"Do You Remember?" Sermon: Isaiah 63:7-14 (manuscript)

 

“Do You Remember?”
Isaiah 63:7-14

July 9, 2023 YouTube

          After a few chapters of glorious portraits of the future for all those who believe savingly in the Servant Messiah, Jesus, Isaiah gives a horrific portrait of what will happen to all those who never believe in Jesus for salvation.  They will be put in a wine press and trampled until their blood flows deep and wide – they will endure the Wrath of God.

          After reminding Israel of the wages of sin – the repentance and obedience that must follow salvation – Isaiah tells them to remember.

          “I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.”

          First, they are to remember the steadfast love of the Lord and the praises of the Lord that are given and ought to be given for all that the Lord granted them, and for the great goodness that God has given to the people of Israel according to His great goodness according to His compassion, according to His abundant steadfast love.

          Isaiah tells them to remember all the benefits of being God’s people – all He has given them.  He begins and ends this statement stating, “the steadfast love of the Lord…the abundance of His steadfast love.” The bracket of this statement is that God loves His people – God loves His church – and God will never stop loving them lavishly – God will never forsake His people. 

          Remember all the good that God has lavished upon His people – even us – and the praise He was given and should still be given. God has shown His compassion in underserved mercy to His people.

          Do you remember?  Do you remember what you were and how God chose you and gave you mercy and compassion and His steadfast love – immovable – unchangeable love – even though you have not yet followed God perfectly?  Do you remember praising Him?

          “For he said, ‘Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely.’ And he became their Savior.”

          God chose a people out of Israel – and all we who believe – to be His children.  And the assumption that is stated – though God knows all things – this statement is to expose the sin and remaining sin in His people – they will not deal falsely.  If God has chosen a people to be His out of all the world and become their Savior, surely, they would not sin against God.

          Moses sings on the other side of the Red Sea, “The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him” (Exodus 15:2, ESV).

          Do you remember that God chose you out of all of humanity to save from His Wrath – instead to make you His son or daughter.  Do you remember that God is all-knowing, so He is not surprised that you are not holy yet and will need to be disciplined and instructed as He makes you holy for Him?

“In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”

Much of the imagery in this section comes from the history of the Exodus.  We will remember that Israel had been in slavery in Egypt for four hundred years until God sent and went with Moses to call Pharoah to let Israel go free and to lead Israel out of Egypt and to the Promised Land.

God allowed Israel to be taken into slavery for their sin, but when the time was right, God knew the affliction with which they were afflicted by the Egyptians, and we read, “Then the LORD said, ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites’” (Exodus 3:7-8, ESV).

God loves His people and has pity on them and redeems them, and as God leads Israel out of Egypt that final night, the angel comes through the nation and kills the first-born – except for those who put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and the lintel of their doorways.

Moses sings as he describes the Exodus, “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him” (Deuteronomy 32:11-12, ESV).

Isaiah reminds them what God did in the past to assure them that God has not changed and will do the same as He brings them out of Babylon. God still loves His people and pities them – knows their suffering and wants them to come out of it through the salvation of God. God will lift them up and carry them out of the place of their suffering and discipline when the time is right.

Do you remember a time when you suffered because you deserved it?  Are you going through suffering now?  Do you remember God loving you and pitying you and – eventually – saving you from your suffering?  Do you remembered God lifting you up and bringing you out of your suffering for God’s sake?

“But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.”

Israel rebelled.  We will remember that Israel rebelled again and again – not just throughout the Exodus, but throughout the Scripture, and we rebel as well – every time we sin, we rebel against God.

And when we sin, we grieve God, the Holy Spirit, in which we join in causing the pain and sorrow and distress that Jesus suffered on earth.

Near the end of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he tells them things to do and things not to do, and he says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30, ESV).

(Don’t be confused:  there is a difference between grieving the Holy Spirit and blaspheming the Holy Spirit.  Grieving the Holy Spirit can be forgiven, blaspheming the Holy Spirit cannot.  As Mark records Jesus saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’— for they were saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit’” (Mark 3:28-30, ESV).)

When Israel rebelled against God and grieved the Holy Spirit – causing the Son to suffer – God became Israel’s enemy.  God turned against Israel to punish them – to discipline them. To cause them to turn back to the God Who saves them.

Do you remember a time when you shook your fist at God?  Do you remember a time when you knew God said this and you refused and did what you wanted?  Do you remember a time when you sinned and didn’t care if by grieving the Holy Spirit you approved of the suffering of Jesus?

“Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit,”

With regards to Israel being in captivity in Babylon, God remembered the days of old when something like this happened before – when God sent His people into exile for their sin – and He remembered Moses and his people.

