To the Babylonian exiles, the LORD has a word of double comfort. Their warfare is over; their sins are forgiven. A voice crying in the wilderness first announces this good news, preparing the way for the LORD to come to His repentant people. This good news is ultimately for all flesh, so that they would see the LORD’s glory revealed. Although people are here today and gone tomorrow, the LORD’s Word endures forever. That Word is proclaimed by Zion and Jerusalem, so that they would see their God as the One who defeats all their enemies and who tenderly leads His people as their Shepherd.

Rev. Martin Dressler, pastor at Salem Lutheran Church in Black Jack, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Isaiah 40:1-11.

"The Fifth Evangelist” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through Isaiah 40-66. Though Isaiah lived one hundred years beforehand, he writes to the people of God in exile in Babylon to assure them that their God reigns and will rescue them through the work of His servant. These promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, whose work Isaiah proclaims vividly seven hundred years beforehand.