Isaiah 40:10, commentary and pictures

The verse declares that the Lord God Himself will come with mighty power, His arm ruling for Him, bringing His reward with Him and having His work before Him. It is good tidings of comfort to Zion and Jerusalem, bidding them behold their God without fear, for that mighty ruling is joined to tender shepherd care that feeds the flock, gathers the lambs, and gently leads the weak. The coming reveals God's glory and infinite love in Christ, whose work spans both His first advent as Teacher and Saviour in a darkened world and His second appearing in the clouds of heaven. He keeps His work before Him for the day of final reckoning, when He will give to every person according to works, motives, influence, and faithful self-sacrifice, overlooking no diligent labor. Therefore the message is not to be held in silence but to be sounded everywhere loudly and fearlessly, calling sinners to forsake their ways, repent, and make God known by holy lives and good works.

Words and Immediate Context

The Lord God will come with strong hand, His own arm ruling for Him, bringing His reward with Him and His work before Him. That coming is the exercise of divine power and authority, supreme and invincible, the Messiah's coming revealing the Father's glory. It belongs to a message of comfort that makes the character of God in Christ known as the living revelation of God.

It is good tidings of comfort to Zion, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, summoning them to behold their God. Zion and Jerusalem are to proclaim it loudly, fearlessly, and from the high mountain, like a bold announcement to be declared openly. His word in this promise is certain and will surely be fulfilled.

The mighty, ruling coming is joined to tender shepherd care. He feeds the flock, gathers the lambs with His arm, carries them in His bosom, and gently leads those that are with young. His majesty and authority are thus inseparable from compassionate, gentle leading and care for His people.

This coming follows the pardoning of iniquity and the accomplishing of warfare, the preparing of the Lord's way, the revealing of His glory to all flesh, and the standing forever of His word. The chapter gives the true meaning of higher education and comforts true believers amid afflicting judgments near the close of earth's history. Those judgments include earthquakes, storms on land and sea, and heavy calamities by sea and railroad, when many who have greatly sinned perish physically while sincere, humble, righteous followers also feel afflicted, yet those who fulfill the chapter's word in the latter days place themselves where the Lord will surely do all He has promised.

God's Character and Comfort

The coming with strong hand, with His own arm ruling for Him and with reward and work accompanying Him, reveals the glory of God the Father and makes His infinite love known to fallen humanity. It is good tidings to be proclaimed to Zion, Jerusalem and the cities of Judah by going up into the high mountain and lifting up the voice with strength and without fear to say, Behold your God. That proclamation manifests the character of God as revealed in Christ as love, goodness, mercy and truth, making the living God known through the message of mercy. The power shown is mighty and victorious yet also shepherd-like and tender, for the coming Lord feeds the flock, gathers the lambs with His arm and carries them close, and appears as the compassionate Saviour whose blessings and love are to be presented attractively. Like John the Baptist pointing to Jesus as the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, the message is to be announced now and sounded by human lips and exemplified in human lives as the divine invitation to come and take the water of life freely. Those waiting for Christ make Him known by lives showing what His grace has done, shining through good works, truthful words and holy deeds and reflecting His character.

The chapter confirms God's sure mercies, grace and glory and stands as a promise of faith, hope and assurance. It is good news calling beholders to behold their God, declaring a word from the Lord that will certainly be fulfilled, just as surely as God Himself is true. His absolute, sovereign power assures the fulfillment of His promises and enables Him to remove obstacles and overthrow opposition to His work in His own time, and that power is joined with the tender care of a shepherd. He has power to save all who are invited to come, and the shepherd image following the promise assures the invited of His tender care for the flock.

He gives strength to His own people and helps those who proclaim the warning message, which supports the urgency of warning the world about the approaching judgment. Therefore men must not trust in men or make human power their strength, for the Lord alone is to be trusted as the One who comes with mighty power and whose own arm rules. His infinite power and wisdom call people to humility rather than pride in human wisdom. He is not to be trifled with, and He calls His people to diligent and earnest work of repentance.

When the Lord comes to His people He comes with authority and brings His reward with Him, giving that reward to them daily as confidence, light and blessing.

Christ's First Coming

The prophecy belongs to a message about the Lord's coming and His work, describing work to be done both before Christ's first advent and before His second appearing in the clouds of heaven, calling God's people to share in Christ's divine life and work. It points to Christ, whose authority is supreme and whose power is invincible, sent as a Teacher from heaven when darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people, and His reward with Him and His work before Him is the redemption of humanity by the power of the cross. That redemption was carried forward in His triumphal coming to Jerusalem with power, His arm ruling on His behalf while bringing His reward and work, as He came preaching that the kingdom of heaven was at hand and carrying forward the message John had proclaimed, with His rule shown as a shepherd's care for His flock.

