land of the living. That's what he ends up doing. When God saves you from tragedy, when he saves you from illness, when he saves you from sickness, that's what it ought to do in your soul. Take you from despair to rejoicing.

38:05 Take you to a new commitment that as long as you've got breath, you're going to praise him. Well, starting in chapter 39, you get the story of the second story of Hezekiah's visitors. Look at that, 39 verse 1. At that time, Merodach Baladon, the son of Baladon, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, where he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly, and he showed them his treasure house, his silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, you know, all of it.

38:38 There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah didn't show them. Verse 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've come to me from a far country, from Babylon. And Isaiah said, what have they seen in your house? Hezekiah said, they've seen all that's in my house. There's nothing in my storehouses that I didn't show them. So then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, hear the word of the Lord of hosts, behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house that you just showed them, that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. And then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, the word of the Lord that you have spoken is good, for he thought there will be peace and security, at least in my days.

39:29 Okay, why is it so bad? These envoys show up from Babylon, right? They bring letters, they bring a present. He's recovered from his illness, and then he gives them a tour. Shows them the storehouses, shows them the armories, shows them everything in his kingdom that he's got available. Why is that so bad? Well, if you look at verse 1, the gift for his recovery is not that hard to understand, but what are the letters? What are the letters? And why is Hezekiah's response to the letters to show them what he's got?

40:03 It's because Babylon's trying to conclude an alliance with Judah, and King Hezekiah is all about it. Now, what's been the message of this whole book? Don't make alliances with the godless nations of the world. You don't need them for safety. You don't need them for security. What you need for safety and security is me, God says. And yet Hezekiah, even after he's healed, lets his eyes wander to Babylon. And the king of Babylon asks him if he wants to make an alliance. And he says, yes, sir, here's what I've got to offer.

40:36 And the result of that is verses 5 to 7. If you love Babylon so much, fine. Everything you have, everything you see around you, even your sons, are going to go there soon. That's why it was so bad. And that leads us to point number two, the reasons for comfort. The reasons for comfort. So at the end of chapter 39, there are lots of reasons for discomfort, right?

41:10 And the faith of Hezekiah has failed. He's done the very thing that Isaiah has been teaching always leads to disaster. He's put his faith in an earthly power rather than trusting in the power of the God of the universe. And God has said, all right, fine. If you're going to abandon me, the one who even just healed you for the king of Babylon, that's fine. You're going to belong in every way imaginable to the king of Babylon. So looming over us by the end of chapter 39 is this dark sense of despair and coming disaster. And then you get chapter 40, verse 1.

41:43 It breaks in like the voice of an angel. Comfort, comfort my people. I mean it's beautiful and it's so striking because the question at this point by the time you get to the end of 39 is what on earth could give any comfort in the midst of this deepening darkness? We're about to be carried off into exile in Babylon. Our nation is about to be destroyed. Our covenant with God is about to be shattered and left on the ground. Our king has lost his faith. What possible reason could there be for comfort?

42:16 And then it comes. And crystal clear like a ray of light from heaven, comfort, comfort my people. And then this whole section is about God promising to comfort his people, right, with three voices and then three images of comfort at the end. And then in the very center, you've got God himself, who is the one who makes it happen. I want you to look in particular at the sort of first section there, three voices of comfort. So basically what you've got there, I didn't put this on your handout, Verses 1 and 2 are just kind of a summoning of the voices.

42:49 It's like, you know, come together, I'm going to tell you what to speak, and it's all going to be about the comfort of my people. Then you get the three voices themselves, 3 to 5, 6 to 8, 9 to 11. I want to look at those because over the course of those three voices crying out comfort to his people, God gives five reasons for his people to have comfort. And I want to show you each one of them. So first, in verse 1, chapter 40, verse 1, the very first reason that God's people should take comfort is that they are still God's people.

43:25 See that? Comfort, comfort, my people, says your God. You see the point there? Even in the rebellion, even in the deepening darkness, They are not strangers to him. They are beloved. They are people that he took as his own. They're people that of all the nations in the world, he loved for no other reason than that he loved them. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 7, verse 7. It's very clear. It says, the Lord did not love you because you were more numerous than other peoples or because you were bigger or because you were more powerful.

