"Hope" Sermon: Isaiah 44:1-5 (manuscript)

 

“Hope”

[Isaiah 44:1-5]

September 13, 2020 YouTube

            At the end of chapter forty-three, God explains to Israel and Judah that they are sinners and God is Holy, so they must be punished for their sin.  They cannot justify themselves – and neither can we.  But God will cause a people to be saved.  God will pay the debt to God for sin and credit His people with righteousness.  God will forgive them for His Own Sake.  We know this happens through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.

            As chapter forty-four opens, God again comforts Israel and Judah.

            First, God tells Israel and Judah not to fear.

            It would be normal for them to fear.  They were going to be attacked and conquered and taken into a foreign country as captives for seventy years.  Who wouldn’t be afraid of that surety? Don’t we fear now as Covid continues to rage and no one really has any answers as to how to stop it or cure it?

            God says as we face war and disease and whatever else, we should not fear.

            Why not?

“But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen! Thus says the LORD who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.”

God addressed both kingdoms and tells them not to fear the Babylonian exile.

They are not to fear because they are the servant of God. God gave them the high calling of being the people who served God by receiving His Law, witnessing it to the world, announcing the coming of the Savior, and having the Savior come through the people of Israel and Judah as God promised and the prophets foretold.  God chose them to be the people who obey and announce God to the nations.

And so, we should not fear because we live after the coming of the Savior, Jesus, and He has charged all Christians to be His servants and to spread the Gospel to the whole world.  You and I – as the spiritual Israel – have been chosen to obey and announce God to the nations.

Peter writes, “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God” (I Peter 2:16, ESV).

They are not to fear because they are chosen of God. God chose them as a people to be holy – to be separate – to be strangers in a strange land – to be different – to call attention to themselves for the sake of the Word of God and the promise of His salvation.

We also have this call upon us – as believers – we are to be a holy people, set apart, a people that the world looks at and says, “you’re different.”

Peter talks about the restoration of the world at the return of Jesus and says, “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,” (II Peter 3:11, ESV).

They are not to fear because God made them and formed them. We have seen this language before – that not only was humanity – beginning with our first parents – create by God out of the dust of the earth, but each individual is created by God in the womb, and God made and formed Israel to be the nation through which He gave the Law and the prophets and the Savior.

Of the individual being made and formed, David writes:

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16, ESV).

And of the making and forming of a people for God through which He works and makes Himself and His salvation known, Peter writes:

“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” (I Peter 2:9-10, ESV).

God made and formed His people for Himself and to His Glory and that includes all who believe – you and me.  So, we should not fear – God has made us for Himself.

And they are not to fear because God will help them.

This is a theme throughout the Scriptures, despite the sin of Israel and her need for discipline – and ours as well.

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him” (Psalm 28:7, ESV).

“As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!” (Psalm 40:17, ESV).

“for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy” (Psalm 63:7, ESV).

“My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2, ESV).

John Calvin says that God is never so angry with His Church that He doesn’t have some room for mercy.

And the author of Hebrews tells us, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So, we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5-6, ESV).

Yes, war is coming.  Yes, you will be conquered.  Yes, you will be taken into captivity.  Yes, this is My discipline of you. But don’t fear – you are My servant – My chosen people – and you will always be the ones I chose.  I formed you and made you from the womb to be My people and you will always be mine, not matter what you go through.  And even in your captivity and during your discipline, I am your Helper.  I will help you to endure your discipline and come out the other side.

God says this to Israel and to all who believe:  You are My servant – part of My chosen people – the ones I chose from the womb.  I knew you and chose you to be a part of My people before You began to exist.  And I am now and will always be your Helper.  Trust in the promises of God – rely on the promises of God.

Don’t fear.  Endure by the Promises of God.

Second, hope in the promise of a blessed future.

The hope in the promise of a blessed future is another reason for Israel and Judah not to fear – as is our hope in the promise of a blessed future a reason for us not to fear.

God gives Israel and Judah the promise of luxuriant blessing:

“For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.”

God tells them that He will pour out water on the parched ground – He will refresh them with spiritual blessing.  God will cause their dry, desiccated hearts to come to life and refresh them – plump them up – bring them back to life and fill them with spiritual blessing.  He will revive them and cause them to flourish.

And not just that generation, but the day will come when the descendants of these people will not only be spiritually refreshed, but God the Holy Spirit will dwell in them to work the Will of God in them and to grow them to spiritual maturity and into the likeness of Jesus, the Savior.

Peter quotes from the book of Joel:

“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy’” (Acts 2:17-18; ESV).

Blessings shall be poured out on all the people of God – everyone who believes savingly in the Promised Savior.  This is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham:

“I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:17-18, ESV).

You and I – if we believe that Jesus is God the Savior – we are some of the offspring that God promised Abraham He would pour His blessings upon and fill with God the Holy Spirit.

“They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.”

Albert Barnes explains, “Willows are usually planted in such places, and grow rapidly and luxuriantly. It denotes here, abundant increase, vigor and beauty; and means that their posterity would be greatly blessed of God” (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/isaiah/44-4.htm).

We see this imagery in Psalm 1:

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:1-3, ESV).

God pours out His blessings on the people of God and grows us.  That does not mean we will never suffer, nor does it mean we won’t be disciplined.  After all, our Father loves us.  But it means that we are blessed and will always be the Lord’s and be received into His Kingdom eternally.

“This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’s,’ another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and name himself by the name of Israel.”

God chose the nation of Israel, but not all of Israel was spiritual Israel.  God has chosen the Church, but not every person in the church is a believer in the Savior.  But all those who genuinely believe will confess the Lord with their mouth and believe in Him in their hearts.

The name of the Savior will be written on their hand and their head, and all will know that they are of the Lord.

This imagery is carried into the New Testament as we read in Revelation:

“Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless” (Revelation 14:1-5, ESV).

We don’t need to get tattoos – the writing of the name on our foreheads is symbolic – like the rest of Revelation – it means that they are the true believers.  And the number of people is symbolic of all the people who will ever believe – not merely that small number.

Israel and Judah – the true believers – had nothing to fear – no matter what they were to endure – even death – because God pours out His blessings upon them.  So, we have nothing to fear – no matter what we must endure – because God still pours out His blessings – in His time – as He knows we need them – on every true believer.

And Israel and Judah had hope – because the Promise of God was of a blessed future.  Even if they died – what was that?  They still had a blessed future with God.  So, we have the promise of a blessed future through Jesus, the Lamb of God, our Savior.  All who believe in Jesus will be with Him in Glory forever – whether we die before He returns or are received alive into the Kingdom.

Let us be comforted with these words and let us comfort each other with these words.  As we face a – seemingly more – uncertain future than usual in the Covid world.

We are the servants of God, chosen, made, and formed by Him for Himself, and He is our help, and He has promised us a blessed future.  Have hope in Jesus even if we must weep among the dead of war and be taken into captivity.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, help us to believe everything Your Word says, to learn from what You have done among Your people in the past, and to believe Your promises with hope.  As the world looks on and is dismayed by how strange we react to devastating news, help us to put our hope in You forward that all will know that You are our God and our hope is in You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.