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Fundamentals of Dispensational Truth.
(Second Series).
ISAIAH.
#18. Comfort and Controversy.
Isa. 40: 1-11: With special reference to the true interpretation
of the words translated, "Her iniquity is pardoned".
pp. 25 - 28
If we enquire what is the particular "comfort" that the prophet would minister to
Jerusalem, we may find help by considering his own expansion given in Isa. 40: 2.
"Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is
accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand
double for all her sins."
Here, to "speak comfortably" is literally "to speak to the heart"; it is the language of
love.
"And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel; and
he spake to the heart of the damsel" (Gen. 34: 3, margin).
It was the language of Joseph, the great foreshadower of Christ, the Saviour, Preserver
and Restorer of His people, when he said to his brethren in Egypt,
"Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted
them and spake to their hearts" (Gen. 50: 21, margin).
It is the language of God Himself when the day of Israel's restoration (Gen. 50: 21) and
bethrotal (Gen. 34: 3) is in view.
"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her unto the wilderness, and speak to
her heart (margin) . . . . . I will betroth . . . . . I will sow . . . . . I will say to them which
were not my people, Thou art My people, and they shall say, Thou art my God"
(Hosea 2: 14-23).
The comfort of the people of Israel as intended by the prophet in Isa. 40:, touches, in
the first place, two things.
(1)
The end of her warfare.
(2)
The pardon of her iniquity.
This twofold annunciation is followed by a prophecy concerning the One Who, alone,
could terminate all conflict or pardon iniquity. "The voice of him that crieth in the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord." Then, facing the utter inability of human
nature to accomplish such an end--for all flesh is grass--the prophet is assured that this