THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Isaiah: Jahweh Is Salvation

Part LXVII: God's Gracious, Powerful, Future Deliverance Of Israel From Babylon

(Isaiah 43:14-28)

I. Introduction

A. Some of the obstacles to blessing that God's people face seem humanly so overwhelming that it is easy for them to think that God Himself will not rescue them from such difficulties.

B. Yet, it is a great mistake to underestimate God's will and power, and Isaiah 43:14-28 offers that lesson for us:

II. God's Gracious, Powerful, Future Deliverance Of Israel From Babylon, Isaiah 43:14-28.

A. God's use of great miracles as Creator that involved water to deliver His people has a long Biblical record: at creation, He parted the waters from the land to form man's home, Gen. 1:9-10, and in the Genesis Flood, He saved Noah and his kin with the animals on the ark from His judgment on a wicked world, Gen. 6:1-8:22.

B. Isaiah 43:14-28 continues this theme of the Creator's use of water to perform great saving acts for His people:

1. Against the backdrop of Israel's sense of hopelessness in her future Babylonian Captivity, Isaiah 43:14 opens with the prophet's proclamation, "This is what the Lord says," a phrase that appears often in the second half of Isaiah "to stress the divine authority behind His words," Bib. Know. Com., O. T., p. 1097.

2. God then called Himself Israel's Redeemer and Holy One, recalling His record of saving her, Isa. 43:14b.

3. After this exaltation of Himself, God said He would bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, doing so by using the ships they had once proudly used for trading on the Euphrates River and the Persian Gulf, Isa. 43:14c; Ibid. Indeed, such a Great God was Jahweh, Israel's Holy One, her Creator and King! (Isa. 43:15)

4. The verification for this future, seemingly unbelievable deliverance for Israel's captives in Babylon by way of water is the precedent of God's deliverance of Israel from Pharaoh's army via the Red Sea, Is. 43:16-17:

a. When the Lord delivered Israel from Egypt, He made a way through the Red Sea, a dry path over the seabed through the mighty waters that were stacked up as walls of water on either side for His people to escape Pharaoh's chariot army, Exodus 14:21-22; Isaiah 43:16.

b. Then, the Lord drew out the chariots and horses of Pharaoh, the army with its reinforcements, and so destroyed them by bringing the waters of the sea back crashing over them that they lay there never to rise again, extinguished, their lives snuffed out lick a wick never to rise again, Isaiah 43:17; Exodus 14:23-30.

5. Yet, in His future deliverance of Israel from Babylon, God as Creator would perform a greater deliverance by use of water so that Israel was to forget even the past great deliverance by the Red Sea, Isa. 43:18-21:

a. That deliverance, Israel's return from Babylonian exile, would involve God's leading His people through the desert by providing water and streams there for their thirst needs, Isaiah 43:19. Even the wild animals like jackals and owls would honor the Lord because of His provision of water in the wasteland and drink for His people, those He had formed that they might proclaim His praise, Isaiah 43:20-21.

b. Actually, the desert did not bloom with abundant water at the release of Israel's captives from Babylon, but as Isaiah expected the coming of Messiah after Israel's restoration, his predictions about the blessings in the desert anticipate the still future Kingdom! (E. J. Young, The Book of Isaiah, 1974, v. III, p. 156)

6. However, this great deliverance would come by God's grace, for Israel was yet in great sin, Isa. 43:22-28:

a. This future "Exodus" would not come due to Israel's good works: she had not wearied herself in the sacrificial system, but her sins had wearied God, Isa. 43:22-24; Ibid., Bib. Know. Com., O. T., p. 1098.

b. God would blot out and no more remember Israel's sins for His own sake (Isa 43:25), but He still had to discipline her now, and He stated His case that even Israel's first father, Adam (Hos. 6:7) had sinned along with their spokesmen, the dignitaries in the temple, so He would punish them now, Isaiah 43:26-28; Ibid.

Lesson: God as Creator would miraculously redeem Israel from seemingly overwhelming Babylonian bondage in far greater redemption than even in her past Exodus from Egypt, but entirely by His grace due to Israel's great sin.

Application: (1) Since seemingly overwhelming obstacles to blessing are often the result of God's discipline due to abundant sin in His people, may we always rely on God's GRACE, His unmerited favor, for forgiveness and power to achieve His will and find His blessing. (2) The PAST PRECEDENTS of God's deliverances work to remind us of God's power and will to restore us, but they pale in comparison to what He WANTS to do for us NOW, so may we ALWAYS TRUST Him for blessing, and repent as needed for restoration to blessing! (3) God wants us always to recall His great power and sovereignty as Creator that we trust Him confidently for today's needs!