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The Prophetic Voice in Isaiah 40: Trusting God’s Plan (Isaiah 40:3-5)

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

[3] The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. [4] Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: [5] And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Isaiah 40:3-5

Explanation

The book of Isaiah can be divided much like the Bible itself. In the Old Testament there are 39 books, and in the New Testament there are 27 books, for a total of 66 books. The book of Isaiah has 66 chapters—39 that seem to represent the Old Testament and 27 that seem to represent the New Testament.

The beginning of chapter 40 speaks of one who is coming with a message: this voice that cries in the wilderness. It’s a prophecy about John the Baptist and the message that he proclaimed. Some may say it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy in the sense that while he was just proclaiming the message that was written down, he was assuming the identity of the person described in Isaiah 40. The problem is that the message he was giving was also accomplishing what actually happened.

He literally did prepare the way of the Lord. He really was someone that lived in the desert, and he did prepare people for the coming of Jesus Christ. Verse 4 says every valley will be exalted, every mountain shall be made low—talking about an evening of the way. Going uphill is hard, going down through a valley could be hard, but having this straight path, this clear path through which the Messiah could come, through which God could come, and the glory of the Lord through the Son of God to be revealed—that’s what John was doing. That’s what actually happened.

He was a foreteller and a forerunner of Jesus. The truth of the matter is, the glory of God was revealed through Jesus. In the end, everyone will know that Jesus is Lord. In fact, that’s what Philippians tells us: that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. God’s gonna make this happen.

This is a prophetic passage that foretells what would happen with John and what would happen through God coming behind John—at least in timing and in messaging—through the person of Jesus Christ.

Application

The implication is that this is a sign that helps us understand that Jesus is who He said He was. It’s not the last sign or even the most prominent sign—Jesus’ resurrection from the dead helps us know that He was who He said He was as well—but it’s a picture. It’s a sign for us to know that John is exactly who Scripture said he was, and this was his message, and this was his ministry.

It’s pretty amazing how the Bible all works together. You can trust your Bible. Its prophecies come true. While not every prophecy has been fulfilled, many of them have, and they tell us—they witness to us—that every prophecy will be fulfilled because what God says He will do, He will do. The Lord has spoken it. The mouth of the Lord has spoken it.

Response

  1. Where are you having a hard time trusting God and trusting God’s Word? What can you do to deepen your trust in His Word?
  2. Is your ministry—is your service for the Lord—based on confidence in the Word of God, or is it based on your own effort?
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Preparing the Way: John Baptist’s Call to Repentance (John 1:21-24)

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

(21) And they asked him, What then?  Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not.  Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. (22) Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us.  What sayest thou of thyself? (23) He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. (24) And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.

John 1:21-24

Explanation

In these verses, the questions continue to come from the people who were sent from the Jews. They’re asking John: “Okay, since you’re not the Messiah, are you a prophet that’s come back from the dead?”

There were those who thought that when the Messiah would come, this voice crying out in the wilderness described in Isaiah would be Elias (Elijah). John essentially says that he’s not Elias or Elijah (Elias is the Greek form of Elijah). He says, “I’m not him.”

When they ask, “Are you the prophet?” he answers again based on the fact that they’re using their own interpretation of the Old Testament—and it’s a wrong interpretation. He’s not agreeing with their interpretation. So he’s saying, “No. If you want to know who I am, I am a fulfillment of prophecy. I’m a voice crying in the wilderness,” which comes out of Isaiah. “Make straight the way of the Lord.”

This was John’s message. He was calling for people to repent. His baptism was a baptism of repentance. There was a large group of people getting right with God. That’s what he was coming to do. He was trying to get people to do right, to repent, to be brought back to God. There needed to be a spiritual awareness of what God was doing, of what God had revealed, of what God had prophesied, to prepare the people to receive their Messiah.

This was John’s role. And interestingly, preparation for the Messiah—preparation for Christ and what He wants to do—included repentance, spiritual responsiveness, and listening to what God was doing.

There is an interesting note here: those who were sent were from the Pharisees. This is foreshadowing of the kind of relationship that Jesus would have with the mainstream, with the establishment of the religious Jews. They had questions. Those questions were definitely not coming from a sincere or genuine place.

Application

It’s interesting that the prescribed message of John was one that he did not make up. It was one that was given to him. It was one that was prophesied that he would have: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make His paths straight. Repent. Be spiritually responsive and aware.” That’s what he was trying to get people to do, and it starts with the inside.

He wasn’t saying just have a religious devotion to ceremonial practice. Although I’m sure he was obedient to the law at that point, he was aiming at inner change. He was aiming at heart work. That’s what was happening. That’s what he was emphasizing: repent, make the paths straight, make straight the way of the Lord.

We have a similar message. The message of the gospel is a message of repentance. It’s a message of getting your heart right with God. It’s a message that says there’s good news—that God sent Jesus to die for our sins and to give us new life. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. The old is gone, the new has come.” There is heart change. It comes by way of repentance—turning from sin and turning to Christ by faith.

While there is some difference because of dispensation, there’s not a huge difference in terms of the heart of the message. We repent of sin. We repent of our own sinful desires and our own way of thinking, and we submit to God and to what His message is—turning to Christ as Lord, as Savior. That’s the message we proclaim. That’s the message we submit to.

