A word that says: look
Behold Your God
To a people worn down by exile and silence, the prophet lifts a cry of pure comfort. Climb the mountain, raise your voice, and tell the cities the greatest news of all. Behold your God. He is coming, strong and tender, to gather His people like a shepherd gathering lambs.
“O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!”Isaiah 40:9
Where it is said
Where it is said. This Behold comes from Isaiah 40:9, at the opening of a section of the book filled with comfort for God's exiled people. The chapter begins, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God" (Isaiah 40:1), and prepares the way for the LORD to come. Then the prophet commissions a herald: "O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!" (Isaiah 40:9). The message is meant to be shouted from a high place so the whole land can hear. Judah has known judgment and loss, and now God announces His own coming to save. The very next verses hold together two truths that seem opposite. "Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand," and yet, "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom" (Isaiah 40:10-11). This same chapter provides the words that John the Baptist would later take up, "the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD" (Isaiah 40:3).
What it asks us to see
What it asks us to see. This Behold asks us to lift our eyes from our troubles to our God, and to see Him coming. The exiles felt forgotten, as if God had grown distant or weak. The herald's cry answers that despair with a command to look. Behold your God, not your circumstances, not your enemies, not your fears. It asks us to hold together two things we often split apart, that God is mighty and that God is gentle. He comes with a strong hand to rule and reward, and He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. The same God who upholds the universe stoops to carry the weak and the young. This is good tidings meant to be spread, not hoarded. Those who have seen God are told to climb high and shout it out, unafraid, so that whole cities may look and take heart. To behold this God is to be comforted at the root, for the One who is coming is both able to save and glad to hold us near.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. The New Testament tells us that the coming of the LORD promised here is fulfilled in Jesus. All four Gospels apply Isaiah 40:3 to John the Baptist, the voice preparing the way, and the One whose way he prepared is Jesus (Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4, John 1:23). So when Isaiah says Behold your God, and then describes Him coming with strong hand and gathering the lambs, he is describing Christ. Jesus is God come in the flesh, and He is the good shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11) and carries the one that was lost home on His shoulders (Luke 15:5). The mighty hand and the tender arm meet in Him. He is strong enough to conquer sin, death, and hell, and gentle enough to take little children up in His arms and bless them (Mark 10:16). When we behold Jesus, we behold our God, exactly as Isaiah cried out. And His people are still sent up the mountain to lift their voices and tell the cities, unafraid, that God has come to save.
Questions people ask
Who is the God who is coming in Isaiah 40?
The prophet announces the coming of the LORD Himself. The New Testament shows this fulfilled in Jesus, since all four Gospels apply Isaiah 40:3 about preparing the way to John the Baptist, whose way pointed to Christ. To behold this coming God is to behold Jesus, God with us.
How can God be both mighty and gentle in this passage?
Isaiah 40:10-11 holds both together. God comes with a strong hand to rule and reward, yet He feeds His flock like a shepherd and carries the lambs in His arms. In Jesus these meet, for He conquers sin and death and yet tenderly gathers and carries the weak.