Passage:
14 Thus says the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
"For your sake I send to Babylon
and bring them all down as fugitives,
even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
15 I am the LORD, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King."
16 Thus says the LORD,
16 Thus says the LORD,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
17who brings forth chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
18 "Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
20 The wild beasts will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself
that they might declare my praise.
22 "Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
22 "Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,
or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
or wearied you with frankincense.
24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
you have wearied me with your iniquities.
25 "I, I am he
25 "I, I am he
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
26 Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;
set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
27 Your first father sinned,
and your mediators transgressed against me.
28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,
and deliver Jacob to utter destruction
and Israel to reviling.
Journal: God is about to do something new. [v. 18-19 -- "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."] He has been the physical salvation for Israel, with the exodus from Egypt being the primary example. He had provided a system for spiritual renewal through sacrificial atonement involving animals and ritual. But this was a "new thing," and His people were having a difficult time trying to "perceive" what was being promised.
God's moral law was inseparable from what He had done in the past, and His moral law would be the foundation of what He would do in the future. Either way, whichever direction one takes to gaze at His righteousness, the attitude of His people was one of indifference and distraction. [v. 22-24 -- "Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel! You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense. You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities."] Thus, God was "wearied" by His people.
Yet, the beautiful convergence of His justice and His grace produces the marvelous tapestry of His law and His salvation. The words of one of my favorite hymns comes to mind -- ". . . mercy there was great and grace was free; pardon there was multiplied to me; there my burdened soul found liberty, at Calvary . . ." It was the drama to unfold at Calvary that Isaiah was calling a "new thing," and it was at Calvary [Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified] that a "wearied" God delivered upon His promise to His children. God, the one thing we can grasp that is completely trustworthy, deserves our renewed worship and praise.
Heard 'Round the House: Jill and Anna [age 8] were "giving each other the business" and in the midst of this were calling each other a "toot." This exchange prompted Anna to consider the deeper aspects of life and lineage, and she asked this probing question:
Anna: "Which side of the family did I get my burping from?"
Editor's Note: Anna burping tendency is strictly maternal -- I will save for another day the deep question of what she sometimes does that is paternal in nature . . .