Response

Here are a couple of questions:

  1. Is there anything that I need to repent of? Do I need to preach repentance to myself today?
  2. Is there anybody I need to prepare the way of the Lord for? Is there anybody I need to communicate about Christ coming and about their heart being softened and open to what He wants to do in their lives?
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The Humility of John the Baptist Explained (John 1:19-20)

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

(19) And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? (20) And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. John 1:19-20

Explanation

John the Baptist is in view here. He was experiencing significant ministry success and attracting attention from many people during this time. It had been 400 years since God had spoken through a prophet. There was a religious establishment—priests, Levites, and Pharisees—but John was the first person to show up as a prophet, as we see in this passage.

He was asked a question that, if he wasn’t spiritually grounded, could have been tempting. The Jews were looking for a Messiah. Part of what created this expectation was that they had been conquered and were subjugated by Rome. The Jewish people had a heightened awareness and curiosity about all things related to the Messiah. They wanted the Messiah to come so they could stop being dominated and conquered. They longed for the days of having their own king like David.

When someone came along who seemed to have God working in and through him—someone outside the establishment speaking prophetically and speaking truth to power—the regular people were excited about the possibility of him being the Messiah. That was part of John’s ministry success.

In verse 19, we see that priests and Levites were sent by the Jews (later we’ll see the Pharisees were involved too). Their basic question was: “Identify yourself. Who are you? Are you the Messiah?”

If you or I were asked such questions—“Are you thinking about being president? Governor? Do you have ambition for this office or that?”—the fact that you might even be considered could easily get to your heart and head. But John passed this test. John was very clear on who he was and who he was not. He confessed and denied not, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

Application

John had a role, and it was a very important role connected to the Messiah, but he wasn’t the Messiah himself. He was announcing the Messiah and was a sign that the Messiah would come within his lifetime (as we’ll see later in the passage).

The application for us is this: We should be humble about who we are and who we are not when we do ministry and work for the Lord. When God blesses us with results—when people show up and attend something we’re doing, when people convert under our ministry, when people repent and transform under our ministry—we must remember that although we may be used by God, we are not the ones causing what’s happening.

The Holy Spirit, through the Word and through the power of the Lord, is what changes hearts and changes lives. We are a conduit to be used by all those things, but we are not the thing doing the changing or transforming.

It’s very important that we do not take the glory for what God is doing and for what God wants to do. It’s very important that we understand who we are and who we are not.

John gives us a good example here. He says, “I am not the Christ. I am not the Messiah.” While that was obviously true to him in the moment, it wasn’t obviously true to everybody else—they were asking the question.

Response

  1. When are you tempted to take credit for what God is doing and for who God is?
  2. Is God using you? How is God using you?
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How Christ Reveals the Father to Us (John 1:18)

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

John 1:18

Explanation:

The idea that “no man has seen God at any time” is pretty incredible.  Moses was one who knew this reality. At one time He asked God to see His glory.

[18] And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. [19] And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. [20] And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. [21] And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: [22] And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: [23] And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

Exodus 33:18-23

God’s own testimony is that mankind cannot handle seeing Him in all His glory.  Moses encountered God in the burning bush.  The children of Israel saw God’s presence manifested in a vailed way through the pillar of fire, the pillar of cloud.  They saw the shekinah glory of God as it filled the tabernacle.  Moses only saw the after effects, the back parts, of God’s presence in glory, and it changed him. Check out Exodus 34:

[29] And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. [30] And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. [31] And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. [32] And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai. [33] And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. [34] But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. [35] And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Exodus 34:29-35

This is just someone who saw the effects of God’s glory, and they had to cover his face.  God is so infinitely glorious and holy that mankind, after the fall, has no hope of standing in his presence and seeing his glory.

Yet this verse tells us that though we have not seen God, now Christ in His incarnation is revealing God to us.  He is vailed in flesh.  At the transfiguration His glory was revealed.  This was Peter’s testimony.

[16] For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. [17] For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. [18] And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. 2 Peter 1:16-18

This was also the testimony of Jesus Christ about Himself.  His claim was that He was the Son of God, equal with the Father.

“Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.” (John 14:8-11)

The text says that He was in the bosom of the Father.  This is an intimate reality for Jesus.  He enjoyed perfect fellowship with the Father and Spirit from eternity past as a coequal with them.  Jesus’ testimony here is that God the Father has revealed Himself to the world through the person of Jesus Christ.  

The word “declared” is the word exēgeomai , from which we get words like exegete.  The idea is to expose, to clarify, to proclaim or declare.  Exegetical or expositional preaching has as it’s aim to say what the text says in a way that is faithful to it.  We are walking through the text and considering what it means.  We’re exposing the text.  John’s statement here is that God the Father is exposing what He is like by sending His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Application:

I can have a relationship with God the Father by believing in Christ the Son and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit to indwell me once I am saved. This reality is so wonderful I ought to let it impact every part of my life. The God who created the Universe became one of us. He did it to save us. He did it to reveal Himself to us. 

His holiness and glory helps me to see who I really am next to who He really is. I need His grace, mercy, and forgiveness. 

Response:

  1. What is your response to this depiction of the glory of God?
  2. Take some time to thank God for sending Jesus to reveal Himself to us.