Friday 11 April 2025
"I, I am he who comforts you." (v. 12)
Background
Today’s passage comes in two parts and forms a dialogue between the people of God and their maker. In the first section (vs 9-11), the people cry out to God in their distress. These verses, like the rest of the middle section of Isaiah (40:1-55:13) seemingly date from the years of the Babylonian Exile, after Jerusalem and its Temple were destroyed in 597 BC and the leaders of the people were forced from their homes by their enemies.
We know that there was understandable questioning at this time of why God had let this terrible thing happen to the chosen people, Israel. Were the Babylonian gods stronger than God? Or was God negligent and asleep, as the false god Baal seems to be in the story of Elijah’s confrontation with his prophets (1 Kings 18:27)? We find this appeal for God to awake and act elsewhere in the Bible (Psalm 44:23).
Those who call on the Lord to awake, though, very quickly answer their own concerns. They recall how God has shown power (or God’s 'arm') in two great acts in the past. First, the Creation, when God curbed the primeval 'dragon' of chaos (Genesis 1:1-2; Psalm 74:12-17) – sometimes referred to as ‘Rahab’ (Isaiah 30:7, Job 26:12-13, Psalm 89:9-10) – and made the heavens and the earth. Second, the Exodus, when God parted the Red Sea to allow Moses and the Israelites to flee captivity (Exodus 14:1-25). In the same way, they assert, God will lead the exiles back from captivity in Babylon to Jerusalem (Zion).
In the second section of the passage (vv.12-15), God speaks directly to the people, identifying himself in words redolent of God’s disclosure to Moses: “I am who I am.” (Exodus 3:14) God promises them that they have not been forgotten and that God retains power to save and protect them. The faithful exiles are assured that God remains in charge and that those in captivity shall soon be released (v.14). The eternal promises of God stand firm (Deuteronomy 1:30-31).
To Ponder:
- Do you ever wish to shout out to God to 'awake' from seeming inaction? Why?
- What past actions of God give you assurance for the present and future?
- Many people 'fear continually all day long' for so many good reasons. How might these verses offer comfort to them?
Prayer
Lord God, who created the universe out of nothing and led your people to freedom, hear us as we cry out to you in our fear and despair, that our hope may be reawakened and our assurance renewed; in the name of Christ, your son our Lord. Amen.
Bible notes author: The Revd Geoffrey Farrar
The Revd Geoffrey Farrar is the Superintendent Minister of the Richmond & Hounslow Circuit in south-west London. He has pastoral charge of Barnes, Putney and Roehampton churches. He is currently studying part-time for a PhD at the nearby University of Roehampton, looking at the impact of the Maccabean Revolt on responses to Jesus. He lives in Putney with his partner and their adopted son.