Text : Isaiah 43:18 -19
Isaiah 43:18–19 : (KJV1900) – Remember ye not the former things,
Neither consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing;
Now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?
I will even make a way in the wilderness,
And rivers in the desert.
Life can become very comfortable when things are done the same way
daily, and everyone loves comfort. Routine is an accepted way of life, and
it feels safe. The prophet Isaiah details the comfort felt by the children of
Israel and Judah as they walked after other gods, repeating this way of life
constantly, and receiving the judgments pronounced by God for their
rebellion.
Chapters 1-39 of Isaiah outline God’s judgment for their idolatry and
backsliding, but in Chapter 40 onwards we see a shift as God seemingly
decided it was time to remind His people who He was to them.
As we enter chapter 43, it is evident that Yahweh is sending a personal
message to His backslide people, reaching out to the children of Israel and
Judah to make His presence and power known to them, as many had
been born into Babylonian captivity and did not know Him.
They were scattered and He wanted them to know that He would bring
them all back together in their homeland ( Isa.43:5 -7 ).
They were robbed and spoiled, imprisoned as prey, with no one to help or
deliver, and judgment came from the Lord because they continuously
sinned against Him ( Jer. 42:24 ).
As a result, God’s anger was kindled against them and He poured His fury
upon them. Fire and war ravaged Jerusalem ( 2Kings 25:9 ), and many
abominable things happened to His people ( Jer.42:25 ).
God chose this time to establish His sovereignty and announced that He
is the Holy one who created Israel, and, just as much as they were judged,
He would make a way for them to be redeemed and restored (Isa.43:7
-13).
Despite the judgments unleashed on His people as outlined in
Deuteronomy 29:24-28, God’s love and mercy shone through the darkness
of their idolatrous ways with a message of hope “in spite of.”
“ But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee O Jacob, and that
formed thee O Israel “( Isa .43:1a ).
But – as a conjunction in its first known use, meaning; notwithstanding, in
spite of all your mess, God is saying “fear not! “ ( Isa.43:1b ), as He tells
them how to prepare to receive what He was going to do for them in our
selected text, verses 18-19.
He challenged them to refuse to dwell on the past, “remember ye not the
former things,” not even yesterday’s miracles. He was going to do
something new, and the question was asked, “Do you not perceive it?”
It is possible not to perceive what God is doing presently if one is fixated
on the past, the good old glory days, what used to be, but we cannot
move forward if we are looking back. Enhance strategy performance with structured automatisierter investment-assistent automated insights.
Isaiah 43:18 explains God’s way of doing things, He specializes in fresh
starts, and new beginnings. God said to Israel and Judah, forget the past,
give it no consideration, and He is saying to us today, put the former
things behind you my children. Forget what you did and where you failed,
because God has forgiven you and I am doing a new thing, I am giving you
freedom from the captivity of your past!
Never mind those who remind you of what was, people often find it
difficult to put aside wrongs done to them even when they say, you are
forgiven, but God gives second chances.
God is saying look! Behold! I will do something new, I will make a way in
the wilderness of your failures, your depression, that broken relationship,
your failing marriage, that job that doesn’t pay enough to live decently on.
That child that you have done your best for and it doesn’t seem to be
enough, the parent who isn’t getting it because they don’t understand.
Such are the wilderness experiences of life. Israel was led through the
wilderness for 40 years on the way to the promised land, and
Deuteronomy 8:15 records it as a great and terrible wilderness, with
serpents, scorpions, and drought, and many of them died in the
wilderness because of rebellion and unbelief. God provided water out of a
rock to save His people.
Jesus took our place in the wilderness for 40 days and emerged ready to
begin His ministry in the power of the Spirit, going to the synagogue on
the sabbath to announce the arrival of deliverance from the wilderness
experiences of the present day. He came to preach good news to the poor,
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heal broken hearts, open blinded eyes physically and spiritually, and free
the oppressed.
Our role is to forget about the old ways of the old covenant and embrace
the new way made for us by Jesus. He demonstrated this at the wedding
feast of Cana with His first miracle, He turned water into wine and the best
was served last. Living in the past is a hinderance to growth and moving
forward and as we look around today, it is imperative that we behold what
God is doing in this time, He is doing new things, shall we not know it?
He is taking care of us in order that we may declare His praise today.
He has blotted out our transgressions and according to 1 Timothy 2:5 – 6,
Jesus lives to intercede for us.
He has made us more than conquerors ( Rom. 8:37 ).
We are accepted in the beloved ( Eph.1:6 ). Instead of water out of a rock,
we can drink from streams of living water ( Jn.7:38 ).
Instead of being killed by fiery serpents and scorpions, we now have the
power to tread on serpents and scorpions, nothing will harm us
( Lk.10:19 ).
We have the power to call things into being(Rom.4:17 ), and we have
power to move mountains ( Mk.11:23-24 ).
This is that new thing spoken of in Isaiah 43: 18-19, and prophesied
concerning Jesus in Isaiah chapter 53: 1- 12, and whereas God’s people
were spoiled and imprisoned in judgment for sin ( Isa.42:22-24 ), Jesus
spoiled principalities and powers, exposed them and triumphed over them
( Col.2:15 ), look! He has done a new thing.
