Promises which are for My People, C R Oliver [ebook reader with highlight function .txt] 📗

illustrations: Babylon/Cyrus and Egypt. Then, He states that as great as these events of His intervention were they are nothing compared to what He is going to do!

1. Babylon/Cyrus: In Daniel 5, we read the "raw" account of a drunken orgy. Babylon was celebrating the one thousandth king giving his allegiance to the throne of that empire, when the hand of God wrote: "Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin." They were weighed in the balance scale of God and found wanting. That night, Darius, the Median emperor, killed every leader of the Babylonians and established his authority over the land. Later, Cyrus conquered Darius through God's hand of intervention. 

2. Egypt's Folly came in their chase of the Israelites and their defeat in the red sea. Anthropologists have found wheels and chariots in the bottom of that crossing.

Isaiah 43:17
7 I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses, to lie beneath the waves, dead, their lives snuffed out like candlewicks. 
TLB

Forget That:
           Next, the Lord instructs His children to look forward and not rearward. As great as His deliverance was from Egypt, it is nothing compared with what He is about to do. History has no precedence for what is on the verge of happening.

Isaiah 43:18-19
8 'But forget all that--it is nothing compared to what I'm going to do! 19 For I'm going to do a brand new thing. See, I have already begun! Don't you see it?'
TLB

NOTE: I believe we are on the brink of seeing God intervene in history with such force it will seem all these other times will roll back to insignificance. Pathways through the impossible will open up.

1. Isaiah 43:19 'I will make a road through the wilderness of the world.'

2. Isaiah 43:20 giving them water in the wilderness, yes, springs in the desert, so that my people, my chosen ones, can be refreshed.

3.Isaiah 43:21 'I have made Israel for myself, and these My people will someday honor me before the world.'

Blotting Out Sin:
Listen to the heart of the Lord God.

Isaiah 43:22
'O my people, you won't ask my help; you have grown tired of me!'
Verse 23 indicates Israel ceased to carry out the Law and had stopped worshipping Him. 

Isaiah 43:24
'No, you have presented me only with sins and wearied me with all your faults.' 

Isaiah 43:25-28
' I alone am he who blots away your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. 26 Oh, remind me of this promise of forgiveness, for we must talk about your sins. Plead your case for my forgiving you. 27 From the very first your ancestors sinned against me--all your forebears transgressed my law. 28 That is why I have deposed your priests and destroyed Israel, leaving her to shame.

Note: Hearken! When the anointing has left the pulpit and destruction lies at the door, we cannot plead ignorance before this word.' 

HOWEVER: 

           "Blotting out sin and remembering them no more" is the Father's response. Why then does He say in verse 26, "Remind me of this promise of forgiveness?" (If they bring up the past and want to discuss it, God is willing, but He isn't bringing it up.) 

The backdrop behind this conversation is, Forgiveness. God wants them to see their sin-pattern up to now, for He is about to blot out all of it. Their forefathers transgressed His law, so it was "in their DNA." But, one can't blame grandpa for one's own sins. God, in essence, silences the issue. (Someone has said their method of counseling has changed to : Confess it, Quit it, Move on.) 

Isaiah 44 : Move On!

Isaiah 44:1-8
Listen to me, O my servant Israel, O my chosen ones:

2 'The Lord who made you, who will help you, says, O servant of mine, don't be afraid. O Jerusalem, my chosen ones, don't be afraid. 3 For I will give you abundant water for your thirst and for your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit and my blessings on your children. 4 They shall thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank.

5. They shall proudly say, 'I am the Lord's,' or, "I am of Jacob," and write upon their hands the name of God or the honored name of Israel.' 

6 'The Lord, the King of Israel, says--yes, it is Israel's Redeemer, the Lord Almighty, who says it--I am the First and Last; there is no other God. 7 Who else can tell you what is going to happen in the days ahead? Let them tell you if they can and prove their power. Let them do as I have done since ancient times. 8 Don't, don't be afraid. Haven't I proclaimed from ages past [that I would save you]? You are my witnesses--is there any other God? No! None that I know about! There is no other Rock!'

Moving on requires a fresh plan and a floor for all future considerations. First and foremost is the mandate to, "Stop being afraid," for He declares it three times in 8 verses. If God says it, "Believe it." 

In these passages, God closes the door on fear by declaring Who He is. (A friend of mine is writing a treatise about "Who's Who." He says that before much can be accomplished in one's walk with God, it is necessary to establish His person versus Our person. "Who's Who" must precede "What's what.") 

God say's "Who I am" is Alpha and Omega (He is the first and the last and everything in between). He is able to perform what He says. 

