One thing that I’ve been recently amazed by is God’s undying
goodness to us. Stop. Read that last sentence again. Think about it. God’s.
Undying. Goodness. To.
Us. Can you just stop and think
about how good God is? When was the last
time you thanked God for His sacrifice?
When was the last time you actually meditated on the fact that He covers
us in unfathomable love that we can’t even begin to try to understand? When was the last time you thought about how
that love knifes through all of our murky sin and unfaithfulness and how He
still loves us the same? Stop. Think about it.
Now read on.
Isaiah 43 is my favorite chapter in the entire Bible. The beauty of Christ’s love to a prostituted
Israel that spit in God’s own face is heartbreaking. Overwhelming.
In the middle of Israel’s sin, debauchery, and unfaithfulness that gave
God every right to completely destroy them we have Isaiah 43.
“But
now thus says the LORD, he who
created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have
redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
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. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 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. 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.” Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears! All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true. “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God. Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?” Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.” Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise. “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel! You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense.
You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities. “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right. Your first father sinned, and your mediators transgressed against me. Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary, and deliver Jacob to utter destruction and Israel to reviling.”
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. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 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. 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.” Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears! All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true. “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God. Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?” Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.” Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise. “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel! You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense.
You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities. “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right. Your first father sinned, and your mediators transgressed against me. Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary, and deliver Jacob to utter destruction and Israel to reviling.”
If
that doesn’t stir the emotions within you, read it again. Concentrate on God’s message to an
unrepentant Israel. If you read the history
of Israel you will see them turn away from God time and time again and lose
their faith in Him. This unfaithfulness
begins right after Israel’s exodus in Exodus 14:11 when the Israelites see the
Egyptians pursuing them. Remember, God just brought them miraculously out of
captivity in Egypt and they say to Moses (and God), “It would have been better
to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” Throughout the rest of Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and
2 Chronicles Israel turns its back on God time and time again. They make other idols, they worship other
idols, they plunder their enemies when they’re not supposed to, they complain
about having no food, they whore themselves out to other nations, they practice
witchcraft…I mean, these Israelites used Jesus like a spiritual friend with
benefits. They praised Him when it
convenience them, but most of the time was spent spitting in His face and
throwing His love away.
Then
in the middle of this, in the middle of Isaiah’s ministry to the Israelites God
speaks through Isaiah and we get Isaiah 43.
Look at the first verse alone, “But now thus says the Lord, He who
created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have
called you by name, you are mine.”
Wow. Even through Israel’s
unfaithfulness God still loves them like a son.
“I’ll be with you,” He says. “I
will not remember your sins,” He says.
Talk about the love that goes beyond our understanding!
Put
it in today’s language. You’re married
to the person of your dreams. As some of
my EBC friends would say, “Perfect for you in every way, in every way…”. Every little thing that you’ve ever wished to
find in someone else is in this person, and more. So much more.
You are beside yourself with love for this person and you can hardly
believe your life to be true. How did
you get so lucky? This isn’t just your
dream person, it’s everyone else’s dream spouse as well. Your friends can see the mental and spiritual
beauty in this person and congratulate you wholeheartedly on your “catch”. You’re beside yourself with joy and the
rapture of human love.
But
here’s the thing, six months into the marriage you find out that this person,
your true love has been cheating on you.
Not only once or twice, but consistently. With multiple partners. How do you feel? You gave everything you had to love this
person and felt like it was reciprocated, but was it a lie? Is the relationship fake? After confronting this person and tearfully
making your way through a long process of healing you feel as if everything is
going to be okay. Unfortunately a week
later you find out that the cheating has not stopped, but gotten worse. How do you feel now?
As
humans we would be inclined to throw in the towel right away and get out of the
relationship. Who wants to live with a
broken heart anyway? This is the way it
was for the Israelites. Israel is the
cheating spouse and God is the brokenhearted victim. But unlike humans, God doesn’t give up. He chooses to look past the cheating, past
the unfaithfulness, and past the broken relationship and remain with the
spouse. No matter how many times Israel
cheats on God, God is faithful to Israel and he doesn’t give up. No, He doesn’t give up. He doesn’t give up on Israel, and He doesn’t
give up on us.
Are
you beginning to get a picture of how loving and forgiving and merciful and
graceful God is? Good. Read Isaiah 43 another time. And another.
Begin to get that picture of love that God had for Israel and has for
us. Equate yourself with Israel. Recognize how unfaithful to God you are and
picture Isaiah 43 being written to you.
Let it hit home just how much God loves you.
To
be continued…
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