Double for Her Sins

"Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" says your God.
"Speak comfort to Jerusalem,
and cry out to her that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned;
for she has received from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins." Isaiah 40

Received double what?

It always seemed to me that what you receive for sins is punishment, so she has received double punishment for her sins. Hmmm. That's comfort??? Not to my way of thinking. Well, maybe because she's been good-n-punished, there can't be any more punishment still waiting???

Pastor has told us in previous years that it is double grace. Okay. If he said so. Didn't make much sense to me though.

But today he talked about it more. We might think punishment is due a sinner. But God takes the punishment for our sins upon Himself, and then He dishes out forgiveness for sins. ("For your thoughts are not My thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord.)

And comfort IS the point of the passage. The end of her warfare --and the pardon of her iniquity-- is what the prophets are to speak to God's people. So the double is double grace, double forgiveness, double peace.

Pastor made the point that God's forgiveness is not "just" commensurate with our sin. It's not like He gives us as much grace/mercy as is needed to counterbalance our sin. No, He gives more. A super-abundance. Paul picks up on this notion in Romans 5: But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.