Day Ten : 7th December

Isaiah 40

1 Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem 6 A voice says: "Cry out!" And I said, "What shall I cry?"
All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field.

7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.

8 The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.

Brueggemann (2) would have us notice the "but" in verse 8.

p 20 'The offer of comfort is not based on the suitability or qualification of the people but upon the resolve of God. The good news of life beginning again for the exiles is rooted solely in Yahweh's decision already given in verses 1-2. The prophet no longer has any ground for refusing the message or its delivery.'