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The Book of Isaiah Lesson 39
ISRAEL, REDEEMED AND RESTORED
Text: ISAIAH 43
INTRODUCTION: 1. Isaiah 43 begins with the word “But.” We see here a notable transition at the end of Isaiah 42, going into chapter 43. 2. Isaiah 42 ends with a strong denunciation of Israel’s unbelief (cf. 42:24, 25). 3. Isaiah 43 begins with assurances that God loves Israel, and they belong to God, and that they are precious to God (43:1, 4). 4. However, Isaiah 43 also contains a strong heartrending complaint from the LORD. Israel has not called upon the LORD (43:22). 5. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13). 6. Israel has been weary of God (43:22). And God has been weary of Israel’s iniquities (43:24). 7. But God is gracious and He will blot out Israel’s transgressions, and will not remember their sins (43:25). 8. My outline is simple:
I. GOD CREATED ISRAEL II. GOD REDEEMED ISRAEL III. GOD WILL RESTORE ISRAEL
I. GOD CREATED ISRAEL 1. The nation Israel is identified here as “Jacob” (43:1). This reminds us of Israel’s origin. 2. Jacob was a deceiver, a conniver, a schemer, and a supplanter. In fact, his name means “supplanter.” 3. Esau said to his father Isaac, “Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing” (Genesis 27:36). 4. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. God said, “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (Gen. 32:28). 5. Jacob means “supplanter” and Israel means “prince of God.” 6. God created Israel for a purpose (Isa. 43:7, 21). We saw last week that Israel was to be a light to the Gentile nations, but she has failed (cf. Isa. 42:6). 7. God says in Isaiah 43:1, “I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” In the Bible, to call by name conveys tenderness and love. 8. Think of what our Lord said in John 10:3, “He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.” 9. God loves Israel, and God loves you and me. In fact, God loves the whole world (cf. John 3:16).
II. GOD REDEEMED ISRAEL 1. The LORD (Jehovah) is not only Israel’s creator; He is also her redeemer (43:1). 2. He is Israel’s deliverer (43:2). God delivered Israel time and time again, but the most important deliverance – which is mentioned over and over again in the Bible – was when God delivered Israel from Egypt (43:2). 3. The word “redeem” (43:1) means to reclaim by making a payment or by providing a substitute. This has reference to Israel’s deliverance from Egypt by the blood of the Passover lambs, which were pictures and types of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 4. Israel has often been in the fire, but she will survive because God is with them (43:2-5). 5. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were cast into the burning fiery furnace. But God was with them. And when they came out of the furnace, it was evident that the fire had no power on them, “nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them” (Daniel 3:27). 6. Isaiah predicted this over 100 years beforehand (Isa. 43:2b). 7. While these Scriptures relate primarily to the nation Israel, we can apply them to each and every child of God. God’s dealings with Israel are typical of His dealings with Christians today. 8. God created us, and God has redeemed us as well. 9. Titus 2:14 says the Lord Jesus Christ “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” 10. Have you been redeemed? I have a
song I love to sing, Since I have
been redeemed,
I have a
Christ Who satisfies
I have a
witness bright and clear, I have a
home prepared for me, 11. All lost sinners need to be redeemed. Those of us who have been redeemed can claim Isaiah 43:5, “Fear not: for I am with thee.” 12. Our Lord said in Matthew 28:20, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” 13. Hebrews 13:5 says, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” 14. “For He hath said…” When did God say that? In Deuteronomy 31:6. The Holy Spirit took this promise to Israel and applied it to Christians in Hebrews 13.
III. GOD WILL RESTORE ISRAEL 1. Today the Jews are scattered all over the world. But soon the LORD will bring them back to their own land and restore them (Isa. 43:5-7; cf. Isa. 12:12; Ezek. 34:11-15; 37:21-23). 2. The Muslims are determined to drive the Jews out of Israel, but God will not allow that to happen. 3. God has not given up on Israel. God has a plan for Israel. We saw last Sunday, God will never allow Israel to be destroyed (cf. Jeremiah 31:35-37). 4. Ahminajihad is just the latest in a long list of wicked tyrants who have tried to annihilate Israel – Pharaoh, Haman, Hitler, and many others throughout history have tried to wipe out Israel but have not succeeded. 5. Frederick, the King of Prussia, one day in his court said to his chaplain, “Prove the inspiration of the Bible in one word.” 6. The chaplain replied, “That is easily done your majesty, the word is the Jews, they prove the inspiration of the Bible.” 7. That chaplain was correct. The preservation of the Jews to this hour proves the Bible is the infallible and inerrant Word of God. 8. Mark Twain said, “All things are mortal but the Jew. All other forces pass but he remains.” 9. Benjamin Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield), the prime minister of England and himself a Christian Jew, said, “The attempt to extirpate the Jews has been made under the most favorable auspices and on the largest scale and for the longest period of time. Egyptian Pharaohs, Assyrian kings, Roman emperors, Scandinavian crusaders, Gothic princes and holy inquisitors have alike devoted their energies to the fulfillment of this common purpose: annihilation, exile, captivity, confiscation and massacre on the most extensive scale have been tried in vain. The Jew however, remains.” 10. As I mentioned last week, soon the Jews will face an adversary far more wicked and dangerous than Pharaoh or Hitler or Ahminajihad. They will have to face the antichrist, but God will deliver the faithful remnant that repents and accepts Jesus as their Messiah (cf. Isa. 51:22, 23; 59:19-21). 11. The apostle Paul was quoting Isaiah 59:20, when he wrote in Romans 11:26, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”
CONCLUSION: 1. Consider that wonderful statement in Isaiah 43:25 – “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions.” 2. Isaiah 44:22 says, “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.” 3. I remember when my children were young, my wife and I used to home-school them with Abeka videos. I remember well a song the teacher and the students sang all the time: God has blotted them out, I’m happy and glad and free, God has blotted them out, I’ll turn to Isaiah and see: Chapter 44, 22 and 3, He’s blotted them out, And now I can shout, For that means me. 4. Acts 3:19 says, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” 5. Merrill Unger says the term “blotted out” presents the image of an account book, when a debt is paid and the charge is cancelled and completely erased. 6. Aren’t you glad our debt has been paid and our charge has been cancelled and completely erased? 7. Isaiah 53:5, 6 says, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” 8. On the basis of Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross, God no longer remembers our sins. Isaiah 38:17 says, “But Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.” 9. Jeremiah 31:34 says, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” 10. Do you have this assurance that your sins have been blotted out? |