When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
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Where Chapter 42 discusses the coming of a Messiah, and what that will look like, this chapter tells Israel what the Messiah plans to do. He will redeem and deliver them. Jesus Christ is Israel's only savior. And He will not be thwarted in this endeavor. He says Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. 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— This is going to be a universal redemption. Nobody who is called by Christ's name will be left out.
He will then gather all the nations together, invite them to bring their gods, and explain themselves. "Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.” Unfortunately, there are no gods other than Jehovah. There is no adequate explanation for following a god that doesn't exist.
But...we do it all the time, don't we?
The great preacher D. L. Moody said...way back in the 19th century...You don't have to go to heathen lands today to find false gods. America is full of them. Whatever you make most of is your god. Whatever you love more than God is your idol...A man may make a god of himself, of a child, of a mother, of some precious gift that God has bestowed upon him. He may forget the Giver and let his heart go out in adoration toward the gift...Many make a god of pleasure; that is what their hearts are set on...Others take fashion as their god. They give their time and thought to dress. They fear what others will think of them...With many it is the god of money. We haven't got through worshiping the golden calf yet. If a man will sell his principles for gold, isn't he making it a god?
The person who does not worship the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob will find a god to worship. It is in our spiritual DNA. As Voltaire said, "If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent one." You see, it's not even possible to be an atheist. The atheist means only that he does not believe the God of the Bible but...if you pay attention...he will reveal to you the god of his own making.
God then tells Israel they are called to testify to primacy of Jehovah. That's all they are supposed to do...be a witness to the heathen nations...and they couldn't get it right. God says “Yet you have not called on me or wearied yourselves serving me. Though I have not burdened you...but you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses". This has all the potential for God saying "I'm fed up...I'm done with you" But, guess what? God doesn't do that. God says “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing 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...to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise".
Where is all this taking us? God is telling us we have one simple task: Proclaim the exclusivity and primacy of Jehovah. The real proclamation is an obedient life. That's it. As St. Francis said, we might even use words now and then. Its the task in front of us but bear in mind, its only a TDY until God gathers us to Himself. Then...we rest!
Maybe we weren't such great witnesses yesterday. I know...none of us does this very well but God is telling us “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!
Live boldly out there today...
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