31. Who Will Go for Us?

Read Isaiah 40:1-5 slowly. Its opening words bring comfort to a people in trouble: God speaks of pardon, a finished time of hardship, and a way being prepared for his arrival. The wilderness is not the end of the story. God promises to come, and his glory will be seen by all people. The passage gives hope because God acts and keeps his word.

Mark opens by applying Isaiah’s promise of a prepared way to John the Baptist. John calls people to turn back to God and points beyond himself. In Heiser’s framing, John’s role as a messenger who stands in God’s council belongs to the larger story that reaches its turning point in Jesus. The point for a reader is not to make John the center, but to notice how the Gospel presents Jesus as the one whose arrival fulfills God’s saving purpose.

Heiser also considers how astronomy and astral theology intersect with Gospel events. One connection to examine is the star associated with Jesus’ birth in Matthew 2. That account invites readers to ask what the star signals within the story and how the visitors respond. It does not establish that the whole gospel is encoded in the stars; Heiser rejects that claim. Let Scripture set the limits: read Matthew’s account closely, then compare it with Isaiah’s promise and Mark’s presentation of John. Ask what each passage actually says before drawing a conclusion.

Isaiah’s plural commands—comfort, speak, cry, prepare, make straight—give the promise a public, shared shape. God’s rescue is announced; the messenger does not invent it. That matters when we hear bold claims about signs, symbols, or spiritual powers. A compelling pattern is not proof by itself. Check whether the proposed meaning fits the passage and the wider witness of Scripture.

This can be a patient kind of faith. You do not need to solve every question about the heavens to trust the God who promises comfort and reveals his glory. You can stay curious while asking careful questions: Who is being pointed to? What does the text say? Does the reading honor Jesus and the message of Scripture?

As you read Chapter 31, keep those questions nearby. Notice how Heiser connects Jesus to the book’s account of God’s plan, and where he discusses John’s prophetic role and the heavens in Gospel events. Then return to the passages themselves. Isaiah promises a prepared way; Mark shows John preparing it; the Gospel directs attention to Jesus. Let that movement shape your hope and your reading.