Isaiah Chapter 40 Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Isaiah 40:1–2
"Comfort and keep comforting my people," says your God. "Tell Yerushalayim to take heart; proclaim to her that she has completed her time of service, that her guilt has been paid off, that she has received at the hand of ADONAI double for all her sins."
This passage speaks of Messiah and the coming redemption of Israel but most of the translations are incorrect in the fact that they use the wrong tense that puts the verse in Isaiah's time when it is actually speaking of the future as, in Hebrew, instead of "says your God" it is actually "will say".
The reference to the heart speaks of a change of thought and the fact that there will be a change from the suffering and warfare of the people to a time of redemption.
Isaiah 40:3–5
A voice cries out: "Clear a road through the desert for ADONAI! Level a highway in the 'Aravah for our God! Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill lowered, the bumpy places made level and the crags become a plain. Then the glory of ADONAI will be revealed; all humankind together will see it, for the mouth of ADONAI has spoken."
The voice crying out speaks of the ministry of John the Baptist and we see that he was to come before Messiah and there would be a change in the people as well as the land of Israel.
We see poetry as the land is changed and it also speaks of the change in the people where the humble are lifted up and the proud are laid low. We see that the foundation of all of this change is the word of God as it says that the change has taken place because the Lord spoke it.
Isaiah 40:6–8
A voice says, "Proclaim!" And I answer, "What should I proclaim?" "All humanity is merely grass, all its kindness like wildflowers: the grass dries up, the flower fades, when a wind from ADONAI blows on it. Surely the people are grass! The grass dries up, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever."
This passage speaks of the frailty of man and the promise that our present condition is only temporary. When the Spirit of the Lord touches us, we will be changed and we will have eternal life.
Isaiah 40:9–11
You who bring good news to Tziyon, get yourself up on a high mountain; you who bring good news to Yerushalayim, cry out at the top of your voice! Don't be afraid to shout out loud! Say to the cities of Y'hudah, "Here is your God! Here comes Adonai ELOHIM with power, and his arm will rule for him. Look! His reward is with him, and his recompense is before him. He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering his lambs with his arm, carrying them against his chest, gently leading the mother sheep."
This passage speaks of the evangelism of Israel and the fact that there will be opposition. The word translated here as arm also is used for son in Hebrew and this tells of the fact that the Son of God will usher in the kingdom and, like a good shepherd, he will lead Israel into the kingdom.
Isaiah 40:12–14
Who has counted the handfuls of water in the sea, measured off the sky with a ruler, gauged how much dust there is on the earth, weighed the mountains on scales, or the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of ADONAI? Who has been his counselor, instructing him? Whom did he consult, to gain understanding? Who taught him how to judge, taught him what he needed to know, showed him how to discern?
This passage tells of the uniqueness of God and the fact that he knows all things. Although it is translated here as "measured", it speaks of the fact that God does not need the guidance or counsel of any man. He did not need man when everything was created and he does not need man to tell him how to run his creation.
Isaiah 40:15–17
The nations are like a drop in a bucket, they count like a grain of dust on the scales. The islands weigh as little as specks of dust. The L'vanon would not suffice for fuel or its animals be enough for burnt offerings. Before him all the nations are like nothing. He regards them as less than nothing.
Now, the earth is compared to God and what he deserves. Measuring something as in its weight speaks of finding the value and we see that, when compared to God, creation is insignificant. Not even all of the great cedar forests of Lebanon or its animals would be enough to offer a proper burnt offering that God deserves.
Isaiah 40:18–20
With whom, then, will you compare God? By what standard will you evaluate him? An image made by a craftsman, which a goldsmith overlays with gold, for which he then casts silver chains. A man too poor to afford an offering chooses a piece of wood that won't rot, then seeks out a skilled artisan to prepare an image that won't fall over.
In this passage we see man's futile attempts to adequately worship God as he deserves. We see that man clearly understands the need to worship God but, without the instruction of God, it is merely idolatry which is unacceptable.
Isaiah 40:21–25
Don't you know? Don't you hear? Haven't you been told from the start? Don't you understand how the earth is set up? He who sits above the circle of the earth - for whom its inhabitants appear like grasshoppers - stretches out the heavens like a curtain, spreads them out like a tent to live in. He reduces princes to nothing, the rulers of the earth to emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely their stem taken root in the ground, when he blows on them, they dry up, and the whirlwind carries them off like straw. "With whom, then, will you compare me? With whom am I equal?" asks the Holy One.
The answer to the questions that are posed here is no as man does not have the capacity to understand completely how God created everything. We also see that God is in control and no leaders can compare to him as it was no great thing for God to create everything.
Just as God created everything, it would be equally easy for him to remove all of creation. In light of these facts, the question of who can be compared to God is once again asked.
Isaiah 40:26–28
Turn your eyes to the heavens! See who created these? He brings out the army of them in sequence, summoning each by name. Through his great might and his massive strength, not one of them is missing. Why do you complain, Ya'akov; why do you say, Isra'el, "My way is hidden from ADONAI, my rights are ignored by my God"? Haven't you known, haven't you heard that the everlasting God, ADONAI, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not grow tired or weary? His understanding cannot be fathomed.
Here, we see that God knows all things and can even call everything by name and yet Israel thinks that their sin is hidden from God and they will escape judgement.
God has a plan and that plan was not fully understood at the time but it is to put creation back into proper order as he did at its creation. It is a reminder that creation was corrupted by the sinful action of man but, through judgement and redemption things will be restored.
Isaiah 40:29–31
He invigorates the exhausted, he gives strength to the powerless. Young men may grow tired and weary, even the fittest may stumble and fall; but those who hope in ADONAI will renew their strength, they will soar aloft as with eagles' wings; when they are running they won't grow weary, when they are walking they won't get tired.
This passage contrasts the efforts of man with trusting in the promises of God. Those promises give us the ability to make it through to the time when he restores order to all things.