In Isaiah 40 vs 3 who is the road for?

Question

In Isaiah 40 vs 3 is the road being made in the wilderness for God to use to go to his people (like the father in the Prodigal Son) or is it for the people to use to go back to Him? Commentaries seem to assume the latter but it doesn't necessarily read that way to me...

Answer 1

Isa 40:3 says this:

A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.

The LXX has a slightly different way of reading the Masoretic text:

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.

Thus, the wilderness could either be the location of the voice (as per the LXX) or the location of the road for the LORD. This point is less important than the other questions asked by the OP.

The NT, specifically all four evangelists, consistently interpret this passage as a Messianic prophecy involving John the Baptist in Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4, and John 1:23. From this, we may deduce the following:

• John the Baptist was the voice
• John effectively declared that "the LORD" was to be Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.
• That the "road" was the preparation of people's hearts to receive the message of God's eternal kingdom inaugurated by Jesus.

Isa 40:1, 2 is a prophecy about the return of the Jews after the Babylonian captivity. having served her "forced labor" (v2), Jerusalem was took forward to better days and prepare for the coming of Messiah. The process of preparation was to reach it zenith in the ministry of John the Baptist.

This prophecy in Isa 40:1-5 is parallel to others such as:

Isa 62:10-12 - Go out, go out through the gates; prepare the way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones; raise a banner for the nations! Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the ends of the earth, “Say to Daughter Zion: See, your Savior comes! Look, His reward is with Him, and His recompense goes before Him.” And they will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of The LORD; and you will be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.

Ideally, this preparation should have included the proclamation to other nations as well as suggested above. Such preparation should also include a transformation of character as recorded in Mal 3:1, 2 -

Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me.a Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.

Various commentaries appear to agree on this understanding of Isa 40:3. For example, the Pulpit commentary has this:

Prepare ye the way of the Lord. The "way of the Lord" is "the way of holiness" (Isaiah 35:8). There is one only mode of "preparing" it - the mode adopted by John Baptist (Matthew 3:2-12), the mode pointed out by the angel who announced him (Luke 1:17), the mode insisted on in the Collect for the Third Sunday in Advent. The voice enjoins on the prophets of the captive nation to prepare the hearts of the people for the coming manifestation of God.

Benson offers these remarks:

The voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare ye, &c. But, omitting the consideration of the pointing, we may allow, with some interpreters of the first authority, that “the words, in the desert, belong to both parts of the sentence. The voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare ye in the desert the way of the Lord. And the word desert may be understood both in a proper and mystical sense, for it is certain that John proclaimed this approach of the Messiah in a desert, in the wilderness of Judea; and thence took occasion to consider that people, in which the kingdom of God was to be manifested under the figure of a desert, to be levelled before the face of Jesus Christ; for the metaphorical expressions which follow refer to that great preparation of mind which is necessary for the reception of Christ: see Malachi 3:1. That raising the low, that debasing the high, that refutation of all false and erroneous doctrine, and introduction of truth and righteousness, which was the consequence of the revelation of Christ.”

Answer 2

Who will prepare the Way / Derekh (דֶּרֶךְ) in Isaiah 40:3?

In context to Isaiah 40-45, The prophecy of Isaiah / Yeshayahu (יְשַׁעְיָהוּ) is about the restoration of the House of YHVH (בֵּ֣ית יְהֹוָ֔ה) at "Zion" (צִיּ֖וֹן) which is the Temple Mount in Yerushalaim (יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֖ם). - This prophecy is written after we discover in Isaiah 39:6-7 that Meradokh-Baladan (מְרֹאדַ֣ךְ בַּ֠לְאֲדָן) the King of Babel (מֶֽלֶךְ־בָּבֶ֛ל) wanted to take possession of Hezekiah / cHizeqiyahu (חִזְקִיָּהוּ֒) palace treasures & sons.

In Isaiah 45:1, God declares Cyrus / Koresh (כ֣וֹרֶשׁ) to be His-Messiah (מְשִׁיחוֹ֘) that will prepare the way for Yisrael (יִשְׂרָאֵֽל) to return from Babylonian exile to worship Him.

Yeshayahu / Isaiah 45:1

[1] So said YHVH to-His-Meshiach, to-Koresh, whose right hand I held, to flatten nations before him, and the loins of kings I will loosen, to open portals before him, and gates shall not be closed. (כֹּֽה־אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָה֘ לִמְשִׁיחוֹ֘ לְכ֣וֹרֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־הֶֽחֱזַ֣קְתִּי בִֽימִינ֗וֹ לְרַד־לְפָנָיו֙ גּוֹיִ֔ם וּמָתְנֵ֥י מְלָכִ֖ים אֲפַתֵּ֑חַ לִפְתֹּ֚חַ לְפָנָיו֙ דְּלָתַ֔יִם וּשְׁעָרִ֖ים לֹ֥א יִסָּגֵֽרוּ)

We find out in Ezra 1:1-2 that Cyrus / Koresh (כֹּרֶשׁ) the King of Persia (מֶ֣לֶךְ פָּרַ֔ס) is the Voice calling in the wilderness - preparing a Way to rebuild the House of YHVH in Yerushalaim.

Ezra 1:1

[1] And in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, at the completion of the word of YHVH from the mouth of Yiremeyah, YHVH aroused the Spirit of Cyrus, the king of Persia, and he issued a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also in writing, saying ( וּבִשְׁנַ֣ת אַחַ֗ת לְכ֙וֹרֶשׁ֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ פָּרַ֔ס לִכְל֥וֹת דְּבַר־יְהֹוָ֖ה מִפִּ֣י יִרְמְיָ֑ה הֵעִ֣יר יְהֹוָ֗ה אֶת־ר֙וּחַ֙ כֹּ֣רֶשׁ מֶֽלֶךְ־פָּרַ֔ס וַיַּֽעֲבֶר־קוֹל֙ בְּכָל־מַלְכוּת֔וֹ וְגַם־בְּמִכְתָּ֖ב לֵאמֹֽר ):

Ezra 1:2

[2] "So said Cyrus, the king of Persia, 'All the kingdoms of the earth YHVH God of the heavens delivered to me, and He commanded me to build Him a House in-Yerushalaim, which is in Yehudah." (כֹּ֣ה אָמַ֗ר כֹּרֶשׁ מֶ֣לֶךְ פָּרַ֔ס כֹּל מַמְלְכ֣וֹת הָאָ֔רֶץ נָ֣תַן לִ֔י יְהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֣י הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְהֽוּא־פָקַ֚ד עָלַי֙ לִבְנֽוֹת־ל֣וֹ בַ֔יִת בִּירֽוּשָׁלִַ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר בִּֽיהוּדָֽה )