Well, a new year has come…2022…I would say that there may be some people who thought we would never reach this point, but here we are. A new year, a fresh start, new adventures in life.
This morning, we are going to look at a passage of scripture that connects with a time when the Israelites were getting a fresh start, and how it can connect with us today. Not only does the title of the message match the name of our church, but it matches the same message that God gave His people back then, and still is speaking to his people today.
“I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator and King. I am the LORD, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick. But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
What is important to know about this text is the context from which it comes. The Israelites have been in captivity in Babylon for around 70 years, and now the Lord is stepping in and releasing them to go back to their homeland. Chapter 42 ends with God’s sorrow over the spiritual decay of his people. And in chapter 43, God says that despite the people’s spiritual failure, he will show them mercy, bring them back from captivity, and restore them. He would give them an outpouring of love, not wrath. Then the world would know that God alone had done this. (Expand on the grace of God)
This is the second exodus…we know that the first exodus was from the Egyptians and the rule of Pharaoh; this second exodus was from the powerful rulers of Babylon.
The Lord would bring about Israel’s redemption by turning Babylon from being the oppressor to being the oppressed. It was known that the Babylonians had great and glorious ships they would use for trading and commerce on the Persian Gulf and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; however, it would be these same ships that they would use one day to become their means of escape from their enemies. Simply because of the grace of God to redeem His people once again…It begins with a declaration from the LORD himself in verse 15.
“I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator and King.”
God wasn’t sugarcoating or hiding anything with this statement. He was declaring to the people of Israel through His prophet Isaiah that He was still who He said He was from day one. That even though the people turned their backs on God, He didn’t turn His back on them. Yes, they have experienced 70 years of being in captivity, but through all those years, God hadn’t forgotten his people. And now He is ready to restore them to what they once were…but it was clear that it wasn’t they who were getting themselves out of captivity, but it was the command of God that would bring them freedom once again.
I think there are times in our lives where we feel stuck, so we cry out to God for help and for freedom from feeling or being stuck, and then when it happens, we can be very quick to try to snag the credit for becoming free. We need to be reminded, just like the Israelites had to be reminded, it isn’t us who sets us free from our captivity from darkness, death, and sin…but it is the Holy One of heaven that brings freedom to the captive. He is the Lord, the Holy One, our creator and king!
Then God goes on to make a connection that would resonate in deep and mighty ways with the people of Israel…verse 16.
“I am the LORD, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea.”
Once again, we see God declaring boldly who He is and who is doing the redeeming here. There is no room for questions as to who is truly in charge. But God goes on to reference something that these people would have grown up hearing about: the first time he set the people free from slavery and bondage, the first exodus.
However, it was also a way to indicate how God would set them free from their current bondage. How the LORD would make a way through the waters of Israel, as the Babylonians would flee from their enemies in their boats down the rivers. God had used water to set the Israelites free from the Egyptians in the Red Sea when he destroyed the chariots and horsemen of Pharaoh…and now God has chosen the same means to set His people free once again; water.
But then we see God kind of flip the focus, so to speak, in verses 18-19. Where in verses 16-17 He is putting the focus on what He did in the past…in verses 18-19 God shifts the focus to the future.
“But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun!”
The former exodus was great, but the coming exodus will be even greater. Something new that would take the people of God from brokenness to wholeness again, from bondage to freedom, from a foreign land to their homeland, from uncomfortable to comfortable.
I think today is a great time to look back over last year and see where God has brought us from, but it is also a great time to identify that what God has for us in our days ahead and the blessings of God that we can experience this year are nothing compared to what we have experienced in the past.
We, as a people of God,d must not look back and hold tightly to the great things that God has done in our past…those blessings were great, and they got us out of a lot of messy situations…but we must keep our eyes focused on the future and all that God has for us already. Blessings He has already begun working on, blessings we cannot see, but know are coming as long as we remain faithful to Him.
You see, it was because of a lack of faith and lack of spiritual discipline that the Israelites found themselves in captivity to Egypt and Babylon…and it is that same lack of faith and same lack of spiritual discipline that we find ourselves in captivity to our enemy. It is by going our own way and doing what we desire rather than the way and desire of God that we allow ourselves to be ripped from our homeland with God and bound in slavery to something we call sin.
