Mark 1:1-8 and Isaiah 40:9-11 - Behold Your God!

Our text this morning is found in Isaiah 40:9-11 which says, "Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!' Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young."

In the footnotes of some bibles, you’ll see that there is an alternative reading for this text. If this footnote is inserted into the translation of our text Verse 9 would say, "Go on up to a high mountain, O herald of good news to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, O herald of good news to Jerusalem; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!'"

It seems to me that this is the way these verses are to be understood. I say this because of the surrounding context. Throughout verses 3-11 there are three voices that are speaking to Jerusalem regarding the surprising offer of comfort that came in verse 1 which began with these words, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.”

This surprising comfort appears to good to be true. Therefore, God gives three facts in verse 2 that supports this comfort: ‘her warfare has ended’, ‘her iniquity has been pardoned’, and ‘she has received double for all her sins’. In addition to these three facts the LORD also supports this message of comfort with these three voices which are found in vv. 3-11. We’ve considered two of these voices in verses 3-8 and have seen that…

• This comfort is found in the LORD Jesus Christ. (3-5)

• This comfort is to be received through repentance and faith. (3-5)

• This comfort is associated with the withering work of the Holy Spirit. (6-8)

• It is associated with the Spirit’s work of planting of the word of God in the heart. (6-8)

Last week the second voice was given the command to ‘Cry!’ (6) When Isaiah heard this he did not immediately begin to speak, but said, ‘What shall I cry?’ Isaiah uses an imperfect verb when he says, ‘What shall I cry?’ This means that Isaiah knows that this is a message that he will proclaim continuously. His has been given an open-ended mission.

Notice that Isaiah does not assume that he knows what he is to say. He’s been a faithful prophet and here he shows that he is humble and doesn’t presume to know what he is to say. Because he is humble (James 4:6) and asks for God’s wisdom to speak (James 1:5-7) he was given the message to speak. (40-66)

Because of this, Isaiah is an example of what Peter says in 2 Peter 1:16-21, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths...you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

As we come to our text today in Isaiah 40:9-11 Isaiah is given another command. The LORD says, “Go on up (or ‘Get yourself up’) to a high mountain...”. Then Isaiah is told twice to proclaim the ‘Good News’. This Good News is the greatest comfort of all for us in both life and in death. Isaiah is to herald this from a high place, with a loud voice, with strength, and without any fear. I find it curious that God says these things. He commands Isaiah to do this and does not simply infuse his heart with the feelings, the passion, the zeal to do this instinctively. The Gospel is Good News but this does not mean that we only proclaim it when we feel like it. It is always spoken in obedience with faith by grace.

Next we are told what Isaiah is to say, “Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.”

Our Vision Team has been learning that all of us have been given a Kingdom Platform from which we are to minister. We’ve just seen Isaiah receive a Kingdom Platform and a message to speak! Isaiah is commanded to go up on this high kingdom platform and speak with a loud voice, with strength, and without fear. He could speak this message with joy because this is ‘Good News’!

I’ll confess that when I began reading Mark 1:1, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”, I read this without joy or enthusiasm. Then one day I realized that if Mark were in front of me speaking these words he would speak like Isaiah: boldly, strongly, without fear, and with joy. In the coming weeks Mark will take his stand upon his kingdom platform and speak to our hearts, saying, “Behold your God- Jesus Christ, the Son of God!” In Mark’s gospel we will ‘Behold God’ in the same two ways that our text today describes Him.

Message #1: “Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.”

In Isaiah 39 Isaiah prophesied that Judah and Jerusalem would be taken into exile by the mighty Babylonians. To try to prevent this Israel did not turn to the LORD, but they put their trust in Egypt to save them. This may have seemed like a good idea because Egypt was powerful and wealthy enough to stand up to the Babylonians. (Who do we turn to when we are in trouble?) However, because of Egypt’s pride the LORD had determined to give them over to the Babylonians. (Ezekiel 29-32) We read of this in Exekiel 30:10-12, “I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He and his people with him, the most ruthless of nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land, and they shall draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.”

