Advent/Eschatology: The End of the World ... Soon? Isaiah 40
By Dwight A. Moody
But Christians affirm that redemption rather than recycling is the future of the world. Our convictions can be summarized very simply: the return of Jesus; the resurrection of the dead; the redemption of the world; the renewal of creation; the reign of God. The End belongs to God!
Isaiah and the Beginning of the End
This confidence began here with the prophet Isaiah. Our text is one of the first glimmers of future hope. Centuries before the birth of Jesus, the word of God came to Isaiah. God gave him visions of a coming Day when "the lamb would lie down with the lion" and swords would be transformed into plowshares. It was the Day of the Lord, when the knowledge of God would cover the earth as waters that cover the sea. It was a vision of hope.
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One of
Isaiah's greatest visions is written in this 40th chapter. In fact, it is one of the outstanding texts in the Bible. In any shortened version of Holy Scripture, this chapter should be included.
I have on my shelf at home the Reader Digest Version of the Bible. It is condensed, somewhat, but it is still a pretty big book! If you were asked to select only ten or twelve selections of the Bible for distribution around the world, what would you choose? The Creation (
Genesis 1-
2), The Commandments (
Exodus 20), several Psalms (
perhaps 23,
40 and
100), The Birth of Jesus (
Luke 2), The Sermon on the Mount (
Matthew 5-7), The Death and Resurrection of Jesus (
Mark 15-
16), The Love Chapter (
1 Corinthians 13), and The Holy Spirit (
Acts 2,
Romans 8 or
John 14); these perhaps, and also The Messianic Hope in the words of the prophet Isaiah. It is the well-spring of biblical hope. It is the inauguration of end time religion.