We are now in the beginning of the season of Easter in the Church calendar, and our Old Testament Scripture for this Easter week is a small portion from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. In this Scripture we read a prayer to Yahweh, the One and Only God of all the universe, to show forth His power on behalf of His people.
On Easter, which we just celebrated a few days ago, we saw a most powerful display of God’s power in the raising of the Lord Jesus from the dead. Centuries earlier Isaiah had appealed to God to show forth His power on behalf of His people, recalling a prior time when He had stepped forth with might, power, and deliverance for His people. Isaiah ministered to the Kingdom of Judah during a period when they were threatened by the Assyrian Empire, and they were a bit more than a century away from being taken captive by the Babylonian Empire. They needed God’s help then and into the future.
As our Scripture opens, Isaiah prays to the Lord, asking Him to step into action on behalf of His people. He remembers many times in the past where the people needed God’s help, and He was there with His power and strength. Sometimes when we pray, it seems like God is asleep, and we receive only silence. Of course, God never sleeps (Psalm 121:4). He hears our prayer, and answers at the best possible time for our good.
Isaiah speaks of Rahab in verse 9. This is not the woman from the city of Jericho that we read of in the early chapters of the Book of Joshua, and who was an ancestress of the Lord Jesus. In the Bible, the name “Rahab” also frequently refers to both a mythological sea monster, the personification of pride and arrogance, and a poetic reference to Egypt. Sometimes it may feel that our problems are like some giant sea monster which has wrapped its strong tentacles around us and we can’t escape. When we turn to the Lord in prayer, and trust in Him, He will rise up and cut them to pieces.
Then Isaiah recalls in verse 10 the greatest deliverance that the people of Israel had experienced, that being the dividing of the waters of the Red Sea for the people to cross in order to escape the armies of Pharaoh and Egypt (Exodus 14:21-22). Isaiah wanted the people to remember that Yahweh is the sovereign God, and that He still has the power and ability to save His people. He is faithful to His covenant, and can bring His people out of even the most impossible seeming circumstances. As we recall, the descendants of Jacob had been slaves in Egypt for several generations, and now God was bringing them forth to the land of Canaan, which He had promised their forefathers as their inheritance. While escaping, the people come up to the large body of water ahead of them, and the army of Pharaoh behind them. What were they to do? God stepped in and parted the waters, making a path across.
We all are slaves of a different sort. We are slaves to sin, which through Satan, held us in strong bondage (John 8:34; Romans 6:16). As long as we remain in this condition, we are doomed to destruction, as surely as the Israelites would have been to the Egyptian army. However, just as God brought a miraculous deliverance for them, He has stepped in to bring deliverance to us, as well. God sent His only Son, the Lord Jesus, to come and pay the debt price for our sins by His death on the Cross, and raised Him from the dead to show that the price paid was sufficient and satisfactory.
For those who acknowledge the sacrifice that Jesus made on their behalf, accepting Him as their personal Savior, they are ransomed from the slavery of sin. They will come to the heavenly Zion with singing and everlasting joy, free from all sorrow and mourning (vs. 11). As believers, we have the hope and assurance of God’s eternal salvation.
In closing, we see here that God’s nature is unchanging. What He has done in the past, He can and will do again. He promises us redemption and restoration. God is faithful, and He guarantees future deliverance to all those who seek Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment