Isaiah 43:1-28

God is a unique Person in the universe.  He is without equal and beyond compare.  This is true because of who He is, what He has done and the things He has promised to do.  He has no peers and all His rivals are hopeless in their efforts to thwart His sovereign plan.  Men love the idea of diversity especially when it comes to deity.  Sinful men become very uneasy with the teaching of the uniqueness of God.  Multiple gods is more comfortable for us to consider because it makes us far less accountable.  If we make ourselves responsible to gods we have made with our own hands our comfort level increases.  The truth is that there is only one God and we will all give account to Him.

GOD HAS RANSOMED ISRAEL FROM HER CAPTIVITY: The love of God for the nation of Israel is beyond explanation.  Just like God’s love for me or anyone is beyond explanation.  None of us have done anything worthy of the love of God.  Isaiah know Israel is about to go into a period of captivity where she will be under the control of nations that do not fear God.  However, God has made it clear that He loves Israel and has a plan of restoration for Israel.  He will ransom them from the captivity with His strong arm.  He knows them by name, He promises to be with them through water and fire.  The nations that have taken Israel captive will be judged in order to purchase Israel’s freedom.  God promise His abiding presence and His love.  He will gather His people from all over the face of the earth for the sake of His glory.  All of this is true of every person who has placed their faith in Jesus to ransom him from sin.

GOD HAS REBUKED THE NATIONS FOR THEIR HOSTILITY: People are very proud and believe themselves to be far greater than they truly are.  God calls the nations of the world and the people of those nations into account.  No man and no nation can tell of the foundations of the world because they were not there.  We have no witnesses we can bring to testify on our behalf.  However, we are all witness of the greatness and glory of God.  There was no god before God and there will be no god after God.  He is the only hope of salvation and there is no hope of rescue from the judgment of God for those who reject His salvation.  All the nations who have been hostile towards God and His chosen people will stand rebuked before God and will be judged for their sins.  All attempts to escape from this judgment are useless and will be extinguished.


GOD HAS REDEEMED ISRAEL FROM HER INIQUITY:  God is doing something very new in the history of the world and it cannot be avoided He is judging the nations but He is also redeeming His people from their sin.  He will bring times of refreshment, not only physical refreshment, but spiritual refreshment.  He is doing this for His glory so that those who have been redeemed might praise and glorify Him.  Israel has repeatedly rejected God and turned their backs on Him.  God’s love has been spurned and His glory called into question but not for long.  A day is coming when His children will be transformed.  They will finally stop trying to appease God with their futile sacrifices and accept the forgiveness of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.  God will eventually forgive Israel for all of her iniquity but there will be generations who are eternally lost for having profaned the name of God before the nations.  

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