God's People Shall Prosper

June 19, 2022 Background Scripture: Isaiah 49:18 - 26 Lesson Passage: Isaiah 49: 18 - 23 We introduced God's plan for Israel's future in the last lesson. This week we will look at some additional details concerning that plan. The "who" of the plan was announced last week. We learned that God would bring His plan into fruition through His Servant. Today's lesson considers the confusion caused by the unexpected future prosperity of the exiles. The exiles will come to consider themselves as deserving of the punishment they received. Therefore, the word of future prosperity beyond their suffering was confusing to some of them. They expected their punishment to go on forever. Their condition of being wretched and rejected seemed permanent. The barrenness of having their children stripped from them would take away their hope for the future of their families. Once you hit rock bottom, the only place to look is up. But how can they look up when all their self-esteem has been taken away? They were not faithful to God and realized the punishment was justified. Why should they rely on any suggestion of future prosperity given their past failures? God was providing the answer to that question. "As I live" is an oath that God made based on the surety of His own life. Simply put, God's promises were guaranteed by God's life. If God's promises do not come to pass, then God would have to end His own existence! How's that for blessed assurance? Israel's future restoration and prosperity were assured because they were directly connected to God's existence in the future. That was the oath God made to Israel. In exile, they knew their land had been taken away. However, in restoration they will again inherit land to call their own. Before their captivity, they were still growing into the land they occupied. After restoration, their land will seem too small to accommodate the mass of people. Their children had been taken from them. Where would all these children come from? God was going to make an oath to the nations concerning the gathering of His people. God's oath to the nations was based on His character: "I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations." The Sovereign God would save the Gentiles and the Gentiles will lead a future generation of Jews back to the Lord. Far beyond Babylon, the people of Israel would be reclaimed from all nations of the world. Those nations had served as foster parents in raising and caring for them. But now, there would be a homecoming for Israel. No nation would be powerful enough to resist the will of God for His people. All nations must release them for their return to God. Although the nations seemed mighty in taking them captive, they would be no match for God when God called for the release of His people. The nations would bring those sons and daughters back to a land that is too small to contain them all. As promised in previous lessons, God was sending a Savior to redeem His people and bring them back to Himself. God's Servant will accomplish what God sends Him to accomplish. Here's the aha moment: God is the Savior, Redeemer, and Servant He promised to the world! God swore by Himself because He is the One who will accomplish everything that He decrees. In His omnipotence, God has the power to accomplish everything He decrees. In His omniscience, God knows the outcome of His work and the response of His people to that outcome. God's people will prosper because God decreed it to be so. And as His own Servant, there is assurance that God's people shall prosper! Robert C. Hudson May 27, 2022