Isaiah 43
A New Work
Redeemed You Vs. 1-7
My Witnesses Vs. 8-13
Transformed Vs. 14-21
Merciful Vs. 22-28
Intro:
Let me ask you a question: Are you a an Early Adapter or an Antique lover?
Would you rather tussle around in a thrift shop looking for bargains or buy it new off the shelf
Would you rather have a old classic car or the latest model
Do you squeeze the toothpaste from the bottom or strangle it from the middle?
That last question has nothing to do with where I’m going, just a personal survey
Cause all you middle tube squeezers need help
When it comes to new or old there isn’t a right answer
I am a new person and to be honest thrift stores scare me to death
My wife on the other hand is the polar opposite
She is like Punxsutawney Phil waiting for Garage Sale season to heat up
If thrift stores had customers of the month she would have her picture right up there
We could debate the pros and cons of new vs old all day
But what happens when something new comes about? Do we resist it or do we jump all over
This morning Isaiah is prophesying about a new work that God is going to do
Interestingly though this new work is intended to reestablish an old relationship
God introduces the work that his son is going to do
In an attempt to restore the relationship with God that He intended in the garden
God has a away of bringing the old and new together and making it work
This morning we see an OT version of the NT Gospel
Read Is 43:1-5
Transition:
Isaiah is often referred to as the Fifth Gospel
There is so much about Jesus and the Good News in these last 26 chapters that is seems like you are reading one of the Gospels
Last week we saw Jesus as a servant
Today we are going to see the Gospel laid out
The Gospel is God’s plan for Redemption, Opening our Eyes, Transforming our lives, and his infinite mercy
At the time Isaiah prophesied, Babylon was an up-and-coming world power.
Before they would be judged, they would be a world dominating super-power.
How could Israel be confident that God was up to the job of delivering them and judging Babylon?
All they had to do was look at God’s great works in the past, such as when He made a way in the sea - when He parted the Red Sea so Israel could cross and escape the Egyptian armies
Isaiah powerful brings up these images when he writes of the chariot and the horse, the army and the power of these enemies of God’s people, and how they shall lie down together … they are extinguished.
Just as God overwhelmed the Egyptian armies that had enslaved Israel, so would He judge the Babylonians also.
Redeemed You vs. 1-7
The first aspect of the gospel we see is the Christ Redeemed you
Not only did Israel have obligation to God as their Creator, by also as their Redeemer.
He is the one who bought them out of literal exile and spiritual slavery.
He redeemed them
English words derived from a Latin root meaning “to buy back,”
Thus meaning the liberation of a person, usually by payment of a ransom.
The redeemer bought an unfortunate relative out of their slavery and debt.
He rescued them, and paid the slave price or debt they could not pay.
When God calls Himself our Redeemer, it looks forward to the price that must be paid for our salvation.
Gal 4:4-5 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons
But Jesus didn’t just pay the tab of our sin
His redemption carries with it so much more
Vs. 1b I have called you by your name; You are mine: God twice owns His people.
He has right of ownership both as Creator and Redeemer.
His ownership is personal, because He says I have called you by your name.
His ownership is certain, because He seals it by saying You are mine.
Knowing we belong to the LORD is a wonderful answer to fear.
We can know that He holds us, protects us, guards us, and cares for us.
We can know that He would not have created, redeemed, and called us unless He intended to finish His work in us.
How can we be afraid when we know this God is for us, is looking out for our interests?
Vs. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you:
Through any potential obstacle, God will be with us.
Deep waters? I will be with you.
Vs. 2b Must you walk through the fire? Then you shall not be burned.
When God is with us, He is for us, and who can be against us?
Israel had and would have their trials, but we have ours also.
Trials are inevitable; it doesn’t say if you pass through the waters, it says when you pass through the waters.
It says God will be with us in the toughest of circumstances.
Trials are varied; sometimes we face waters, sometimes rivers, and sometimes fire.
Floods overwhelm, fires consume.
Vs. 4 Since you were precious in My sight:
God here describes the motivation for His work of redemption.
He loves us! We are precious in His sight!
This is an Old Testament example of the truth in John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.
To prove His love for His people, God was willing to give Egypt, Cush, and Seba as a ransom for Israel.
These three nations may symbolize Israel’s great worth, or they may have been named in anticipation of the subsequent Persian conquests.”
Vs. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east:
God’s presence and blessing with Israel would also be demonstrated by unleashing the shackles of their exile.
They could have hope for the future because they knew they were called by the name of the LORD, and they were created for His glory.
Vs. 7 Whom I have created for My glory means that God not only has created us, but that He has created us for a purpose.
If we have no Creator, then we are purposeless; but God has created us and He did it for a purpose, creating us for His glory.
This means that when we are glorifying God, we are fulfilling the purpose we were created for, and will therefore be the most happy and fulfilled
My Witnesses vs. 8-13
the second aspect of the gospel we see is that he opens blind eyes and makes us witnesses
Vs. 8 Bring out the blind people who have eyes:
Previously, in Isaiah 42:19, the LORD spoke of His blind and deaf servants, who had willingly closed their eyes and ears to His truth and ways.