NOTE: There is fear in the land and it is growing in the West. The Lord's people must be told again, "Don't participate in fear." We are of a different kingdom and our source and origin is not of this world. Our fearless countenance must be seen by the world if we are to be witnesses for the Mighty God. 

O' There really is no other Rock. The stability of our confession is based on His foundation-we are His house built upon Him. 

Idol Talk:
           Verses 9-20 can be summed as, "Dealing with 'Idol' exposure." For those who do not have the Living Bible, I will copy this portion for you. It is self-explanatory. Read through it quickly and realize Israel did not know how deeply the pagan culture had infected them. Here, in the West, with bombardment of media, we too might need to re-examine the level of cultural infection in our own lives.

Isaiah 44:9-20
9 What fools they are who manufacture idols for their gods. Their hopes remain unanswered. They themselves are witnesses that this is so, for their idols neither see nor know. No wonder those who worship them are so ashamed. 10 Who but a fool would make his own god--an idol that can help him not one whit! 11 All that worship these will stand before the Lord in shame, along with all these carpenters--mere men-who claim that they have made a god. Together they will stand in terror. 12 The metal-smith stands at his forge to make an axe, pounding on it with all his might. He grows hungry and thirsty, weak and faint. 13 Then the woodcarver takes the axe and uses it to make an idol. He measures and marks out a block of wood and carves the figure of a man. Now he has a wonderful idol that can't so much as move from where it is placed. 14 He cuts down cedars, he selects the cypress and the oak, he plants the ash in the forest to be nourished by the rain. 15 And after his care, he uses part of the wood to make a fire to warm himself and bake his bread, and then-he really does-he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god-a god for men to worship! An idol to fall down before and praise! 16 Part of the tree he burns to roast his meat and to keep him warm and fed and well content, 17 and with what's left he makes his god: a carved idol! He falls down before it and worships it and prays to it. "Deliver me," he says. "You are my god!" 

18 Such stupidity and ignorance! God has shut their eyes so that they cannot see and closed their minds from understanding. 19 The man never stops to think or figure out, "Why, it's just a block of wood! I've burned it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat. How can the rest of it be a god? Should I fall down before a chunk of wood?" 20 The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes; he is trusting what can never give him any help at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, "Is this thing, this idol that I'm holding in my hand, a lie?"
TLB

The spiritual implication for this last sentence is enormous. Religious icons could be "popular belief," multitudes might be believing a lie! 

The Gospel Message:

Isaiah 44:21-22
'Pay attention, Israel, for you are my servant; I made you, and I will not forget to help you. 22 I've blotted out your sins; they are gone like morning mist at noon! Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.' TLB

The Song of Deliverance:

Isaiah 44:23-24
3 Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done this wondrous thing. Shout, O earth; break forth into song, O mountains and forests, yes, and every tree; for the Lord redeemed Jacob and is glorified in Israel! 24 The Lord, your Redeemer who made you, says, "All things were made by me; I alone stretched out the heavens. By myself I made the earth and everything in it."
TLB

The God of Prophecy
Remember a few pages back, when the Lord declared He was the God of prophecy (Isaiah 43:9)? Under this authority, He gives a salient view as to His response to false prophets.

Isaiah 44:25-28
'I am the one who shows what liars all false prophets are, by causing something else to happen than the things they say. I make wise men give opposite advice to what they should and make them into fools. 26 But what my prophets say, I do; when they say Jerusalem will be delivered and the cities of Judah lived in once again--it shall be done! 27 When I speak to the rivers and say, 'Be dry!' they shall be dry. 28When I say of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd,' he will certainly do as I say; and Jerusalem will be rebuilt and the Temple restored, for I have spoken it."
TLB

Christendom is not without prophets in the Twenty-first Century, but the litmus remains, "Does what they proclaim come to pass?" True prophets have God backing them up. Remember what Jesus said, "I only say what I hear My Father say." What He says will surely come to pass.Isaiah 45-48:

The theme of these three chapters is Cyrus's Divine appointment to liberate Israel from the hands of the Babylonians. The repetition of God's favor in his behalf is central, along with the futility of pagan idols, and His blessings on His people. Interspersed among these verses are some very important passages specific to God's people and how much The Father cares for them. 

In the following passages, I deemed it necessary to separate the Scriptures into sections, as they relate to various persons or groups. The conclusion of this discussion is a grouping focused on self-description from the Lord. He builds a foundation to be used starting with these chapters forward. Don't glide over these passages. Keep in mind to whom they are directed. Marvel at His opinion of Israel, while yet saying: "I