God’s Help to Israel
“Be silent before Me, O islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come forward and testify; let us together draw near for judgment. Who has aroused the one from the east and called him to his feet in righteousness? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow. He pursues them, going on safely, hardly touching the path with his feet. Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”
The islands see and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward. Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!” The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who wields the hammer cheers him who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, “It is good.” He nails it down so it will not be toppled.
“But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said, ‘You are My servant.’ I have chosen and not rejected you. Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness. Behold, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish. You will seek them but will not find them. Those who wage war against you will come to nothing. For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand and tells you: Do not fear, I will help you.
Do not fear, O worm of Jacob, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the barren heights, and fountains in the middle of the valleys. I will turn the desert into a pool of water, and the dry land into flowing springs. I will plant cedars in the desert, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees. I will set evergreens in the desert, elms and cypress trees together, so that all may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.”
Meaningless Idols
“Present your case,” says the LORD. “Submit your arguments,” says the King of Jacob. “Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell the former things, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. Or announce to us what is coming. Tell us the things that are to come, so that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do something good or evil, that we may look on together in dismay. Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who treads the clay. Who has declared this from the beginning, so that we may know, and from times past, so that we may say: ‘He was right’? No one announced it, no one foretold it, no one heard your words. I was the first to tell Zion: ‘Look, here they are!’ And I gave to Jerusalem a herald of good news. When I look, there is no one; there is no counselor among them; when I ask them, they have nothing to say. See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.”
In this chapter, God continues to describe Himself and to draw a sharp distinction between His nature and that of false gods.
- God is the One who establishes nations and conquering rulers. “Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”
- God has chosen Israel and will help her. ““But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said, ‘You are My servant.’ I have chosen and not rejected you. Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness. Behold, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish. You will seek them but will not find them. Those who wage war against you will come to nothing. For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand and tells you: Do not fear, I will help you.
- God can rearrange the landscape as He chooses. “I will open rivers on the barren heights, and fountains in the middle of the valleys. I will turn the desert into a pool of water, and the dry land into flowing springs.” Today there is a great deal of discussion about climate change and the events that lead to it; yet, one factor nobody is mentioning is the God who created the earth in the first place.
- All the idols that men choose to worship are meaningless and cannot do anything. “Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable.” “ When I look, there is no one; there is no counselor among them; when I ask them, they have nothing to say. See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.”
APPLICATION: If we serve the One True Living God, we serve the God who can help us. Thirty years ago, we took a clinic vehicle to Accra to buy drugs and consumables. Just as we pulled into a parking space, all four of the tires went flat! Money transfers in those days were difficult and getting money from a bank could take long hours because computerization was then in its infancy in Ghana. But three months earlier, someone had donated and now there was sufficient money in our account to purchase five new tires and an extra rim for the spare tire. This was certainly a “stream in the desert” as far as we were concerned!
In 1996 we returned to the U.S. so that I could earn my MPH at Tulane University. I rejected the idea of a government loan when they demanded I give my father’s financial information. I went to Tulane early to meet two of the professors in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. What I failed to realize was that they were interviewing me for a scholarship, a scholarship that eventually paid one third of my school fees. Our home church directed its scholarship money for that year to me, and we were able to handle everything else because my husband worked while I studied. When I graduated from Tulane, the Assistant Dean went around the reception afterwards pointing me out as the woman who came to Tulane on faith for whom God paid the bills. This lady had watched through the year as I paid my monthly installments on time and in full; she was used to missed payments and hard luck stories.
Are you stuck in a horrible mess with no way out? Turn to God and ask Him for help. Those promises He gave Israel are also for you. ““I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.”
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, there are many who need this encouraging word this morning. Open the eyes of their hearts so that they might see Your Glory and Your Power and Your Might and realize that You stand ready to help them if they will only ask. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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