Isaiah 43:5-13
Israel's Only Savior
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west.
6 I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth-
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made."
8 Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
who have ears but are deaf.
9 All the nations gather together
and the peoples assemble.
Which of them foretold this
and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
so that others may hear and say, "It is true."
10 "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD,
"and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD,
and apart from me there is no savior.
12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God.
13 Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
No one can deliver out of my hand.
When I act, who can reverse it?"
Isaiah is writing about a time when the Israeli's would be taken off in exile...Isaiah was a prophet under four kings...He preached repentance and salvation...The nation of Israel was sliding... Isaiah preached his message from about 740 b.c. to 681 b.c.... The Babylonians approximately one hundred years later in 586 b.c. would capture Jerusalem and send the divided nation of northern Israel and southern Judah into exile...The Israeli's had over one hundred years to repent...They did not and their people were sent into exile into Babylon...Sometimes we just keep on doing what we are doing...
When times are fearful, we often turn to the LORD...Isaiah knows the people are in the next several years are going to be exiled into Babylon...God is talking to Isaiah...God through Isaiah tells us not to be afraid...We are not to be afraid for He is with us...God is still there after we have turned our backs and failed to listen...Isaiah had hoped that the people would hear his message and clearly see the hypocrisy in their lives and change their ways...
The people of Israel, do get exiled...The people of Israel after Isaiah, after the exile do come back to Israel...Ezra and Nehemiah lead an effort to rebuild the city of Jerusalem over two hundred years after Isaiah...
The prophet, Isaiah looks forward to God bringing all people together...People from the east, from the west, from the north and south...God will call everyone...
This calling some think may have been when Jesus came and has called to us for two thousand years to come together... Others think this calling will be when Jesus returns in the coming kingdom...
Our work and human effort do not get us saved...We are to believe in the Messiah that the Father sent to be saved...We are to love one another and work together...
Like Isaiah, challenging times lie ahead...Regardless of the calling time and the challenge, the Father and the Son are calling us...Will we keep doing what we are doing for the next one hundred years???...Will we fail to listen???...Will we turn our backs on Him?...