COMMENTARY

Old Testament: Isaiah 40:1-11
These verses open the second part of Isaiah dealing with the exiles in Babylon. The opening verses constitute good news to a people sitting in the darkness of bondage and despair. God tells second Isaiah to comfort the people with the news of promised deliverance. They have suffered enough. A highway is to be built for God to come and rescue his people and bring them back to their homeland. In contrast to Yahweh, man is as insecure and temporary as grass. The only permanent thing is God's Word, which comes now as promise. The people are not to look at themselves or their condition, but to Yahweh who is all-powerful but yet so very tender and gentle that he is like a good shepherd who gathers his lambs and carries them home in his arms.

Epistle: 2…