Today's Reading:

Isaiah 43
Isaiah 44
Isaiah 45
Psalm 80
He is Lord, Chet Valley Hymns and Songs

“I have redeemed you, I have called you by name” (43:1). God is not going to just help you; He is there to claim you. “You are mine” was God personally stamping His name on them. This was like a Sharpie, a permanent mark. Some will write on their hands “The Lord’s,” willing to identify with Jacob as a mark of ownership and reliance on God (44:5).

You have an identity, even while in exile and through judgment. You are loved. This should feel very personal. Strangers do not know your name; your loved ones do, and so does God. This is the same God who counts every hair on your head (Matthew 10:30). It is an intimate relationship. You are not a number, or just a face in a crowd. You are never forgotten. You are named, claimed, treasured, and loved. You are a child of God. God does not love you at arm's distance; He calls you by name. “You belong to me.” There is such grace in knowing your worth.

Some of the Israelites took God calling them His so seriously they actually wrote “The Lord’s on their hands as a public, visible mark, a permanent declaration that they belonged to God. If you were to write “The Lord’s” on your hand (or your heart) as a public mark of ownership, what would that look like? How would that change the way you see your identity, especially on the days you feel forgotten, worthless, or defined by your failures? What does it really mean to live as someone who has been personally called by name and claimed by God?

This was a set of encouraging chapters in Isaiah. Yes, Israel had sinned. Yes, judgment was coming. But now… something new. Fear not you are mine. God’s mercy and love are greater than sin. Israel broke the covenant, but God was going to redeem them anyway. He said they would still have to go through trials like the Red Sea crossing trouble (exile), and they would also walk through fire (see the Book of Daniel).

God will bring back the people from all around the world and promises to trade and give away countries just to get them back. What a high price Israel is to let other nations know He is the One true God. The words in verse “I AM HE” echo from yesterday’s reading “I AM” from Moses’ time.

God did not want them to dwell on the past. Yes, the Red Sea parting was amazing, but watch what He will do next! He will make a way in the dangerous wilderness, as a highway through the rivers. The desert of judgment will be replaced with life and joy. God saved the people not so they could live a better life, but so they would proclaim His praise.

Yet, they were not faithful. They were sinful; they did not honor God; they burdened and wearied Him. Even the prophets and priests rebelled. After all the rebellion and sin, God said, you are who “I have chosen.” God promised to pour out His Spirit on Israel’s descendants (44:3). Again, God said, I am the first and the last; besides Me there is no god (Isaiah 44:6). This statement of the eternal God is later repeated by Jesus in Revelation 1:17 and 22:13: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.” Isaiah’s words again pointed to Jesus.

Then Isaiah became sarcastic. He mocked the people who made the idols and called them ignorant. You take a cedar tree which is useful for burning and making fire, but then you turn around and make an idol out of the same wood. Half of the stick you burn for warmth, and it is just wood; you cannot seriously think it has any power. (This is still relevant today with our idols of money, relationships, success). Babylon was turning to ridiculous idols for help and worship, but wood cannot do anything to save you.

Isaiah wanted them to return to God, as He had not forgotten them. He would sweep away their sins and redeem them. God would use the pagan king Cyrus to allow the exiles to return to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. Cyrus was prophesied here about 150 years before he was even born! God said that Cyrus was His anointed. This is the same anointed word He used for the Messiah. Cyrus was not Jewish and did not know the Lord, but God still called him for a divine mission. He would use Cyrus to carry out His plan to overthrow Babylon. God is so sovereign that he can use a pagan king to do His will. God is the Creator and the Maker, so He can use whoever He wants.

God does not speak in secret; He wants everyone to know. All of the nations will eventually come to Him, as salvation is for everyone. Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord (Isaiah 45:23, also quoted in Philippians 2:10).

Psalm 80- This was for the Assyrian exile time. It was a plea from the Israelites to be restored to God from the Assyrian and Babylonian threats in general. Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh were coming to Jerusalem to seek God. They cried out over the severe judgment. He fed them “bread of tears” (80:5) instead of the “bread of angels (Psalm 78:25). The vine metaphor again, as Israel was like a humble plant that thrives when rooted in Him. So, they ask, why has He withdrawn protection? There is hope in the man, the Son of God. There will be an immediate king, but this was also a prophecy of the Messianic king who secures life.

Today's Discussion question:

Some of the Israelites took God calling them His so seriously they actually wrote “The Lord’s on their hands as a public, visible mark, a permanent declaration that they belonged to God. If you were to write “The Lord’s” on your hand (or your heart) as a public mark of ownership, what would that look like? How would that change the way you see your identity, especially on the days you feel forgotten, worthless, or defined by your failures? What does it really mean to live as someone who has been personally called by name and claimed by God?

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