Comfort

Isaiah 40:1-5 NKJV

"Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" Says your God. [2] "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the LORD's hand Double for all her sins." [3] The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare 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 brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; [5] The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

"O tidings of comfort and joy!" That's the refrain of the Christmas carol "God rest ye merry gentlemen".

This passage has a very contemporary message - it's what every Israeli is longing for - an end to war - here's the promise: "cry out to her that her warfare is ended".

So we see that this part is yet to be fulfilled, for wars and rumours of war persist in the Holy Land of Israel.

Throughout the years since 1948 (the re-establishment of Israel) there has hardly been a few months without some form of conflict.

It's enough to wear any nation out.

So, the Lord, in His Infinite foreknowledge, speaks hope and strength into hearts worn down with strife and battling fierce enemies.

Comfort is not just a soft cuddly blanket, but it is a divine, miraculous strengthening in the midst of long-suffering.

Anyone who has walked through turmoil with the Lord's help will tell that it was His "comfort" that sustained them.

I look back at times where I had no strength for the trial facing me, but somehow, in spite of my weakness, God showed His sustaining strength.

But the message and exhortation in this passage is for believers to bring the Good News of future hope to God's people.

Don't shout or scream but speak tenderly to Jerusalem.

Doom isn't the end game for Israel, but their redemption will bring a blessing to every nation on earth:

The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And ALL FLESH shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

When Jesus returns it will be done!

Maranatha!