Isaiah – The fifth Hebrew gospel – Chapter 40

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Isa 40:1 Nachamu, Nachamu Ami-My people, says your Elohim.2 Speak comfortably to Yahrushalayim, and declare to her, that her warfare is finished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she has received from vuvh’s hand double for all her sins. 3 The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare the Way of vuvh, 6 make straight in the desert a derech for our Elohim. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain 5 And the kavod of vuvh shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of vuvh has spoken it. 

Isaiah 40 opens with a clarion call to comfort, a divine consolation to Jerusalem. The voice in the wilderness heralds a message of redemption, preparing the way for יהוה. 

It signifies the end of exile and the impending return to the Promised Land – the culmination of the Greater Exodus at the hand of the promised Messiah.

Isaiah 40:3 

The letters ק (Qof) and ר (Resh) represent “Qol” (voice).

The letter פ (Peh) in “Pannu” (prepare) resembles an open mouth, emphasizing active engagement.

The letters ד (Dalet) and ר (Resh) in “Derech” YHWH” (the way of YHWH) symbolize a journey.

It’s fulfillment is found in Matthew 3:1-3: In those days came Yochanan Ha Matbeel, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of יהוה; make his paths straight.

Of course it’s Yochanan who embodies the voice in the wilderness, preparing the way for the arrival of Yahusha.

6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the tov from it is as the flower of the field: 7 The grass withers, the flower fades: when the Ruach Hakodesh of vuvh blows upon it: surely the people are like grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our Elohim shall abide and stand le-olam-va-ed.

Look at the parallel in Yacov 1:10 But the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.

Verse 6 depicts the fleeting nature of human life, comparing it to grass that withers and flowers that fade. This imagery emphasizes the temporary and transient aspect of our existence on earth.

Yacov goes about describing the rich in his humiliation. The comparison to the flower of the field shows that even the prosperous and influential are subject to the same transience as the grass. Despite wealth and status, life is brief, and all earthly glory is momentary.

9 O Tzion, that brings tov tidings, get up into the high mountain; O Yahrushalayim, that brings tov tidings, lift up your voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Yahudah, See your Elohim! 

יהוה is depicted as a shepherd who tends to His flock. The numerical value of the Hebrew word for shepherd, רֹעֶה (Roeh), equals 271, the same as the phrase “YHWH Echad” (יְהוָה אֶחָד). This points to the reality of the oneness between the shepherd and the flock.

The word “comfort” in Hebrew (נַחֲמוּ) stems from the root נחם (nacham), pointing to, not just solace but a profound change of heart. The letter Nun (נ) resembles a seed, symbolizing our potential for spiritual growth through divine comfort.

The term “voice” (קוֹל) hearkens all the way back to creation. The letter Qof (ק) resembles an eye, alluding to perceiving the divine voice in the wonders of the world.

“Prepare” (פַּנּוּ) involves turning or facing. The letter Peh (פ) depicts an open mouth, emphasizing the active engagement required in preparing the way for יהוה.

10 See, the Master vuvh will come with a strong hand,and His Arm shall rule for Him: 14 see, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. 11 He shall feed His flock like a Shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His Arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. 

Isaiah 40:11 It’s fulfillment is found in John 10:11: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Yahusha identifies Himself as the shepherd who cares for His flock, fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy.

12 Who has measured the mayim in the hollow of His hand, and meted out the shamayim with the span, and gathered the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains on scales, and the hills in a balance? 13 Who has directed the Ruach of vuvh or being His counselor has taught Him? 14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the derech of mishpat, and taught Him da’at, and showed Him the derech of binah? 15 See, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the balance: see, He lifts ups he coastlands as fine dust. 16 And Levanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts of it sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted by Him as less than nothing, and emptiness. 18 To whom then will you liken El? Or, what likeness will you compare Him to? 19 The workman melts a graven image, and the goldsmith covers it with gold, and casts silver chains. 20 He that is so poor that he has no gold idol chooses an eytz that will not rot; he seeks for himself a skilled workman to prepare a graven image that shall not move. 

21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He that sits upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants of it are as a grasshopper; that stretches out the shamayim as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to live in: 23 That brings rulers to nothing; and makes the shophtim of the earth as vanity.

Look at how Rav Sholiach Rahul echoes verse 21 in Romans 1:19 Because that which is known about יהוה is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

Isaiah 40:21 is a rhetorical question, emphasizing General Revelation, the “universal” knowledge of יהוה. Isaiah calls attention to the fact that the existence and nature of יהוה have been communicated and understood since the foundation of the earth.

Scripture brings an accountability to humanity to recognize the reality of יהוה’s existence. The evidence of יהוה is woven into the fabric of creation and is discernible through observation and introspection.

24 Yes, they shall not be planted; yes, they shall not be sown: yes, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and He shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. 25 To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal? Says the Kadosh-One. 

Look at John 14:9 Yahusha said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?’

Isaiah 40:25 presents a rhetorical question from יהוה, emphasizing the incomparable nature of the Holy One (kinda like he did to Job in Job 12). The question challenges any attempt to liken יהוה to something or someone else, asserting the uniqueness and unmatched character of the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, that brings out their host by number: He calls them all by names by the greatness of His might, for He is strong in power; and not one fails. 27 Why do you say, O Yaakov, and speak, O Yisrael, My derech is hidden from vuvh, and mishpat is not issued from My Elohim? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard, that the Everlasting Elohim, vuvh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is tired? There is no searching of His binah. 29 He gives power to the weary; and to them that have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall stumble and fall: 31 But they that wait upon vuvh shall renew their strength; 4 they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31.

The fulfillment is found in Galatians 6:9: And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.

Those who wait on יהוה, as Isaiah describes, find strength and renewal, echoing the encouragement in Galatians to us in exile.

Isaiah 40, with it’s obvious (to us) fulfillment in the NT and the life of John the Baptist is so much more than its historical context. The voice in the wilderness resonates today within our hearing, a resounding invitation to us s to prepare, seek comfort, and behold the oneness of the Divine Shepherd.