Monday after the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 4, 2019 by under
Scripture: Isaiah 43:1-13 (NKJV)
43:1 But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.
3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4 Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, and people for your life.
5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west;
6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth—
7 Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”
8 Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears.
9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; Or let them hear and say, “It is truth.”
10 “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me.
11 I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior.
12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, and there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “that I am God.
13 Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?”
Devotion
With the interplay of the names Jacob and Israel in our first verse, God speaks to both physical and spiritual realities, to the familial and political units, and to the outward appearance of Christ’s Church. For the deliverance and safety of His people, neither Egypt nor Babylon was too much to give. For the salvation of souls, God the Son would give even Himself to save the Church to be His Bride.
The Exodus, the Exile (and return), and the redemptive work of the Christ are woven together here. Had Yahweh not already proven that the waters would not overflow His children, even though the water would drown the charioteers and horses of Pharaoh? Certainly, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego trusted that the flame would not scorch them—or that if they were consumed, it would only be so that they might live forever unscorched in God’s Kingdom. The restoration from Exile is not only from Babylon, but from where the northern tribes had already been scattered indeed, from wherever the sons of Adam dwelt. None can diminish the reach of Christ’s atonement! “Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth!”
We pray: We thank You, O Christ, that in You we have been gathered—that by the Holy Spirit we testify of You, “Jesus is Yahweh” (1 Cor. 12:3), besides whom there is no Savior (John 14:6). As You gave sight to the blind and Your Word to the deaf, so You have bought us and brought us forth from all nations, that we might be Your own and live under You in Your Kingdom and serve You in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, for which we give You praise, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Spirit, ever one God, unto all eternity. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
