“God’s Magnificence in His Purposed People”
(Isaiah
43:1-7)
August
16, 2020 YouTube
Chapter 42 of Isaiah ends with God explaining to
Jerusalem that His Law is glorious – something to be loved because of Who gave
it and what it tells us about Him – such that we desire to keep God’s Law and
please Him. Also, that Jerusalem is
blind to God’s Law and sinned against God, so she will be disciplined. In discipline, they ought to address the
question of Who is bringing discipline upon them – because it sheds more light
than the question of why and guides towards reconciliation and growth towards
Who God has called His people to be.
But – and so we come to this morning’s text – and there
is something more to say. The discipline
of Jerusalem is not the end of the matter – as we discussed. Discipline is never the end, so Isaiah
introduces God’s speaking – “But.”
And we see that the people of God exist and are redeemed
by God.
“But
now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O
Israel:”
The
Hebrew text of this verse begins, “But now says YHWH.” Isaiah uses that most personal and holy Name
of God that God gives to Moses at the burning bush. Isaiah wants Israel to focus on this being
the God of Moses – the Deliverer – Who is in an intimate relationship with
Israel – with all those who believe.
Then,
in part of reemphasis, Isaiah notes that YHWH created and formed Jacob and
Israel – the people of God.
The
words Isaiah takes are from the creation history we find in Genesis. When he says that YHWH created Jacob and
Israel, he uses the same word that is used in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth” (ESV).
Isaiah
wants them to reflect upon that fact that – just as God spoke everything that
is into existence out of nothing – so God spoke Judah and Israel into existence
out of nothing. They were not a nation
and then God chose them – no – they did not exist – and then God chose a man,
Abraham, and called him to be the father of the nation that is Israel and
Judah. Israel and Judah exist by the
pure Grace of God. They were totally
God’s creation out of nothing to be His people.
Likewise,
Peter describes all believers in this way – as a nation – as a people – as those
called out of nothing to be God’s:
“But
you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own
possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are
God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy”
(1 Peter 2:9-10, ESV). Genesis 2:7
Then
Isaiah again turns to Genesis in saying that God formed Israel and Judah:
“then
the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis
2:7, ESV).
The
creation of humans in the beginning was an intimate creation. God did not merely speak and it was, but God reached
into the dirt and formed the human body and then God breathed life into the man,
and Adam became a living creature.
The
existence of humans to begin with – not to mention our continued existence –
even as we are created in the womb – is an intimate, caring, grace-filled
action from God. God chose – for His own
reasons – to become involved with the physical creation to form some of it into
the first human being. It is through the
loving touch of God that Adam came into being.
Similarly,
all the people of Israel and Judah were formed by God – they were made by God
through Abraham to be the people of God.
As we look at the Bible – God is intimately involved with the people of
Israel and Judah from the beginning. God
is not an absentee God, but God Who is involved in history and even gives His
Word for all people to know and believe and follow.
Again,
we who believe have been formed into believers – we did not come to faith and
believe of our own accord:
“and
made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:6, ESV).
“For
by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it
is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10, ESV).
As
God goes on to say, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by
name, you are mine.”
God
tells Israel and Judah – yes, you are going into captivity for your sins – but
– you are My people that I brought into existence – that I made a people – that
I made for Myself – and though you are going off into captivity for now – I
have redeemed you – while you are yet sinners – I have paid the debt for you –
I have redeemed you. I have called you
by name – I chose a people and chose you
as individuals that I know – you are marked as Mine eternally – no one can
snatch you out of My hands – everyone who ever believes in Me will be Mine
forever.
Paul
writes, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the
ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a
righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to
die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ
died for us” (Romans 5:6-8, ESV).
Now,
the fear they have – we have – is not merely going off into captivity – the
fear is that God will not keep His promises – that, perhaps, God is so angry
that He will get rid of His people and no longer care for them but let them succumb
to the world and its devices.
“No,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I
am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord” (Romans 8:37-38, ESV).
God
is comforting Israel and Judah – and this should be a comfort to each one of us
who believes – each one of us who goes through trials and discipline – God
created us out of nothing – all by Himself.
He made us into the people He wants us to be – all by Himself. And He saves us by Himself by His Work
through Jesus of Nazareth, the Incarnate God.
God
has called each one of us by name who believes and no matter what happens – no
matter what we go through – we are God’s, and nothing will ever separate us
from the Love of God in Christ Jesus. He
made us and redeemed us by Himself and for Himself – that is what He is telling
Israel and Judah! Be comforted! I am God and I always keep My promises – I
caused you to exist and I have redeemed you for Myself. You are forever Mine.
Second,
our trials are nothing to be feared.
Jerusalem
is afraid because they don’t know if God has abandoned them for good for their
sin – so God comforts them that He will never abandon those who He has called
to be His. So, now the question is whether
to fear the actual discipline – the exile – the being taken away into captivity
in a foreign land.
God
tells them – and He tells us – not to fear the trials we go through.
“When
you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they
shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and
the flame shall not consume you.”
Trials
are not to be feared because God is with them – and us. If we are believers – God is with us as we go
through the trials and the discipline in life.
God does not abandon His people to their captors. No, He is with us always. He is our Father Who loves us.
The
first word of this sentence can be translated as “when” or “whenever” – the
idea is that there is not one trial and then everything is fine. No, there will be trials for Jerusalem and
you and me throughout our life on this earth.
And,
it is not a question of “if” these trials will happen but when – everyone suffers
trials – some more and some less. Yet,
God will be with us.
Some
will suffer in waters and rivers and fires and flames – this is shorthand for
every type of trial and suffering.
