e martë, 20 maj 2008

Isaiah 41:14-20

Passage: Isaiah 41:14-20
14 Fear not, you worm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD;
your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge,
new, sharp, and having teeth;
you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,
and you shall make the hills like chaff;
16 you shall winnow them,
and the wind shall carry them away,
and the tempest shall scatter them.
And you shall rejoice in the LORD;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
17 When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the LORD will answer them;
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive.
I will set in the desert the cypress,
the plane and the pine together,
20 that they may see and know,
may consider and understand together,
that the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Journal: God had just told His people that they would prevail over their enemies [Isaiah 41:11-12]. Yet, in today's passage He describes them as a "worm" as He tells them to fear not. That is, though they are "poor and needy" and "parched," He is their strength and their provider. [v. 17 -- "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them."]

God introduces Himself here as the "redeemer" for His people. [v. 14b -- "I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel."] He will describe Himself in this manner a dozen more times in the remaining chapters of Isaiah. A redeemer purchases someone or something for a price. This purchase price often removes the shackles of bondage. The people of God are burdened with a great bondage, as they are born spiritually dead from the genetic infliction of the sin of Adam. This slavery to sin of His people is to be purchased at a great price to God. This redeemer "will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys." This redeemer will take off the robe of eternal majesty to be clothed in temporal flesh. Our redeemer is Christ and Christ alone, so "that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it." Christ the redeemer is the "Holy One of Israel."