Consequently we may learn from Isaiah 40 and 51 that the frailty of man

will neither accomplish nor frustrate the purpose of God.  'The Voice said

Cry', and we now see that the basis of the blessed proclamation to be cried

and the hope of its glorious fulfilment are found in the words: 'The mouth of

the Lord hath spoken it'.

'Word of God, hath He then spoken,

And shall He not make it good?

Never can His word be broken

Ever faithful it has stood'.*

* From our book Hymns of Praise.

Having heard the voice of the forerunner and the voice which called

upon the prophet to cry and declare the good news of Israel's restoration,

the theme returns to those words which were spoken to Jerusalem:

'O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high

mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy

voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of

Judah, Behold, your God!' (Isa. 40:9 R.V.).

What was the 'gospel' that brought comfort to Zion?  It was one of few

words of vast import, 'Behold your God'.  This is expanded in the verses that

follow, but all that these verses can say, and much more, is implicit in

these three words.  Let us examine this all -embracive evangel.

'Behold!' -- This is an interjection, and such particles of language

are illusive words, difficult to trace to their origin, but it appears that

hen, 'behold', is derived from the verb henah, 'to be ready' (Deut. 1:41),

which in turn means 'to be present'.  The particle 'behold' or 'lo' generally

indicates the presence of anyone or anything, and the evangel of Isaiah 40

opens with the exhortation to behold, and gives the assurance that the Lord

is present.

One has only to call to mind the condition of the people that resulted

in, and from, the loss of the presence of God, to become conscious that

Isaiah's 'Behold!' indicates the end of separation and suffering and the

beginning of nearness and blessing.

'Your'.-- While God is God, quite independent of all human or angelic

recognition, Isaiah's evangel is not so much the fact that 'God is' as that

'God is yours'.  The lo -ammi conditions being at last reversed.

A part of the covenant of circumcision made with Abraham is expressed

in the words, 'To be a God unto thee ... I will be their God' (Gen. 17:7,8).

The title 'The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob', carried with it the very

essence of the covenant relationship.  When the time came for Israel to be

delivered from Egypt, Moses was sent to tell the people that God had

remembered His covenant, and that He was about to redeem and deliver them,

saying: 'I will take you ... I will be to you a God' (Exod. 6:7).

Coming to Isaiah's prophecy itself we have abundant testimony to the

importance of this possessive pronoun: