Comfort My People -Isaiah 40:1-2

Isaiah 40:1-2 LXX
παρακαλειτε παρακαλειτε τον λαον μου λεγει ο θεοσ 2 ιερεισ λαλησατε εισ την καρδιαν ιερουσαλημ παρακαλεσατε αυτην οτι επλησθη η ταπεινωσισ αυτησ λελυται αυτησ η αμαρτια οτι εδεξατο εκ χειροσ κυριου διπλα τα αμαρτηματα αυτησ

Isaiah 40:1-2 ESV
1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 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.

Isaiah speaks of the time when Israel no longer suffers from their punishment from the hand of God. The Hebrew word that is translated here as "warfare" refers to their sad relationship to God the Father, one of enemies and hostility. The Septuagint uses the Greek word ταπεινωσισ, which carries the meaning of rejection and humiliation. She lost her favored status before the Lord. Both expressions are the opposite of giving glory to God.

The word for "comfort" appears twice. Israel had received double for her sins, but now God tells His people that the time will come when the punishment is done. It may remind us of when Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him three times after Peter's denial of Jesus. It brings closure to the act. The Greek word παρακαλειτε represents a call for Israel to come back to God, to come along side the Father for comfort and peace. The hand that delivered punishment would now shelter and tend to them.

The Septuagint adds the word καρδιαν, or heart, with the word Jerusalem. Though His Spirit has departed from the temple, God's heart remains in that city. Jesus would weep at the gates of Jerusalem before entering the city. He would sacrifice Himself to make a heart able to house the Holy Spirit, His new dwelling place, the New Jerusalem.

Comfort
παρακαλειτε
παρακαλεω [παρα, καλεω] – 1. ‘call to be at one’s side’
2. ‘hearten in time of trouble’, comfort, console


Warfare
ταπεινωσισ, εωσ, η [ταπεινοω] – 1. ‘experience of reversal from higher to lower level’, humiliation Ac 8: 33; Js 1: 10. – 2. ‘condition of being of little or no account’ – a. low status. CEGL







Psalms 85:8-9
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
but let them not turn back to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Zephaniah 3:18-20
I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
19 Behold, at that time I will deal
with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.
20 At that time I will bring you in,
at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes,” says the Lord.

Isaiah 66:13-16
As one whom his mother comforts,
so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
your bones shall flourish like the grass;
and the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants,
and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.
Final Judgment and Glory of the Lord
15 “For behold, the Lord will come in fire,
and his chariots like the whirlwind,
to render his anger in fury,
and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire will the Lord enter into judgment,
and by his sword, with all flesh;
and those slain by the Lord shall be many.