READ IT! - Introduction to Isaiah 40-43

Introduction to Latter Isaiah

Isaiah chapters 40–66 contain different subject matter than chapters 1–39. 1–39 focuses on Assyria. 40–66 focuses on Babylon. However, the concept of “Messiah” appears throughout all of Isaiah. 

Chapter 40 

Chapters 40-55 discuss Judah’s redemption from their exile to Babylon. Isaiah 40:1-11 serves as a prologue for the rest of the book, offering comfort for God’s people. Isaiah announced God’s coming glory and contrasted it with the peoples’ helplessness. God would bring his people home and care for them as a shepherd cared for his sheep. 

“A voice of one calling:
‘In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.’
Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” 

The rest of chapter 40 answers the question, “Can God really do all he says?”

“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, 

or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? 

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, 

or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance? 

Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,
or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?” 

“He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” 

“Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.” 

“Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God’?
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.” 

Chapter 41 

Isaiah 41 introduces a threefold theme or motif that runs throughout chapters 40–66. 

1. God’s people are in captivity for their sins.
2. This captivity proves God is God, for he alone predicted it.
3. He will now restore and redeem them. 

The prophet stated God’s case against false gods. The idols had failed to predict the future and stood speechless and powerless before God. God said He would raise up a ruler from the north who would honor Him and return His people to their homeland. 

Chapter 42 

Chapter 42 discusses the Servant Individual and the Servant Nation. This passage presents a picture of God’s special servant chosen for a special purpose. The Gospel of Matthew applies these verses to Jesus: 

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, 

my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” 

Isaiah then offers a Song of Praise to the LORD:
“For a long time I have kept silent,
I have been quiet and held myself back.
But now, like a woman in childbirth,
I cry out, I gasp and pant.
I will lay waste the mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation…
I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.” 

Isaiah then says that God’s special servant, or Messiah, would stand in contrast to His servant Israel, whom he calls blind and deaf. 

He says of Israel: 

“You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;
your ears are open, but you do not listen.” 

Chapter 43 

Chapters 43-45 described The LORD, as the gracious Redeemer. First, Isaiah described The LORD as Israel’s only Savior. God was His peoples’ leader, and He would lead them home from exile by His grace. 

He then discusses God’s mercy and Israel’s unfaithfulness. In contrast to God’s grace and mercy, Israel had displayed a rebellious attitude from the start of her relationship with God. 

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!” 

“I, even I, am he who blots out
your transgressions, for my own sake,
and remembers your sins no more.”