Understand, God does not say to Himself, “Oh, my goodness.  I completely forgot about that.”  No, when we are told that God remembered – it is not the opposite of forgetting here – it is God stating His faithfulness to His people and His Word – paralleling what happened before to what is happening now – and He acts in the same way, because God never changes.

And then questions are asked – paralleling the Exodus with the return from the Babylonian exile – questions that answer themselves.

Where is the God Who brought Israel through the Red Sea with the leadership God gave to Israel? Where is this God?  He is here – bringing His people back through the barrier that keeps them from the Kingdom.

Where is the God Who sent God, the Holy Spirit, to indwell all of the people of Israel who came out of Egypt and believed savingly in the promised Savior?  He is with the people of Israel in Babylon and in their return to the Promised Land, and all those who believe – the saved remnant of Israel – they are indwelled with God, the Holy Spirit, and He never leaves them, but makes them able to be the people of God and to strive after holiness.

Do you remember – after your rebellion – when you came to yourself and repented of your sins to God – that God was right there, as He always is for His people. And as we live with other believers and read the Word of God, He will cause us to remember all the things God has done for His people throughout time and space – the gift of salvation, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, holiness, glorification, and entrance into the fullness of the Kingdom.  Do you remember all that God has done and continues to do for you?

“[Where is He] who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name,”

Israel left Egypt after the tenth plague – the death of the firstborn.  They left quickly and made their way towards the Red Sea, and then they saw the Egyptians riding towards them to take them back into captivity.  But they were facing the Sea, so they feared and cried out that it would be better to be in Egypt than dead.

We read:

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.’

“Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided” (Exodus 14:15-21, ESV).

God told Israel to remember the parting of the Red Sea.  “Remember what I did to save My people from Pharoah. And if you think, well, Moses parted the Sea, remember that I sent the plagues to free you, I hardened the Egyptians hearts, I kept them from overcoming you in the wilderness, and I told Moses to stretch out his hand, and I divided the waters and made dry land, and I did this for My Glory.”

Do you remember that God has done things in your life that only He can do?  Do you remember that God has worked through humans to accomplish His will for you? Do you remember that God is to be glorified for what He has done?

“[Where is He] who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble.”

After the Red Sea parted, the water shot up as a wall to the right and a wall to the left, and God held the water so Israel could walk across dry land to the other side of the Sea. And when the last Israelite made it to the other side, God took the Egyptians who were coming after Israel and put them in the center of the dry ground of the Sea, and God told Moses to raise his arms, and the walls of the Sea crashed down and drown all of the Egyptians and their horses.

 “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.’ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left” (Exodus 14:26-29, ESV).

God tells them to remember the way He delivered them in the past.  Remember how Israel walked on dry ground through the Red Sea, and God eliminated their enemies.  Look at how they went from one side to the other without there being any obstacles in the way – even the obstacle of the Sea God made no more an obstacle. So, it’s no issue for God to bring Israel back from Babylon.

Do you remember a time when you thought there was no way you could get from this point to that point?  Do you remember a time when you thought it would be too hard to accomplish what God calls you to?  Do you remember that “[And I am sure of this, that] he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6, ESV)?

“Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.”

Israel is told to remember that the Spirit of the Lord brought them like livestock down into the valley.  The Holy Spirit was Israel’s Shepherd as He led them to rest in the land of Canaan – the Promised Land. And as God led His people, they glorified God – they made the Name of the Lord glorious – God’s Glorious Name was lifted up among them, because they understood that all good comes from God.  Every good they could do and think and accomplish is a gift from God.  So, God is worthy of all praise.

In the same way, God would lead Israel out of Babylon as His livestock down to the valley.  God would free them from exile and cause them to return by a smooth path and come into a fertile area that God provides for them.

These familiar words may have come to mind – they may have sung them on the way from Babylon to Israel:

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:1-3, ESV).

Do you remember that the Lord is our Shepherd?  Do you remember that His plan for His people is to bring every one of them to green pastures and still waters?  Do you remember that God’s fulfillment of our needs and restoring our soul and leading us in righteousness is all for His Glory – for the praise of His Name?

Israel had been given glorious news about the Kingdom prepared for all those who believe in the Servant Savior.  They were also given the horrific vision of the wicked being trampled by Jesus like grapes in a wine vat. And here, we see that they are told – as they go into captivity and as they live through it and one day return from it – remember what God has done in the past for His people.  Remember the historical events in which God shows His love and power for the sake of His people and to the Glory of His Name.  Remember all these things that have been recorded and know that God has not changed and His love and plan for His people has not changed.

Do we remember that?

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we thank You for giving us Your Word and for the history in it that we would learn what happened and what You have done.  We thank You for giving us this history as examples for us so we would know You better and trust and obey You more.  Help us to remember and not be afraid, but in obedience know You for Who You are and live as Your faithful and obedient people. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.