As the heavenly Messenger He comes to save and pleads with sinners despite their rejection, showing both His authority and His patient, enduring love, with His powerful, ruling coming accompanied by His reward and the results of His work. The prophecy of the Messiah's mission presents the Lord's coming and rule as part of His care for His people as a shepherd, gathering and carrying the flock, feeding them, gathering the lambs with His arm and carrying them in His bosom, and gently leading those that are with young. Christ applies this shepherd prophecy to Himself in contrast with Israel's unworthy leaders.

Final Reward and Judgment

Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand and His arm shall rule for Him, with His reward with Him and His work before Him, as the last message of mercy to be given to the world, declaring that the second coming of Christ is near, even at the door. His coming is powerful and kingly, His arm ruling, and He comes with His reward and His work before Him to support the urgency of warning the world about the approaching judgment. That warning must not be held in silence while the foretold work is being accomplished, but must be sounded forth everywhere with strength and without fear, as a trumpet giving a certain sound, bringing hope, mercy, forgiveness and peace, and giving to the world a representation of the character of God in Jesus Christ. He is the helper of those who proclaim that message.

God keeps His work before Him and brings His reward with Him for the day of final reckoning, when He will justly settle accounts with His servants and give to every person according to what that person's works have been. His coming is a display of strength and rule, His arm governing, joined to the call to Zion to proclaim good tidings and announce God, declaring that His coming brings recompense according to what people have done. He comes with His reward and brings His work to completion by judging each person according to deeds.

The reward is measured by the motives that prompted each action, for He knows every action and the motive behind it, including its influence upon others. It takes account of motive and of proportion given in trust and self-denial rather than merely the amount, so that even a small gift made in such a spirit is valued. No faithful labor is overlooked, for God has marked the lives of self-denying, self-sacrificing workers who have carried the work in difficult fields through years of diligent, prayerful, intelligent labor. At the same time the record of selfishness, deception, fraud, neglect and other deeds will be revealed when Christ comes and renders to each according to works.

Proclaiming and Applying Message

The message is the last message of mercy to the world, declaring that the second coming is near, even at the door, and giving a representation of the character of God in Jesus Christ. It must not be held in silence while the foretold work is being accomplished, but must be sounded everywhere with strength and without fear, as a trumpet giving a certain sound. That sounding brings hope, mercy, forgiveness and peace, pointing men and women to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It is the divine invitation to come and take the water of life freely, to be sounded by human lips and exemplified in human lives.

The coming is an assurance of His rule, and it is good news to be declared openly and boldly. Zion and Jerusalem are to proclaim boldly to the cities of Judah to behold their God, announcing that the Lord will come with power, rule by His own authority and arm, and bring His reward and the work He will accomplish. Those waiting for Christ are to make God known, and their lives are to show what His grace has done, shining through good works, truthful words, and holy deeds. They are to represent Christ in daily life, reflecting His compassionate character and presenting His blessings and love attractively, while announcing Him without fear as the powerful, victorious Shepherd who feeds His flock, gathers and carries the lambs, and gently leads those with young.

The message presses decided change, requiring proud self-willed hearts to be humbled before God and inconsistency to be put away. The wicked is to forsake his way and thoughts and return to the Lord, seeking the Lord while He may be found. The Lord is not to be trifled with, men must not trust in men or make human power their strength, and His people are called to diligent and earnest work of repentance while He gives strength to His own. God's people are called to share in Christ's divine life and work, in a work to be done both before the first advent and before the second appearing in the clouds of heaven. They are to appreciate their exalted privilege in having the wisdom of the Infinite at their demand, given as good tidings through Zion and Jerusalem in the announcement of their God coming with strong hand and ruling arm, with reward and work, joined to His shepherd care.

Chapters 40 and 41 are to be read with prayer to put away unbelief, giving daily counsel from God to be appreciated as light of the Word. That reading rebukes commercialism woven into religious experience and brings the refining influence of the Holy Spirit. God keeps His work before Him and brings reward with Him for the day of final reckoning, when He will justly settle accounts with His servants and give to every person according to what his works have been. No faithful labor is overlooked, for He has marked the lives of self-denying, self-sacrificing workers who have carried the work in difficult fields through years of diligent, prayerful, intelligent labor. The verse therefore forbids covetous conversation that takes credit to self and overlooks fellow workers, and requires each one to fill his own place without taking the place of his brethren, to act his part faithfully, to give credit to brother workers for the part they perform, and especially in old age to be just and not appropriate to self what belongs to others.