“Comfort, comfort my people!” So begins the very famous verses of Isaiah 40 that foretell both the wilderness voice of John the Baptist and the one whose way he would prepare, the Lord Jesus himself. This alone is enough to cast these verses in a warm glow, a romanticism strengthened for many of us by associating them with a kind Sunday school teacher from our childhood or the glorious sound of a tenor singing these words, accompanied by an orchestra in a performance of Handel’s Messiah.

But when these words were offered in their time, the circumstances were far from idyllic. The Kingdom of Israel had split into two countries—Israel and Judah. The northern kingdom of
Israel had been carried into exile to Assyria because of their idolatry and rebellion against God. What is more, Hezekiah the king of the southern kingdom of Judah had just received word from the Lord that Judah would suffer a similar fate at the hands of Babylon.
And yet soon after that proclamation of impending destruction, God promises comfort for Jerusalem and Judah.

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