211.25: Isaiah 40: Good News in the Old Testament. Judgment Ceases and Comfort is Here!

<p>Several times, years ago, I had the pleasure and honor of singing Handel’s <em>Messiah</em> in a mass choir. That’s a choir of 30-40 people, along with a local &nbsp;symphony orchestra and professional soloists. What an experience! &nbsp;Technically, I’m a 2nd soprano singing between alto and soprano. &nbsp;Sometimes, I could manage the soprano part if it didn’t go too high. I &nbsp;would have loved to sing the soprano part of <em>Messiah</em>, but it &nbsp;was way too high. I had to settle for alto. Still, the altos had a &nbsp;significant part as did all the voices. I’ve embedded videos of the &nbsp;songs of Handel’s <em>Messiah</em> at the bottom.</p> <p>Why bring this up? Well, Handel, got his inspiration for the start of his <em>Messiah</em> oratorio from Isaiah chapter 40. When you listen to the performances, &nbsp;you’ll see that it’s just about word-for-word in the King James version.</p> <p>See, in the prior chapters, as well as in 2 Kings, God was warning &nbsp;the people of both kingdoms, Israel and Judah, of the coming wrath. All &nbsp;they had to do to avoid it was turn away from worshiping the false gods &nbsp;of their neighboring <a href="https://giselleaguiar.com/2020/08/02/proven-truth-how-paganism-and-idolatry-started-in-the-church/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">pagan</a> nations and follow the One True God. Yet, they didn’t. <a href="https://giselleaguiar.com/2021/11/07/2-kings-17-18-what-happens-when-you-reject-god-and-his-warnings/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Israel was attacked and carted away by the Assyrians and </a><a href="https://giselleaguiar.com/2021/11/24/2-kings-24-25-the-epic-attack-that-happened-when-people-disobey-god/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Judah was attacked 3 times and carried away to exile in Babylon.&nbsp;</a></p> <p>Chapter 40 of Isaiah is the start of his <a href="https://giselleaguiar.com/2020/06/24/what-is-the-gospel-what-is-the-good-news-of-jesus/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Gospel</a> prophecies. He’s te