Isaiah 43:16-21: This is what the Lord says—he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, 17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am dong a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
20 The wild animals honour me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.
At the time this prophecy was given Isaiah and the other Jews were captives in Babylon. They were living under a set of circumstances that were difficult for them. They longed to be back in Jerusalem—their homeland. At that time such a dream seemed like an absolute impossibility.
Through Isaiah God is speaking a word of assurance and encouragement to His people.
1. Remembering the Past
He begins by reminding them of His past faithfulness.
16 - 17 “This is what the LORD says-- he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, 17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:”
This is not the first time God’s people had experienced hardship. Whilst they were slaves in Egypt life was rough. The Egyptians were hard taskmasters.
Listen to what God said to Moses when He met with him at the burning in Exodus 3:7 “The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.”
When God’s people are hurting God sees it and God feels it.
Is 63:9 the prophet talks about God’s heart toward His people, “In all their distress he too was distressed and thee angel of His presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”
If there is anybody hurting here this morning I want you to understand God’s heart toward you. He feels the pain you feel and He cares about what you are going through.
In our text, these people are not only being reminded that God cares but also that God is able. At the time of the Exodus Egypt was the most powerful nation on earth. There was no way that Israel could have risen up and broke free from their bondage. Egypt’s chariots and horses and army were there to insure nothing like that would ever happen.
Humanly speaking it was a hopeless situation that God’s people were in. But God felt their pain and intervened in their behalf. Everything changed because God acted.
There are times when we need to act in obedience to God’s directive. But their are times when God rises up and acts on behalf of His people.
When God lifted His arm in behalf of His people 10 Plagues feel on Egypt. God brought them out just as He said He would. When Pharaoh and his army tried to pursue them they were destroyed.
Ex 15:1-2: Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. 2 “The Lord is my strength and my defence, he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The result of God’s work on behalf of His people was worship and praise. They rejoiced together in what God had done.
So, on the one hand, our text tells us to remember the past—remember it so that we know the faithfulness of God. He is from everlasting to everlasting. He changes not. The same God who delivered their forefathers can and will deliver them.
The promises He spoke over them were still in force. The promises God has spoken over this church are still in force. The promises that God has spoken over your life are still in force.
But ironically, our text also tells us to forget about the past.
2. Relinquishing the Past!
Is. 43:18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”
It is a good thing to draw lessons from our past. We can learn from past experience. It is a good thing to encourage ourselves in the faithfulness of God by remembering what He’s done for us.
But life is to be lived in the now! No matter how bad or how good things were in the past that is not where we are now.
For these people they needed to embrace the hope God had set before them for the future.
They were living in the past Exodus when God was about to give them a present Exodus.
Quotes: "I've got my faults, but living in the past isn't one of them. There is no future in it." (Sparky Anderson, (1934-) U.S. baseball manager).
"The past is what you remember, imagine you remember, convince yourself you remember, or pretend you remember." (Harold Pinter, (1930-2008) English dramatist).
The danger of living in the past is that the present will not live up to our perceptions of the past or the pain of the past will always entrap us.
We need to keep this in balance. We can see extraordinary parallels with the past and present in this church. We have highlighted those a few weeks ago.
Habakkuk 3:2: Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.
Deuteronomy is a repeat of Exodus to a new generation so they could understand the Law.
Ezra read the Law to a new generation too (Nehemiah 8:18).
We must always remember this: what was promised in the past becomes a new thing to the present generation!
3. Reality of the Present
Is. 43:19 “See, I am doing a new thing!....”
If we’re too focused on the past we have a hard time embracing the future.
What new thing is God doing in the now? God is not limited to His past performance.
Illustration: At home I have a copy of my old CV, with certificates for various courses. When I would apply for a job I would give a copy of that to impress the prospective employer. Why? My past was all I had to go on until I had build up a record with them.
But God is not bound to His past performance. He has all kinds of fresh, creative ways to bless His people. He is about to move upon a pagan king named Cyrus and bring His people back into the promise land.
In the second part of verse 19 God asks, “Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”
Don’t miss that first word—now—not tomorrow—not someday—but right now it is beginning to bud forth. You may not be able to see the full realisation of it right now. But can you see that it is beginning to happen?
“Do you not perceive it?” Sometimes new things are birthed secretly. They happen buried in our hearts.
Quote: "I did not even inform the hospital superintendent what we were doing." Christiaan Barnard, (1922-2001) South African doctor On performing first heart transplant.
Why? Because they would not have got permission! Yet thousands of people have now benefited from heart transplants. But two men took a risk – Christiaan Barnard and Louis Washkansky, the 58 year old recipient of the heart, who died 18 days after the operation.
Was the risk worth it? Ask a present day recipient of a donor heart!
I was seeking the Lord for the church. I felt the Lord drop this into my heart as I was praying about the changes in our church:
“There has been organisational change, but there needs to be motivational change.”
It is one thing to change the way we do things, but it is in the heart that the real changes have yet to take place.
We may struggle with this a little. But our very lives are lives of newness!
4. The Revitalising of the Present
What is God doing?
Is. 43:19b-20 “I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. 20 The wild animals honour me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen…”
He is making a way where there seems to be no way. He is doing the impossible.
Wastelands are wastelands because they have no streams. If you try to cross the dessert you can die of thirst. There was no way these Babylonian captives could make their way to Jerusalem on their own. They felt like they were in an impossible situation.
God says: “I can change your wasteland and make it a Garden of Eden. I can put rivers of water where there used to be only dust. Will you acknowledge that I can do that for you?”
Why would God put streams in the desert? To give drink to His people! It is always about His people. Yes the wild animals and jackals and owls benefit from what God is doing. But they are not His primary objective. He has set His love on His people. And no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly before Him.
What was a God’s provision in the past has now dried up and we have had to move things along. A biblical example of this would be Elisha being fed by ravens and a stream in a drought (1 Kings 17:1-9). To stay sat by a dried up stream would mean death.
What God starts supernaturally often comes to an end naturally.
Things changing doesn’t mean God has abandoned us - He calls us to move into new things!
There is an important result that comes out of all this.
21: “the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.”
We don’t have to put the streams in the wasteland. We don’t have to make a way when there seems to be no way. God does all that for us. His heart rejoices in doing that for us. But when He does a new thing—when He steps in and works in our behalf—there is something that we ought to do.
We ought to give thanks to the Lord. As much as we struggle with ongoing change, we must embrace the new things of God! We embrace them in praise!
Wrapping this up:
Change is here. It is a constant. Change on our lives, in the church, in the place where we are. But He is our constant too!
Heb 13:8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever!”
- That means your past belongs to Him – so leave it with Him!
- Your present belongs to Him – so allow Him to work out His newness in you!
- Your future belongs to Him – so entrust it to Him!
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