A voice in the wilderness prepares the way of the LORD. (Isaiah 40:3-5)
A Voice crying in the wilderness
I The Context
For centuries, the common message of the great prophets of Israel was to call the nation Israel to repent of their sins, to turn away from their apostasy, and return to the Lord their God. The Prophet Isaiah declared the call to prepare the way for the glorious arrival of the promised Messiah. As a nation Israel was instructed to return to the Lord and renounce their evil deeds. The whole nation was called to repent of their sin and await the coming of the Savior.
This is one of the most astounding prophecies to come from the lips of the great Prophet Isaiah who foretold with indisputable accuracy, the announcement of the coming of Savior of the world, through the voice of one who dwells in wilderness. What is astonishing is that when Isaiah declared this prophecy it was 700 years before the event found fulfillment.
Who is this Voice mentioned by the great Prophet of God. The Gospel writers themselves confirmed the identity of this voice in the wilderness as referring to none other than John the Baptist. All four Gospel Writers, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, quoted Isaiah as referring to John the Baptist. We can find this in Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4-6 and John 1:23. So all four Evangelists quoted Isaiah 40 about the announcement of the coming of our Lord confirmed by the very life and work of John the Baptist, God’s Messenger.
John the Baptist was the one
voice crying in the wilderness, whom Isaiah foretold 700 years before John the
Baptist ever appeared, as
the LORD’s
messenger.
So what does it mean to prepare the way of the Lord?
The eminent Bible Commentator Albert Barnes, in his commentary on Isaiah explains it in this way.
“The idea is taken from the practice of Eastern monarchs, who, whenever they entered on a journey or an expedition, especially through a barren and unfrequented or inhospitable country, sent harbingers [forerunners] or heralds before them to prepare the way. To do this, it was necessary for them to provide supplies, and make bridges, or find fording places over the streams; to level hills, and construct causeways over valleys, or fill them up; and to make a way through the forest which might lie in their intended line of march.”
Those who went before, to mark and improve the route, were the forerunners. They were "the scouts, the pioneers, the ones sent before a king to prepare the way," as forerunner is defined.
And the King’s road need to be prepared ahead of his arrival so He can travel in grandeur, comfort and ease. Every obstacle in the way must be removed: every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth. The Kings way should be unobstructed and clear. The idea of preparing the way of the LORD is a word picture, because the real preparation must take place in our hearts. Building a road is very much like the preparation God must do in our hearts.
The imagery depicted in the passage uses implied comparisons (hypocatastasis). The “desert” represents the wasteland and the barren places; and so it speaks of the dryness, the barrenness, emptiness of the human heart, or, even obstacles and impediments to life. It speaks of the needed changes for the repair of our spiritual life. The valleys, crooked places, ridges, rough places are the sinful things, problems in the life, wrong doings, that need to be straightened out.
There is no doubt as to whose voice this is, for the gospels state this is what John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord, declared about himself. John announced that he was the fulfillment of this promise. The gospel of John records that a delegation from Jerusalem inquired of John, "Who are you?" (John 1:19 KJV). The account states, "He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ [the Messiah] (John 1:20). And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" (John 1:21a RSV). He said, "I am not," (John 1:21b). "Are you the prophet?" (John 1:21c RSV). And he answered, "No," (John 1:21d). They said to him then, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" (John 1:22 RSV). He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said," (John 1:23 RSV). In Verse 6 the first voice, the voice of God, speaks again:
These passages define the ministry of John the Baptist. He was to declare that when the Messiah came, his ministry would not only be one of reconciliation, but also one of reconstruction. He declared there would be a highway, built in the heart, for God to travel on. Four steps would be involved in the building process: "Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places plain." Construction engineers know that this is exactly how highways are built yet today.
In this beautiful symbolic language the prophet is saying that this is what God undertakes when he comes into our lives. When we have received his forgiveness, the next step is that he begins to change us, to reconstruct our lives. "Every valley is lifted up." In the low places of life, the discouraging times, times when you feel crushed and defeated, there will be comfort and encouragement from the Lord. Also, "Every mountain shall be brought down." All those places where our pride shows itself, when we think more highly of ourselves, when we are proud and boast of our achievements, our grasping for power, selfishness : these must be cut down. We find ourselves humbled in many ways. Then, "The crooked places will be made straight." This refer to the wrong things we have done, our unfair or unjust actions, our damaging actions, neglect even cruelty. In the gospels we read that Zacchaeus paid back fourfold all the money he had stolen from people. Our deviousness will be corrected.
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed to every heart prepared to receive him.
Jesus was the coming Messiah and King, and John the Baptist’s ministry was to be one crying in the wilderness, and through his message of repentance, to prepare the way of the LORD. We often fail to appreciate how important the preparing work of the LORD is. Any great work of God begins with great preparation. John wonderfully fulfilled this important ministry!
John the Baptist was one man "crying in the wilderness," yet he prepared the way for the Son of God. Each of us, in our daily lives, interacts with our family, relatives, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and others, who may know little or nothing about the Gospel, and the Lord Jesus Christ. We could be a voice in the desert like John the Baptist. We can prepare the way in which the hearts of the unreached can receive Christ. Our words and deeds, could well pave the way for any of them to answer God's call. Each of us has opportunities to set an example that will draw them to Christ. In this way, each of us is a forerunner, smoothing, clearing and improving the trail through which the Lord may come to the lives of those who earnestly seek him.
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