Whatever way in which you suffer as a believer – God is there with you. God is allowing or causing these trails for
the good of His people – that is the point of discipline.
James
writes, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let
steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4, ESV).
But
notice, God will not allow the water or the fire to consume us. We belong to God, and though we go through
trials now – we will come out of these trials one day. We will not be lost to
our trials.
And
we may wonder about that – as Jerusalem does – our trials may be light – or
severe – or they may even end in our death – it is possible that we will die in
our trials. In the seventy years of
exile, many of the captives do die. God
is not promising that we won’t suffer or be scarred or even die, but that we do
not need to fear the trials.
Why
not?
“For
I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”
Jerusalem
– and we – ought not fear the trials because YHWH is our God – the Sovereign
God of heaven and earth is our God – nothing occurs to us that is outside of
the plan and purpose of God.
And
our God is the Holy God. Nothing that
occurs to us is evil by the Hand of God.
Rather, it is all working together for the good of those who love God
(cf. Romans 8:28). God’s Will and actions are always and only pure and right –
no matter how much pain we may endure for numerous reasons.
And
our God is our Savior. The God Who
allows and causes our trials is the God Who saves His people. No matter what we endure – God has saved His
people and we are saved, and we will never lose our salvation but always and
forever be with Him in the Kingdom.
“I
give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.”
We
ought not fear our trials because God gives the nations is exchange for
Jerusalem – in exchange for His people – you and me. The language here is the language of the
sacrificial system when God speaks of our being cleansed through the covering
of blood. God is willing to shed the
blood of the nations to save His people.
There is no one that God won’t destroy to save His people.
“Because
you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return
for you, peoples in exchange for your life.”
Because
Jerusalem – all of those who ever believe savingly – are precious to God. He loves us with a love that sends His Son to
live and die horrifically that we would be saved.
Why?
“For
you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to
be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the
face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other
people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest
of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath
that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty
hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king
of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 7:6-8, ESV).
Why
did God choose Jerusalem? Why did God
choose you or me? Not due to anything in
us, but because God is faithful and keeps His promises. God chooses and saves His people because God
is God – not due to anything in us or about us.
Paul
writes, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth
comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18, ESV).
Our
trials are nothing to be feared because the Holy God is our God and He has
chosen and saved us by Himself and for Himself because He is Faithful.
Third,
we were created to glorify God.
God
continues to comfort Jerusalem:
“Fear
not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the
west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do
not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the
earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created
for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
The
exile is not coming for over a hundred years – but begin now – God says – begin
now to get it into your heads not to fear.
Don’t be afraid of being exiled – of being disciplined – as we have just
talked about – don’t fear what is coming, but prepare yourselves for it –
understanding this:
God
will forcibly command – that is what the language conveys in the text – God
will forcibly command the north and the south and the east and the west to
release everyone who is a member of the people of God – every believer –
everyone that God will bring into His Kingdom.
Jerusalem
would hear this and remember what Moses says:
“And
when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have
set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD
your God has driven you, and return to the LORD your God, you and your
children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your
heart and with all your soul, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes
and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where
the LORD your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost
parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there
he will take you” (Deuteronomy 30:1-4, ESV).
The
same is true today, Jesus will gather His people at the end of the age to
Himself. Jesus says, “And people will
come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the
kingdom of God” (Luke 13:29, ESV).
“For
the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice
of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in
Christ will rise first. Then we who are
alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore
encourage one another with these words” (I Thessalonians 4:16-18, ESV).
God’s
people are dispersed throughout the world through exile and trial and free
movement, but on that day – whether we are alive or dead – not one of us will
be missed as Jesus gathers the people of Jerusalem after Babylon – and finally,
all believers at the end of the age, so don’t fear – be comforted. All of God’s people throughout time and space
will be gathered with Him.
Why?
The section ends with these words: “everyone who is
called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” And we come full circle in our text.
The reason that God keeps His Promises and saves His
people and gathers us all together is that we are created for His Glory. Humans – believers – and all of Creation – were
created by God so we – so everything – would glorify Him – so everything will
acknowledge and reveal the Character and Attributes of God.
God chose a nation for Himself – Israel, God chose a
people for Himself – God chose each believer throughout time and space – we are
created by Him through Adam and Eve and our parents – and He saves us from His
Wrath in love through Jesus, so we would let all Creation know Who God is – and
do so in awe and thanksgiving, and praise.
And let us notice the patterns – in the beginning of our
text, we saw that God created and formed us – looking back to the Genesis
history. Now here, we are created and
formed and made. And we are chosen to be
God’s.
Notices also the pattern of three – remember this is the
method of emphasis – who is called by My Name, who I created for My Glory, who
I formed and made – emphasizing both the initial Creation and the re-creation –
the restoration that is yet to come at the return of Jesus.
God is preparing Jerusalem for the exile which is to
come. He is giving them over a hundred
years to prepare for their discipline -- this trial. He makes it clear to them that God is the One
Who brought them into existence and redeems them through the Savior. He makes it clear that no matter what happens
in the trails, He is with His people, so we should not fear. And all of the Creation – including humans –
was created to glorify God – especially those that God will gather from the
four corners of Creation and bring into His Kingdom – all we who believe.
So, let us glorify God by trusting Him through discipline
and trial, through faith and obedience, and let our sure hope be in our God and
Savior Who will do everything He has promised.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, as we look at Covid and the other trials of
our lives – some even deserved discipline from the hand of our Loving Father,
we worry about ourselves and how we will come through this. Help us to trust, believing that You have a
purpose for each of us – as You do for Jerusalem – and You will be with us and
bring us to You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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