Prepare ye the way of the Lord

Life and Ministry of the Christ in Isaiah

#7 Isaiah 40

This is a wonderful chapter, full of messianic hope and promise in 1-11, followed by a magnificent exposition on the nature of God, 12-31.

3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.  
4 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and all the crooked ways shall become straight, and the rough places plains.  
5 And the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God: for the Lord has spoken it. †

And how does this speak of Christ? First, it mentions the forerunner of Christ:

Luke 3:2-6
2 ...the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 
3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; 
4 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying,
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  
5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; 
and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;  
6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

John understood this of himself (John 1:22-23):
22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? 
23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

How is this in any way significant? Isaiah prophesied that someone would come before Christ to prepare the way for him, and that when Christ came all flesh shall see the salvation of God. John the Baptizer is this one, and he pointed to Jesus.

Second, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. This tells us who Christ is, he is the Lord.

Third, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Through Christ salvation has gone all over the earth.


3 Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.  
4 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: 
and all the crooked ways shall become straight, and the rough places plains.  
5 And the glory of the Lord shall appear

This is the preparation for the arrival of a king and so John came preparing the people for Christ the King.

I love v 6, And the glory of the Lord shall appear. This is Christ, he is the glory of the Lord (Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, Hebrews 1:3).

Isaiah refers to Christ as King and calls him the Lord and the glory of the Lord.


6 The voice of one saying, Cry; and I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass: 
8 The grass withers, and the flower fades: but the word of our God abides for ever.  

This is a great passage and is quoted by Peter (1 Peter 1:24-25):
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.


9 O thou that bringest glad tidings to Zion, go up on the high mountain; lift up thy voice with strength, thou that bringest glad tidings to Jerusalem; lift it up, fear not; say unto the cities of Juda, Behold your God!   
10 Behold the Lord! The Lord is coming with strength, and his arm is with power: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.  
11 He shall tend his flock as a shepherd, and he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and shall soothe them that are with young.

Another amazing passage! The glad tidings is the announcement of The Coming One:

Behold your God! Behold the Lord! – Christ the Lord

The Lord is coming with strength and power - to defeat the devil and destroy death.

His reward is with him and his work before him – his work is the cross and his reward is the salvation purchased at the cross.

And look at the tenderness of Christ in v 11.

This is awesome! Christ is the Lord; he is the glory of God; he came with strength and power to defeat death; through his work on the cross he rewards everyone who believes in him with salvation. Jesus is this Christ. Amen!


Now for a song from v 11 we used to sing. Hope you can join me!

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† All quotations of Isaiah are from the Septuagint (LXX), Greek translation of the Old Testament