Now, God tells these blind and deaf servants of His come forth - with all the nations who will be gathered together.
What do they come together for? Who among them can declare this, and show us former things?
Let them bring out their witnesses. God invites both His blind, deaf people and the nations to prove Him wrong or themselves right in their rejection of Him.
It is if God is saying, “You have chosen to worship and honor other gods.
Come before Me now and justify yourself. Bring plenty of witnesses.”
Interestingly these blind servants will be used as his witnesses
Witness: Any person having knowledge of the truth willing to testify to that truth
A witness is a passive observer of what someone has done, and Israel had seen the great works of God.
Psalm 66:16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
And My servant that I have chosen that you may know and believe Me:
But they were more than passive observers; God called Israel to be His servant.
That was why they were chosen - not to sit around and glory in their chosenness, but to serve the LORD, and to know the LORD and believe Him in every way.
Acts 10:42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.
Therefore, you are My witnesses:
If Israel would remember that only the LORD has ever rescued them, the would not be so quick to turn to other gods and to turn away from the LORD.
We should all be witnesses to the saving, rescuing, and healing work of the LORD.
Indeed, before the day was, I am He:
God’s credentials go beyond His saving work on behalf of His people.
He comes before time itself. Before there was ever a day, God was.
So His strength is infinitely greater than anyone else’s; He can rightly say there is no one who can deliver out of My hand.
When God does something, no one will reverse it.
Transforms Us vs. 14-21
The third aspect of the Gospel that we see is that he does a new work in us, transforms us
Vs. 14-17 Thus says the Lord
I will redeem you from Babylon and bring them down
I will make a way in the sea and path in the mighty waters
This is a reference to the Red Sea
He continues by reminding them how he rescued them from Egypt by drowning Pharaoh
This teaches us that we can always justify trusting God right now by remembering the great things He has done.
It also teaches us that we never want to oppose the LORD, or His people
Vs. 18 Do not remember the former things:
As Isaiah writes prophetically to Israel, they were mired in the desperate circumstances of captivity and exile.
God wants to put their eyes on the new work He will do, so it begins with a reminder to not remember the former things.
If they are stuck in the failure and sin and discouragement of the past, they will never go forward to the new thing God has for them.
It is a fascinating - and instructive - switch between Isaiah 43:16-17 and Isaiah 43:18.
In Isaiah 43:16-17, Israel is told to look to the past by remembering the great things God did for them at the Red Sea.
But in Isaiah 43:18, they are told, Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.
This shows us that there is a sense in which we must remember the past, in terms of God’s great work on our behalf.
There is also a sense in which we must forsake and forget the past, with all its discouragement and defeat, and move on to what God has for us in the future
Vs. 19a Behold, I will do a new thing:
God wants to do a new work in your life
Staying stuck in the past can keep us from the new thing God wants to do.
If Israel stayed stuck in the discouragement and seduction of Babylon, they would never look for the new thing of release from exile.
He wants to transform your life after he redeems it
That transformation starts from within and moves outside
2 Cor 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Shall you not know it? God asks the same question today.
“Will you stay in step with My Spirit? When He leads into something new, shall you not know it?”
I will even make a road in the wilderness:
Between the captivity in Babylon and the return to Israel lay hundreds of miles of wilderness.
God’s people didn’t need to be afraid, because God would make a road in the wilderness, provide rivers in the desert, and even protect His people from animals, because the beast of the field will honor Me, the LORD says.
This passage has in view Israel’s prophesied deliverance from Babylon, but also more than that. It also has in mind the ultimate deliverance, brought by the Messiah.
Merciful vs. 22-28
The final aspect that wee today is that he is merciful to us
But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob:
Who, and when, is Isaiah speaking to?
He may have come out of the prophetic future into the prophetic present, and may be speaking to the people of Judah in his own day.
He may still be speaking in the prophetic future, and rebuking the hard-hearted complacency of many of the Babylonian exiles, most of whom had no interest in returning to the Promised Land.
And you have been weary of Me:
In the flesh, sometimes we regard serving and obeying the LORD as a weary thing.
We feel it is such a burden to serve the LORD.
We think we are so bad off following His ways, and feel so oppressed and afflicted.
Sometimes people say, “I just need to take a break,” and essentially mean that they need to take a break from the LORD!
When we feel like this, it is certain evidence that we are not in step with Jesus, and the true nature of Jesus.
He said, Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)
If following God always seems like some great, weary burden - then you really aren’t following Him.
You have no brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings:
When we are weary of the LORD like this, it often shows in our giving, and in immorality
I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions … I will not remember your sins:
What will God do with such a hard-hearted people?
He will forgive them at the earliest opportunity.
He will forget their sins.
Despite all the sin and disregard for God, He still loves His people, and longs for their humble return.
I will not remember your sins: How can God forget?
By simply choosing to not remember.
God has forgotten our sin as being fully paid for by what Jesus endured on the cross.
We can forget our sin also, and put it far from us.
Matt 9:13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Rom 9:15-17 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Closing:
