God Offers Deliverance

June 26, 2022 Background Scripture: Isaiah 51 Lesson Passage: Isaiah 51:1 - 8 Isaiah was the greatest of the writing prophets of God. The extensiveness of Isaiah's prophecy is remarkable. First, it is remarkable because of the sheer amount of writing contained within it. But even more so, it is remarkable because it literally covers the span of time and into eternity! Yes, Isaiah even prophesied about new heavens and a new earth! In the prophetic word of Isaiah, God is often presented as existing outside of time and yet controlling the circumstances within time. Many idol worshipers have considered their idol gods in the same manner. However, idol gods tend to be regarded as very one dimensional. Idol gods are often thought of as either benevolent or judgmental. And if presented as both, the two dispositions are often separated by something very fickle, or petty. It is that pettiness that allows people to control, or manipulate, their idols. The Lord God, Jehovah, cannot be controlled or manipulated. How can a "god" be all-powerful and yet cannot control his own disposition, and therefore he is left vulnerable to be manipulated by his worshipers? Idol worshipers develop steps to take that allow them to fashion their gods to suit their desires or will. The Lord God is not so, and therefore we must seek His will and conform ourselves to His desires. It is with this in mind that we look at the opening of Isaiah 51. God reminded Israel that His relationship with them began with Abraham. Israel came into existence because God promised Abraham that He would make a great nation out of his promised child. God brought that child forth from a man who was ninety-nine years old and his barren wife who was beyond childbearing years at the age of eighty-nine. When Abraham was one hundred years old and Sarah was ninety years old, Isaac was born to them. Neither Abraham nor his wife, Sarah, could have achieved, or experienced, that naturally. That was a miracle of God. Abraham's faith in God pleased God; consequently, God worked miracles for him. The nation of Israel descended from that miraculously born child. God reminded the nation of Israel of its origin. Everything God was expecting of Israel was based on her origin. They were people of faith because they descended from Abraham, the father of the faithful. God expected no less of Israel than He did of Abraham. God expected the people of Israel to have faith in Him. In turn, He would work miracles for them and shower them with blessings as He had Abraham. God desired to do for Israel as He had done for Abraham. Just as Sarah was barren and God made her womb fruitful, He promised to transform Israel's barren land, wilderness and desert, into Eden and the garden of the Lord. God offered Israel righteousness and salvation, If Israel would seek the Lord for righteousness, God would give it to her. The law of God defined and demanded righteousness of the people of God. The law could not make them righteous. Instead, the law exposed the unrighteousness that was in the people. God's judgment declared that unrighteous people would be destroyed. Because of the law of God, damnation is the eternal destiny of all who are born into this world of man and woman. The only hope of deliverance is in God. God warned Israel to not choose the acceptance or favor of people over His offer of eternal salvation. People and everything in this world are destined to perish. But God offered to deliver them from destruction and give them everlasting righteousness and salvation. Robert C. Hudson June 11, 2022

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