44:01 But the Lord loved you because he loved you. All the way down into eternity, God loved them. and he knows them. He knows them. It's not like he's ignorant of them. They are his people, like your children are your children, and you know your children. He knows their weaknesses, their sins, their failings. He knows their history. He knows about the wandering in the wilderness. He knows about the grumbling. He knows about the failures and the conquest. He knows about wicked king after wicked king that we've studied in those books.

44:35 He knows about wickedness and repentance, And yet he has been right there by their side through thick and thin without fail. They are his people. Friends, Jesus says the same thing about you and me. Those who are united to him by faith. He says the same thing. He says, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. You didn't choose me, but I chose you. You are mine. And I want you to be with me where I am.

45:07 What a comforting thing it is to know that despite everything, we are his people, and he is our God. Look at the second thing there in verse 2. God says that they should be comforted because their sins are forgiven. See that? Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, cry to her that her warfare has ended. Her iniquity is pardoned. She's received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. In other words, it's done. She's finished.

45:39 Because her sins are forgiven. Listen, of all the circumstances and difficulties that you could pile up in your mind or write down on a piece of paper, of all the things that cause you angst and worry and distress and pain, of all those things, which one of them creates so much fear in your heart that it can swamp the comfort of knowing that you've been forgiven of your sins. Friends, I promise you, not one thing in this world can happen to you that is as fearsome as the gospel is glorious.

46:19 Perfect love drives out fear, and you have been perfectly loved by Jesus. Here's the third thing. In verses 3 to 5, you get the first voice there. And God says that these people should be comforted because he is coming to them. And if you look at those verses, that's the point of the highway. You're going to recognize that because it's applied to John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus in the future. That's interesting because this is very much talking about Yahweh.

46:51 And yet John the Baptist says, I'm going to use these verses to talk about Jesus. That's very interesting, isn't it? Yahweh here, Jesus there. Maybe Jesus is Yahweh, right? Maybe we didn't make that up. But that's the point of these highway verses. All the obstacles are being removed. They're preparing his way. There's nothing to slow him down as he comes to be with his people. And you see the point of it? This is a God who does not just sit afar up in heaven, tutting at his people as they go through difficulties.

47:24 This is a God who is with us, who comes to us, who is Emmanuel, God with us. What a comfort that is. What a comfort it is to know that our high priest, our great Lord and Savior, Jesus, the suffering servant, sympathizes with our weaknesses. He knows our temptations. And he's fought every single one of them to the ground. This is a God who is with us in it all.

47:55 And that's a deep comfort. Fourth thing, in 6 to 8, you get this second voice. And the point of that one is that God's people can take comfort because God's word can be fully and completely trusted. I mean, these are some of the most famous verses in the Old Testament. A voice says, cry, and I said, what am I supposed to cry? And here's what you're supposed to cry. All flesh is grass and all its beauty like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely the people are grass, the grass withers, the flower fades. Everybody goes away. Everything changes.

48:26 The spheres rotate and things move always, but the word of our God will stand forever. Because everything in this life changes. It changes constantly. Through the course of your life, your friends are going to change. Your church is going to change. Your family is going to change. Your life and your job are going to change. But the word of our God stands forever. Immovable and unshakable. That's a reason for comfort.

48:59 Fifth thing, in 9 through 11, you get this third voice of comfort. And the point is that God's people can take comfort because God is absolutely determined to save them. You see that in there? I mean, look at it. Look at verse 9. Go up on 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. Behold, the Lord God comes with might and his arm rules for him. His reward is with him and his recompense before him.

49:30 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. In other words, God is marshalling all the resources of omnipotence to come to the aid of his people. What an incredible thing to think about. It is an incredible thing when you think about it, that God has marshaled all the resources of heaven to come to your aid. It's an incredible thought. I mean, you realize that you put this together with other doctrines in the Bible, like, for example, the doctrine of election and the doctrine of the people of God at the end.

50:07 What that means, what that means is that the population of heaven will not be complete and God will not rest until you get there. That's what Jesus is talking about with the sheep, the 99 and the 1. He knows exactly how many sheep there are. There are 100. And if God gets to heaven and he counts them up and there's only 99 that are present and one is out there wandering around, he's not going to stop. He's not going to say 99 out of 100 is enough. He's going to roar out of heaven and come get you and bring you home. He is determined to save his people and to save every single one of them.

50:43 I want them, Jesus said to his father. I want them to be with me where I am. And the father never turns away the plea of his son. And of course, what makes all of this certain beyond any shadow of a doubt, what makes it all certain that this is all going to happen, well, it's that middle part right there. It's because God is the ruler of history. That's the point of the very center of this section.