Because of these things you can imagine how strong the hand of the Babylonians was during this time. If you were an exile in Babylon you would wonder if you had a future and a hope. There was no way you could free yourself and restore what had been lost. Because of this you would be prone to despair and to be hopeless because of this situation. It was into this situation that Isaiah spoke these words. Babylon was great, but the LORD is mightier, stronger, and able to deliver His people. Babylons hand was strong, but the LORD’s hand would prevail in the end.

Our situation was no better. We were all born dead in our trespasses and sins. We were without hope and without God in this world. The god of this world ruled over us and we were his subjects and we obeyed his will. We could not help ourselves, free ourselves, or obtain the victory that was needed. It is into this situation that God comes to us in might and with a strong arm that rules for Him and He delivers us from all our enemies: indwelling sin, sin in the world, and Satan.

In the Book of Isaiah Christ is the strong arm of the LORD who does these things, “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:1-3)

Encouragement #1- My friends, what are you experiencing in which you need to remember that Christ is your mighty King who can overcome any obstacle, any problem, any addiction, any sinful inclination of the heart, and any spiritual battle? Who or what are you putting your trust and confidence in other than Christ? In Him and His Word alone should our faith, hope, and trust be in. However big our problem is, Christ is bigger. However immovable our obstacle is, Christ can remove it. If Babylon was easily defeated by Him, and if Satan He has also defeated Satan, will God fail to display His power in your situation?

Encouragement #2 – Notice that our text says, “Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense (wages) before him.” What is this reward and this recompense? There are two things.

• First, the Father gives to His Son a chosen people as a recompense and as a reward. We see this in Isaiah 49:1-6 which says, “Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ But I said, ‘I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.’ And now the Lord says,’He who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him—for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength— he says: ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’”

• Second, Jesus obtains a recompense and a reward through His actions and He shares them with His people graciously and freely. We see this in Isaiah 62:10-12, “Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway; clear it of stones; lift up a signal over the peoples. Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.’ And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.”

Message #2 - “He will tend (shepherd) his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently leads those that are with young.”

What a contrast between these two descriptions of the LORD. On the one hand, the LORD displays His might and power in ruling over His enemies. On the other hand, Jesus displays great care, concern, and love for His people as He brings them out of darkness into His Kingdom.

Christ calls His sheep throughout this world and they hear and respond. When Christ’s sheep wander off He goes out seeking those who have been lost. And when He finds them He does not act harshly with them or speak bitterly towards them; rather, He gathers these lambs into His arms and carries them close to His bosom. (When our kids acted out we found pulling them in close and loving them changed this disposion.) He is patient and understanding of the burdens that His flock has and He does not drive them harder than they can handle.

Christ tends to the needs of His sheep. The word ‘tends’ literally means that He shepherds His flock like a shepherd. He is not a hireling that does not care for the sheep. When danger comes the hirelings flee, but the LORD goes after that sheep to rescue them from harm and danger. Has Jesus not proven decisively that He is willing to lay His life down for His sheep. He will lose none of His sheep.

He is not like the ‘shepherds’ that are spoken of in Ezekiel 34, “Ah, shepherds, of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.” (34:2-7) (34:11-16; 22-24)

Truly, we can rest, find comfort, and be safe in the LORD Who is our Shepherd. (1 Peter 5:4) We can say with David the words of Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

We are now ready to turn our attention next week to the Gospel of Mark where we will ‘Behold our God!’ Our King is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Like Isaiah, we will see that Mark proclaims Good News to God’s people with courage, boldness, without fear, and with joy. And as we study this Gospel I hope that we will climb up on our Kingdom Platform and do the same. In this case the way the ESV translated Isaiah 40:9 applies to you and I, “Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not;say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”