Isaiah 40:3-5 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoke.
Deep down n the inner crevasses of people’s hearts we all long to experience the presence of God. This is the gist of this passage in Isaiah is simply: “get ready God is coming.”
Background: In the verses 40:1-2 we learned that God was wooing His people back by tenderly speaking to them sweet words of forgiveness and pardon. I would characterize 40:1-2 as the covenantal character of the comforting promise of God while verses 3-5 are the contents of Yahweh’s comforting promise.
The Story
Isaiah hears a voice! It is expressed here that God is represented as marching at the head of His returning people. This is different from the Israelites exodus from Egypt motif. This carries the imagery of YHWH coming to His peoples aid like the deliverer, the rescuing agent and Hero that He is (Deut 33:2).
This has an advent flavor and implication that reaches into the eschatological realities of the Incarnation of Christ. The Messiah, the King of Kings, the God-man is coming so get yourself and the way ready to receive Him.
For God to come down on earth, for his glory to be revealed and to see the restoration of a nation, the revelation of himself in Christ, and the final establishment of his kingdom, the “way” must be first “prepared” for him.
This clearly points to the posture and practical reality of the people must be that of a repentant heart. All revival starts with repentance. Our disobedient hearts and action must be broken and realigned with the God Most High. Isaiah is talking here about the aggressive and disruptive reality of Yahweh’s Salvation.
Interestingly enough, the passage uses the words “prepare & make straight.” These word prepare in Hebrew denotes a specific type of preparation namely the removal of obstructions. And the word for “make straight” simply means to “level out,” the way. In other words, clear the way and straighten out the path YHWH is coming!
Like many monarchs of old they would have thousands of workers construct a smooth road with all obstacles removed. This phraseology is saying, "The road is to be straight and level, free from all obstacles." In other words; the Lord will arrive on time, unhindered, with out fail or difficulty. Without a doubt He is coming. This is the assurance of the advent of Christ. And this passage we learn clearly is the prophecy of the coming of John the Baptizer- Jesus’ big cousin.
Verse 4 is simply an explanation of which the way of the Lord was to be prepared. The whole impression here that is intended to be made is that of a way opened through a wilderness by leveling the ground and the removal of obstructions, as a natural image for the removal of the hindrances to God’s revisiting His people.
At the end of the obstruction removal and road construction through a hard to pass area the beautiful Glory of the Lord will be revealed and all the people will get the blessed opportunity to see it! Man that’s good!
The Relevant Reality
This is good stuff to pray through and hope in. Clear the way, God is coming, and God’s glory would be universally displayed, and we shall see Him(John 1:14). This is good news for the EFC team as what is commonly displayed in Camden is often decadence, demonic, and destruction.
We desire to see Camden renewed by the Gospel. We are storming God’s throne as a family asking Him to make a way for us to missionally engage the people of Camden, build real relationships and see authentic conversions to Christ that person by person God will rebuild and renew a depressed city.
YHWH is Coming in the person of Jesus the Christ! What a hope! You see Jesus comes to us as we are. He powerfully and lovingly breaks us of our sinful ways and meets us in our brokenness. He comes to where we are in the desert realities of our sin, parched and dry, desperate and in need of refreshment. And he quenches our thirst with his loving and refreshing presence through repentance in His name.
How can we begin to prepare a way! God never calls anyone to renewal without first calling them to repentance. We simply need to prepare our hearts by admitting that we are not lost in the wilderness of sin but hiding in it. By taking ownership and confessing that we have been clinging to our sinful crooked places and they have not and will never produce the wholeness that Christ provides in the Gospel.
Prayer Points
This passage points to grand Kings having roads erected to make for an easy arrival. This is not necessarily the case with King Jesus. He was despised and rejected by the scribes and the Pharisees. His own followers rejected and doubted Him. And he was brutally assaulted the night before he would be unlawfully murdered not to mention the brutal beating he received all the way to the Hill called Calvary. No one was there to clear the soldiers from punching and beating him. No one to wipe away the spit that was hurled in His face. The Father saw fit and was pleased to bruise Him so much so he did not make the road to the Cross level or smooth.
Yet in just a few hours He by His sacrificial suffering and substitutionary death made away, a straight and smooth path to walk into the very presence of God as His blood would serve as the “red carpet:” into Yahweh’s permanent presence.
This is our prayer for Camden! Please pray that God would use us as leveling and straightening tools to missionally engage people and see the Gospel invade the least the Last and the lost by his Grace and for the Glory of Christ.
John 1:23-27 …he said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” …They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie (that is none other than Jesus the Christ).
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