Starting Over on a New Day (Isaiah 40:1-11; 12-26; 27-31)

Isaiah 40: A New Day. A New Dawn. A New Beginning. Starting Over. Soar Like An Eagle.

Isaiah 40 begins a major new section of the book. Isaiah is no longer addressing Judah in his own day. He is being projected by the Holy Spirit out into the future, like the Apostle John in Revelation. He is looking into his prophetic crystal ball, so to speak, seeing a future day and declaring the gospel to the Jews languishing in Babylonian exile. He is saying to them and to us, "God has not abandoned you. Your best days are still ahead. God has a purpose of grace for you better than ever. He is coming to save you. Believe it, and let this hope fill your sails." [Ray Ortland]

The Motive and Means of Servanthood is Grace (Isaiah 40-55). The dominant idea of Isaiah 40-55 is the undeserved grace of God. This is what will motivate people to trust God, just as was intimated in Isaiah 12. When God delivers his people without any deserving on their part, they will at last be willing to cast themselves on him without reservation. If Isaiah 7-39 were about trust as the basis for servanthood, Isaiah 40-55 are about grace as the motive and the means of servanthood.

Only Ending the Old Way Produces a New Way

Yearning for a new way will not produce it. Only ending the old way can do that.

You cannot hold onto the old all the while declaring that you want something new.

The old will defy the new; the old will deny the new; the old will decry the new.

There is only one way to bring in the new. You must make room for it.