Yet, we have a God who is still on the throne, who is still in control, and who has already begun to prepare blessings for us even while we are where we are. The past two years have been a challenge to everyone…we have witnessed a global pandemic, the shutdown of our cities, states, and countries. We have had friends, co-workers, and loved ones pass away. We have been kept out of our office buildings and school, we have possibly even lost our jobs due to cuts and downsizing, and for a time, we even had to endure being away from our church buildings and worship services together.
We can easily look back and relive the heartache and pain that a virus, an election, and personal decisions have caused…and through the darkness we may still be able to see the moments of grace and blessing as we declare that God still has a plan for our lives…but church we can also look into our future and see that God is already standing there, with arms wide open, working on our behalf to give us a brighter day ahead! We can ask ourselves the same question that God was asking His people…Do you not see it?
Do you not see everything that God has brought you through this past year…Do you not see all the nights you spend thinking you were alone, when God was right there…Do you not see all the times where the bills were stacking up, and yet somehow the money came in at just the right moment…Do you not see all the times when you couldn’t go where you wanted to go, God was using that time to slow you down so that you could hear his voice once again above all the noise of a busy calendar. Do you not see that if God has been with you through all to this point, He will surely be with you going forward in greater ways you can’t even imagine?
Lastly, the promise comes forth in the last half of verse 19...
“I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
You see, the fundamental principles of the divine activity are changeless, but the outward shape of that activity alters with the changing needs of God’s people. God affirms—in detail and with emphasis on the deadly efficiency of his deeds—that he was the God of the Exodus, but he also asserts the wonderful freshness of his new act in prospect. He had made a way through the waters; now he would make a way through the desert! Water, formerly a barrier, would not be a blessing, with God as its source.
God was now back in control of His chosen nation…they had truly learned their lesson of selfishness and were truly sorry for their lack of faith and trust. The goodness of God stepped in at just the right moment and began a new work in their lives. He began carving out a new path for them to walk through, and even during the wasteland that is the desert, God himself would create rivers of new life!
This past year or two may have felt like we were in captivity…the war against Christianity, the war against the church, the war against our emotions that seemed to turn every choice we made into a debate with someone else. We may have entered 2022 feeling like we are wandering around in the wilderness of life…yet, let me encourage you, church…God is already making a pathway through the wilderness, and He is already creating rivers in our dry and weary lands.
We can look ahead and see the goodness of God still calling your name to not give up, to not give in, to never quit, to keep fighting. The mirage of the blessings of God is not fake, but oh so real! It is because you have fought the good fight, you have kept running your race, you have kept your eyes on the Lord and turned back to Him when you stumbled and fell short of His glory once again, that you can now have a chance to step into a new tomorrow and experience blessings from God that you have never experienced before.
You just have to do what the Israelites had to do…they had to trust in God once again, they had to turn back to Him once again…they had to follow His pathway once again. And just like they eventually found themselves back to the promised land, if you keep trusting, if you keep following His pathway, you will once again return to your promised land and bask in the river of God’s blessing so that 2022 can become the greatest year in your entire life.
But it begins with a choice…we will either stay where we are and remain comfortable with the captivity…or we will choose to step out and begin making those changes that need to happen in our lives for the glory and purpose of God in your life.
So, the question this morning is, as you enter into this new year…where is your focus at? Are you stuck in the past, holding on to all the great things God has done for you before, not believing that He has even greater blessings for you today and tomorrow?
Are you feeling like you are still in captivity and your enemies still surround you…maybe, perhaps you have become so comfortable in your captivity that you have allowed Satan to convince you that God has given up on you? Can I tell one thing…He hasn’t…He is right here waiting with open arms for you to choose Him again.
Are you wandering through the dry wilderness, doing your very best to simply survive? Can I tell you this morning…God is making your paths and leading you to rivers of new life today! Just keep going!
The blessings of God are just over the new horizons that are in your future, and as long as you continue to follow Him, continue to come back to Him, and continue to live the very best you can for Him, it doesn’t matter what your past looks like, the grace and forgiveness of God can meet you where you are at, and take you to step into those new blessings so that you can once again live in your promise land.