51:14 He has unstoppable power, and he uses it for the good of his people. Well, here's point number three. We're going to look at that last section, comfort to the nations. Point number three, the bringer of comfort. If you look up again up into the comfort to Israel part, that first section there, comfort to Israel, ends with these three images of comfort being given. Each one of them is just another image of someone who is weak being comforted.

51:45 They're a bit strange, but they're evocative nonetheless. So the first one there, you've got the slave who is made a victor. And if you looked at those verses, you would see how the slave is turned into a victorious person. The last one there, the needy is made full. So there's somebody wandering around in the desert, and he needs something. God provides it for him, and then there's rejoicing. So that's another person being comforted. And then you've got this weird one in the middle, the worm made thresher. So it's like a tiny little worm that has no power in himself. And yet he, do you remember the movie from 1990, Tremors?

52:17 Where these worms like grew up and grew teeth and started to eat the world and people along with them? That's sort of the image you get here because you get this little worm who basically grows metal teeth and he starts eating mountains, right? And it's a very strange image, but evocative, right? The weak becoming strong, I guess. There's that one. Anyway, about two-thirds of the way through 41, though, right after those three images, so verse 21, the focus changes.

52:48 So up until then, God had been talking to his people, Israel. He's saying, you need comfort. Here are reasons for comfort. I, the Lord, the creator, am the great reason for comfort. Two-thirds of the way through, the focus changes, and it's not talking to Israel anymore. It's talking to the nations. Now, I know that this is titled Comfort to the Nations, but that's not the first thing you get in this section. Far, far from it. The first thing you get is just a teeth-rattling courtroom scene where God thunderously calls the idols of the nation to trial and basically dares them to do literally anything at all to prove that they're real.

53:26 I mean, he gives them a shot. So he asks them to tell the future if they can. Or if you can't do that, maybe you don't know the future. Well, explain the past. Like, tell me something that happened in the past, right, to prove that you really are something. You know what? If you can't even do that, just literally do anything at all. Good or evil, I don't even care. Just do something to prove that you exist. That's what happens. So let's look at it. Chapter 41, verse 21. Set forth your case, says the Lord.

53:57 Bring your proofs, says the king of Jacob. Let them bring them and tell us what's to happen. Tell me the things in the future. Or tell us the former things, what they are, so that we can consider them, that we may know their outcome. Or declare to us the things to come. Past, future, doesn't matter. Tell me something. Tell us what's to come hereafter, that we may know that you're God's. Do good or do harm, do anything, so that we may be dismayed and terrified. And then this thunderous judgment in 24. Behold, I've come to my judgment. I've come to the conclusion you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing, and an abomination is he who chooses you.

54:34 Well, in the next section there, 25 to 29, God sort of takes the stand himself. And he says, I have done, in fact, all of these things that you can't do. I have told the future. I have ordered history. I have brought things according to my purpose. And then you get this thunderous judgment against them again. Behold, they are all a delusion. Their works are nothing. Their metal images are empty wind. Okay, so at that point, the great question is, do the nations have any hope at all?

55:10 Do they have any hope at all? Their gods are false and worse than nothing. Their faith is in the wrong place. Is there any hope at all for the nations to be comforted? And the answer against all odds and astonishingly comes back, yes. There's hope for the nations. Because look at 42.1. behold my servant whom I uphold my chosen one in whom my soul delights I have put my spirit upon him and he will bring forth justice to these nations there's hope for the nations despite their sin despite their idolatry despite their rejection of God there's hope so this is the first introduction of the suffering servant and and it's a pretty dramatic appearance right I mean just look how he, look how he shows up there. Up in the verses before, you get these two thunderous judgments in 24 and 29. Behold, you are nothing. Behold, you're a delusion. And then in 42.1, behold, my servants, your hope. He's not nothing. He's not less than nothing. Whoever he is,

56:18 he's the hope of the nations. I mean, Isaiah doesn't tell us really who he is yet. That's going to come later. He's going to unfold his story, you know, at a pace. He doesn't tell us who he is. For now, he just tells us what he does. So look at 42.1. Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom I sold the lights. I put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice or make it hurt in the street. A bruised reed he will not break in a faintly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands wait for his law. Thus says the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out and spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it, I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you, my servant, as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison, those who sit

57:21 in darkness. I am the Lord, that is my name, my glory, I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare before they spring forth, I tell you of them. I want you to notice in closing just a few things about the servant. We're going to spend the next two weeks, the next two times that we're in Isaiah talking about the servant, but I want you to notice a couple of things. First of all, notice that he brings and establishes justice in the world. That's verse 2, verse 4.

57:52 I mentioned a couple of times in verse 4. What does that mean? To establish justice or bring forth justice? I mean, does that mean just that everybody gets their due? Does it mean that everybody's treated right, treated equally under the law? Does it mean, you know, equality of outcomes, equality of process, due process? What does it mean that the servant's going to establish justice? I think that when we read the Old Testament, read the Bible, we can tend to have a really one-dimensional idea of justice.

58:24 And what we think is that it just means everybody getting their due. Society is set right, right? The oppressors are taken down and the oppressor exalted. Everybody's being treated equally. And that can be an aspect of the word, that sort of thing. Here, though, that word justice actually means something more like a judgment from a court in other words it's the established proven verdict of the matter it is the truth and so here when the servant establishes justice that's what he's doing he's setting before the nations he's establishing beyond any shadow of a doubt the truth the judgment the verdict from the court case that just went on in prior verses that the false gods of the nation are nothing and worse than nothing, and that Yahweh is the one true God of the universe. That's what he's doing. He establishes the verdict. Also, look at two and three. These are just beautiful verses here. Two and three. Do you see that? This servant is gentle. He's not bellowing in the

59:27 streets. He's just quietly going about his work of salvation. And then you get this beautiful image of the bruised reed, right? It's a little piece of grass that's been broken, and it's bruised. And he says that the servant, when he cares for that bruised reed, he won't break it. He won't tear it apart. He'll bring it back to health. A smoking wick, a candle that's basically gone out, he won't snuff that out. He'll bring it back to life. Are you bruised?

1:00:00 Are you a smoking wick? This person right here, this servant, this Jesus, is the one who can bind you up and heal you and make you whole. Look at verse 6. God there is speaking to the servant. He says, I'm going to give you to the nations as a covenant, right? I'm going to give you as a covenant. I mean, you got to remember that this whole section is talking to the whole world. It's talking to all the nations and families of the earth. So when you hear that the servant, Jesus is going to be made a covenant for all the nations, what happens in your mind?

1:00:37 Well, what ought to happen is that your mind ought to be pinging all over the covenant that God made with Abraham. I will make you and your offspring a blessing to all the families of the earth. And then that story runs right through Jesus saying, with this cup, I establish a new covenant in my blood. And then it runs all the way to eternity where people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation are gathered before the throne, praising God for what he's done through the work of the suffering servant. Look finally at 10 through 17.

1:01:10 We're not going to read it, but it's a song. 10 through 17. It's a song of those who are redeemed by this suffering servant. And there's so much to sing about. I mean, he brings salvation. He establishes the truth. He gently cares for the bruised reed and the smoking wick. He stands as a covenant for the nation. that's going to last into eternity. I mean, it's all still very cloudy, right? Isaiah hasn't told us much about how this happens exactly. All we know now is that it does happen, and it's going to happen through this suffering servant.

1:01:42 We don't even know who he is, much less how he's going to do this. But it's going to happen. And so in 10 through 17, the nations sing. Notice the last thing, that in verse 10, they sing a new song. Now, when does that happen in the Bible? people sing a new song when something new and life-changing happens. When God does something that's utterly unexpected and that utterly changes the course of history for somebody, that's when people sing a new song.

1:02:20 Friends, some of you today, this could be the day when you start singing a new song. Because if you'll put your faith in Christ, if you'll repent of your sins, if you'll see him in all his glory as this one who's going to bring salvation for all eternity, then God will do something unexpected and unmatched and amazing. He'll bring your soul to life. And you'll sing to him anew. What a great salvation this is.

1:02:52 And we've only just begun to look at it. Let's pray. Our Lord God, we thank you that because of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because Jesus, the suffering servant, lived in our place and died in our place and rose again so that united by faith to him we too might rise to newness of life because all of that is true, we now sing the new song of the redeemed. Our Lord, we pray that you would encourage our hearts.

1:03:24 We pray that you would comfort our hearts with all of these truths that you've laid before us in Isaiah. We ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.