March 21st, 2020

Is it okay to talk about the good news, even before you hear the full extent of the bad news? At least the LORD thinks so. You see that happening in the second half of the Old Testament book of the prophet, Isaiah.

In the first half of the book, in chapter 39, while the focus was on the problem of Assyria, the prediction was made that there would be a problem for Israel from the country of Babylon. And you have, starting in chapter 40, the perspective of good news from the LORD despite the Babylonian problem. (I can understand why some people think that one of Isaiah’s followers wrote this part of the book much later than the first half.)

Obviously, the LORD is the true author. And he gives the good news when he wants to give it. And with all this talk about the coronavirus going around at the present time, some good news is certainly not too soon.

This week, the Old Testament text is from Isaiah 42[:14-21], but I would like to look at the ‘bigger picture’, the entire text of Isaiah 40-66. If you would like to turn this into a bible study—since the congregations will not be meeting for worship for a couple of weeks—I would suggest that you read a few chapters a day, starting at Isaiah 40, to see the progression and the wonderful (and not-too-early) comfort within this part of scripture. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or difficulties with a particular text.

I would like to focus on the start of that section of Isaiah 40-66 and to note how special the structure is, with its repetition, along with the special words that are used. Here are the first two sentences from that first chapter: ‘Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.’

First of all, the word translated ‘comfort’ can also mean to be sorry or to regret. The form of the verb here is intensive, so a message we can take from this is that intense sorrow or regret may lead a person to do something nice for someone else. That is a good definition of the word comfort, a sorrow that is intense, an emotion that gets down to the level of another. This intense sorrow or regret ultimately becomes an action and delivers a gift.

Second, notice that the command is repeated. That something is said twice is not just a thing in the Hebrew language. All people everywhere repeat themselves when something is important enough.

Now to have a COMMAND repeated is something new. In Isaiah, there are other parts of speech that are usually repeated before this.

Usually a thing is repeated only once. Please note how unusual it is to have three of the same words together. And this is what is done in Isaiah 6, when one angel says to the other, ‘Holy, holy, holy,’ an apt description of the LORD of hosts, basically the Triune God. In Isaiah 21:9, Babylon has fallen—good news for us—and that action is repeated twice. And there are other pairs in the first half of the book.

In the second half of Isaiah, these non-commands come up twice in a row sometimes. But they are not very frequent. In Isaiah 41:27, the text may be translated something like, ‘Behold, here they are!’ But the same word is repeated. And in 43:11, 43:25, and 48:15, the word for ‘I’ is repeated right away. It should be said here that the LORD is the one who is talking in these places. And he is repeating himself for emphasis on himself and what he is doing. (It could also be noted that, in the last occurrence, the use of the word ‘I’ is not as emphatic as it was before. In other words, the LORD seems to be lessening his role in the picture, and the plan is for his WORDS to take a more prominent place.)

So, we have a double command, the first of its kind, at the beginning of the second half of the book. So where is the next ‘double-command’ to be found?

It is at the half-way point of this half of the book, amazingly enough. And while there is some variety, there is a noticeable progression in this second half of the second half. The first three commands are basically to ‘Wake up’ (51:9, 51:17, 52:1). Then the command is to ‘Depart’ (52:11), then ‘Build up’ (57:14) This same command occurs a second time, but only five words after a different command, to ‘Go through’ (62:10). And it is gates that a person goes through.

The first command to ‘build up’ is a road or a way, probably within the city gates. The second time the command to ‘build up’ is given, that is connected to a different thing to build, usually translated ‘highway’. That is something outside the city gates.

There is a definite progression here—from waking up, to leaving, to building up a way inside the city, and then to building up a way outside the city. This seems to be a good progression if the city you wake up in is surrounded by the enemy. This progression is your way out; this progression is your salvation.

After this midpoint in the second half of the book, there are also duplications of other words, but not with the frequency of commands. At 51:12, near that half-way point, the word ‘I’ is again repeated, and it is the emphatic use of the word this time. And it is also talking about the LORD, but the verb connected to it is interesting: the LORD is the one who ‘comforts’. This is the same word which was doubled in chapter 40.

Is the LORD the one who comforts, or is it we who are to do that? Ultimately, when we comfort, it is the LORD doing it through us. He is the only one who can give true comfort. And he chooses to do that through HIS words that we use.

Near the end of the book, in 57:19, the word ‘peace’ is repeated, and this is also something that the LORD is giving out. But, right after that, God says that there is no peace for the wicked. And in 58:2, the word ‘day’ is repeated, but it is not a significant thing and is usually translated with simply the word ‘daily’. These cannot match the progression within the double commands of the book.

I think the duplication of the commands is important. It certainly did not have to be there. And we Lutherans can instantly think of the law when we hear of commands. But these are commands to do some very wonderful things when it is ultimately the LORD who is doing them. That is ultimately the job of the pastor, to get out of the way. One seminary teacher used to say, ‘To be ordained is to be rendered irrelevant.’

In those first two verses of chapter 40 that were quoted above, notice that, at the end of that quote, there is talk about receiving ‘from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.’ This word ‘double’ is only a couple other places in the Old Testament, and only found elsewhere in the book of Job—now THAT is a book with some very different vocabulary.  (It is also interesting is that the Hebrew word is very similar in sound to the English word ‘couple’.)
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The LORD wants to make sure there is comfort. And he wants to give more comfort than there is sin. And he is very intense about it. And he wants to get down to our level. And that is what Jesus was all about doing. He is our way out. He is our salvation.